Really enjoyed this one and looking forward to the rest of the series! HP, perhaps understandably, catches a lot of flak from both sides of the political aisle. It's refreshing to see a more charitable treatment.
Yeah, that's why I labelled it the 'last' British myth: I don't think any of the themes in this series are going to mean a huge amount to immigrants who are not from North West Europe.
I don’t have anything against the newcomers, but when you inundate a country with different people, you destroy what you had and they’ve done it on purpose. They hate us.
I am Canadian. It’s not nearly as tragic in Canada because we were a new country. The vast numbers of new Canadians, from everywhere, is making Toronto a very interesting city. But the destruction of Great Britain is unconscionable. It is a crime. It is treason.
Yup, but it’s gone, that Canada. (Quebec nationalism is on the rise inter-provincial immigration threats to swap out the Québécois and they are hopping mad.)
Canada is in big trouble.
The loss of Albion is evil. Left liberal progressive thought is evil: fascism, communism, and the remaining ism, liberalism are evil.
"...the Anglo-Saxon ideal of treowþ: a precursor to our word truth which articulates not ‘factualty’ but faith and loyalty. The word of the man of treowþ is his bond..." (15:20)
By thinking about this word "treowþ", and your explanation of it, I gained a glimpse into the mindset of the men of the spring of our civilisation. For them, "factuality" must have been obvious. The Sun rises, the rain falls, a child is born... facts hardly required a word as they simply are what is. What was sometimes hidden and always meaningful would be a man's character, whether or not he was "true".
In our current season, when materialist "reason" reigns, a religion appropriate for the times arises, science, which has its own mysteries - the "facts". e.g. We are made of cells that contain mitochondria which produce ATP to energise our metabolism. All religions require revelations of what was once hidden in order to fulfil that role.
The key difference is that the occult knowledge of our white-robed priests is ever-changing as new scriptures (studies) are written to update old "facts". And regardless, what they offer has little bearing on our lives other than to strip them of meaning and offer us relief from the moral burden of treowþ. Very interesting.
You have laid out a thought that I’ve been noodling on for some time:
“In her universe, if one looks closely, magic always respects a certain form: it is incantational and not invocational. That is to say: words are spoken, and events happen - but words are not used to summon demonic forces or spirits which do the bidding of the sorcerer. Hers is a form of magic made apprehensible to the Christian mind.”
Thank you for expressing this distinction!
It feels like the fully formed thought I’ve been trying to figure out for some time. Why is it that I don’t mind the magic of Rowling’s world, but I have extreme caution about anything “spells & incantations” in the real world? Because there is an ontological difference between the incantational magic within her mythological world and the invocational magic of this real world.
Yes! She's a practicing Christian and has made it clear that she doesn't believe in magic. I think - strange as this is to say - that this shines through in the work
Beautiful and fascinating piece, Thankyou. As an Australian, our cultural heritage is evolved from mother England, yet uniquely shaped and moulded by the tyranny of distance and so many other influences.
Wonderful essay! As an American, but long in love with our shared cultural heritage, this is very meaningful to me. I read the Bible to my children, and many other works, but Beowulf was among the things we shared. It was probably inevitable given that I bear the name Edwin. Thank you!
Your description of Rowling’s imaginary England is fascinating and accurate: a world resacralized. Another fiction series that reflects that approach is Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories (https://www.goodreads.com/series/43050-lord-darcy). Garrett explicitly imagines a post-medieval world in which machines did not replace magic. As in the Potter books, magic is subject to clear rules and involves incantation and not invocation.
Thank you for writing this wonderful exploration. It is the mystery of the ancient druids that makes the subject so intriguing to me. Where did they come from, where did they go? And what is it that they left behind for us? And really, I don't even need the answers to these questions. The inquiry, the thoughts themselves are enough. Your piece made me think of C.S.Lewis' "This Hideous Strength."
Great post! I especially love the reference to treowþ. Our modern notion is not so different, if seen suitably; but it is somewhat impoverished. I have a whole essay rattling around in me about truth as troth and loyalty. I look forward to the next part with interest, and I shall have to watch that commentary on Sir Gawain to tide me over in the mean time.
Really enjoyed this one and looking forward to the rest of the series! HP, perhaps understandably, catches a lot of flak from both sides of the political aisle. It's refreshing to see a more charitable treatment.
Thanks Gelicost!
It’s a shame that the social sciences are destroying our culture through immigration.
Yeah, that's why I labelled it the 'last' British myth: I don't think any of the themes in this series are going to mean a huge amount to immigrants who are not from North West Europe.
I don’t have anything against the newcomers, but when you inundate a country with different people, you destroy what you had and they’ve done it on purpose. They hate us.
I am Canadian. It’s not nearly as tragic in Canada because we were a new country. The vast numbers of new Canadians, from everywhere, is making Toronto a very interesting city. But the destruction of Great Britain is unconscionable. It is a crime. It is treason.
It's a crying shame in Canada too! Canadian culture might have been younger but it is/was no less real. I have good friends there.
Yup, but it’s gone, that Canada. (Quebec nationalism is on the rise inter-provincial immigration threats to swap out the Québécois and they are hopping mad.)
Canada is in big trouble.
The loss of Albion is evil. Left liberal progressive thought is evil: fascism, communism, and the remaining ism, liberalism are evil.
In ancient times,
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people, the Druids
No one knows who they were or what they were doing
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living rock, of Stonehenge
https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-11-2017/Pj-sOM.mp4
"...the Anglo-Saxon ideal of treowþ: a precursor to our word truth which articulates not ‘factualty’ but faith and loyalty. The word of the man of treowþ is his bond..." (15:20)
By thinking about this word "treowþ", and your explanation of it, I gained a glimpse into the mindset of the men of the spring of our civilisation. For them, "factuality" must have been obvious. The Sun rises, the rain falls, a child is born... facts hardly required a word as they simply are what is. What was sometimes hidden and always meaningful would be a man's character, whether or not he was "true".
In our current season, when materialist "reason" reigns, a religion appropriate for the times arises, science, which has its own mysteries - the "facts". e.g. We are made of cells that contain mitochondria which produce ATP to energise our metabolism. All religions require revelations of what was once hidden in order to fulfil that role.
The key difference is that the occult knowledge of our white-robed priests is ever-changing as new scriptures (studies) are written to update old "facts". And regardless, what they offer has little bearing on our lives other than to strip them of meaning and offer us relief from the moral burden of treowþ. Very interesting.
Ryan’s Wife here! 👋
You have laid out a thought that I’ve been noodling on for some time:
“In her universe, if one looks closely, magic always respects a certain form: it is incantational and not invocational. That is to say: words are spoken, and events happen - but words are not used to summon demonic forces or spirits which do the bidding of the sorcerer. Hers is a form of magic made apprehensible to the Christian mind.”
Thank you for expressing this distinction!
It feels like the fully formed thought I’ve been trying to figure out for some time. Why is it that I don’t mind the magic of Rowling’s world, but I have extreme caution about anything “spells & incantations” in the real world? Because there is an ontological difference between the incantational magic within her mythological world and the invocational magic of this real world.
Yes! She's a practicing Christian and has made it clear that she doesn't believe in magic. I think - strange as this is to say - that this shines through in the work
Beautiful and fascinating piece, Thankyou. As an Australian, our cultural heritage is evolved from mother England, yet uniquely shaped and moulded by the tyranny of distance and so many other influences.
Thank you Selma. Nice to know I have Australian readers
Rule, Brittania!
May she rise again
Wonderful essay! As an American, but long in love with our shared cultural heritage, this is very meaningful to me. I read the Bible to my children, and many other works, but Beowulf was among the things we shared. It was probably inevitable given that I bear the name Edwin. Thank you!
Thank you Edwin!
Your description of Rowling’s imaginary England is fascinating and accurate: a world resacralized. Another fiction series that reflects that approach is Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories (https://www.goodreads.com/series/43050-lord-darcy). Garrett explicitly imagines a post-medieval world in which machines did not replace magic. As in the Potter books, magic is subject to clear rules and involves incantation and not invocation.
Oh very interesting. Thanks for the link
You're welcome. I hope that you'll enjoy the stories and find them as interesting as I have.
Thank you for writing this wonderful exploration. It is the mystery of the ancient druids that makes the subject so intriguing to me. Where did they come from, where did they go? And what is it that they left behind for us? And really, I don't even need the answers to these questions. The inquiry, the thoughts themselves are enough. Your piece made me think of C.S.Lewis' "This Hideous Strength."
Thanks Marek.
Great post! I especially love the reference to treowþ. Our modern notion is not so different, if seen suitably; but it is somewhat impoverished. I have a whole essay rattling around in me about truth as troth and loyalty. I look forward to the next part with interest, and I shall have to watch that commentary on Sir Gawain to tide me over in the mean time.
Dr. Masson is great.
I truly loved this. Thank you so much much.
Thanks Betsy!
Thank you Curtis