Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)
“Respect the young. How do you know that they will not one day be all that you are now?”
- The Analects of Confucius (Book IX, section 22) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).
Confucius
The Humble Folklore Origins Of The Danes, According To Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 12th and 13th century), like other medieval and ancient historians, began his Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes) with an account of the early legends and folklore of his people. In the preface of his text, he told of a precursor humanoid race of stonemason giants, who were eventually succeeded by the legendary founders of various Nordic and Germanic peoples. According to the tradition of folklore and oral history that Saxo Grammaticus had at his disposal, many of the leading families among the Danish and Germanic peoples could link themselves to a certain ancient ruler named Humble or Humblus. This mysterious Humble leader was said to have had two sons: Dan (who allegedly provided his name to the Danes) and Angul (who purportedly lent his name to the Angles). On this trio of legendary figures, Saxo wrote, “Now Dan and Angul, with whom the stock of the Danes begins, were begotten of Humble, their father, and were the governors and not only the founders of our race. (Yet Dudo, the historian of Normandy, considers that the Danes are sprung and named from the Danai)” (The Danish History, Book 1).
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Image from Siegfried, the hero of the North, and Beowulf, the hero of the Anglo-Saxons (dated 1909), by Zénaïde A. Ragozin (c. 1835-1924) and George T. Tobin (c. 1864-1956), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Danish History by Saxo Grammaticus, translated by Oliver Elton (Norroena Society, 1905) and edited for reprint by Douglas B. Killings (2012).
Education Of The Sons Of Clovis, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912)
This painting, by the Dutch-British artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912), depicts a scene of daily life from the reign of King Clovis I of the Franks (r. 481-511). His reign was vital for the ascendance of the Frankish Merovingian Dynasty, as Clovis’ many campaigns of conquests set up the Franks as the dominant power in France. In terms of his cultural impact on the Franks, Clovis was also the first monarch of the Merovingian Dynasty to accept the Roman Church rather than the traditional Germanic gods or the Arian version of Christianity that was popular among other Germanic peoples of his day. These threads of Germanic, Roman and Christian ideas and culture would become tightly intertwined in the lives of the sons of King Clovis and other future kings from his dynasty. Lawrence Alma-Tadema portrays this fusion of cultures in his painting, showing the mix of Germanic warriors and Catholic Christian clergy coming together to teach Clovis’ children in a Roman villa that the Franks had occupied.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clovis-I
Lord Di of Xiagui (cited by Sima Qian)
Lord Di of Xiagui (figure cited by Grand Historian Sima Qian, c. 145-90 BCE)
“When you’re alive one moment, all but dead the next, then you
know who your friends are.
When you’re rich one moment, poor the next, then you know the
quality of friendship.
When you’re lordly one moment, lowly the next, then friendship
shows its true face.”
- This quote is an inscription attributed to Lord Di of Xiagui, recorded in Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 120) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).
The Family Government Of Sima An
During the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE) there lived a prominent official named Sima An. Although outshone by the abundance of other skilled military and administrative officials of that age, Sima An was undoubtedly a successful man—he became a provincial governor and held high political offices at least four times during his life. His success derived from his instinctual knowledge of how to steer safely through the treacherous environment of Chinese imperial government politics. He managed to always stay out of the proverbial limelight, all the while unthreateningly amassing prestige, power and money for himself. Sima An, however, did not want to be the only man to benefit from his playbook of political success, and he particularly wanted to share this knowledge with his family. In furtherance of this familial goal, Sima An began scouring the government bureaucracy for any openings, and he managed to plug each vacancy that he found with a seemingly endless supply of brothers. Emperor Wu’s Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), wrote of this man’s curious success in finding government jobs for his siblings, writing, “Because of Sima An’s influence, ten of his brothers at one time held posts paying 2,000 piculs” (Shi Ji 120). An impressive feat, indeed—for both Sima An and his fertile parents.
Written by C. Keith Hansely
Picture Attribution: (Painting from the Ten Kings of Hell series by Jin Chushi (Chinese, active late 12th century), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji 30) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson (pages 72-83 of his translation). New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
Baptism of King Guthrum, by James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892)
This image was created by the artist James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892) and engraved for mass-production by Edmund Evans (1826–1905). It was one of many illustrations worked on by this pair in 1864 for the text, A Chronicle of England, B.C. 55-A.D. 1485. This particular image depicts the end of one of the most dramatic periods in the life of King Alfred the Great of Wessex (r. 871-899)—the man portrayed standing with book in hand, dressed in the red cloak with a gold crown on his head. Kneeling before Alfred is King Guthrum (or Guthorm), a Viking warlord who led an invasion against Wessex in 878. Although Guthrum’s campaign was very successful in the beginning, resulting in Alfred being pushed into hiding, the king of Wessex soon counterattacked and completely turned the tables on the invaders. Alfred defeated Guthrum’s army in the Battle of Edington and followed up that success by besieging the survivors of the battle in Chippenham. Asser, a contemporary of King Alfred and a member of his court, wrote of the defeat of Guthrum and the more peaceful events that came after:
“He destroyed the Vikings with great slaughter, and pursued those who fled as far as the stronghold, hacking them down; he seized everything which he found outside the stronghold—men (whom he killed immediately), horses and cattle—and boldly made camp in front of the gates of the Viking stronghold with all his army. When he had been there fourteen days the Vikings, thoroughly terrified by hunger, cold and fear, and in the end by despair, sought peace…the Vikings swore in addition that they would leave his kingdom immediately, and Guthrum, their king, promised to accept Christianity and to receive baptism at King Alfred’s hand” (Asser, Life of King Alfred, chapter 56).
Such is the scene depicted above in the illustration by James William Edmund Doyle. It shows Guthrum accepting baptism after his defeat by King Alfred. After the baptism, Guthrum assumed the Anglo-Saxon name, Æthelstan, and set himself up as king of East Anglia, where he reigned until his death in 890.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Asser’s Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources translated, introduced and denoted by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004.
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by Benjamin Thorpe in 1861 and republished by Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-king-of-Wessex
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guthrum
Livy
Livy (59 BCE-17 CE)
“A man will work hard and face risks when he can hope for profit and place as a result, and he will shrink from nothing if only he knows that the reward is likely to be worthy of the attempt.”
- The History of Rome (Book 4, chapter 35) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.
Christopher Columbus Was On the Lookout For Monsters On His First Journey To The Americas
Faced with the great unknown as far as the eye can see, it is understandable for the human mind to run wild. When Christopher Columbus set out on his journey west toward the New World in 1492, that very mysterious unknown was his destination. Sure, natives had lived in the Americas since time immemorial, and adventurers from Iceland and Greenland had explored the northern shores of North America by around the year 1000. Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Caribbean region, however, was something new for Europe—an area without sagas and maps for guidance. As the explorer had no idea what to expect (besides his false assumptions that he was somewhere in Asia), superstitions and sailor yarns took hold of the imagination. Like the wary ancient Romans who feared imagined creatures in unconquered parts of Britannia and Germania, Christopher Columbus and his crew similarly believed that it was possible for monstrous creatures to be prowling around in the New World.
As one might expect, no mythical monsters were found by Columbus in the Bahamian islands. The most monstrous thing that the explorers encountered was a community of Carib natives believed by the Europeans to have been cannibals. This pleasant lack of monsters was something of note for Christopher Columbus, and he made sure to let his patrons back home in Spain know that no dragons or lizardmen were inhabiting the Caribbean islands. In his letter to Luis de St. Angel, the treasurer of Aragon, Christopher Columbus wrote, “As for monsters, I have found no traces of them except at the point in the second isle as one enters the Indies, which is inhabited by a people considered in all the isles as most ferocious, who eat human flesh” (Letter of Christopher Columbus to Luis de St. Angel, dated 1493). Besides these natives of unsavory appetite, Christopher Columbus gave a glowing review of the region he had found, triggering a new age of exploration and colonization.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Image of the Pinta, Santa Maria and the Niña, dated to 1892, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- Letter of Columbus to Luis de St. Angel in American Historical Documents edited by Charles W. Eliot in the Harvard Classics series. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1909, 1937.
Illustration of Einar Thambarskelfir by Christian Krohg (1852–1925)
In this image, the Norwegian artist Christian Krohg re-creates a peculiar tale about a man named Einar Thambarskelfir, found in the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway), written by Snorri Sturluson. The scene in question was said to have taken place at the Battle of Svold (or Svolder), where King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway was caught in a naval ambush by his many Nordic rivals in the year 1000. Einar Thambarskelfir fought on the side of the Norwegian king as an archer, earning distinction in battle because of his powerful and accurate handling of his bow. Like Homer’s Odysseus, Einar was reportedly a man of extraordinary strength and he used a specially-made bow that few other men besides himself could string or draw. Unfortunately for King Olaf Tryggvason’s forces, the mighty bow of Einar Thambarskelfir broke during the Battle of Svolder. As the story goes, the strength of the archer made it an awkward endeavor to use bows besides his own formidable contraption, as the wood of any other bow bent like rubber as he pulled back on the string. In the image featured above, Christian Krohg, captures the moment when even King Olaf Tryggvason’s own exceptionally-crafted bow proved no match for Einar’s muscles. Snorri Sturluson described the odd scene, writing, “Einar took the bow and at once drew the head of the arrow behind it and said, ‘Too soft, too soft is the king’s bow,’ and threw the bow behind him, and took up his shield, and fought with his sword” (Heimskringla, Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, chapter 108). King Olaf Tryggvason lost the Battle of Svolder in the year 1000. As his ship was boarded by opposing forces, the king was forced into the sea and disappeared below the depths, never to be seen again.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018.
King Guntram of Burgundy
King Guntram of Burgundy (r. 561-593)
“It is better that the one or two who are disobedient should perish rather than the wrath of God should hang over a whole realm of innocent men.”
- Recorded in The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (Book VIII, section 30), translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.
