Reaving, Grieving

The Broken Sword, X.

Leea sings to Skafloc and concludes:

"...when the sea their life is reaving.

"And their women will be grieving." (p. 66)

Does this sound a bit like Dies Irae?

1 Day of wrath and doom impending.
David's word with Sibyl's blending!
Heaven and earth in ashes ending!

7 What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing?

-copied from here.

Something resonates when lines end in "-ing"!

This also reminds us of another verse by Kipling:

What is a woman that you forsake her,

And the hearth-fire and the home-acre,

To go with the old grey Widow-maker?

-copied from here.

I have quoted the two best parts of Kipling that I know and unfortunately will sail no further with Skafloc tonight.

"Day Of Wrath And Doom Impending"

Some Christian apologists, including CS Lewis, have argued that morality is not subjective (agree), therefore that we are morally accountable to a transcendent person (non sequitur). We are certainly accountable to ourselves and to each other. I think that guilt is internalized shame and that this social origin gives morality all the authority over individuals that it needs.

There was no commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," before there was a community of self-conscious individuals, i.e., persons. Animals killed each other but with no moral significance. "Thou shalt not steal" is even more historically specific, requiring the existence of a property-owning society. There was a time before the production of possessable artifacts and there can be a time when artifacts are so abundant that property in them has become redundant.

If, as I believe, morality is a here-and-now affair, then how should we understand prophecies of a future transcendent Day of Judgment? Poul Anderson's Edh/Veleda presents a pagan and historically specific version. Preaching war against Rome, she prophesies that:

"...a day would yet dawn. Abide it, and be ready when that red sun rose." (see here)

Such prophecies combine moral force with future tense but present focus: "Abide...be ready..."

I think that they mean something like: "This is true; you will see it!"

The transcendent reality, which I think is either impersonal or transpersonal, is always present and will be seen by those with eyes to see it. We, both individually and collectively, can judge ourselves here and now. Who else can do it? These are our moral concepts and judgments, no one else's. Every day is the Day of Judgment if we can see it.

Veleda's prophecy of the fall of Rome expresses an aspiration that was realized with the fall of the Empire, followed by the emergence of different kinds of societies. Veleda is a prophet like her Biblical counterparts:

"David's words with Sybil's blending..."

Two Shrines

The Ysan Shrine of Ishtar is:

a smaller Temple of Belisama;

i.e., an earlier home of the same Goddess under a different name;

in Lowtown;

small;

rammed earth with a slate roof;

on a small plot marked by boundary stones;

plain inside, with clay floor, rough altar, polished Mirror and murals of Star and Moon;

open twice a year, in spring and autumn;

then staffed by a single priestess who prays and waits for supplicants whom she blesses or guides.

Another Ysan place of worship is:

called Lir Shrine on the map (Gallicenae, p. 10);
called the Temple of Lir in the text (p. 254);
under the Gull Tower;
neither Greek like Belisama's nor Roman like Taranis's;
small;
ancient;
dark;
stone with a slate roof;
plain inside, with an altar block inside a whale's jawbones;
staffed by a different ship's captain every day.

Every Ysan captain is an ordained priest of Lir. Hannon Baltisi, Lir Captain, presides over their guild and speaks for it and its cult in the Council of Suffetes. Before the King locks or unlocks the sea gate, he enters the Temple, kneels, receives on his tongue a pinch of salt and asks Lir to withhold His wrath.

This has to be the most primitive form of religion: mere fear of a nature god. The Christian minister calls the Ysan Gods demons. In John Milton's Paradise Lost, the fallen angels, released from Hell, do indeed go about the Earth and receive worship as the pagan deities.

The Council Of Suffetes

Poul and Karen Anderson, Roma Mater (London, 1989).

In Ys, the Council of Suffetes meets in a chamber in the basilica. The chamber is ornamented in stone:

granite;
marble;
serpentine;
onyx -

- and has good acoustics. Tiered, padded benches on two sides of a central passage face a daised throne at the far end. Behind the throne are ten-foot statues of the Triad:

Taranis, male;
Belisama, female;
Lir, a kraken staring from a mosaic slab.

The robed King enters, wearing the Key and carrying the Hammer. Standing before the Throne and raising the Hammer, he says:

"'In the name of Taranis, peace. May His protection be on us.'" (p. 190)

The Nine Queens/priestesses sit on the left at the front. Their leader for the day rises, spreads her arms with palms down and says:

"'In the name of Belisama, peace. May Her blessing be on us.'" (p. 191)

On the right, Lir Captain, in a green and white robe, rises and says:

"'In the name of Lir, peace. May His wrath not be on us.'" (p. 191) -

- and strikes the floor with his trident.

Thus, the Triad personify protection, blessing, wrath and peace.

Apart from the Nine, the Council comprises thirty three men from the thirteen Suffete clans. Entry to the clans is by birth or by marriage for women and adoption for children. Also present is the Speaker for Taranis who, at least when Gratillonius becomes King, also represents the Great House of Timbermen. The Sea Lord, the Lord of Works and the Lord of Gold are ex officio members. There are also guild delegates. The Council meets at equinox and solstice and the King can order a special assembly. At his first meeting, Gratillonius must speak in Latin while others use Latin or Ysan with interpretation as necessary by Queen Bodilis.

There will probably be further posts about the Council and Ys.

Life And Death

There are times when it is appropriate to debate religion and times when it is appropriate to be quiet and listen - or even to read the service.

Dominic Flandry:

"'Will the captain read the service?' she asked...
"She handed him the prayerbook. Me? he thought. But I never believed - She was watching. They all were. His finger stained the pages as he read aloud the majestic words."
-Poul Anderson, Young Flandry (New York, 2010), p. 444.

Rod Blaine:

"Do I believe any of this? Rod wondered."
-Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote In God's Eye (London, 1979).

Rod hears:

"'Eternal rest...'
"'I am the Resurrection...'
"'I heard a voice from Heaven...'
"'Day of wrath, and doom impending...'
"'Unto Almighty God we commend the souls...'" (pp. 390-391)

It is generally accepted in society that we attend marriages and funerals of friends and colleagues, irrespective of their religious tradition. This unites us - most of us. Only a few sectarians disagree.

Rod rightly questions but rightly keeps quiet during a funeral service. There are appropriate channels to continue questioning. One of the chaplains is his confessor. When Rod inwardly philosophizes:

"...there's got to be some purpose in this universe..." (p. 391)

- he begins a discussion in which I would argue otherwise. Our inner conflicts imply that we have evolved without any design or purpose.

Dominic Flandry is less reflective. His nearest approach to deep questioning is when he asks his dead fiancee to help him believe...and adds that he is sorry.

The Battle For Norway

"By King Eirik's order, his skald Dag kept aside on horseback, trotting to and fro, overseeing the battle as best he was able. If he lived through it, his poems would tell the world how it went. Those inside saw only what was upon them. Otherwise, it was shapelessness, wrath, and death."
-Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2002), Book Two, Chapter XXI, p. 181.

A war correspondent! (A participant in the Battle of Cable Street told me, "What did I see on the day? The backs of people's heads. How did I know that we had won? I read it in the newspaper the following day.")

Anderson presents a magnificent account of battle preparations. The levy gathers for days: on foot or on horse, carls, yeomen, hinds, landholders, with helmets, shields or leather coats, spears, axes, swords, bows or slings, jarls, lendmen, hersirs, guards, packhorses, wagons, tents, bags, blankets, fires, food. Meat sizzles. Sausages and fish fry. Horns blow. Ships are launched. Sails are unfurled. A fair wind blows. There are many two word sentences.

Back on land, at the end of the voyage, arrows, stones and spears fly. Armies clash. Dag watches. Olaf's standard goes down, comes up, goes down, stays down. Arinbjorn thrusts through and surrounds those who do not flee. Eirik bursts through and attacks from behind. The battle is won and Eirik begins to reunite Norway but his remaining opponents will appeal to England. Book Two ends.