Tuesday, April 21, 2015
What is Truly Evil?
Gowther started out a "wild" child. This continued to a point of what I would consider barbaric. However, we (as a society) acknowledge that barbarians were still human. When reading this, however, I was inclined to think of him as more of an Anti-Christ, half-demon figure. But are their any real differences between the historical barbarians and Gowther? The historical barbarians ransacked villages, looted, and, for the most part, just took what they wanted by force. Gowther ransacked villages, looted, and, for the most part, just took what he wanted by force (including a knightly prefix of "Sir").
However, though a ruthless and savage figure at first, he learns of his dark origins and seeks redemption. Now I wish to pause here for moment and consider a few things. Should "Sir" Gowther continued on his dark, savage path and let us assume that is how he meets his end (perhaps he lives to be of a much older age and during one of his raids, his body fails to move how he wishes it to), would barbarians/vikings view this differently than the catholic pope of the tale would? My answer is "yes." The pope would have acknowledged his soul as being one of the damned and in no way would he find happiness in the afterlife. However, vikings believed that there was no greater honor than to die in battle while holding onto one's weapon during their last breath... and, if I recall correctly, if one managed to do so, paradise was all but guaranteed. However, seeing as the story follows religious values, it took a Catholic turn when he sought redemption for his sins and background. In this manner, is he not more humane than vikings/barbarians? I cannot help but ponder, what is truly evil? Let me put this another way... what would I get if I were to ask for something that had the following two items in common: 'Son of Satan' and 'Savage'? Most likely one would supply me with the answer "The Anti-Christ!"
However, in all religious texts, the Anti-Christ seeks power, followers, and never turns to seek redemption. Gowther does the opposite. Once he learns he is the spawn of Satan, he does not seek gaining unholy power and becoming the evil ruler of prophecy, but rather chooses to do good and make a new name for himself. Now, one last thing left me curious... what will happen if he and his king's daughter (Gowther's lover) were to have a child? I do not believe in any of the stories of Merlin (who is also the spawn of Satan), there are any of him having a child. Merlin had magic and Gowther was unnaturally "wild"... but what would the child of a spawn of Satan be like?
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I like the parallels between barbarians vs. demonic figures, especially since a common prayer during the Viking age was "From the fury of the Norsemen deliver us, O Lord." And a lot of pagan deities/creatures were demonized by the church, such as the Graeco-Roman satyr, a half-goat/half-man being, which is iconic as a modern symbol for Satan. This parallel might have been in the mind of the author but I'm not sure about the date when "Sir Gowther" was written so I can't say for sure. Most of the Viking raids ended around the 11th century so the "son of the devil" trope may have been more of a reference to Merlin than invaders. Speaking in reference of Merlin and your questions of Merlin having a child, he doesn't. But he does transform Uther Pendragon so that he can lay with his enemy's wife while she believes that she's laying with her husband. That plot sounds familiar! And the offspring of that union is none other than King Arthur.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how you brought up the parallels between the barbarians and demonic figures in your blog post! Relating Gowther to the Vikings was something that I did not think to do while reading but I certainly see where you're coming from. However, I don't know if I would call Gowther more humane than the Vikings. Even though he sought redemption, he was sill violent towards the scaracens and it is through this battle that he ultimately wins his forgiveness. In this manner, he certainly seems to parallel the Vikings, but given the information we are provided with in the story I don't know if I would look at him as being more humane than them. It is intriguing to consider though, which leads us once again back to the question of what is evil? Additionally, I also loved how you closed out your post with such a fascinating question! The nature of Gowther's potential child is also something intriguing to think about!
ReplyDeleteThe comparison between Gowther and barbarians was interesting, but I think the motives for each were different. Sir Gowther just went around killing people for kicks and giggles whereas barbarians did it to survive (and maybe a bit of fun sometimes). The barbarians also had families and communities, so they did care about some people while Sir Gowther tore the nipple off of his own mother. As for our last question, I would think that by the time Sir Gowther had a child, whatever nastiness he got from Satan would be diluted enough that it wouldn’t affect his child. Either that or his child wouldn’t have anything bad to inherit because Sir Gowther was forgiven of all sin.
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