Saturday, May 4, 2024
Home Blog Page 274

Frumentarii—The Wheat-Collecting Spies Of Ancient Rome

By
thehistorianshut
-

The Romans always had some sort of spies or espionage agents, albeit usually decentralized and directed by individual generals or politicians. Wherever the Roman legions went, the military leadership needed to get a lay of the land and to find out information about enemy positions and numbers. Roman Senators and politicians, too, had their own private informant networks that allowed them to get the latest gossip about their rivals. Therefore, there were always spies all over the Roman Empire, yet these earliest spies were usually only reporting to their direct employer (the specific senator or general), not the army or country, as a whole.

In the early days, the Roman military used its more subtle soldiers for intelligence gathering. Eventually, early military commanders, such as Julius Caesar, began to rely on a specific group of soldiers for work that needed to be done in the shadows. These were the speculatores, or speculators, which were used as couriers, spies and secret police.

Yet, when the Republic of Rome submitted to the rule of authoritarian dictators, a new generation of spies was introduced into the population. During either the reign of Emperor Domitian (r. 81-96) or Emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138), the frumentarii were formed. These men were military logistics officers that specialized in gathering, distributing and escorting supplies of wheat, or other resources, throughout the empire. Their headquarters was located at Castra Peregrina, in Rome, but their work brought them into constant contact with the average population in the countryside of the Roman Empire. The job description of these logistical officers was eventually expanded far beyond searching the empire for wheat; soon they were also couriers, spies, tax collectors, and police.

The frumentarii eventually became a hated presence in the provinces of Rome. The unpopularity of the organization grew to such an extent that Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305) had the frumentarii disbanded. That is not to say he gave up on a more centralized form of intelligence gathering. Quite the opposite—he created the agentes in rebus, translated as something akin to “general agents.” These agents were a bigger and better iteration of the frumentarii, but had a few different key characteristics. While the frumentarii were considered soldiers, the agentes in rebus were deemed to be civilians. Similarly, the agents did not report to a military leader, but answered to an interesting official known as the Master of Offices. Another key difference was that the agents were a bit more open about having a role in gathering intelligence.

The agentes in rebus expanded on the work done previously by the frumentarii. As well as working the usual jobs, such as fulfilling the roles of couriers, spies, tax collectors and police, the agents also worked as construction supervisors and even ambassadors.

Interestingly, the Roman leadership focused their more professional intelligence organizations mainly on their own population in the empire, rather than on foreign threats. Generals and military leaders on the frontiers of the empire usually kept using their personal scouts and speculators to gain information about the enemy. The more organized groups of spies, like the frumentarii and the agentes in rebus, however, seemed to have been primarily directed at searching for dissent in the empire and uncovering internal conspiracies.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Relief of Trajan’s Column attributed to Apollodorus of Damascus (50–130), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Edgar Allan Poe

By
thehistorianshut
-

Edgar Allan Poe (American writer, 1809-1849)

“Nothing is more vague than impressions of individual identity. Each man recognizes his neighbor, yet there are few instances in which any one is prepared to give a reason for his recognition.”

  • From Edgar Allan Poe’s The Mystery of Marie Roget in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

 

Geoffrey of Monmouth

By
thehistorianshut
-

Geoffrey of Monmouth (Welsh writer, c. 12th century)

“Indeed, when it is obvious that men are no longer using their weapons, but are instead playing at dice, burning up their strength with women and indulging in other gratifications of that sort, then without any doubt their bravery, honour, courage and good name all become tainted with cowardice.”

  • From Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain (IX.15), completed in 1136, translated from Latin into English by Lewis Thorpe (Penguin Classics, 1966).

 

The Impressive Career Of The 1st-Century General Ban Chao Of The Eastern Han Dynasty

By
thehistorianshut
-

The influence of the Eastern Han Dynasty spread deep into central Asia. The success of this expansion was due in large part to the effective leadership of Ban Chao. This military leader, explorer and diplomat was born around 32 CE in the region known today as Xianyang, inside the Shaanxi province of China. We do not know much about his early career, but Ban Chao’s heyday began when he was in his early forties.

Ban Chao’s fame, as we know it, began in the year 73, when he was directed by Emperor Ming (Mingdi, r. 58-75) to take a leadership role in a campaign against the Xiongnu, often associated with the notorious Huns. After fighting for about three years, Ban Chao was withdrawn from the front around the time that Emperor Zhang (r. 76-88) became the new ruler of China. The general, however, was eventually sent back to the empire’s frontiers, corresponding to the modern region of Xinjiang, to secure the Tarim Basin and the Silk Road trade route that threaded through the area.

In 84, Ban Chao worked in concert with the Yuezhi Kushan Empire to defeat the Sogdian threat to Han interests in central Asia. The partnership, however, also created an awkward situation for the Chinese—the Kushan leader sent a message to Emperor Zhang, suggesting that they form an official alliance through marriage. Emperor Zhang balked at the idea of a Kushan ruler marrying a Han princess and refused the proposal, even though such marriage agreements had been negotiated between earlier Han emperors and foreign leaders.

The Kushan Empire, understandably, was irritated by the response that they received. Eventually, around the year 86, Kushan forces attacked Ban Chao’s garrison in the Tarim Basin. General Ban Chao, however, quickly turned the tide of the war heavily in favor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. By the time Emperor He (Hedi, r. 89-105) became the new ruler of the Han Empire, the Kushan forces were thoroughly put in their place by Ban Chao, and were sending tribute payments to the Han.

Ban Chao’s next great promotion came in 91, when he was named Protector of the Western Regions. He carried out his duties from a headquarters in the location known today as Kucha, in the Xinjiang region of China. From there, the general continued to protect and expand the Han’s interests in central Asia through diplomatic and military means. He even tried to send a man named Gan Ying to make official contact with the Roman Empire in the year 97, but Gan Ying only made it to the Persian Gulf before he lost his nerve or was blocked by unhelpful forces, causing him to abandon the mission. Ban Chao remained at his post as the Protector of the Western Regions until the year 102, when his sister successfully petitioned for the general to be allowed to return to eastern China. Within the year, Ban Chao died in the city of Louyang.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Two gentlemen engrossed in conversation while two others look on, a Chinese painting on paper near Luoyang, Henan province, dated to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD). [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources

The Many Different Categories of Divination, Witchcraft or Magic

By
thehistorianshut
-

The idea of magic, or at least the belief that the future can be predicted through ritualistic, magical or religious means, has seemingly been in the minds of humans since the dawn of recorded history. When hunting witches was a craze in European society, two Papal Inquisitors named Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger described the abilities of the strongest witches in Part II, Question 1, Chapter 2 of their witch-hunter’s manual, The Malleus Maleficarum, which was published around 1487. They wrote that the most talented witches had the ability to control weather. These top-tier supernatural magicians could supposedly summon strong storms of wind, lightning and hail, which they could aim directly at their enemies. They could also curse or hex both man and beast in various ways (such as infertility or death), and they also were said to have psychological powers that could instill madness in victims. They could also allegedly influence the speech of others, specifically by magically forcing any of their captured accomplices to keep silent when tortured by inquisitors.

Offensive magic and witchcraft, which seems to be the type of magic that authors and filmmakers like to portray most of all in their works, drew an unfair lot when compared to the carefully-crafted complex and grandiose names used to label the other categories of supernatural abilities—especially the field of divination, or the prediction of the future using supernatural or pseudoscientific means. Although the magical field of prediction gets a lot less coverage in the books and theater box-offices of the modern world, these prophetic practices were deemed very serious and important in the ancient, medieval and early colonial world. The great Roman orator and statesman, Cicero, wrote one of the most extensive ancient books on the subject, On Divination (De Divinatione). Furthermore, as a consequence of the human addiction to labeling and categorizing absolutely every little thing known to mankind, there is no shortage of overly-specific names for virtually each and every form of these supernatural crafts. Many of these fields fall under the broad category of sortilege, or predicting the future using tools of chance, such as cards. Yet, the broader terms for divination were broken down even further, spawning a whole host of new words, many of which end in “mancy.” For example, divination through the use of cards is called cartomancy. Most of these types of divination are discussed in Part I, Question 16 of The Malleus Maleficarum. Here are just a few of the endless subdivisions of divination that were popular in cultures based out of Europe or the Middle East:


(1) Sorcery

 

(A float design titled “The Sorcerer,” by Jennie Wilde (1865-1913), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Nowadays, sorcery is intermingled with magic and witchcraft to an extent that it is hard to tell these terms apart. Nevertheless, at one point, there seemed to be a distinct difference between sorcery and witchcraft. Historically, sorcerers were supposedly people who, through studying and learning, were able to use magical means to predict the future and channel the powers of the world. This is contrasted against witches, who supposedly gained power through deals with evil or demonic forces. In The Malleus Maleficarum, sorcery was labeled as a type of divination that was often utilized by witches.

(2) Oneiromancy
 

  (A Dream of a Girl Before A Sunrise, by Karl Bryullov (1799–1852), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Oneiromancy is a type of divination or magic that involves dreams. An oneiromancer could supposedly use dreams to gain knowledge or to predict the future. Witches were said to be able to use this skill in other ways than mere prediction. Using oneiromancy, they were allegedly able to meet and converse with the other witches in their covens while they slept.

(3) Necromancy

 

  (Young Man With A Skull, by Frans Hals (1582_1583–1666), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

This is one of the more infamous and well known of the categories of witchcraft and magic. In the modern day, necromancers are often portrayed as people who can use magic to raise the dead, creating something like a zombie. The ancient and medieval world had a different perspective of necromancy. For them, necromancy was another form of divination. Necromancers supposedly would summon the spirits of the dead to learn from them about the present or the future. Nevertheless, some necromancers could allegedly give certain tasks to dead spirits, which is unusual in the field of divination.

(4) Geomancy

 

  (Geomantic instrument from Egypt or Syria, c. 1241-1242 CE, [Public Domain] via the British Museum and Creative Commons)

 

This is another form of divination where the future, or other answers the geomancer may seek, can be gleaned by observing marks made on the ground. A common form of geomancy was carried out by placing a series of dots on soil, paper, or some other surface. The geomancer would then connect the dots, and by observing the resulting figure made by these dots and lines, the geomancer could supposedly gain insight about what they wanted to discover. The object in the photo above was one of the tools available to medieval geomancers.

(5) Hydromancy and (6) Scrying

 

  (Water Drop, [Public Domain] via https-_www.pexels.com)

 

Hydromancy involves divining the future through the use of water. Historically, a hydromancer supposedly could tell the future by reading the reflections on the water, but the most insight came from ripples created by disturbing the liquid. Hydromancy was often associated with scrying, or divining with the help of crystals. The two skills were linked to the extent that The Malleus Maleficarum placed both water and crystal divination under the classification of hydromancy.

(7) Aeromancy

 

  (Cloudy Weather, [Public Domain] via https://pxhere.com)

 

Aeromancers were said to have been able to practice divination by studying the wind and the weather. They were a bit like modern meteorologists, except, instead of forecasting the weather, aeromancers thought they could forecast the future of human actions and events.

(8) Pyromancy

 

  (Bonfire, [Public Domain] via https-_www.pexels.com)

 

In books, movies and television shows, pyromancers are often portrayed as wizards who can attack opponents with magical fire. In its historical representation, however, pyromancy was supposedly just another way to gain supernatural knowledge and predict the future. In the ancient and medieval world, pyromacers were people who practiced divination by peering into flames, listening to the crackle of the burning wood, or reading the smoke from a fire.

(9) Haruspicy and (10) Soothsaying

 

  (Sculpture of a Mithras tauroctony in Louvre, c. 2nd-3rd century, [Public domain], via Creative Commons)

 

These two types of divination intermingle. The Malleus Maleficarum interestingly stated that soothsaying was the prediction of the future using the entrails of sacrificed animals; it then went on to say that haruspicy was a completely different type of divination, where the time of day is examined to tell the future. The Malleus Maleficarum aside, soothsaying seems to be just a general term for divination, and haruspices, practitioners of haruspicy, were the best-known diviners that read the entrails of animals in their effort to foretell the future. Besides entrails, a practitioner of haruspicy was also said to have studied other natural phenomenon, which may be why The Malleus Maleficarum claimed harucpicy had something to do with studying time. Another possibility is that Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger were in error on their assumption about these topics. Either way, haruspicy was definitely divination based upon the examination of animal entrails.

(11) Heptoscopy

 

  (Liver, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Heptoscopy can probably be considered a part of haruspicy, but it was given its own name. A person who sought to divine the future through the use of heptoscopy would seek answers in the dissected livers of sacrificed animals. While haruspicy was about animal entrails in general, heptoscopy specifically focused on the liver.

(12) Scapulimancy

 

  (The left scapula, from its posterior or outer surface from the Atlas of Human Anatomy, [Public Domain] via Flickr)

 

In a similar strain as the above two sections lies the practice of scapulimancy. While heptoscopy dealt with the liver, scapulimancy focused on the shoulder blade, or scapula—hence the name of this type of divination. In practicing scapulimancy, a person would take a shoulder blade from a sacrificed animal. They would then apply heat and crack the bone, somehow gaining some insight into the future by examining the results.

(13) Lecanomancy

 

  (Green lime dropped into a glass, [Public Domain] via https://pxhere.com)

 

Lecanomancy is a bit like hydromancy, but lecanomancers focused less on the water than on what was put into the liquid. This type of divination was also sometimes referred to as dish-divining. In practicing their craft, lecanomancers would observe what happened when certain objects were placed in water. These objects varied greatly—sometimes lecanomancers just used oil, other times they used precious gemstones or even gold and silver. A practitioner of lecanomancy would look at the shapes these objects made in the water, or the sounds that the solid items made when they hit the water or the bowl in which the water was held. From this, lecanomancers claimed they could gain insight into the present and the future.

(14) Chiromancy

 

  (Illustration of Chiromancy from A history of vagrants and vagrancy, and beggars and begging, c. 1887, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Chiromancy, also known as cheiromancy or palmistry, is a type of divination that many people today are probably familiar with—chiromancy, simply put, is palm reading. A chiromancer could supposedly gain supernatural insight, or discover something about the future, by simply looking at the lines and patterns that are present on the palm of a person’s hand.

(15) Molybdomancy

 

  (Illustration of Molybdomancy, from Čeněk Zibrt, c. 1910, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

This type of divination is performed with molten metal and water. To predict the future with this method, people simply poured molten metal (preferably lead or tin) into water and then inspected the results. A practitioner of molybdomancy would allegedly study the shape that the molten metal took when it hardened in water to gain usable information about the present or future.

(16) Augury and (17) Reading Omens

 

  (Flying birds photographed by George Hodan, [Public Domain] via http://www.publicdomainpictures.net)

 

Reading omens can be loosely described as deducing something about the future by studying what is happening in the world, be it the movements of man, beast or plant. By surveying the world, a skilled observer could supposedly tell if the omens were favorable or grim and base their future decisions upon that deduction. Similarly, augury was another type of divination that required a person to look for omens. Most augurs studied the flight patterns of birds when making their decisions about the present or predictions for the future.

(18) Oracles and (19) the Method of the Pythons

 

  (The Oracle of Delphi Entranced, by Heinrich Leutemann  (1824–1905), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The most famous of the ancient oracles were probably the ones that resided at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, but there were other oracles in various temples scattered throughout the Classical world. Residing in structures that were often built atop fault lines that released hallucinogenic natural gasses, the oracles would deliver cryptic prophecies to visitors. Priests would sometimes interpret the oracle’s messages, but recipients of these prophecies could also be left to work it out for themselves. The oracles delivered their prophecies while in a state that is akin to the modern conception of spiritual possession. The Malleus Maleficarum interestingly used the label “pythons” to describe later diviners who behaved like the ancient oracles. The book stated: 

“Another species of divination is practiced by Pythons, so called from Pythian Apollo, who is said to have been the originator of this kind of divination, according to S. Isidore. This is not effected by dreams or by converse with the dead, but by means of living men, as in the case of those who are lashed into a frenzy by the devil, either willingly or unwillingly, only for the purpose of foretelling the future, and not for the perpetration of any other monstrosities” (The Malleus Maleficarum, Part I, Question 16).

 

(20) Horoscopy

 

  (From Andreas Cellarius Harmonia Macrocosmica, 1660_61. Chart showing signs of the zodiac and the solar system with world at center, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Horoscopy, the practice of taking horoscopes, also known as astrology, is a type of divination that is surprisingly still popular, today. This type of divination claims to be able to deduce information about a person’s future based on the alignment of the stars, and other celestial bodies, at the time of one’s birth. With this stellar and planetary data, combined with information from the signs of the zodiac, astrologers practicing horoscopy believe they can gain great insight into the future. In the modern world, astrology has been distinctly separated from astronomy, the scientific study of space and the stars. Yet, for much of history, astrology, like alchemy (an interesting mixture of magic, chemistry and pharmacy), was considered to be a serious science that was supported by various monarchs.

Top picture attribution: (The Witch of Endor (cropped), by D. Martynov (1826-1889), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

Mo Tzu

By
thehistorianshut
-

Mo Tzu (Chinese philosopher and theologian, flourished 5th century BCE)

“The ghosts and spirits of past and present are of three kinds only: the spirits of Heaven, the spirits of the mountains and rivers, and the ghosts of men who have died.”

  • From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Explaining Ghosts, part 3, section 31), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

 

Alexander The Great And The Tragedy Of The Marmares

By
thehistorianshut
-

At least two ancient biographers of Alexander the Great, Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE) and later Arrian (c. 86-160 CE), wrote that the Macedonian conqueror passed through a mountain known as Mount Climax during his campaign in southwestern Anatolia. The exact location of the mountain is disputed. Some point to the region of Marmaris in southern Turkey. More convincingly, others claim that Mount Climax is a part of the Antalya Mountains, to the east of Marmaris. Either way, this particular event occurred in the mountainous region of southern Anatolia.

Sometime between 334 and 333 BCE, Alexander the Great marched his army northward from the port city of Phaselis (in the modern Antalya region of Turkey) through a pass in the mountains, with his aim being to reach Pamphylia. While Alexander’s army traveled through the narrow paths in these steep mountains, the troops were likely pressed into unusually thin columns. According to Diodorus Siculus, it was in this rugged, mountainous terrain, while the invading troops were in a vulnerable formation, that a local tribe known as the Marmares made the unfortunate mistake of raiding Alexander’s army.

The raid carried out by the Marmares was a success. They overwhelmed the rear of Alexander’s column and made off with livestock, supplies and even captives. With loot in hand, the Marmares withdrew to their mountain fortress, known as the Rock—a fortification they perceived to be impregnable.

Regrettably for the Marmares, Alexander—who without the ambush may have let the tribe live in peace—now sought vengeance for the loss of life among his men and to save face for his damaged military renown. Unwilling to let the Marmares get away with what could be considered a victory over his forces, the great conqueror rallied his men for battle and laid siege to the tribal mountain fortress at the Rock. Apparently, it only took two day’s of Alexander’s relentless onslaught against the Rock’s walls for the Marmares to realize they had no hope of surviving the siege.

At this realization of impending doom, the elders in the fortress supposedly decided that the women and children that were sheltered in the fortress should be killed rather than left to be enslaved by Alexander’s army. As the story goes, the majority of the warriors in the tribe agreed with the decision and somberly went home to their respective dwellings to spend the remainder of their quickly-diminishing time with their families. Unfortunately for many of the women and children among the Marmares, the warriors apparently could not go through with what they had planned while staring into the eyes of their beloved families—these people decided to use a more detached method of killing. Therefore, some of the warriors were said to have cruelly locked their families in their homes and burned them alive.

After the deed was done, the warriors of the Marmares did not take their own lives. Instead, they somehow snuck out of the fortress and slipped by the besieging army, never to be heard from again.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attribution: (Alexander the Great, 100 B.C.E. – 100 C.E. marble, 3 1_2 x 2 x 1 1_2 in. (8.9 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.162, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Cassius Dio

By
thehistorianshut
-

Cassius Dio (Roman Senator, 163-235)

“The best ruler, the one who is of any real value, should not only perform all the duties which fall to his lot, but should provide for the rest of his subjects, so that they can develop their virtues to the full.”

  • From Cassius Dio’s The Roman History (Book 52, chapter 26), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987).

 

Love Killed The Norse God, Frey

By
thehistorianshut
-

The Pride of the Vanir

The most famous deities from the Vanir clan of the Norse gods were the children of Njord—Frey and Freyja. Both siblings were fertility gods, although they manifested their powers in different ways. Frey had influence over the heat of the sun and the refreshment of the rain—making him especially important to farmers who needed help with their harvests. Freyja exercised her influence more within the realm of love, and could, if she was so inclined, provide her followers with prosperity in their households. Although the Vanir were a one-time rival of the main clan of Norse divinities, known as the Æsir (Odin, Thor etc…), the two sides eventually made peace and became so close that the name “Æsir” became a label that could be used to describe all of the gods that kept their homes in Asgard, including Frey and Freyja.

Frey and Freyja were described as being among the most beautiful of the Norse gods. Yet, with their beauty also came brawn. Freyja, despite being a goddess of household fertility and happiness, also had a ferocious side. Whenever she decided to join a battle, she was said to claim half of the resulting dead to join her inside her hall at Folkvangar, the Warriors’ Fields. The rest of the worthy souls that she left behind would go to Odin’s host of warriors in Valhalla. Freyja was also a goddess of unique style—she was said to have ridden in a chariot pulled by two large cats.

 

 

 

(“Freya” (1901) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess Freya rests her hand upon a shield, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Frey, too, was more than he seemed. Despite being a fertility god that could control the weather, Frey also had a selection of supernatural items that made him a more than formidable divinity. Whereas his sister had a chariot pulled by cats, Frey had his own chariot that was hauled by a golden boar. This gilded creature was a gift from two dwarves named Eitri and Brokk. It was said that the boar’s bristles emitted a light bright enough to overcome any darkness. Also in Frey’s possession was the greatest ship available in the Norse mythological world—Skidbladnir. This ship, also crafted by dwarves, was large enough to house all of the gods and their weaponry, yet also had the miraculous ability to be folded up when not in use, so as to be stored in a pouch or a pocket. Furthermore, the ship always had a favorable wind, which would blow in the direction of wherever the captain wanted to sail. Even with all of these incredible items, Frey’s most precious possession was his trusty sword. This supernatural weapon was basically Frey’s bodyguard. The sword could expertly dispatch multiple threats without Fray having to use up any of his own energy. Simply put, as long as he had his sword, Frey was virtually invincible.

 

  (Image of Frey from around 1900, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

A Sacrifice For Love—As told by Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241)

On a fateful day, Frey ascended to the top of Hlidskjalf, a watchtower near the center of Asgard. From his vantage point on the tower, the god of sun and rain looked to the north and saw an enormous, beautiful home that belonged to a family of mountain giants. The residence was magnificent, even by the standards set in Asgard. Either inside the house or absent from the property were the giants Gymir and Aurboda, yet their daughter, Gerd, was presently in front of the home, about to approach the door.

As soon as Frey laid his eyes on the young giantess, he was drawn to her grace and beauty. Yet, it was when Gerd lifted her arm to unlock her door that Frey became completely and utterly smitten. With awestruck eyes, Frey watched as his own rays of sunlight reflected against the delicate skin of Gerd’s raised arm, magnifying the radiance of the air, land and sea that lay around her home. She literally and figuratively brightened Frey’s world.

 

 

(The Lovesickness of Frey, c. 1908, by W.G. Collingwood (1854 – 1932), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The god immediately knew she was the one for him and that he would sacrifice anything to have her by his side. Yet, something kept him from approaching her; perhaps, he had a premonition lurking in the back of his mind—in attaining her love, he would eventually forfeit his life in an otherwise avoidable death. Whatever the cause, Frey turned away from her and rejoined the rest of the gods in Asgard to suffer in silence.

To those around him, Frey looked like the manifestation of sorrow. He kept himself in quiet isolation ever since he came back from Hlidskjalf. Even worse, he was too distressed to eat or drink, and too tormented to sleep. The situation became so dire that Frey’s father, Njord, took it upon himself to intervene on his son’s behalf. He summoned his depressed god’s assistant, Skirnir, and asked him about what was plaguing Frey. When Skirnir denied having any knowledge of his master’s affliction, Njord tasked the man with investigating the issue. Skirnir was wary of prodding Frey for answers while the god was in such a gloomy state, but he ultimately accepted the job.

When Skirnir mustered enough courage to try and converse with Frey, he found that the lonely god was surprisingly willing to talk. Frey explained that he had seen a beautiful woman to the north of Asgard and had come to the conclusion that he wanted her to be his bride. The god finished his emotional outburst with the claim that Gerd’s absence was so painful to him that he would surely die if his wish were not soon made a reality.

Having finally spoken his mind, Frey decided to act on his emotions. He asked Skirnir to go to Gerd and inquire into what she thought of a marriage proposal between herself and the god of the rain and sun. Skirnir agreed to carry out the task, but demanded a heavy price in return. He would do the job for nothing less than Frey’s famous sword. How could a measly sword be worth more than love?

Frey agreed to the bargain and Skirnir left to deliver the message. Gerd eventually consented to marry the lovesick god, although the amount of persuasion or coercion required to ultimately convince her varied from source to source. The two were married at a place called Barey, possibly as early as nine days after Skirnir delivered Frey’s proposal to Gerd.

 

 

  (Skirnir’s Message to Gerd (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.Skirnir’s Message to Gerd (1908) by W. G. Collingwood. [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Frey’s union with Gerd—or more concisely, his deal with Skirnir—would eventually lead to the demise of this fertility god. There are two prophetic accounts of his future death. In the first account, Frey is foretold to die in a battle against a giant named Beli. Even though the giant wields no typical weaponry, he is predicted to slay Frey with the antler of a stag. Another version of Frey’s death is predicted to occur at the last battle of the gods on the day of Ragnarok. Frey is predicted to be one of the first victims slain by the fire giant, Surt, who will reportedly then spread a sea of flames over the world during the end times. In both of these instances, Frey would have likely survived if only he had not given away his miraculous sword. Even so, if the fate-deciding norns had decreed that Frey would die, not even his powerful sword would save him when his time came.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Top picture attributions: (Gerd by W. G. Collingwood (c. 1908) and Frey from Journey Through Bookland (c. 1920) in front of sunburst through a cloudy sky via pxhere.com, all [Public Domain] via Creative Commons or pxhere.com)

Sources:

 

Sun Tzu

By
thehistorianshut
-

Sun Tzu (Chinese strategist and philosopher, 6th-5th Century BCE)

“Be rushing as a wind;
Be stately as a forest;
Be ravaging as a fire;
Be still as a mountain.
Be inscrutable as night;
Be swift as thunder or lightning.”

  • From Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (Chapter 7), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics, 2009).

 

1...273274275...340Page 274 of 340

RECENT POSTS

POPULAR

© 2024 The Historian’s Hut. All Rights Reserved.