[darkagebritain] Re: Pharaoh and Ffaraon Dande
- From: "Kevin Bowman" <kbowman@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'Kevin Bowman'" <kbowman@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <darkagebritain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:10:59 -0500
Dennis asks:
"[C]ould allusions to Ambrosius as Moses be some reference to
deliverance and the promised land?"
Yes, that's absolutely right. Gildas is explicit that the Briton's are
the new Israelites.
The parallels that Gildas draws between Moses and Ambrosius are more
subtle, aggravated by Gildas' St. Stephen-like paucity of names, but I
really think that the parallels are genuine.
I explicated my understanding of those parallels once, here:
http://lists.mun.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0702C&L=ARTHURNET&P=R1962&I=-3
********************************************************
Matt suggests:
>Might allusions to Vortigern as Pharoah and Ambrosius as Moses be a
>hint that Gildas considered them to be rivals or even enemies?
I think one should take that possibility seriously. One note of caution
is that Gildas' historical metaphor is a reference to an altogether
different portion of the Bible than the Exodus. In the Isaiah episode
to which Gildas refers, Egypt was the ally of the Judean kingdom in its
bid for independence from Babylon. Of course, that little adventure did
not end well for either ally. But, labeling Vortigern "Pharaoh" does
fit Gildas' historical pattern if we allow a possible double meaning:
Thus the Broad sweep of Biblical history runs
Pharaoh > Moses > Death of a generation in Sinai> Jericho > promised
land > luxury and sin
And is paralleled in Gildas as
Vortigern > Ambrosius > Death of a generation fighting Saxons > Badon
> peace > luxury and sin
********************************************************
Simon notes:
"I can't see Vortigern himself alluding to the Pharaoh."
I confess that it may not have been the most sensible suggestion.
************************************************************
Finally, I should not that I sent this post out late in the day on
Friday and just checked out the e-mail that I received today. The
formatting just came out dreadfully and renders some of the quotes
barely readable. I am going to re-post them to try to rectify that for
anyone who is interested:
Here's Gildas, Ch.23:
First in Latin:
uos propensius morte, cum abessent, tremebant, sponte, ut ita dicam, sub
unius tecti culmini inuitabant: 'stulti principes', ut dictum est,
'taneos dantes pharaoni consilium insipiens'.
Now in English Translation:
The men whom, when absent, they feared more than death, were invited by
them of their own accord, so to say, under the cover of one roof:
'Foolish princes of Zoan,' as is said, 'giving unwise counsel to
Pharaoh.'
Here is the Gwarchan Maeldderw
First in Welsh:
Dyssyllei trech tram anon,
Disgleiryawr ac archawr tal achon;
Ar rud dhreic fud pharaon,
Kyueillyaur en awel adawavn.
Trengsyd a gwydei, neb a'e eneu
Y ar orthur teith tith, a thedyt.
Then in English (Isaac's) translation:
Let them demand the virtue of fame for the great army!
the champion used to look past a young girl,
the dazzling one, and the one who required due payment for his lineage;
in the presence of the spoils of the Pharaoh's red dragon,
companions (will?) depart in the breeze.
Those who fell perished, those with their heads
in the way of the hammerer with a horse's gait, and the blade of his
axe.
Here is Isaac's note on the word pharaon:
I am interpreting the syntax as a poetic transformation of what would
normally be expressed in the word order (also modernizing orthography)
'ar fudd draig rudd Ffaraon.' As Williams notes the 'red dragon of
Pharaoh' is suggestive of a reference to the story of the dragons of
Dinas Emrys in Nan Gwynant, Snowdonia, as told in HB and Cynfranc Ludd a
Llefelys.
Here is the quote from the English translation of Lludd a Llefelys (in
the Mabinogian):
Lludd wrapped a sheet around [the dragons] and locked in a stone chest
in the most secure place he could find in Eryri and thereafter the place
was called Dinas Emreis though before it had been Dinas Ffaraon Dandde.
[Ed: "The Fort of the Flaming Pharaoh")
Here is the HB:
First in Latin:
et iterum guorthigirnus usque ad arcem guorthigirni, quae est in regione
demetorum iuxta flumen teibi, ignominiose abscessit. et solito more
sanctus germanus eum secutus est et ibi ieiunus cum omni clero tribus
diebus totidemque noctibus causaliter mansit et in quarta nocte arx tota
mediae circa noctis horam per ignem missum de caelo ex improuiso cecidit
ardente igne caelesti; et guorthigirnus cum omnibus, qui cum eo erant,
et cum uxoribus suis defecit. hic est finis guorthigirni, ut in libro
beati germani repperi.
Now, in translation:
Again Vortigern ignominiously flew from St. Germanus to the kingdom of
the Dimetae, where, on the river Towy, he built a castle, which he named
Cair Guothergirn. The saint, as usual, followed him there, and with his
clergy fasted and prayed to the Lord three days, and as many nights. On
the third night, at the third hour, fire fell suddenly from heaven, and
totally burned the castle. Vortigern, the daughter of Hengist, his other
wives, and all the inhabitants, both men and women, miserably perished:
such was the end of this unhappy king, as we find written in the life of
St. Germanus.
Here is Triad 95 in translation:
Three People who broke their hearts from Bewilderment:
Branwen daughter of Llyr,
and Caradog son of Bran,
and Ffaraon Dandde.
Kevin B.
Other related posts:
