1275–1325:
From the Middle English gerlande, gerelande, garlande & garland (used to mean both "wreath of flowers" & "crown of gold or silver), from the Old
French garlande, garlaunde, gerlande & guerlande (from which Modern French
gained guirlande) from the Frankish wierlōn & wieralōn, a frequentative
form of the Frankish wierōn (to adorn, bedeck), from wiera (a gold thread), akin to
the Old High German wieren (to adorn) & wiara (gold thread). The Frankish forms alluded to the notion of "an ornament of refined gold" (most likely "of twisted gold wire"), from the Proto-Germanic wira- & wera-, a suffixed form of the primitive Indo-European root wei- (to turn, twist). Variations of garland exist in many Romanic languages including the Old Spanish guarlanda, the French guirlande, the Italian ghirlanda and the Portuguese grinalda. The verb in the sense of "to make a garland" or "to crown with a garland" emerged in the late sixteenth century. Garland & garlanding are nouns & verbs, garlanded is a verb & adjective, garlander is a noun and garlandless is an adjective; the noun plural is garlands.
Commitment issues:
Hamlet and Ophelia by Agnes Pringle (1853-1934)Flowers appealed to William Shakespeare (1564–1616) as a literary device because
their myriad of attributes, color, shape, fragrance, thorns, fragility et al,
offered so many metaphors for the human condition. In the plays, over two-hundred species of
plants are mentioned and thirty-odd scenes are set in gardens or orchids. In Hamlet
(Act IV, scene 5), there’s a harvest in Ophelia’s garland speech to her brother
Laertes:
There's rosemary, that's for
remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And
there is pansies, that's for thoughts. There's
fennel for you, and columbines. There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we
may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O,
you must wear your rue with a difference.
There's a daisy. I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father died. (Act IV, scene 5)
There were fantastic garlands
did she come. Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies and long purples, that liberal
shepherds give a grosser name, but our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call
them. (Act IV, Scene 7)
There were fantastic garlands
did she come, Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies and long purples. (Act IV, Scene 7)
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus or Rosmarinus officinalis (pre 2017)
Since Antiquity, rosemary has been associated with
remembrance, Athenian students at study wore garlands of rosemary as a memory
improvement tool. The name is derived
from the Latin rosmarinus (dew of the
sea), a reference to its blue petals and habitat atop Mediterranean cliffs. In Shakespeare's day, rosemary was in both the
wedding bouquets carried by bridesmaids and the wreaths laid at funeral
wreaths. A contemporary poet, Robert
Herrick (1591-1674) , wrote in a verse “Grow it for two ends, it matters not at all, Be it
for my bridall or buriall." In
English folklore, a man who couldn't smell the fragrant shrub was thought
incapable of loving a woman though in the same tradition, if rosemary was
planted in front of a cottage, it was held to mean the woman was the head of
the household. That was one folk belief said
to have caused the up-rooting of not a few plants. Helpfully, it was said also to repel plague
and witches while sleeping with a sprig beneath the pillow prevented
nightmares. But for Ophelia, distraught
at her father's death and Hamlet's odd behavior, the mention of rosemary
indicates to her brother and the Elizabethan audience her brittle feelings and
lack of confidence: "Pray you, love,
remember."
Daisy (Bellis perennis, bruisewort or woundwort)
The Daisy’s botanical name is friom the Latin bellis (pretty),
the English from the Anglo Saxon daeges
eage (day’s eye); poetically, that was because the petals open during the
day and close at night. Long associated
with childhood and innocence, in Scotland and the north of England it’s known
also as Bairnwort (bairn a
dialectical word for child). In Roman
mythology, the daisy was the virginal nymph Belides
who transformed herself into the flower to escape the sexual advances of the
orchard god Vertumnus. The flower was
symbolic of the Greco-Roman goddesses Aphrodite and Venus as well as Freya, the
Norse goddess of beauty and love for whom Friday is named. The legend is that daisies
picked between noon and one can be dried and carried as a good luck charm and
in English fields, to this day some children still make daisy chains although those
who do grow up to become emos. Unlike
the other plants in Ophelia's garland, the daisy seems to possess only good
connotations but Shakespeare has Ophelia announce the daisy but not hand it
out, the implication being there’s no innocence or purity at court.
Pansy (Viola × wittrockiana)
The word pansy is from the French pensée (for thoughts), the botanical name tricolor a referece to the
three main shades, white, purple and yellow, the heart shaped petals thought to
help heal a broken heart, so it was known also as heartease. Pansies, as Ophelia notes, are for thoughts
and it was also used medicinally, a curative for cramps, hysteria and diarrhea
in children. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairy King Oberon mixes a potion
with the flower's juice: if dropped on the eyelids of a sleeper, it was said
they would awake to fall in love with whatever they first see, hence the
unfortunate Titania, Oberon's wife, falling in love with a donkey.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Apparently, fennel is among the vegetables children most dislike. Pre-dating Shakespeare, Fennel was long regarded as an emblem
of false flattery, noted famously in Robert Greene’s (1558-1592) Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592), the link apparently being the
seeds popularity as an appetite suppressant to aid fasting pilgrims, thus
becoming symbolic of things that appear to give sustenance but have none. Empty flattery to hunger. Shakespeare used fennel often, Falstaff
mentioning it in Henry IV, Part 2 and
for Ophelia, it’s an allusion to her sterile love affair with Hamlet.
Columbine (Aquilegia or granny's bonnet)
The Columbine, known also as granny’s bonnet, was a wild
flower but its beauty made it a popular Elizabethan garden flower, the botanical
name from the Latin aquila (eagle)
because the petals were thought to resemble an eagle’s talons. In a more gentle avian vein, the English is
derived from the Latin columba (dove),
a reference to its nectaries being vaguely reminiscent of the heads of doves. To Shakespeare, the columbine had a number of
symbolic associations. The poet George
Chapman (1559-1634) suggested it was emblematic of ingratitude and William
Browne (1590–1645) declared it stood only for forsaken and neglected love for
in England it also symbolized cuckoldom as the nectaries did look like horns. More helpfully, as the "thankless flower",
the seeds, if taken with wine, were said to induce labor.
Rue (Ruta graveolens or herb-of-grace)
By Shakespeare’s time, rue had been for centuries a symbol of
sorrow and repentance and it’s a long, fabled history. Rue was the plant that
King Mithridates VI of Pontus (135-16 BC) imbibed to protect himself against poisoning and the Greek physician Hippocrates (circa 460-circa 370 BC) recommended it to relieve rheumatic pains, heart palpitations and menopausal symptoms.
The herb's name is derived from the
Greek ruta (repentance) and the Athenians
used it while dining with foreigners to ward off evil demons, spells and
spirits whereas in Ancient Rome it was said to improve eyesight. Its other names, Herb o' Grace or Herb o'
Sundays, refers to the sorrow and resulting grace one feels after true
repentance and the suit of clubs in a deck of cards was modeled after rue's
fleshy, oblong leaves. It remains a call
to regret and repent past evil deeds; due to its strong aromatic smell and bitter
taste, the plant has long been symbolic of sorrow, regret and repentance, hence
the expression “you’ll rue the day”. In Elizabethan
England (1558-1603), it was carried around as protection against plague and witchcraft and even
as an insect repellent. When Ophelia hands it to Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, it
is a subtle rebuke of her faithlessness.
In moderation, rue was used to hasten labor but in larger doses, was
known to be an abortifacient, hence the speculation that when Ophelia utters
the lines "there's rue for you, and here's some for me", it’s a confession
of unwanted pregnancy and another reason for ending her life.
Violet (Viola)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in his essay Of Gardens (1625) wrote the violet was “that
which above all others yields the sweetest smell” and they’ve always been
prized too for their beauty. Despite
this, there’s the association with melancholy and early death, expressed in
Hamlet when Ophelia laments she has no Violets to give to the court because
“they withered when my father died” and it’s Laertes’ wish that violets “may
spring” from Ophelia’s grave. There’s a
duality of meaning in Ophelia’s statement; she’s lamenting not only the death
of her father the lack of faithfulness and fidelity in the court.
Lindsay
Lohan in sheer black gown with embroidered garlands, Francesco Scognamiglio's (b 1975) spring 2015 collection, Naples, June 2015.