Home Blog Page 278

Battles Of Insults In Icelandic Sagas

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Most cultures seem to have a signature element that they like to add to their literature. The ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed preparing long and elaborate speeches for their historical characters. The ancient Chinese had a fondness for wise parables and witty proverbs. The medieval Icelanders, too, were no exception. Even though writing sagas did not become popular in Iceland until the 13th century, the Icelandic authors were prolific enough with their literature to create one of the most extensive bodies of medieval European texts, preserving for posterity a great deal of folklore, mythology and history. In their writings, the Icelanders introduced several innovative literary techniques and styles, including the saga structure and skaldic verse. Yet, the focus of this article is an element of Icelandic literature that was a bit more coarse—writers of sagas frequently made their characters engage in verbal battles of wits and insults.

Usually, these debates of insults could be divided into two classifications. If characters randomly met and started spitting insults at each other in a field, the exchange would likely be defined as a senna. If the insult slinging occurred in a more organized environment, perhaps with the contestants sitting around a table, the scene could be labeled a mannjafnađr. Not only did these exchanges create fun dialogue between characters, but the participants in the verbal battles could also refer to pieces of mythology and folklore while insulting their opponents.

In the opinion of the medieval Icelanders, who lived in an age very different from our own, charges of unmanliness or homosexuality were the gravest insults a person could spew. The latter accusation was considered so dire in Iceland that anyone who used that insult unjustly could be outlawed. Even so, the heroes of the Icelandic sagas often used such verbal attacks in their arguments. In fact, in only two paragraphs of dialogue, the character Sinfjotli (from the popular Saga of the Volsungs), used both insults in multiple ways during a senna between him and King Granmar.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Loki Taunting Bragi in a meeting of Æsir, by W.G. Collingwood (1854 – 1932), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

The Buddha

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

The Buddha (Quote recorded in the 3rd century BCE)

“Trembling and quivering is the mind,
difficult to guard and hard to restrain.
The person of wisdom sets it straight,
as a fletcher does an arrow.”

  • From The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 3), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

The Interesting Relationship Between Emperor Gaozu And His Peasant Father

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

As was proper in ancient China, Emperor Gaozu showed great respect to his father, known only as the so-called “Venerable Sire” or “Sir Liu”. In fact, according to the historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), the emperor made sure to visit his father at least once every five days as a sign of his filial devotion. Yet, Emperor Gaozu had begun life as a peasant, and therefore his father was also a peasant. As such, after becoming the king of Han around 206 BCE and achieving the rank of Supreme Emperor by 202 BCE, the disparity of social status between Gaozu and his father had grown massively. Nevertheless, the emperor was determined to continue showing respect to his father.

Despite Gaozu’s resolve, the optics of an emperor continually expressing deference to an aging peasant was so troublesome that even the Venerable Sire’s household attendants began to worry about the situation. According to Sima Qian, a steward brought up the issue with the Venerable Sire—he suggested that when the emperor paid his next visit, the Venerable Sire should carry a broom with him while he met with his son. This action, the steward believed, would remind the emperor that the Venerable Sire was a member of the working class, far beneath the status of the imperial throne. When Emperor Gaozu saw his father, broom in hand, he understood the point. The emperor then paid the steward 500 catties of gold and went to work finding a loophole around social customs.

In the end, the emperor allegedly came up with an interesting plan to continue expressing his devotion to his father. As Gaozu, himself, was the “Supreme Emperor,” he proclaimed that his father would henceforth be given the titular title of “Grand Supreme Emperor.” Of course, the rank of Grand Supreme Emperor granted no real responsibilities or authority, but it did give the Venerable Sire enough status that Emperor Gaozu’s visits no longer seemed improper.

The lords of China understood the message: the emperor’s father was a man who deserved respect. When the so-called Grand Supreme Emperor died in 197 BCE, several of the kings who served Emperor Gaozu attended the funeral.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Song Dynasty Painting of three men of Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist beliefs, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Cassius Dio

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Cassius Dio (c. 163-235)

“It seems that those who exercise supreme powers know more about everyhting else than they do about their own affairs, and although their associates have the fullest knowledge of their superiors’ actions, the latter possess no accurate information in return.”

  •  From Cassius Dio’s The Roman History (Book 55, chapter 10), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987).

The Peloponnesians Gave Their Enemy, Athens, A Large Fleet In The Middle Of The Battle Of Pylos

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

425 BCE began almost identically to the six years of the Peloponnesian War that came before it. The Peloponnesians launched an invasion of the Athenian heartland in Attica, as they had diligently done almost annually since the war began. At the same time, the Athenians had their fleets moving about the seas of Greece. In particular, a group of forty ships from Athens was en route to Sicily. On a spur of the moment idea, one crafty Athenian general named Demosthenes decided to detour the ships to Pylos, located on the southwest of the Peloponnesus. While the Peloponnesian forces were away in Attica, the crews from the forty Athenian ships spent six days building a fortress in Pylos, securing an invaluable natural harbor in enemy territory. After the fortification was built, Demosthenes was left five ships, with the crews serving as a garrison, before the rest of the fleet departed.

The Peloponnesian army canceled their invasion of Attica as soon as they heard of Demosthenes’ accomplishment and moved their men and ships to confront the fortification at Pylos. They hoped that they could seize the newly built fort before Athenian reinforcements arrived, but they planned ahead for the worst—a large Peloponnesian fleet plugged the natural harbor at Pylos and the besiegers divided their forces between the mainland and a nearby island, called Sphacteria. Despite having a larger army and navy at Pylos, the Peloponnesians could not break Demosthenes’ defenses. Consequently, the siege was still ongoing when fifty ships carrying Athenian reinforcements arrived.

Noticing that the Spartan ships had not adequately sealed the entrance to the harbor, the Athenian fleet charged the opening and managed to force the Peloponnesians to pull their ships onto the beaches. This defeat caused over 400 Spartan soldiers to be stranded on the island of Sphacteria, cut off from the rest of their army by the Athenian fleet. In reaction to this shift of power, the Spartans called for an armistice in order to negotiate a possible end to the war with Athens. The Athenians agreed to the idea of an armistice, but the terms they wanted to impose were strict—the Spartans were allowed to send ambassadors to Athens and provide rations to their troops stranded on Sphacteria, but in return, they had to hand over all of their ships located near Pylos. Sparta agreed to the terms and handed around 60 ships over to Athens.

Of course, the Spartan ambassadors that traveled to Athens could not convince the Athenians to make peace. After all, the Peloponnesian War would continue for more than two decades. Therefore negotiations ended, the ambassadors left, and the battle for Pylos continued. Unsurprisingly, the Athenians refused to return the 60 surrendered ships to the Peloponnesians. In the end, the Athenians assaulted the island of Sphacteria and killed or captured the soldiers who were stranded there. After the fall of Sphacteria, the Peloponnesian forces withdrew from Pylos, giving the Athenians a significant victory.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Image of an ancient ship, from John T. Campbell and Edward Keble, 1878-1944, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • History of the Peloponnesian War (Book IV) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner and introduced by M. I. Finley. New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.

Sigurd the Volsung

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Sigurd the Volsung (Scandinavian-Germanic mythical hero)

“When men come to battle, a fearless heart serves a man better than a sharp sword.”

  • From The Saga of the Volsungs (chapter 19), by an anonymous 13th century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999).

Six Ways The Malleus Maleficarum Claimed Witches Specifically Harm Humans

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

In the bizarre book, The Malleus Maleficarum (published 1487), inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger wrote down the strange beliefs and lore held by witch hunters, commenting on subjects such as monsters, demons, witches and all sorts of spells, charms and curses that they believed could be used against humanity. The powers that they attributed to witches and demonic forces were broad, ranging from the unsubtle magic of controlling weather, to more inconspicuous illusions and emotion manipulation. Yet, the authors of the text thankfully narrowed down the broad array of powers that were supposedly available to witches into six concise categories. Furthermore, the list specifically dealt with the ways that witches could cause harm solely to humans, so it left out supposed spells against livestock or other such incantations that fell out of their scope. Here are the six ways witches could allegedly harm mankind:

  1. Witches had the power to induce evil love between men and women.
  2. Similarly, witches could inspire or stoke the human emotions of jealousy, hate and envy in order to cause mischief.
  3. Not only were witches said to have the ability to alter emotion, they also were thought to have the power to drive people thoroughly insane.
  4. Witches were commonly thought to specialize in making people infertile. Impotence, barrenness, miscarriages and lack of mother’s milk were often attributed to the activity of witches.
  5. Witchcraft could allegedly cause more physical harm than just infertility issues. Witches were also said to have the ability to harm internal organs by causing disease and illness.
  6. For the final category, the Malleus Maleficarum bluntly stated that witches could use spells and curses not only to injure, but also to kill their victims.

 

When writing about the supposed powers that witches could utilize, the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum kept an odd balance. They portrayed the witches as powerful and monstrous, but never hinted that the witches, or the demons that they supposedly received powers from, were more mighty than God. As such, the above six ways of harming humans allegedly did not apply to everyone. The Malleus Maleficarum stated that no witch could harm anyone blessed with God’s grace (including the inquisitors) and that the people who diligently followed the church would face only temptation from witches, not injury. Therefore, the inquisitors made the uncomfortable conclusion that witchcraft was a punishment released on the world by an angry God.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (two witches (Reutlingen- Otmar, 1489), fol. 15r. Hexenküche, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

From The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers (Dover Publications, 1971).

Marcus Aurelius

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Marcus Aurelius (c. 121-180)

“Up and down, from one age to another, go the ordinary things of the world; being still the same.”

  • From the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Book IX, meditation XXVI, (Xist Publishing edition, 2015).

Emperor Gaozu Of China Was A Singer-Songwriter

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

In 195 BCE, Emperor Gaozu, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was returning to his capital city of Chang’an in order to recover from an arrow wound he had received while fighting the forces of a rebel king named Qing Bu. While on the road, the emperor decided to make a detour to the region of Pei. It was a special place for Emperor Gaozu—Pei was where the emperor began his bid for power when he was still a peasant.

When he reached the city of Pei, Emperor Gaozu hosted a feast for the townspeople and gave his old friends and the city’s elders places of honor during the festivities. Between feasts, the injured Emperor Gaozu was said to have given singing lessons to a chorus of 120 local children. During the practice sessions, the emperor had the children learn a very special song. According to the historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), it was a piece allegedly composed by the emperor, himself.

At the climax of one of the feasts in Pei, the emperor reportedly was handed a lute and gave a solo performance of his song. After he completed his rendition, the emperor had the 120 children file in and accompany him for another round of the song. Sima Qian recorded (or possibly invented) a single stanza from the song, a poem about a triumphant ruler returning to his roots. The historian made no comment on the song’s melody or the emperor’s lute playing, but the people of Pei would have been wise to applaud the performance, whether it was masterful or abysmal.

Feeling gracious, Emperor Gaozu named the city of Pei as a bath-town. While the title may sound insulting to modern readers, it was actually a great honor. As a bath-town, Pei was exempt from paying taxes to the capital, although regional authorities could still collect money for local projects. Before leaving, the emperor also promoted the Marquis of Pei, Liu Pi, to the throne of Wu.

Although Emperor Gaozu was healthy enough to feast and sing in Pei, his health quickly declined after returning to the capital. On June 1, 195 BCE, Emperor Gaozu died in his grand Palace of Lasting Joy. Upon the death, Gaozu’s son, Hui, ascended to the throne. In a loving gesture to his father, Emperor Hui had all the regional rulers of China create funerary temples to the late Emperor Gaozu. The second most important of these, only bested by the capital, was the temple housed in the city of Pei. There, Emperor Hui allegedly employed the musical talents of the 120 children that Emperor Gaozu had recently instructed in singing. According to Sima Qian, Emperor Hui made the singing troupe of Pei into a lasting institution and left instructions that new singers be brought in if any of the 120 musicians decided to leave the group.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Paintings on the north wall of Xu Xianxiu’s Tomb of Northern Qi Dynasty, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Benjamin Franklin

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

“Anger is never without a reason but seldom with a good one.”

  • From Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin (Seven Treasures Publications, 2008).
1...277278279...369Page 278 of 369

RECENT POSTS

POPULAR