Dispatch dated 19th Sep 2003

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MILITARY MEDITATIONS

REGARDING

'MEN VERSUS MONSTERS'

IN THE WORLD OF THE

OLD ENGLISH

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The Old-English firmly believed that monsters walked the earth and that they were inimical to Man. That belief-world of the Old English, including their supernatural bestiary, was a vital part of the material taken up by J R Tolkien and turned into 'Middle Earth', whereby he hoped to forge a mythology for modern England.

The idea occurred therefore, of a HOTT listing for the eternal war between humanity and nature's less happy inventions ( or possibly the descendants of Cain, depending who you believe ).

'Normal' DBA* Anglo-Saxon armies are given as:

[ * DBA = 'De Bellis Antiquitatis', a elegant and subtly simple set of wargame ruleswhose delights may be ascertained here: http://tetrad.stanford.edu/DBM.html and here: http://fanaticus.org/DBA/

1 x 4 Warband General

10 x 4 Warband

1 x 2 Psiloi

2 x 4 Blade General + Huscarls

8 x 4 Spears

1 x 2 Psiloi or 4 Spear

Which may be varied with or opposed by any of the following HOTT elements:

HUMANS.

Stronghold. A Saxon Hall.

or:

A Moot tree or standing stone.

Hero. e.g. Beowulf or Harold II.

Paladins. Warrior monks. e.g. St Wilfred and his followers.

Blades. General / King + Huscarls.

Blades. Huscarls.

Spear. Select Fyrd.

Shooters. Youths & skirmishers.

Warband. Berserks.

Hordes. General Fyrd.

Hordes. Rank & File monks.

Lurkers. Assassins.

Magicians. Pagan Priests / Shamans.

Cleric. Christian Missionaries. e.g. St Augustine / St Wilfred.

NB. Human generals may justify fielding avowedly Christian elements such as monks and saints alongside pagan priests etc., as a manifestation of the historically recorded vying between the two faiths for esteem and thus converts.

NON-HUMANS & MONSTERS.

A favoured early explanation for the existence of monsters was that they derived from people cursed in the Bible. Such monsters were often described as the progeny of Cain, who was cursed for murdering his brother, Abel and sent to the east of Eden. Other interpretations suggest that monsters derived from Ham, Noah's son. Ham witnessed Noah in a naked drunken stupor and failed to show proper (?) respect. When revived, Noah cursed Ham for mocking him and, like Cain, Ham was banished from his family.

'Cain, the origin of all murder, spilling of blood, and monsters, passed the torch to Ham, who after Cain's seed was wiped out by the Flood, carried on the tradition of black magic and monsters. Orchard shows persuasively that Mankind v the monsters was a theme that blended Germanic tradition and Biblical ideals, pitting redeemable men against unrepentantly hostile forces.'

'Pride and Prodigies - Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript' by Andy Orchard. University of Toronto Press 2003. Reviewed in Wiðowinde ( journal of The English Companions ) no. 133 Spring 2004.

Therefore, the 'monster army' can be led by:

Human Blades General. Either Cain or Ham.

Cain may be represented as a 'tiller of the ground' (Genesis Ch 4. v2) armed with two rocks ( as per Palestinian legend. 'Folk-Lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian, and Jew' by J. E. Hanauer, London: The Sheldon Press, 1935), pp. 240-241. First published 1907. See:

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/cain.html

Alternatively, he may brandish an ordinary club or the ass's jawbone of Medieval English legend. See:

http://www.paintedchurch.org/kelmscai.htm

Additionally, Cain was singled out by Yahweh with 'The Mark of Cain' - which is not specified in the Bible, but can perhaps be taken as some prominent branding on the forehead.

NB. Literalists should note the following verses from Scripture:

'Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod [ which means 'the land of wandering' ], east of Eden." [Genesis 4:14-16 ]

Therefore, any element which destroys the Cain Blade element should itself be destroyed ( + plus six other elements ? ).

Thus it may be fairer to field Ham, Noah's disrespectful son, as the Monsters' general. Tradition describes him as the progenitor of the Canaanites and so an appropriate figure from one of the many commercial available Biblical era ranges may be suitable.

Stronghold. Yggdrassil - the World Tree with roots to the nine worlds. Plus 3 Norns.

or: Fimbulwinter. A black, wolf-headed, storm cloud.

or: A lonely moor and fell lake.

or: The barred gates of the Garden of Eden.

Gods. Odin, Thor, Seax, Nerthus.

Gods?/Magicians. Norns: Urdur, Verdandi & Skuld.

Dragons. Wyrmeynnes/wormkind. Lyftfloga.

Flyers. Valkyries. 'Choosers of the Slain'.

Flyers. Ravens.

Flyers. Eagles.

Flyers. Widfloga - wide fliers = Pterodactyl?

Flyers/Beasts. Gabriel Hounds.

Hero/Behemoth. Wayland Smith.

Knights. The Wild Hunt.

Knights. Elves / Ylfe. Either Dark or Light.

Behemoth. Grendel or his Mother.

Behemoth ( water ). Afanc.

Behemoth. Giants / Eoten / Ettin / Ents.

Behemoth. Fenris Wolf.

Behemoth. Gog and Magog.

Behemoth. World Serpent.

Behemoth. Mara. 'The Nightmare'.

Behemoth. Blemmye. ( see below )

Behemoth/Hero. Wayland Smith.

Beasts. Wild Hunt followers.

Beasts. Odin's wolves.

Beasts/BUA Lurker. Padfoot.

Beasts/Flyer. Gabriel Hounds.

Beasts. As per Saints Mary & Hardulp Church @ Breedon-on-the-Hill. Leics., which depicts monstrous pack predators with long necks, huge hind legs and puny fore-arms.

Blades. Einherjar / Slain warriors of Valhalla.

Blades. Dwarves / Dweorgh.

Shooters. Dwarves.

Shooters. Elves / Ylfe. Either Dark or Light.

Warband. Trolls.

Warband/Lurkers ( wood ). Woodwose

Warband ? Blemmye. ( see below ).

Hordes/Sneakers. Orcs.

Hordes. Human(ish) Descendants of Cain.

Hordes. Unhola / Undead.

Lurkers ( water ). Sædracon - sea-drakes / Ythgewinnes wave-thrasher.

Lurkers ( water ). Nicor / Knucker.

Lurkers/Sneaker. Redcap.

Lurkers ( wood )/Warband. Woodwose.

Sneakers. Dwarves.

Sneakers/Hordes. Orcs.

Sneakers. Cofgodas. Poltergeist spirits.

Sneaker. Puca / Puck. Mischievous goblin

Magician. Pagan shamans.

Magician. Witches / Wicca / Idesa ( female ancestor spirits. )

Magician/Gods ? Norns: Urdur, Verdandi & Skuld.

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NB re the Blemmye ( or Blemye or Blemmyae ).

Presumably named after the fierce Blemmye desert people from the mountainous regions of Nubia's Eastern Desert near the Red Sea, who raided Roman Egypt and preyed on the ancient trade route connecting the Nile Valley to the African interior. They eventually settled in the Nile valley to form a Blemmye kingdom in southern Egypt and Lower Nubia.

More properly early Medieval than Old English as such, these creatures haunt the edges of early world-maps. They are depicted as humanoids with neither heads or necks but with faces upon their chests beneath their shoulder line. When depicted with weapons they generally carry knobbly clubs or bows. An 11^th century English work 'The Marvels of the East' says they are 8 feet high and 8 feet broad. They should therefore be classified as Behemoths.

See:

http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/subjectidsearch?id=10810&idx=1&start=3

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