Monthly Archives: September 2014

Animal Lore, or “Beasts override Genre”

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Art, Beast Literature, Fables

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Physiologus Cambrai, vers 1270-1275 Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 711, fol. 17

Physiologus, Adam nomme les animaux (Adam names the animals)
Cambrai, vers 1270-1275
Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 711, fol. 17 (Photo credit: BnF) (click)

The Fable

One particular collection of fables, the Ysopet-Avionnet, was used in the schools of medieval France and continued to be published for centuries (see “The Cock and the Pearl,” La Fontaine cont’d). The word “Ysopet,”[1] was a diminutive for “a collection of fables by Ésope,” or Æsop. The term Ysopet, or Isopet, was first used to describe a collection of 102 fables by Marie de France (late 12th century), written in Anglo-Norman in octosyllabic couplets. As for the word Avionnet, it was derived from Avianus (c. 400 CE), the name of a Latin writer of fables whose fables belong to the Babrius (Greek) tradition and “identified as a pagan.” (See Avianus, Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia). The goal of fabulists was the Horatian “to inform or delight.” Horace advocated a mixture of both: information and pleasure.

Beast Literature and Christianity

Medieval Bestiaries
the Moral
legendary or mythical animals
St. Augustine
 

Bestiaries differ from fables in that they contain a Christian moral/ allegory, but like fables, they are a form of instruction. The fox is the devil, and the lamb, Christ, etc. However, Bestiaries closely resemble fables because both genres feature animals and are more or less a form of teaching. The presence of animals sets a distance between the reader and the teaching provided by a fable or a bestiary. The moral is instructive in both genres, but not directly. The animal functions as a buffer.

Moreover, as we have seen, the attributes of animals were defined by “universal popular consent.” Such was particularly the case with Medieval Bestiaries. Animals dwelling in fables and Bestiaires are neither zoological animals, nor humans in disguise. They are allegorical and most are zoomorphic, especially Christian Medieval Bestiaires. (See The Medieval Bestiary, David Badke, ed.)

Interestingly, Medieval Bestiaries feature a large number of legendary or mythical animals. The better-known are the Unicorn, the Dragon, the Griffin and the Phoenix, but Christian Medieval Bestiaries featured several other fantastical beasts, now mostly forgotten. It would be my opinion that Christianity had its prerogatives and that the relatively new Church needed several animals to exemplify human and sinful conduct.

Moreover, many Natural Historians were Christians. At any rate, the Bonnacon shown below was not exactly real and its manners were questionable.

img155

Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 10r

“A beast like a bull, that uses its dung as a weapon.” (F 10r) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

St. Augustine and Truth

Allow me to quote Book 21, Chapter 5 of  Augustine of Hippo‘s City of God. Augustine of Hippo was St. Augustine and he writes “[t]hat There are Many Things Which Reason Cannot Account For, and Which are Nevertheless True.” Augustine of Hippo published his City of God in 426 CE. (See City of God, Wikipedia.)

This kind of truth is what I have grown to describe as “poetical” truth (my term).

Bestiaires d’amour

However, some Medieval Bestiaries were love Bestiaries and were therefore associated with courtly love and the very popular  Roman de la Rose. The Roman de la Rose, authored by Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200 – c. 1240) and Jean the Meun(g) (c. 1240 – c. 1305), was allegorical:

“At various times in the poem, the “Rose” of the title is seen as the name of the lady, and as a symbol of female sexuality in general. Likewise, the other characters’ names function both as regular names and as abstractions illustrating the various factors that are involved in a love affair.” (See Roman de la Rose, Wikipedia.)

In my last post, I featured a lion belonging to a Bestiaire d’amour. It was breathing life into dead offspring. This is what a lady was to do to revive a man after lovemaking, or “petite mort.” Petite mort is an orgasm. The symbolism attached to Beasts dwelling in Love Bestiaries (Bestiaires d’amour) was, therefore, less Christian than the symbolism of animals inhabiting other Bestiaries. The most famous Love Bestiary is Richard de Fournival‘s (1201 – ?1260).

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 1951, Folio 18r

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 1951, Folio 18r (Richard de Fournival)

“‘le lyon [above] qui fait revivre ses lyonciaus’ – The lion revives its dead cubs. In the Bestiaire d’amour the man says that in the same way the woman can revive him from his love-death.” (fol. 18r) (Photo credit: BnF)

The courtly love traditional therefore incorporated animal lore, just as it included the lyrical poems of troubadours, trouvères, the Minnesingers, and lyric poets associated with movements such as trobadorismo or trovarismo. By the way, there were women troubadours: the Trobairitz.

Troubadours (Berlin) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vilém9

William IX of Aquitaine portrayed as a knight, who first composed poetry on returning from the Crusade of 1101. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Animal Lore

Jan M. Ziolkowski writes that “beasts override genre.”[2] He does so on page 1 of his Introduction to Talking Animals). Professor Ziolkowski is perfectly right. In Medieval Bestiaries, beasts were mostly the same from genre to genre: fables, Medieval Bestiaries and the satirical Roman de Renart. Beasts even override paganism and Christianity as well as the Old and the New Testaments. After all, Christmas replaced the pagan Roman Saturnalia. There had to be a feast on the day of the longest night.

To return to “beast literature” (Ziolkowski, p. 1), “The Dog and its Reflection” is included in the Æsopic corpus (Perry Index 133)[3] and is also a fable told in Kalīlah wa Dimnah, and, according to one source, it is included in Le Livre des Lumières or Les Fables de Pilpay, philosophe indien, ou la conduite des rois (a 1698 edition [1644]), Æsop was a Levantin, i.e. from the Levant. With respect to fables, West meets East.

Kalīlah wa Dimnah is an Arabic rendition, by Persian scholar Ibn al-Muqaffa’, of the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Jean de La Fontaine, the author of Le Chien qui lâche sa proie pour l’ombre  (1.VI.17), read fables by Pilpay. Yet, the Christian Medieval Bestiary tells that dogs leave the prey they have caught for a prey they may not catch. It may be a mere shadow.

When I was assigned a course on best literature, I divided my material in the following the following genres, roughly speaking:

  • fables (Æsop and retellers),
  • beast epics (Reynard the Fox and fabliaux),
  • the Medieval Bestiaries (The Ashmole Bestiary, etc.),
  • and Natural Histories (The Physiologus, etc.), yet to be listed.

However, I had to mention mythological beasts, lycanthropes, and also discussed children’s literature.  Kenneth Grahame created a “reluctant dragon,” and the use of a toad as the protagonist of The Wind in the Willows made for an upside-down-world, a mundus inversus.

Moreover Æsop, who lived in Greece, was a “Levantin.” There is an Eastern tradition to Æsop’s fables even though, according to some sources, there never lived an Æsop. I was on sabbatical writing a book on Molière when I was assigned a course on Beast literature. I could not refuse to teach it. I therefore joined the International Reynard Society and gave a paper at the forthcoming meeting of the Society, in Hull, England.

A Dutch colleague steered me in the right direction, but the course nevertheless ended my career as a teacher. Would that I could have changed the course into animals in Charles Perrault’s Contes de ma mère l’Oye and Madame de Villeneuve’s La Belle et la Bête, but someone else was teaching a course on fairy tales. Beast literature includes fairy tales.

My  kindest regards to all of you. ♥

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

—ooo—

[1] “Ysopet”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 29 sept. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/654299/Ysopet>.

[2] Jan M. Ziolkowski, Talking Animals: Medieval Latin Beast Poetry, 750 – 1150 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 1.

[3] Ben Edwin Perry (1892–1968) catalogued Æsop’s fables.

E, Dame Jolie & Douce Dame Jolie
Love song 13th-14th century
Chanson d’amour du Moyen-Âge.

Vilém9
 
© Micheline Walker
30 September 2014
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The Fox, by “Universal Popular Consent”

25 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Art, Beast Literature, Bestiaries

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img4499

British Library, Sloane MS 278, Folio 53r

“A fox [above] pretends to be dead to deceive two birds into coming close enough to catch.” (fol. 53r) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary) (Aarne-Thompson Classification Index, 56A)[1]

“The lion’s cubs [below] are born dead; after three days the father comes and roars over them, and brings them to life.” (fol. 96v) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 308, Folio 96v

Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 308, Folio 96v

In his Preface to Æsop’s Fables, its translator, George Fyler Townsend,[2] states that “[t]he introduction [in fables] of the animals or fictitious characters should be marked with an unexceptionable care and attention to their natural attributes, and to the qualities attributed to them by universal popular consent. The Fox should be always cunning, the Hare timid, the Lion bold, the Wolf cruel, the Bull strong, the Horse proud, and the Ass patient.” (Bold characters are mine.)

Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 366, Folio 71v

Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 366, Folio 71v

“A fox [above] runs off with a cock, while a woman carrying a distaff gestures angrily.” (fol. 71v) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

Medieval Animal Lore

The Fox as the Devil, etc.

Townsend’s statement reflects an anthropomorphic vision of animals (humans in disguise), as in George Orwell‘s 1945 Animal Farm). In fables and in beast epics, such as Le Roman de Renart, animals are anthropomorphic. But Townsend’s comment also reflects a will to stereotype animals and transform them into allegorical creatures. In Medieval Bestiaries, they are symbols.

Medieval writers were fond of allegories, hence the questionable, but poetical, qualities bestowed on medieval beasts. The Lion is God and the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Only a virgin can catch the legendary or mythical Unicorn. (See Unicorn, Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia). The Beaver[3] eats its own testicles to avoid being caught by hunters. The fox is not only devious, but the devil himself:

“The fox represents the devil, who pretends to be dead to those who retain their worldly ways, and only reveals himself when he has them in his jaws. To those with perfect faith, the devil is truly dead.” (See David Badke or The Medieval Bestiary [bestiary.ca].)

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 9r

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 9r

“Hunted [above] for its testicles, it castrates itself to escape from the hunter.” (fol. 9r) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

Exceptions to the lore, but…

There are exceptions to the lore. The real Dog is a very loyal animal. It can sniff out nearly anything or anyone. However, a real Dog does not let go of the prey it holds for the prey it might catch. In other words, the fanciful and the fantastic suffuse Medieval Bestiaries, such as the Aberdeen Bestiary or the Ashmole Bestiary (or Bestiaries). The same is true of several extraordinary medieval beasts, not to mention qualities attributed to birds, stones, and other aspects of nature. The merveilleux FR characterizes more than a thousand years of Natural Histories. It is often called le merveilleux chrétien, a Christian magical realism (the fantastic).

Writers of Medieval Bestiaries used Natural Histories such as Claudius Alienus‘ (170 CE – 235 CE) On the Nature of Animals (17 books) as their reference. Yet, these works were rooted in earlier texts, such as Herodotus‘ Histories and Pliny the Elder‘s (c. 23 CE –  24 or 25 August 79 CE) Historia Naturalis.[4] However, as we have seen, the preferred source of writers of Medieval Bestiaries was the anonymous Physiologus, which cannot be considered “scientific.” (See Manuscript shelf.)

The Naming of Reinardus/Renart

This depiction of animals seems all the more anthropomorphic when the animal is given a name. In the Ysengrimus, the Fox is called Reinardus, a Latin form of Renart, the Fox’s name in the Roman de Renart, and La Fontaine’s Renard, the current spelling. The Fox is all too human. Professor Jan M. Ziolkowski[5] writes that animals featured in the Roman de Renart are

so highly individualized that they have names, like human beings.

This comment reminds me of T. S. Eliot‘s “The Naming of Cats,” Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939). “The Naming of Cats” was a source for Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s   immensely successful musical entitled Cats (1981). (See Cats, Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia.)

Reinardus and Renart

The naming of the Roman de Renart‘s animal cast begins with the Ysengrimus (1148-1149), the birthplace of Reinardus (Latin) who becomes Renart beginning in 1274-1275, when the first “branches” of the Roman de Renart, written in “Roman,” the vernacular, were published. Animals in the Medieval Bestiary are seldom presented with animal attributes, with the probable exception of illuminations (enluminures FR).

Intertextualité

In other words, beasts inhabiting the Medieval Bestiary are stereotypes, or archetypes. Deviousness is the Fox’s main attribute, but it is a literary attribute, by “universal popular consent.” In fact, Medieval Beast literature is an example of intertextuality EN, a term coined by Julia Kristeva in 1966. Intertextuality is a theory according to which texts are rooted in an earlier text or earlier texts. One could also use the word palimpsest.

Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511, Folio 21r
British Library, Royal MS 12 C. xix, Folio 6r

“Bear cubs are born as shapeless lumps of flesh, so their mother has to lick them into their proper shape.” (fol. 21r) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

“The lion is the king of beasts.” (fol. 6r) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 764, Folio 22v

Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 764, Folio 22v

“Bear cubs are born as formless lumps of flesh; here [above] the mother is licking the cub into shape.” (fol. 22v) (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 15r

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 15r

“A mother bear [above] licks her cub into shape.” (Photo credit: The Medieval Bestiary)

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 1951, Folio 18r

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 1951, Folio 18r

“‘le lyon [above] qui fait revivre ses lyonciaus’ – The lion revives its dead cubs. In the Bestiaire d’amour the man says that in the same way the woman can revive him from his love-death.” (fol. 18r) (Photo credit: BnF)

The Fox: “Licking into Shape”

natural histories
licking into shape (Pliny the Elder)
 

Pliny the Elder

In fables and the Reynard the Fox cycle, Renart’s main fictitious characteristic is his devious nature, an attribute bestowed upon him by humans and which he possesses in fables, beast epics, medieval bestiaries, and in Natural Histories, by “universal popular consent.”

Licking into Shape

Pliny the Elder, however, does not mention deviousness with respect to the fox. What Pliny reveals is the birth of incomplete offspring that have to be licked into shape. I have yet to find an image of the Fox licking its offspring into shape, but Bears and Lions also lick their incomplete progeny into shape. (See Fox, in The Medieval Bestiary.) Although this characteristic, i.e. licking into shape, was noted in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, or Natural History (published c. 77– 79 CE), it may have entered animal lore long before Pliny was born.

As noted above, I have not found an image of the Fox licking unfinished foxes into shape, but I have found images of Bears licking their cubs into shape and Lions breathing life into lions born dead.

fr_1580_048

Le Roman de Renart, Renart et Tiécelin le corbeau (Reynard and Tiécelin the crow), br.II, Bibliothèque nationale de France (you may click this link)

The Fox Playing Dead to Obtain Food

Renart et les anguilles (br. III) (Reynard and the eels)
Æsop’s “The Dog and the Fox Who Played Dead” (ATU 56A)
Laurentius Abstemius 146 
 

Animal “lore” also presents a second image of the Fox. We have seen that in “The Crow and Fox” (« Le Renard et le Corbeau, » (La Fontaine I.3) the fox flatters the crow into singing and dropping its dinner. But the literary fox also plays dead to catch food, which is yet another manifestation of the fox’s deceptive literary “nature.” The theft of fish is motif number 1 in the Aarne-Thompson-Üther classification system.

Previously, Isidore of Seville (7th century CE) had written about foxes that they were “deceptive animals.” As for Bartholomeus Anglicus (13th century), he had described the fox as “a false beast and deceiving” that “makes believe it is dead in order to catch food.” (ATU 105)

The fox also plays dead in Laura Gibbs’ Bestiaria Latina:

On Abstemius

Abstemius is the author of the Hecatomythium (A Hundred Fables). Abstemius’ real name was Lorenzo Bevilaqua. He was a professor of literature at Urbino in the 15th century. He published the Hecatomythium, (A Hundred Fables) in 1495, followed by 97 fables, the content of his 1499 Hecatomythium Secundum, published in Venice in 1499. Hecatomythium is a Greek word, but Abstemius wrote in Latin. (See Laurentius Abstemius, Wikipedia – the free Encyclopedia.)

Conclusion

Several Natural Histories were written in Greco-Roman Antiquity, going back to Herodotus‘ Histories. Herodotus described the crocodile, the hippopotamus and phoenix. Many Natural Histories were also published in the early Middle Ages.

However, animals dwelling in

  1. fables;
  2. in beast epics, such as the Reynard the Fox cycle;
  3. in Medieval Bestiaries;
  4. and in Natural Histories are not zoological creatures, but the denizens of literature.

They possess qualities attributed to them “by universal popular consent,” which, in the Middle Ages, may have been the consent of Christian “naturalists,” some of whom were monks and scribes.

The fox, a beloved rascal, was the devil himself. Besides, we owe fox “lore” at least two English expressions: to “lick into shape” and “sour grapes.”

I apologize for my tardiness and send all of you my kindest regards. ♥

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

____________________

[1] The Aarne-Thomson classification system (motif index) was modified by Hans Jorge Üther, hence the initials ATU.

[2] George Fyler Townsend, Æsop’s Fables, Project Gutenberg [EBook #21]. Third paragraph.

[3] Æsop’s fables have been indexed by Ben Edwin Perry (1892–1968). “The Beaver” is Perry Index 118.

[4]  Pliny the Elder died in the eruption of Vesuvius.

[5] Jan M. Ziolkowski, Talking Animals: Medieval Latin Beast Poetry, 750 – 1150 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 3.

Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25, Folio 13v

Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25, Folio 13v

© Micheline Walker
25 September 2014
WordPress

The Codex Manesse

20 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Art, Illuminated Manuscripts, Songs

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Meister des manessischen Liederhandsch

 Der Schenke von Limburg,  fol. 82v (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Meister des mannessischen Liederhandschrift
Codex Manesse  
 
Herr Heinrich von Stretlingen

Herr Heinrich von Stretlingen, fol. 70v

The Minnesang

troubadour
trouvère
Minnesanger
illuminated manuscript (handschrift)
 

Medieval art is always new. It belongs to a collective childhood eager to chronicle every joyous moment of its journey into the future, despite calamities. The plague ended the golden era of the Provençal troubadour (langue d’oc), the trouvères (langue d’oïl) of northern France, and the Minnesingers[i] of German-language lands.

The word “trouvère” applies to all three groups. They were finding (“trouver”), or creating, and they were preserving. The Codex Manesse is a comprehensive collection of German-language songs constituting a most precious and informative testimonial. The codex is an anthology of texts with portraits, but many of its folios are illuminated manuscripts that have survived the test of time. It could well be “the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries.” (See Codex Manesse – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Source

collection of Rüdiger II Manesse and his son
Zürich
14th century
 

The images featured above and below adorn the Codex Manesse, an extensive song book compiled and illumined “between c. 1304 when the main part was completed, and c. 1340.” It is “the most important single source of medieval Minnesang poetry [love poetry].” (See Codex Manesse – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

The Codex Manesse‘s main source was the collection of patrician Rüdiger II Manesse and his son. It was produced in Zürich, and was written in Middle High German. (See Codex Manesse – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Contributors

Emperor (Kaiser)
King (König)
Count (Graf)
Knight
Herr
 

The lyric poets who contributed songs to the celebrated Codex Manesse are listed on the website of Cod. Pal. germ. 848 and under the Codex’s Wikipedia entry Codex Manesse. Many of its contributors were aristocrats and among these dignitaries are Kaiser [Emperor] Heinrich (fol. 6r), König (King) Konrad der Junge (fol. 7r), König Tyro von Schötten (fol. 8r), König Wenzel von Böhmen (fol. 10r), Herzog Heinrich von Breslau (fol. 11v). Earlier folios feature the more aristocratic lyric poets. (See Codex Manesse.)

Details

The Codex contains 137 miniatures that are a series of “portraits” depicting singers who had contributed a song to the Codex. It consists of 6,000 verses from 140 poets totalling 426 parchment leaves, including 140 blank as well as partially blank pages. There were four illuminators. It lacks musical notation. The Codex Manesse is housed at the University of Heidelberg. (See: http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg848; http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/)

Herr Kristan von Hamle, fol. 71v
Graf Kraft von Toggenburg, fol. 22v

Walther von der Vogelweide

Folio 124r is a portrait of the most famous Minnesinger, Walther von der Vogelweide  (c. 1170 – c. 1230). Walther’s main theme was love, but he introduced greater realism in his depiction of love and other topics: political, moral, or religious.[ii]

It appears Walther was born in the Tirol, but learned to sing and speak in Austria. “Ze ôsterriche lernt ich singen unde sagen [sic].” According to Wikipedia, Walther was probably knighted and “was initially a retainer in a wealthy, noble household and had rooms.” (See Walther von der Vogelweide – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

In about 1224, he settled on the fief given to him by Frederick II, in Würzburg. Walther died on his fief.[iii]

Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide, fol. 124r

Konrad von Altstetten, fol. 249v

Konrad von Altstetten, fol. 249v

Sources and Resources

My kindest regards to all of you.

____________________

[i] “minnesinger.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 21 Sep. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/384329/minnesinger>.

[ii] “Walther von der Vogelweide.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 20 Sep. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635145/Walther-von-der-Vogelweide>.

[iii] Ibid.

Arany Zoltán

Kaiser Heinrich

© Micheline Walker
20 September 2014
WordPress
 
 Kaiser Heinrich, fol. 6r
(Photo credit: Heidelberg)
 
 
 
 
 

David Haines: the Third Man

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Terrorism, The Middle East

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President Barack Obama

United States President Barack Obama

It’s very early and I have not heard or read the latest news.

Yesterday, world leaders met in Paris to deal with the crisis in the Middle East. Fuad Masum, the President of Iraq, was in attendance. However, Bashar al-Assad, the President of Iran, did not join the group.

The Strikes

The strikes have not helped. Drones spare lives among the military, but civilians are at risk. Moreover, it appears that flying in elite commandos and a military escort would further endanger the lives of the detainees. All of them may be killed.

Diplomacy

As for diplomacy, if Bashar al-Assad does not attend a meeting of world leaders, a diplomatic resolution may not be possible. Terrorists are not a country and there is no Islamic State.

A Slight Shift

The crisis has shifted, slightly. David Haines, a British aid worker was beheaded on 14 September 2014 and the man in black, left-handed “Jihadi John,” is preparing to slaughter Alan Henning, a 47-year-old British volunteer. Before he was beheaded, David Haines said that he was the victim of America’s allies. In other words, President Obama (G. W. Bush) and David Cameron (Tony Blair), the prime minister of the United Kingdom, were at fault. Who’s holding the knife?

“Jihadi John”

“Jihadi John” has now murdered 3 men in cold blood. He has therefore demonstrated that he is incapable of feeling remorse. I should think he can now be considered a demented terrorist attracting to the Middle East individuals like himself. Apparently, he has been identified, but how does one bring him to justice?

Squatters

There is no Islamic State. Consequently, it would be my understanding that Bashar al-Assad is allowing squatters on his territory: Syria. To my knowledge Isis is killing journalists and aid workers in Syria. Is Syria not protecting its borders?

Criminals, not Muslims

I think it would be prudent not to look upon the terrorists as Muslims. That would be an insult to Islam and very wrong. Isis members are a group of criminals, and criminals are criminals. So far, the strikes have not deterred Isis and are unlikely to do so, which takes us back to a diplomatic resolution and to Bashar al-Assad. Inferno!

Adults, not quite: Fanatics

As my father would have said: “Let them sort it out among themselves. They’re adults.” Indeed, countries in the Middle East are quite capable of looking after themselves. However, these fanatical “adults” have hostages who will be slaughtered if the world does not negotiate their release. Moreover, there is a civil war in Syria. Adults?

—ooo—

We are now going back to our dogs and other beasts, real or imagined. There was a king Garamantes and a kingdom of Garamantia (see National Geographic). The king, his people (Berbers), and his valiant dogs—we are looking at medieval dogs—lived in southwestern Libya. Although the people of Garamantia had devised a sophisticated irrigation system, their territory turned into part of the Sahara desert.

RELATED ARTICLE: Dogs, a long time ago (12 September 2014)

There are websites dedicated to the Garamantes (see Temehu).

Garamante.3imagesGaramantes (Photo credit: Egypt Search, both)

images7Z080GP9

© Micheline Walker
September 16, 2014
WordPress

Dogs, a long time ago

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Beast Literature, Bestiaries

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Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511, Folio 25r

Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511, Folio 25r (Ashmole Bestiary)

Three elegant dogs stand ready. F 25r (folio 25 recto)

Bestiaries

A bestiary is a compendium of beasts most of which have identical characteristics from bestiary to bestiary. In Europe, bestiaries are mostly a product of the Middle Ages, the 12th and 13th centuries in particular. Exceptionally beautiful are the Aberdeen Bestiary  MS 24)  and the Ashmole Bestiary (MS 1462 & MS 1511), both dating back to the late 12th and 13th century.

They are illuminated manuscripts and, in this regard, resemble books of hours. They therefore contain images complemented by superb calligraphy that could vary from bestiary to bestiary, some of which are ancestors to our “fonts.”

Bestiaries were usually transcribed by monks in a scriptorium, a recess in a wall, and were executed on vellum (calfskin) or parchment (calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin). Both the Aberdeen Bestiary (MS 24) and the Ashmole Bestiary MS 1462 (Bodleian Library, Oxford) were written and illuminated on parchment. However, the Ashmole Bestiary MS 1511 (Bodleian Library) was executed on vellum.

Real and Legendary Animals

Not all animals described in bestiaries are real animals. The authors of natural histories often relied on information obtained from individuals who had travelled to the Orient or elsewhere. Thus was born the unicorn. The rhinoceros is a real animal that has one horn, but the unicorn, the monocerus in Greece, is a both an anthropomorphic and zoomorphic animal.

Zoomorphic animals combine the features of several beasts and may be part human and part beast. Such is the case with centaurs and the minotaur. The lower half of a centaur is a horse, the upper, a man. The minotaur’s body is human, but its head is that of a bull.

The Physiologus: the main Source

The best-known “natural history” is the Physiologus (“The Naturalist”), written in Greek in the 2nd century BCE. Authorship of the Physiologus has not been determined, but it was translated into Latin in about 700 CE, our era. It was the main source of information for persons who wrote and illuminated bestiaries.

The Physiologus described an animal, told an anecdote about that animal and then gave the animal moral attributes (See Physiologus, Wikipedia). In the Medieval Bestiary, the anecdote for dogs was “The Dog and Its Reflection.” Natural histories, however, made animals allegorical rather than humans in disguise. The Physiologus is allegorical and emblematic, but in structure, it resembles the fable.

Professor Ziolkowski[i] writes that the

 fable consists of a narrative with a moral, Physiologus of nature observation with moralization.

The most famous copy of the Physiologus is the Bern Physiologus. 

Dogs

In the case of dogs, the Medieval Bestiary (http://bestiary.ca/) describes the animal, tells an anecdote, the “Dog and Its Reflection,” and then informs readers that the dog is the most loyal of animals. The dog may be able to kill but, as the lore goes, it is man’s best friends and therefore emblematic of loyalty. We learn as well that the dog licks wounds.

According to Pliny the Elder (23 BC – 25 August 79 BCE), one of many authors of natural histories, “[t]he domestic animal that is most faithful to man is the dog.” The iconography, images, tells a similar story, but also shows us many greyhounds, as do 20th-century fashion illustrators.

The Gallery

So here are some pictures of faithful dogs who lived in the Middle Ages. The dog featured at the very bottom of this post is about to avenge his master’s murder, but is also a healer. The bestiary in which it is depicted is housed at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. It is an illumination (enluminures) executed on the front page, the folio, of a Bestiary. The front of the folio (the page) is called recto vs verso, the back.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, Folio 48v
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, Folio 49r

  1. A pair of dogs, possibly greyhounds? F 48v (verso: back)

  2. Two dogs, possibly greyhounds or other hunting dogs. F 49r (recto: front)

Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6838B, Folio 12v
British Library, Royal MS 12 F. xiii, Folio 30v
Morgan Library, MS M.81, Folio 28r
Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6838B, Folio 12r

  1. A dog refuses to leave the side of its dead master. F 12v

  2. King Garamantes, captured by his enemies, is rescued by has pack of dogs. f 30v

  3. At the top, a dog attacks the man who killed his master, thus pointing out the guilty. At the bottom, the faithful dog refuses to leave the body of its dead master. f 28R

  4. King Garametes, captured by his enemies, is rescued by his dogs. f 12r

Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris, FR)
Bodleian Library (Oxford, UK)
British Library (London, UK)
Morgan Library (New York, US)
Royal Library (Copenhagen, DK) 
 

This is the description given dogs in the Medieval Bestiary

“Dogs are unable to live without men. There are several kinds of dogs: those that guard their master’s property; those that are useful for hunting wild animals or birds; and those that watch over sheep. A dog cures its own wounds by licking, and a young dog bound to a patient cures internal wounds. A dog will always return to its vomit. When a dog is swimming across a river while holding meat in its mouth, if it sees its own reflection it will drop the meat it is carrying while trying to get the meat it sees in the reflection.

Several stories are told about the actions of dogs. King Garamantes, captured by his enemies, was rescued by his dogs. When a man was murdered and there were no witnesses to say who did it, the man’s dog pointed out the slayer in the crowd. Jason‘s dog was said to have refused to eat and died of hunger after his master’s death. A Roman dog accompanied his master to prison, and when the man was executed and his body thrown into the Tiber River, the dog tried to hold up the corpse.

A dog that crosses a hyena‘s shadow will lose its voice.

Hungry dogs are used to pull up the deadly mandrake plant.” David Badke[ii]

(“Jason” and “Tiber River” are links I have added)

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Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 151, Folio 21v

King Garamantes is kidnapped by enemies; the king’s dogs find him and attack the kidnappers; the king leads his dogs home. F 21v

Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 18r

Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 18r

A dog mourning the murder of its master, and possibly pointing out the murderer. F 18r, or

A young dog bound to a patient cures internal wounds

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

 
 

Kindest regards to all of you.

_________________________
 

[i] Jan M. Ziolkowski, Talking Animals: Medieval Latin Beast Poetry, 750 – 1150 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 34.

[ii] David Badke, The Medieval Bestiary (bestiary.ca) Web.

[iii] David Badke, The Medieval Bestiary (bestiary.ca) Web.

img9140

Arany Zoltán

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© Micheline Walker
12 September 2014
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Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 19r

La Fontaine’s “The Dog that dropped the Substance for the Shadow”

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Art, Fables

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800px-Dog_and_reflection_kalila_and_dimna

The Dog and Its Reflection, Arthur Rackham, illustration

The Dog and Its Reflection,
Arthur Rackham, illustrator (Gutenberg [EB #11339]

“The Dog that dropped the Substance for the Shadow” is an Æsopic fables. It is #133 in the Perry Index where it is entitled “The Dog and Its Image,” or “The Dog and Its Reflection.” We can trace it back to Phædrus and Babrius who committed to paper fables Æsop had told. Phædrus wrote in Latin and Babrius, in Greek. Later fabulists, European or Western, drew their subject matter from these two sources.

There also existed an Eastern tradition of the same fables. According to the foreword, or avertissement, of a seventeenth-century French translation of Les Fables de Pilpay, Æsop, if there ever was an Æsop, seems to have lived in Greece, but was from the Levant.

les Grecs ont suivi les Orientaux; Je dis ‘suivi,’ puisque les Grecs confessent eux-mêmes qu’ils ont appris cette sorte d’érudition d’Esope, qui estoit Levantin.

“[T]he Greeks followed the Orientals; I say ‘follow,’ because the Greek themselves confess that they acquired this sort of knowledge [cette sorte d’érudition] from Æsop, who was from the Levant (Levantin). (See Les Fables de Pilpay philosophe indien, ou la conduite des roys, the Avertissement, p. 10 approximately). It is an online Google book. Pilpay is the story-teller in Vishnu Sharma‘s Sanskrit Panchatantra.

According to one source, L’Astrée, a lenghty seventeenth-century pastoral novel, written by Honoré d’Urfé‘s (11 February 1568 – 1 June 1625), contains the following sentence: « Ce ne sont, dit Hylas, que les esprits peu sages qui courent après l’ombre du bien, et laissent le bien même. » (Hylas said that only silly minds run after the shadow of a possession leaving behind the possession itself). (See lafontainet.net.)

When Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695) chose to rewrite an Æsopic fable, he often used a translation into Latin by Névelet, Mythologia Æsopica Isaaci Nicolai Neveleti, Francfort, 1610. (See lafontaine.net.)

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, Folio 81r The Medieval Bestiary

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, Folio 81r 
The Medieval Bestiary [i]

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 14429, Folio 112v

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 14429, Folio 112v, The Medieval Bestiary

Sources: East and West

West: Phædrus & Babrius
East: The Panchatantra (India), Kalīlah wa Dimna (various)
 

Given that this post features La Fontaine’s fable, I used the Musée de La Fontaine‘s
translation. However, Æsop ‘s version of this fable is told in the Project Gutenberg’s [EB #11339] (V. S. Vernon Jones, trans., G. K. Chesterton, intro, and Arthur Rackham, ill.).

In all likelihood, Vernon Jones used Phædrus (Latin) or Babrius (Greek) as his source. He may also have used another re-teller’s translation of Phædrus and Babrius, the Western tradition.

However, Æsop also told fables belonging to a parallel Oriental tradition. “The Dog that dropped the Substance for the Shadow” was retold in Arabic by Persian Muslim scholar Ibn al-Muqaffa’. His translation is entitled Kalīlah wa Dimna and dates back to 750 CE. Ibn al-Muqaffa’ used Borzōē‘s or Borzūya‘s Pahlavi‘s translation of the Sanskrit Panchatantra, 3rd century BCE, by Vishnu Sharma. (See Panchatantra – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.) The Panchatantra is an online publication. (See Internet Archives.)

The Oral vs the Learned Tradition: literacy

It is therefore possible, perhaps probable, that Æsop, a story-teller whose fables were transmitted to Western Europe, used fables originating in an Eastern and “learned” tradition. The Eastern tradition may have been a “learned” tradition, i.e. written down fables, but the fables, animal fables, were told to people who may not have been able to read or write. Literacy is a key factor in the transmission of fables or tales. It would be my opinion that La Fontaine’s source, Névelet or Neveleti, used Phædrus or Phædrus
retold by other fabulists who may have borrowed elements from Babrius.

A “Learned” Eastern Tradition

In other words, Æsop’s fables were probably transmitted to Western fabulists by Phædus and Babrius, but there is an eastern tradition, a parallel. When La Fontaine wrote his second collection (recueil) of fables, published in 1678, he had read G. Gaulmin’s Livre des lumières ou la conduite des roys (1644) (The Book of Lights or the Conduct of Kings). This book contains Pilpay’s fables. (See Panchatantra, Wikipedia.)

“A New Persian version from the 12th century became known as Kalīleh o Demneh  and this was the basis of Kashefi’s 15th century Anvār-e Soheylī (Persian: The Lights of Canopus). The book in different form is also known as The Fables of Bidpaï (or Pilpai, in various European languages) or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570).” (See Panchatantra, Wikipedia)

Our fable is number 17 in La Fontaine’s sixth book of fables, published in 1668 (VI.17). It was written before La Fontaine read Le Livre des lumières, 1644, the fables of Bidpaï.

The Fables of Pilpay or Bidpaï

Le Livre des lumières = Fables de Pilpay
Hitopadesha: the conduct of kings
Æsop was from the Levant
 

Le Livre des lumières is a Google Book. By following the link Livre des lumières, one can see that the stories of Pilpay or Bidpaï, the story-teller in the Panchatantra or Pañcatantra (3rd BCE, perhaps earlier) are also used to teach a prince the conduct of kings. “The Panchatantra is a niti-shastra, or textbook of the niti. The word niti means roughly ‘the wise conduct of life’.” (The Panchatantra, Translator’s Introduction, p. 5).

The Panchatantra inspired a separate Hitopadesha, fables used to prepare a prince for his royal duties. As its title indicates, directions on the conduct of kings are included in the online Les Fables de Pilpay philosophe indien, ou la conduite des roys. 

La Fontaine’s fable reads as follows:

The Dog that dropped the Substance for the Shadow

This world is full of shadow-chasers,
Most easily deceived.
Should I enumerate these racers,
I should not be believed.
I send them all to Aesop’s dog,
Which, crossing water on a log,
Espied the meat he bore, below;
To seize its image, let it go;
Plunged in; to reach the shore was glad,
With neither what he hoped, nor what he’d had.
 

« Le Chien qui lâche sa proie pour l’ombre » 

Chacun se trompe ici-bas.
On voit courir après l’ombre
Tant de fous, qu’on n’en sait pas
La plupart du temps le nombre.
 
Au Chien dont parle Ésope il faut les renvoyer.
Ce Chien, voyant sa proie en l’eau représentée,
La quitta pour l’image, et pensa se noyer ;
La rivière devint tout d’un coup agitée.
À toute peine il regagna les bords,
Et n’eut ni l’ombre ni le corps.
(VI.17)
 

Æsop’s “The Dog and the Shadow”

A Dog was crossing a plank bridge over a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, when he happened to see his own reflection in the water. He thought it was another dog with a piece of meat twice as big; so he let go his own, and flew at the other dog to get the larger piece. But, of course, all that happened was that he got neither; for one was only a shadow, and the other was carried away by the current. [EB #11339]
 
img188

Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, Folio 18r The Medieval Bestiary

I have not found “The Dog and its Reflection,” in Les Fables de Pilpay, but Bidpaï wrote a similar story entitled “The Fox and a Piece of Meat.” However, “The Dog and its Reflection” is included in the Arabic Kalīlah wa Dimna.

“The Dog and its Reflection” was incorporated in the 12th-century Aberdeen Bestiary, an illuminated manuscript. (See The Medieval Bestiary, scroll down to Æsop’s Fables.)

In Britain, John Lydgate told this story in his Isopes Fabules. His moral was that “Who all coveteth, oft he loseth all.” The fable is also part of Geoffrey Whitney‘s (c. 1548 – c. 1601) Choice of Emblemes.[ii] Whitney’s moral is “to make use of moderate possessions,”
Mediocribus utere partis. This story was told by several fabulists in many countries. (See The Dog and Its Reflection, Wikipedia.)

In La Fontaine’s “Le Chien qui lâche sa proie pour l’ombre,” the moral precedes the example (it usually follows the fable) and seems to differ from the moral provided by other fabulists. La Fontaine warns that one should not be deceived by appearances, a common moral in seventeenth-century France. However, La Fontaine ends his fable by writing that the dog reached the shore “[w]ith neither what he hoped, nor what he’d had.”

Conclusion

We tell the same stories, east and west, but terrorists in the Levant are killing innocent American journalists. I still hope for a diplomatic resolution to the current conflict. Further bloodshed is not necessary. President Obama is a man of peace, so I am confident that he will do what has to be done.

The oak tree is felled by a terrible wind, but the reed bends and survives.

However, that man who beheaded James Foley and Steven Sotloff in cold blood is a criminal.

RELATED ARTICLE

Sources and Resources

____________________
 
[i] David Badke, The Medieval Bestiary, Web
 
[ii] Whitney’s Choice of Emblemes, 39 (online: Choice of Emblemes (Google book)
 
Henry Purcell: Ground in C Minor; Hanneke van Proosdij, harpsichord – YouTube 
 CHIEN-QUI-LACHE-SA-PROIE-PO
© Micheline Walker
10 September 2014
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Æsop & La Fontaine Online, and…

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Fables

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Swans by Walter Crane

Swan, Rush and Iris, by Walter Crane (Art Nouveau)

Swan, Rush and Iris, by Walter Crane (1845-1915)
Bodycolour and Watercolour, England, 1875
© V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Sources

Project Gutenberg
Internet Archives
Bestiaria Latina
Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia or Wikipedia
the Encyclopædia Britannica (online)
 

Internet Sources

I spent a lifetime in the classroom and wish to praise initiatives such as the Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archives. I didn’t have those precious tools. Æsop’s fables are available online, including lovely illustrations one can also use for to illustrate La Fontaine’s retelling of an Æsopic fable. As for Bestiaria Latina or mythfolklore.net, it is a rich and accurate source of information and also leads to texts. Needless to say, Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia is an excellent and exhaustive source of information as is the monumental Encyclopædia Britannica.

I had prepared a long and informative article that contained a list of illustrators. There was a Golden Age of Illustration (1880 – 1920) and a Golden Age of Children’s Literature (see also Artcyclopedia and Pinterest). However, my post disappeared, with the exception of the earliest draft which, fortunately, contained a list of the e-texts I use most frequently. Posting that information will suffice.

—ooo—

The Project Gutenberg Collection

Illustrators

* Could John Rae (ill.) be John Rae Neill (ill.) (12 November 1877 – 19 September 1943)?

La Fontaine, Jean de (1621 – 1695)

For La Fontaine, my favourite site is the Jean de La Fontaine, Château-Thierry. It is La Fontaine’s official and bilingual (French-English) internet site.

La Fontaine wrote many Æsopic fables, so illustrations inspired by Æsop’s fables may also be used to illustrate La Fontaine’s retelling of fable by Æsop.

On the Market

The video features Walter Crane’s illustrations of fairy tales rather than fables, but the two genres are related.

Milo Winter

Milo Winter (Photo credit: Gutenberg #19994)

© Micheline Walker
7 September 2014
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The Æsop for Children

Aesop’s “The Boy Bathing”

05 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Fables

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The Boy Bathing Arthur Rackham (Photo credit: [EBook #11339]

The Boy Bathing, V. S. Vernon Jones (translator), G. K. Chesterton (introduction) Arthur Rackham (illustrator), 1912 (Photo credit: Gutenberg [EBook #11339])

The Boy Bathing

A Boy was bathing in a river and got out of his depth, and was in great danger of being drowned. A man who was passing along a road heard his cries for help, and went to the riverside and began to scold him for being so careless as to get into deep water, but made no attempt to help him. “Oh, sir,” cried the Boy, “please help me first and scold me afterwards.”

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

The Boy Bathing

A BOY bathing in a river was in danger of being drowned. He called out to a passing traveler for help, but instead of holding out a helping hand, the man stood by unconcernedly, and scolded the boy for his imprudence. ‘Oh, sir!’ cried the youth, ‘pray help me now and scold me afterwards.’

Counsel without help is useless.

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The Boy Bathing, G. F. Townsend, translator, Harrison Weir, illustrator, 1867 (Photo credit: Gutenberg [EBook #21])

Æsop’s Fables : c. 620 – 564 BCE

Æsop (c. 620 – 564 BCE)
Phædrus (c. 15 BC – c. 50 CE)
Babrius (c. 2nd century CE)
 

Fables[i] are a source of wisdom and La Fontaine‘s, little jewels. There are several sources of fables, but the above, A Boy Bathing is an Æsopic or Æsopian fable retold by translators of Phædrus (Latin) and Babrius (Greek). Babrius, however, was a Roman.

Æsop, assuming there was an Æsop, was a freed Greek slave who did not write fables. We do not have a manuscript of Æsop’s fables. The fables told by Æsop were therefore transmitted through an oral tradition. They were not written down until Phædrus and Babrius committed them to paper in Latin and in Greek, at which point they entered the learned tradition.[ii]

Doubt lingers as to whether or not there ever lived an Æsop. La Fontaine wrote a life of Æsop and so did other writers. In the case of La Fontaine, writing a biography of Æsop was a way of negating authorship of his own fables.

Under Louis XIV, a friend of Nicolas Fouquet could not chronicle the excesses of his century in a direct manner. To protect himself, La Fontaine borrowed the subject matter of fables and usually featured anthropomorphic animals, humans in disguise. Never would Louis XIV, Sun King, have suggested that he was the lion king of La Fontaine’s Fables.

Ben Edwin Perry (1892–1968) : the Perry Index

There may not have been an Æsop, but there is a body of fables called Æsopic or Æsopian. An index of Æsopic fables was compiled by Ben Edwin Perry (1892 – 1968), a teacher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from 1924 to 1960.

The Wikipedia entry on the Perry Index lists 584 fables, but Wikipedia provides a list of “extended,” fabulists (585, etc.), three of whom are Paulus Diaconus (Paul the Deacon; c. 720s – 13 April probably 799), Odo of Cheriton (c. 1185 – 1246/47), and Romulus FR. 

Characteristics of Fables

  • they usually feature talking animals;
  • in ancient Greece, fables that featured animals were called Æsopic and those that featured humans, Sybaritic;
  • for Isidore of Seville, fables were Æsopic (animals [souls], or “cities, trees, mountains, rocks, and rivers” [no souls]) or Libystic, “Libystic fables are those in which there is a verbal interchange of men with animals or animals with men.”[iii]
  • fables are an example, but there is a genre called Exemplum;
  • the example is the story. Humans remember stories because they illustrate. We are reminded of illuminated manuscripts;
  • the animals used in fables are anthropomorphic. They are humans in disguise, as animals;
  • anthropomorphism both shows and hides human behaviour;
  • children may think that the animals are quite foolish and believe that the manner in which they behave is just fine;
  • many authors have written fables but are not known as fabulists;
  • beast literature overrides genres; &c

Conclusion

I have posted a complete list of the fables discussed on this blog, but there is so much more to say. Fables are very complex and may have several morals.

I must close, but not without saying that I am so sorry we lost Steven Sotloff. His poor family! Next, they will kill a British citizen.

My kindest regards to all of you.

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

____________________

[i] “fable.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 04 Sep. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/199714/fable>.

[ii] Ben Edwin Perry, translator, Babrius and Phædrus, Fables (Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library 436, 1965). (scroll down a little)

[iii] Jan M. Ziolkowski, Talking Animals, Medieval Latin Beast Poetry, 750 – 1150 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), pp. 18 -19.

 —ooo—

Bach / Marcello Adagio – Concerto in D minor

Sensitiva, Miquel Blay

Sensitiva, Miquel
Blay

© Micheline Walker
September 4, 2014
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La Fontaine’s Fables Compiled & Walter Crane, 2nd Edition

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Art, Fables

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5_4crane-babys-own

The Baby’s Own Æsop, illustrated by Walter Crane  (London, New York: Routledge, 1887)
Photo credit: http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/crane/
 
Crane_toybook
Crane’s interest in Japanese art is evident in this 1874 cover of a 
toy book, printed by Edmund Evans. 
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

Illustrator: Walter Crane

I have endeavoured to collect all my posts on Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695), most of which are also discussions of Æsop‘s Fables. We have now discussed many fables by La Fontaine and Æsop. My list may therefore be incomplete.

The ‘Golden Age’ of British book illustration

The illustrations shown in this post are by Walter Crane (1845–1915) who illustrated Æsop‘s Fables adapted for children. Crane lived during the ‘Golden Age’ of British book illustration. His contemporaries were Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, Arthur Rackham, Sir John Tenniel (Alice in Wonderland), and other celebrated illustrators. (See The Golden Age of Illustration.)

Japonism of Toy Books

Crane was influenced by Japonisme: ukiyo-e prints. In England, Japonism was called the Anglo-Japanese Style. The Alphabet of Old Friends, shown above, one of Crane’s toy books, is an example of Japonism both from the point of view of subject matter (e.g. the heron or crane, the oranges) and style: flat colours, etc.

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Arts and Crafts Movement

The Healthy and Artistic Dress Union

However, Crane is usually associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (middle of 19th century) and the Arts and Crafts Movement (1860 and 1910), movements that incorporated the decorative arts and design. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896), a leading member of both movements, designed wallpaper and tiles.  Interestingly, Walter Crane designed not only wallpaper, etc., but clothes for women, looser-fitting clothes. He was in fact a Vice President of the Healthy and Artistic Dress Union. This, I would not have suspected.

At first sight, Walter Crane’s moral for the “Fox and the Grapes” seems rather negative, if one focuses on the word disappointment: “The grapes of disappointment are always sour.” However, this moral may serve to lessen cognitive dissonance, if the grapes are deemed sour. Since Æsop‘s Fables are for anyone to retell, morals may differ from author to author.

La Fontaine’s illustrators

Walter Crane was a fine artist. He is the creator of “Neptune’s Horses,” an artwork that is somewhat reminiscent of Hokusai‘s Great Wave off Kanagawa. “Neptune’s Horses” is featured at the very bottom of this post. However, although Crane illustrated Æsop‘s Fables, and, by extension, some of La Fontaine’s Æsopic fables, the most famous illustrators of La Fontaine’s Fables are Jean-Baptiste Oudry, François  Chauveau, Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard Grandville, Gustave Doré, and others, some of whom I have already mentioned and some I will mention in future posts.

The Video

YouTube has a lovely video featuring Walter Crane’s art.  However, it does not show his illustrations of fables.  It does not fully belong to this post.  The music is Franz Schubert‘s (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) Ständchen, D. 957.

FABLES by Jean de La Fontaine (& Æsop)
(listed in alphabetical order: Boy, Cat, Cock, Fox…
 

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The following list is mostly alphabetical (cha, che, coq, bel). It simply provides the title La Fontaine gave to his Fables. My post are written in English. Sometimes the fable is named in both French and English. They are listed as book (of XII [12]) and number (XII.14)

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Franz Schubert: Ständchen, D. 957

  
Crane© Micheline Walker
September 24, 2013 
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Neptune’s Horses, Walter Crane, ill., 1892
Photo credit: Google Images
(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)

The Middle East: Inferno

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Terrorism, The Middle East, United States

≈ 8 Comments

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President Obama

President Obama

On Friday, I wrote a post that I did not publish. It was about the systematic obstructionism and scapegoating Barack Obama has faced from the moment he was elected to the presidency of the United States. The word systematic is my keyword. Extremists Republicans seem to have gathered to plan President Obama’s demise. The post I wrote will no be published because we know that whatever goes wrong, it’s always the President’s fault or the fault of his administration.

We also know that the main motivation on the part of Congress is avoidance of taxation. Taxes are the “the freedom we surrender” to live in safety. (The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes, 1651) and safety includes the creation of social programmes. Responsible citizens do not invite a government shutdown costing billions simply to ensure they get tax cuts, which is unlikely to be the case if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act survives constant attacks. I believe it’s there to stay.

Dante is lost in Canto 1 of the Inferno. Gustave Doré

Dante is lost in Canto 1 of the Inferno.
Gustave Doré

The President Hesitated

First, yes the President Obama hesitated.

Having said the above, let’s look at inferno: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis). 

http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/29/senior-pentagon-officials-say-obama-hesitated-on-james-foley-rescue-mission/

Yes, there was an attempt to save journalist James Foley, but President Obama hesitated before entering Syria and he did so for good reasons. He was attempting to rescue Jim Foley, but entering a sovereign nation can be interpreted as an act of war and invite retaliation. I realize that there are air strikes as I write and that the U.S. is protecting agencies dropping food to victims of Isil, but, unfortunately, intervention can be perceived as interference.

It would appear James Foley was executed on 19 August 2014, in the Syro-Arabian desert, by a terrorist who has been identified as a Londoner. But there may have been two executioners.

In other words, no sooner was Osama bin Laden found and killed, that terrorists regrouped and named themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), or Is, which is extremely alarming. One thinks terrorism is over, just as the war is over, but a new breed of terrorists emerges and, although there are no boots on the ground, “[a]fter a strike, one can expect anything.” Our new terrorists are rebels without a cause who are accepted by Isil, as though flesh alone a terrorist made.

Dante's Inferno, Plate 22 Hoarders and Wasters, Gustave Doré

Dante’s Inferno, Plate 22
Hoarders and Wasters,
Gustave Doré

“We don’t have a strategy yet”

Second, the President said: “We don’t have a strategy yet.” I watched CNN and happened to hear high-ranking military personnel comment on President Obama’s so-called “gaffe.” They explained that devising a strategy can take a very long time, but also said that the U.S. is prepared to face attackers. After the horrific attacks of 9/11, the U.S. has got tougher. In short, the Pentagon is ready.

However, because of its current debt, the U.S. cannot afford to spend $7.5 m a day on its operation in the Middle East. There have been 100 strikes and the Republicans in Congress would like the United States to adopt a more “aggressive strategy.”

“Republicans in Congress have led calls for a more aggressive strategy against Isis, beyond the strikes which the Obama administration has confined to the north of Iraq, around the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil and the Mosul dam.” (The Guardian)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/john-kerry-global-coalition-isis-iraq-syria-nato

Suing the President

Given that Mr Boehner, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is suing the President, can advice on his part or on the part of extremist Republicans in Congress be taken seriously. The lawsuit will cost taxpayers $500 an hour. Barack Obama is the duly elected President of the United States of America. That does not confer upon him “divine rights,”[i] but it has earned him a degree of respect that he also fully deserves. Suing the President has seriously jeopardized Mr. Boehner’s credibility as well as the credibility of like-minded members of the Republican Party. Mr. Boehner has provided little, if any, evidence that he is a statesman.

http://time.com/3222601/iraq-cost-us-pentagon/

I realize that the U.S. is not acting as a single nation and I am aware that agencies dropping food, water and other supplies to a beleaguered people require protection. However, if the conflict escalates I fully expect Mr. Boehner to blame the President. Moreover, if the U.S. adopts a more aggressive strategy, more money will be spent and the Republicans in Congress will also blame President Obama.

London Counts on Safe-Haven Appeal…

http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/london-counts-on-safe-haven-appeal-for-middle-east-real-estate-investors

If matters degenerate, there may be a few happy individuals, people such as CIT in London, England. They are building or have built a perfect safe-haven for the very rich who may need to escape turmoil.

Given the amount of money these refugees are willing to pay and can pay for a safe-haven, not only are London “developers” hoping to rescue enormously wealthy customers from the Middle East, but apartments have already been sold to wealthy customers in Vancouver and Toronto at prices only royalty can pay. Besides, two save-havens are better than one.

Releasing the Prisoners

I would like the prisoners Isis has captured to be released and for all endangered Americans or foreigners to be pulled out of inferno as soon as possible, if it is possible. However, Isil terrorists are asking for exorbitant ransoms the United States will not pay.

Strikes are very dangerous and one cannot defeat sectarianism. Inferno!

My kindest regards to all of you.

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[i] “divine right of kings.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/166626/divine-right-of-kings>.

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GF Händel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)
Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia
Suite No. 9 in G Minor
Sviatoslav Richter (20 March 1915 – 1 August 1997)
 
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement from Martha's Vineyard
 
© Micheline Walker
August 31, 2014
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