Valhalla

Valhalla (pronounced val-hal-uh or vahl-hah-luh)

(1) In Norse mythology, a dwelling in Asgard, the Norse heaven, the hall of Odin, reserved to receive the souls of those who fell in battle and others who died heroic deaths.

(2) In casual use, by extension from the classic meaning, an abode of the gods or afterlife in general.

1696: From the New Latin Vahalla, from the Old Norse Valhöll, the construct being val(r) (the slain in battle (and cognate with the Old English wæl)) + höll (hall).  The heavenly hall in which Odin receives the souls of heroes slain in battle appears often in Norse mythology and the word Vahalla was introduced into English in Archdeacon William Nicolson’s (1655–1727) English Historical Library (1696).  Valr (those slain in battle) was from the Proto-Germanic walaz (source also of Old English wæl (slaughter, bodies of the slain)) from the Old High German wal (battlefield, slaughter), from the primitive Indo-European root wele (to strike, wound (source also of Avestan vareta- (seized, prisoner), the Classical Latin veles (ghosts of the dead), the Old Irish fuil (blood) & the Welsh gwel (wound)). Höll (hall) is from the primitive Indo-European root kel- (to cover, conceal, save).  Nicolson’s work was long known only to scholars and it wasn’t until the word was re-introduced in the eighteenth centuries by antiquaries there was any revival of interest but it was the work of Richard Wagner (1813–1883) in the next century that popularised the Norse myths and, in some circles, made Valhalla a cult.  The familiar figurative sense has been used since 1845.  Vahalla was also spelled Valhall, Walhalla & Walhall; the plural is Valhallas (and not always with the initial capital).

Hermann Burghart's (1834-1901) design of Valhalla and the rainbow bridge for the staging of Das Rheingold, Bayreuth, 1878.

Valhalla is the great hall where the god Odin houses the dead whom he deems worthy of dwelling with him.  In the Old Norse poem Grímnismál (The Song of the Hooded One), the architecture of Valhalla is described as honouring military tradition, the roof of the “gold-bright” Valhalla made from the shields of fallen warriors with their spears its rafters.  Around the many feasting tables are chairs made from breastplates and the gates are guarded by wolves, eagles circling above but there are different depictions and there's no one view of where Valhalla was.  In some Old Norse literature, it’s said to be located in Asgard, the gods’ celestial fortress yet other texts suggest it was underground, one of the many places of the underworld.

The dead who reside in Valhalla, the einherjar (the ɛinˌherjɑz̠, (those who fight alone, literally "army of one")), live on as warriors, fighting among each-other and enjoying vivid adventures during the day.  Yet every evening, their wounds are healed, and, restored to full health, they feat on roasted wild boar (Saehrimnir (from the Old Norse Sæhrímnir of unknown origin)) and a mead from the udder of the goat Heidrun (from the Old Norse Heiðrun of unknown origin), all the while waited on by the same beautiful Valkyries who circled the battlefields on which they were slain.  But the einherjar are doomed because Odin has recruited only the bravest soldiers for he wants them for his army in his struggle against the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok, a battled which Odin and the einherjar are fated to lose.

Robert Lepage's (b 1957) design of Valhalla for the staging of Das Rheingold, Met Opera, New York, 2010.

Like the mythology of Greek and Roman antiquity, it’s possibly some of what was passed down during the middle ages is just one variation of the original myth(s) and it’s only in the poetry of Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) that there’s a statement of the path of the fallen to Valhalla.  Snorri’s Prose Edda (circa 1220), a four-volume work drawn from many sources remains the most complete and extensive collection of the Norse mythology known still to exist but the author was also a lawyer and politician and scholars have noted he wrote long after the old Norse paganism had been replaced by Christianity; there’s the suspicion this may have been an influence in the way he synthesized strands from earlier traditions with Christian teaching.  Snorri said those who fell on the field of battle ascend to Valhalla, while those who die a less heroic death are consigned to hell, the underworld.  That does seem unfair (and probably bad public policy) and elsewhere in the Edda, he’s not above allowing the odd fudge, just as Roman Catholic theologians would invent limbo, their own medieval conjecture to tidy up the margins of God’s mysterious ways.  Snorri makes no attempt to justify his (actually quite blatant) contradictions and it’s thought what he wanted to achieve was a kind of lineal alignment between the pagan ways and the Christian, Valhalla and Hel the same diametric opposite as Heaven and Hell in Christian eschatology.  However, as many surviving fragments from earlier texts attest, the tidy, systematized paganism described by Snorri was not entirely that which had been practiced.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie (pronounced val-keer-ee, val-kahy-ree, vahl-kerr-ee or val-kuh-ree)

(1) Any of the twelve beautiful war-maidens attendant upon Odin who rode over battlefields, gathering the souls of slain warriors chosen by Odin or Tyr and taking them to Valhalla, there to wait upon them.

(2) Code name for the civil-military conspiracy against the Nazi German government, culminating in the attempt coup d'état of 20 July 1944 during which an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945).

(3) A frequently used name for high performance machinery (eg Aston Martin Valkyrie, North American XB70 Valkyrie).

1768: From the Old Norse valkyrja (literally "chooser of the slain") and cognate with the Old English wælcyrie (witch).  The construct was valr (those who fell battle, slaughter (and cognate with Old English wæl)) + kyrja (chooser (and cognate with Old English cyrie)).  Kyrja was from the ablaut root of kjosa (to choose), from the Proto-Germanic keusan, from the primitive Indo-European root geus- (to taste; to choose).  The Old English form wælcyrie, strangely was less prevalent in Anglo-Saxon tales than in Scandinavian myths although linguistic anthropologists have suggested this may be a consequence of the better preservation of old texts.  Köri was an alternative Norse form of kyrjam, from the ablaut root of kjosa, from the Proto-Germanic keusan, the earlier form of which was geus (to taste; to choose) from which English ultimately gained gusto.  Richard Wagner's (1813–1883) modern German Walküre was directly from the Norse while the word was first noted in English as a proper noun (valkyries) in the 1770s and as a common noun (valkyries) since the 1880s. Valkyrie is a noun & valkyrian is an adjective; the noun plural is valkyries.

Rides of some Valkries

Valkyries Riding into Battle (1838) by Johan Gustaf Sandberg (1782–1854).

The Valkyries now get quite good press but in heathen times they were thought rather more sinister.  The literal translation of their name (choosers of the slain), referred to them choosing who gains admittance to Valhalla, the Norse resting place of fallen warriors, but in some tellings of the myth they decided also who died in battle and used their malicious magic to ensure their preferences were brought to fruition.  The tales of them writing their ledger of death are recounted in Edda, (an Old Norse term that refers to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: the Prose Edda and an older collection of poems now known as the Poetic Edda.  Assembled in Ireland during the thirteenth century and written in Icelandic, they comprise material reaching back to the Vikings and are the main sources of medieval skaldic tradition in Iceland and Norse mythology), their most gruesome side illustrated vividly in the Darraðarljóð, a poem contained within Njal’s Saga.  In the saga are depicted a dozen Valkyries prior to the Battle of Clontarf, sitting at a loom and weaving the tragic fate of the warriors using intestines for their thread, severed heads for weights, and swords and arrows for beaters, all the while chanting their intentions with ominous delight.  That might delight some radical feminists but part of the myths is also that having carried the fallen to Valhalla, there the twelve beauties waited upon them hand and foot, attending to their every whim.  Readers have always been able to take from mythology what they will.  The artists of the nineteenth century however were always evocatively romantic when depicting the Valkyries, perhaps recalling the  Nietzschean visions in the thirteenth century Norse Saga of the Volsungs in which beholding a Valkyrie is compared with staring into a flame.

Valkyrie and a Dying Hero (circa 1877) by Hans Makart (1840-1884).

The imagery exists also in the folklore of other Germanic peoples.  In the Anglo-Saxon tradition, the valkyries (wælcyrie in the Old English) were female spirits of carnage and the Celts, with whom the Norse and other Germanic peoples associated for centuries, had in their mythology similar beings such as the war goddesses Badb and the Morrígan.  Whether in their loving or bloodthirsty modalities, the valkyries are part of the complex of shamanism that permeates pre-Christian Germanic religion. Much like the ravens Hugin and Munin, they’re projections of parts of Odin, semi-distinct entities part of his larger being.

Hitler’s other Valkyrie

Unity Valkyrie Mitford (1914–1948) was one six daughters of a right-wing father from the English aristocracy, five of whom, had they lived in the modern era would have been among the most prolific on social media and staples of celebrity gossip sites; they were “content providers” and “click bait” before their time.  Diana (1910–2003) became the wife of Sir Oswald Mosley (1896–1980), founder and leader of the British Union of Fascists and the mother of Max Mosley (1940–2021; president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) 1993-2009); on the day she died she was the last person alive to have known both Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) and Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955).  Jessica (1917-1996) became a communist, Nancy (1904-1973 an author of note and Deborah (1920–2014) ended her life as Dowager Duchess of Devonshire.  Only Pamela (1907-1994) enjoyed what might be thought a “normal” rural life.  The only brother (Tom, 1909-1945) was killed while on active service with the British Army in Burma, one of several theatres in which he fought, declining to take up arms against Nazi Germany, his choice of deployment the sort of indulgence the establishment were extended.

Adolf Hitler & Unity Mitford taking tea during the annual Wagner Festival, Bayreuth, Germany, July 1936.

Unity became besotted with admiration for Hitler and although various theories have been offered to account for the attraction which seems to date from her attendance at the 1933 Nuremburg Rally, there’s no doubt about her methods.  While the legend was that after taking up residence in Munich in 1934, she stalked him, making her presence known at the restaurants & cafés where he was a habitué until she gained an invitation to his table, she was a socialite who knew how the system worked and actually gained a meeting by more traditional “networking”.  Hitler was intrigued, not only by her obvious personal (the depth of her political knowledge is contested) devotion but also her family’s historic connections with notable figures of importance in German culture including the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) and the proto-Nazi author Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927).  Telling one confidant that being next to Hitler was “like sitting next to the sun”, she became part of the court circle which surrounded Hitler where the Wagnerian touch of her middle name gained her the nickname “the Valkyrie” and some historians have speculated the second (and rather-half-hearted) of Eva Braun’s (1912–1945) two suicide attempts during the 1930s was at least partially motivated by her jealousy of Unity.

Perhaps already mentally unstable, Unity was distraught at the thought of Britain and Germany being at war and on 3 September 1939 (the day the British declaration of war was delivered), shot herself in the head.  She joined the surprisingly long list of those who survived such an act although, badly injured, she was never again the same; repatriated to the UK via Switzerland, she died in 1948 from complications related to the bullet which remained lodged in her brain.  Even in the 1940s conspiracy theories were a thing and there were several about the already strange tale of Unity Mitford, something encouraged by veil of secrecy her family draped around her.  The most bizarre was that shortly after returning to England she was admitted to a private maternity hospital in Oxford where she gave birth to Hitler’s child.  The origin of the claim was said to have been the sister of the hospital’s former manager who passed it on to her daughter, the niece revealing it some years later.  Unfortunately, it appears the hospital “neglected to register” babies born during the war, something quite unusual and another element onto which the conspiracy theorists latched.  Historians have dismissed the possibility Hitler had a child.

North American XB-70 Valkyrie.

Even while the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1952-1962) was in still in production, the Pentagon was planning its successor.  The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was nuclear-armed, long-range, deep-penetration strategic bomber, capable of cruising at Mach 3+ (circa 2000 mph (3,200 km/h)) at an altitude of 70,000 feet (circa 24 km), performance which would have rendered it close to invulnerable to both ground-based anti-aircraft fire and short-range fighter interceptors.  However, by the late 1950s, while the XB-70 was still in the prototype stage, the introduction of surface-to-air missiles put this near-invulnerability in doubt and this, coupled with the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) meant the brief era of dominance by the big strategic bomber was over although the platforms, re-purposed, remain in use to this day.  In 1961, after two Valkyries had been built (one of which was lost in an accident), the project was cancelled, viewed as a flying dreadnought overtaken by technology.  President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969; US president 1953-1961), a practical military man who had over the decades seen many weapons rendered obsolete by advances in technology, thought the Valkyrie was like "bows and arrows in the gunpowder age".  The end of the dominance of the big strategic bomber had earlier been predicted by the man who more than any remains associated with the once often-expressed advocacy of the platform which alone could win wars: Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris (1892–1984; head of RAF Bomber Command 1942-1945) noted during World War II (1939-1945) the "...day of the heavy bomber will pass as it did for the cavalry charge and soon will for the battleship".  The admirals weren't best pleased to hear that but he was right although, seventy-odd years on, the B-52, much updated, remains in service but it has been re-purposed, no longer envisaged as something to fly over Russian or Chinese targets, dropping gravity bombs.     

North American XB-70 Valkyrie Specifications

Length: 189 ft 0 in (57.6 m)

Wingspan: 105 ft 0 in (32 m)

Height: 30 ft 0 in (9.1 m)

Wing area: 6,297 ft2 (585 m2)

Airfoil: Hexagonal; 0.30 Hex modified root, 0.70 Hex modified tip

Empty weight: 253,600 lb (115,030 kg; operating empty weight)

Loaded weight: 534,700 lb (242,500 kg)

Take-off weight: 542,000 lb (246,000 kg)

Fuel capacity: 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) or 46,745 US gallons (177,000 L)

Powerplant: 6 × General Electric YJ93-GE-3 afterburning turbojets

Dry thrust: 19,900 lbf (84 kN) each

With afterburner: 28,800 lbf (128 kN) each

North American XB-70 Valkyrie Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 3.1 (2,056 mph (3,309 km/h))

Cruise speed: Mach 3.0 (2,000 mph (3,200 km/h))

Range: 3,725 nautical miles (4,288 mi (6,901 km)) on combat mission

Service ceiling: 77,350 ft (23,600 m)

Wing loading: 84.93 lb/ft2 (414.7 kg/m2)

Lift-to-drag: About 6 at Mach 2[116]

Thrust/weight: 0.314

End of an era: The Aston Martin Valkyrie

The days of such things may be numbered but the manufacturers of petrol-fueled hypercars are hastening, while they still can, to offer the rich a way amusingly (and given the aftermarket, often profitably) to spend the quantitatively-eased cash governments have given them this past decade.  In August 2021, Aston Martin unveiled the Valkyrie Spider, an open-roof version of the Formula One-inspired hybrid hypercar, the coupés produced in 2022, the Spiders the following year.  Revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, the Valkyrie Spider differs from the coupé in having a removable carbon-fibre roof panel, two hinged polycarbonate side windows and front-hinged dihedral doors rather than the closed version’s gull-wings.

The powertrain of both is essentially the same, combining a 6.5 litre (397 cubic inch), Cosworth-designed, naturally-aspirated V12 and a single electric motor for a total output of 1160 bhp (865 kW) in the coupé and 20 bhp (15 kW) less in the spider, Aston Martin not commenting on the difference.  Drive is to the rear wheels through what’s described as a seven-speed “automated manual” transmission and though the coupé is slightly lighter, performance for both is said to be similar with a 0-60 mph (100 km) time around 2.5 seconds and a top speed around 217 mph (350 km/h) although it’s noted removing the roof sacrifices about 12 mph (20 km/h).  Eighty-five Valkyrie Spiders will be built, these in addition to one-hundred and fifty coupés and twenty-five race-track only specials and while pricing hasn’t been announced, leaks from the factory suggest something over US$3 million.  Interest is said to be strong although the loss of the lucrative Russian market presumably saw some adjustments in national allocations.  On the car's webpage, the factory summed up its estimate of the performance by concluding "Any faster and it would fly."

Less is more: Underside of the Aston Martin Valkyrie. 

Actually, even were it able to go faster it still might not leave the ground.  While the aerodynamic techniques visible in the bodywork are orthodox by contemporary standards, the Valkyrie also generates much "virtual downforce" by the sculpturing of the underside, significant parts of which are effectively "hollow", the channels using the fluid dynamics of the air-flow to "suck the car to the ground".  The technique has been used for decades but the Valkyrie is the most extreme implementation yet seen on a road car.

Psychopomp

Psychopomp (pronounced sahy-koh-pomp)

In mythology and religion, a spirit, deity, person etc., who guides the spirits or souls of the dead to the other world or after-life.

1835: From the Latin psȳchopompus, from Ancient Greek ψῡχοπομπός (psūkhopompós or psȳchopompós) (conductor (guide) of souls), the construct being ψῡχή (psūkhḗ) (the soul, mind, spirit) + πομπός (pompós) (guide, conductor, escort, messenger). Psyche was from the Latin psychē, from the Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ) (soul).  The modern word psychology was from the French psychologie, from the Latin psychologia, the construct being the Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ) (soul) +-λογία (-logía) (study of).  Pomp was from the Middle English, from the Old French pompe, from the Latin pompa (pomp), from the Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ) (a sending, a solemn procession, pomp”), from πέμπω (pémpō) (I send), from pempein (to send, dispatch, guide, accompany) of unknown origin.  Etymologists note the verb has no etymology drawn from Indo-European traditions and nor does it display the characteristics of loanwords or a pre-Greek vocabulary.  In Classical Latin the nominative was psȳchopompus, the genitive psȳchopompī, the dative psȳchopompō, the accusative psȳchopompum, the ablative psȳchopompō & the vocative psȳchopompe.  Psychopomp is a noun.  The noun plural is psychopomps.

Psychopomps were entities (variously spirits, angels, creatures, birds or even people) in a number of cultures and religions whose role was to guide the souls or spirits of the newly dead from Earth to the afterlife.  Wholly non-judgmental, they impartially took the soul in hand and lead them to the hereafter where, according to tradition, what awaited was perhaps a final judgment but sometimes not.  In both sacred and pagan art, psychopomps have been depicted in (often ethereal) human form, as winged angels, animals such as horses and, very often as winged creatures, most famously ravens or vultures, the birds often in large flocks, massed above and circling, awaiting the death of the dying.  To classicists, the word is most associated with Hermes or Charon but by far the psychopomp which resonates most in popular culture is the Grim Reaper.

Psychopomps of note

La barca de Caront (Charon's boat (circa 1932)) oil on canvas by José Benlliure y Gil (1855 - 1937), Museu de Belles Arts de València.

Although famous in Greek mythology as a pschopomp, Χάρων (Charon, written sometimes as Kharon) was more mercenary than most.  Known as the ferryman of Hades who carries the souls of just deceased who had received the rites of burial, across the river Acheron (pain) (in later accounts, the river Styx (hate)) that divided the world of the living from that of the dead.  Traditionally, Charon’s fee was a single coin (an obolus or danake) which the family left on the lips of the corpse and in some of the myths (there are many variations in Greek mythology), those whose families had not a coin to leave or who were denied funereal rites were condemned to wander the “shores of the river for a hundred winters”.  In the manner of modern container shipping, Charon also carried cargo on his return voyages, the catabasis mytheme recording that heroes (including Sisyphusm, Heracles, Dionysus, Hermes, Odysseus, Orpheus, Theseus & Psyche) were brought back across the river from the underworld in Charon’s boat (although what he charged is not recorded).

Beyond ecumenical, Azrael, the Angel of Death, appears in both Jewish and Christian mythology but in Islamic mythology he uniquely assumes the role of a psychopomp, said to take straight to Allah, every soul directly upon death.  Unlike some traditions in which a role in the timing of someone’s demise is delegated to the pyschopomp, in Islamic theology, only Allah is said to know and decide the precise moment when someone is supposed to die so Azrael has no power of life and death; he is but the cab or the rank, the taxi driver who can never refuse a fare.  In the world of the living, some have tried to help Azrael: there was once a Berber chieftain who instructed his mean to shave their heads, leaving a single tuft of hair so that when their time came, Azrael would have something to which to grab.

Two versions of Valkyrie (1864 (left) & 1869 (right)) by Peter Nicolai Arbo (1831–1892), oil on canvas, Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo.

In Norse mythology there were other psychopomps (Frejya and Odin would sometimes act as psychopomps) but the most famous were the Valkyries, the beautiful maidens who circled high in sky above battlefields, choosing which soldiers would live and which would die.  Half the dead would be taken to Fólkvangr (Freyja's afterlife) and half the Valkyries would take to Valhalla, where they would become einherjar (single fighters) and await the onset of Ragnarök, the climactic “twilight of the gods”.  On the rare occasions when peace reigned and no battles were being fought on Midgard, (the Old Norse name for the soil on which humans dwell), the Valkyries attended the einherjar in the banquet hall of Valhalla, serving them mead (an alcoholic beverage, often described as “fermented honey water” and made by fermenting honey mixed with water, hops and various fruits & spices).  Seen often accompanied by ravens and sometimes connected with swans and especially horses, thanks to innumerable painters of the romantic era and Richard Wagner (1813-1883), (whose Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre (the second of the four musical dramas of his Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung (1870)), is probably is best-known fragment), an aura surrounds the Valkyries but if one digs into the Norse myths, they emerge as not always wholly virtuous, sometimes behaving rather like the mean girls of the age.

Late Period Solid-cast copper alloy figure of Anubis, British Museum, London.

Anubis (νουβις in the Ancient Greek, also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian and romanized as Anoup) was an Egyptian psychopomp but also assigned a variety of roles under different ruling dynasties including a protector of graves, the god of death & the afterlife, mummification and embalming.  Depicted usually as a man with a canine head (thought sometimes during the First Dynasty as the beast alone).  Anubis' female counterpart was Anput and his daughter was the serpent goddess Kebechet.  In his role as a psychopomp, the jackal-headed god was tasked with guiding souls to Duat, the Egyptian underworld, where they would be judged according to the goodliness done during their earthly existence.  The Egyptians (usually) believed the heart was the repository of the soul so Anubis weighted the organ against a single feather representing truth.  Were the heart lighter than the feather, their journey continued but if too heavily laden with sin, Anubis would cast it to Ammit, a demon known as the “Devourer of the Dead” who would consume it.

The versatile, multi-tasking Hermes was the Greek god of commerce, thieves (and there’s some overlap there) and athletes.  However, he was also the messenger of the gods and thus the fleet-footed Hermes was able to travel between worlds, explaining why he was also the god of border crossings.  Uniquely, Hermes was the only Olympian god able to visit Heaven, Earth, and Hades something he never tired of mentioning to the other, realm-bound gods, and another of his tasks was to lead the souls of the dead to the entrance of Hades, where they awaited the boat of Charon to pick them up. Among the best remembered of Hermes’ charges were the suitors of Odysseus’ wife Penelope, all of whom were killed when the hero finally returned from Troy.

Coming & going, dressed for the occasion.  Lindsay Lohan in Grim Reaper mode fulfilling a court-mandated community service order at LA County Morgue, October 2011.

In the modern age it’s the Grim-Reaper who is the archetypal psychopomp.  Depicted since the fifteenth century as a scythe-carrying skeleton (the enveloping black cloak soon became de rigueur), his (there have in the West been some depictions of the reaper as female (although well-known elsewhere) but a male identity is usually at least implied although, at the artistic level, most imagery is genderless which must be right because, having no soul, the reaper is unworldly) mode of operation varies depending on the source.  Some say he selects the souls to harvest by tapping his victim on the shoulder, a notice to quit the world, while others insist he merely gathers the souls of the departed.  In English, the Grim Reaper was first (at p 11) mentioned in The Circle of Human Life (1847, 113 pp) by Friedrich August Gottreu Tholuck (1799–1877), a slim volume published in Edinburgh (by Myles Macphail book-binding) which discussed the stages in the life of a good Christian.

 “There are many who suppose that a clear and certain foreknowledge of the day of their death would exert a very powerful influence upon their mind. In this opinion, however, there must be some deception.  All know full well that life cannot last above seventy, or at the most eighty years.  If we reach that term without meeting the grim reaper with his scythe, there or there about, meet him we surely shall.  Death being thus the most certain of all certain events, why not begin at once the work of preparation for it?”

Not all mythology was written with the intricate plots and tales of the Greek.  In Etruscan mythology, Charun was with good cause known as the “Demon of Death” and often appeared with Vanth, a goddess of the underworld.  His role in death and the harvesting of souls was a efficient but not subtle.  When someone was deemed ready to die, Charun would appear before them and smash their skull with his great hammer until they were dead.  He and Vanth would then take the soul to the underworld; those souls declared evil or unworthy, Charun would punish by taking up his hammer, repeatedly striking them for all eternity.

Honeymoon

Honeymoon (pronounced huhn-ee-moon)

(1) A trip taken by a newly married couple.

(2) A period of a month or so immediately after a marriage.

(3) By extension, any period of blissful harmony.

(4) Any new relationship characterized by an initial period of harmony and goodwill.

(5) In politics, as honeymoon period, a period of heightened popularity enjoyed by a new leader or government.

(6) To spend one's honeymoon (usually followed by in or at); to take a honeymoon.

(7) As second (and presumably third and beyond) honeymoon, a holiday which is intended to capture something of the feeling of the first. 

1540–1450: A compound word, the construct being honey + moon, from the earlier hony moone (though most etymologists suspect that in the oral tradition it was much older).  Honeymoon may be compared with the Middle Low German suckermânt (honeymoon (literally “sugar-month”) and the German Low & German Hönnigweken (honeymoon (literally “honey-weeks”). The German Honigmond, the French lune de miel and the Turkish balaki are all calques of the English term and one intriguing German variation is the plural flitterwochen, the construct being flitter (tinsel) + wochen (week), presumably an allusion to the insubstantial and fleeting nature of a couple’s early affections.  Babymoon and family moon were constructions in line with the original cynical sense of honeymoon the idea that the joy brought by a new-born soon fades as the demands of parenthood become apparent.  Honeymoon is a noun, verb & adjective, honeymooner a noun, honeymooning a noun, verb & adjective and the (simple past tense and past participle) honeymooned is usually a verb but can be applied adjectivally; the noun plural is honeymoon.  As a modifier it’s associated with forms such as honeymoon suite, honeymoon cottage etc.

The pre-900 honey (a viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees and often used to sweeten tea or to spread on baked goods and (by extension) used often to describe anything literally sweet, smooth or in some way desirable (animal, vegetable or mineral)) was from the Middle English hony &  honi, from the Old English hueng & huniġ, from the Proto-West Germanic hunag, from the Proto-Germanic hunagą (related to the Old Norse hunang, the Old Saxon hanig, the West Frisian hunich and the German Honig), from the earlier hunangą (related to the Swedish honung), from the primitive Indo-European kn̥honk-o-s, from kn̥hónks. It was cognate with the Middle Welsh canecon (gold), the Latin canicae (bran), the Tocharian B kronkśe (bee), the Albanian qengjë (beehive), the Ancient Greek κνῆκος (knêkos) (safflower; yellowish), the Northern Kurdish şan (beehive), the Sanskrit kánaka- (gold) and the Northern Luri گونج‎ (gonj) (Bee).  Honey has been productive in English phraseology and word creation including honeybee, honeybun, honeycreeper, honeydew, honeyeater, honeypot & honeysucker.  The alternative spelling was hunny.

The pre-900 moon (with an initial capital the Earth's only permanent natural satellite and without, the technical term to describe other such bodies in the universe) was from the Middle English mone, from the Old English mōna (moon), from the Proto-West Germanic mānō, from the Proto-Germanic mēnô (moon), from the Gothic mena, from the primitive Indo-European mḗhn̥s (moon, month), probably from meh- (to measure).  It was akin to the Old Frisian mōna, the German Mond (moon), the Latin mēnsis (month), the Ancient Greek mḗnē (moon) and the Sanskrit māsa (moon, month).  Poetically, it refers to a month, particularly a lunar month, a measure of time used by pre-modern cultures, surviving in modern use as “many moons” (a long time).  In cartomancy, the moon is the thirty-second Lenormand card and since the emergence of crypto-currencies has been used to describe a rapid increase in value of a coin or token.  Moon has been productive in English phraseology and word creation including ask for the moon, blood moon, blue moon, moonbounce, moonbow, moonless, moonlet, moonstruck, moonwake, moonwalk & moonsick.

Lindsay Lohan on honeymoon at the Bodrum EDITION on the Turkish Riviera, July 2022.  The choice of orange and blue swimwear may not have been in memory of the Gulf livery in which Ford GT40s (left) & Porsche 917s (right) raced during the 1960s & 1970s but both were good choices.

In English, although honeymoon always denoted the period of time following a wedding, the idea now is honey in the sense of sweetness, the first fine careless rapture of love, the happy time in a marriage before reality bites.  However, the original reference was a more cynical reference to that first affection waning like the moon.  Fortunately, the later (attested since 1546), more romantic interpretation prevailed and the meaning is now (1) the first month after marriage", which tends to be the sweetest or (2) dating from circa 1800, the holiday the couple take immediately after the ceremony which, for some, will also be the consummation.  The timing of that consummation could be significant, some claiming (though the evidence is slight) that the honeymoon is a relic both of (1) the old tradition of elopement and (2) marriage by capture, both practices during which the couple (happy and not) went into hiding to avoid reprisals from relatives, the plan being that by the end of the month, the woman would be with child, thus rendering the marriage immune from annulment by the Church.  Whatever the origin, the tradition of a honeymoon crossed the English Channel, known from the 1820s in France as the voyage à la façon anglaise (English-style voyage).  Whether by coincidence or as a product of opportunistic commerce, the adoption on the continent became part of the new industry of (relatively) low-cost mass tourism and honeymoon tours (sometimes in groups) were among the first examples of packaged tourism where transportation, accommodation and sight-seeing were bundled and sold at a fixed price.  

A most attractive tale from ancient Babylonia, though not one all historians accept is that upon marriage, a bride’s father would supply all the “honey kash” (a type of beer to which honey and sweet herbs were added) the groom could drink for one month after the wedding and, because the calendar was lunar based, this month was referred to as the “honey moon”.  Many anthropologists too doubt the story but Persian does have the similar ماه عسل (Māh-e Asal) ("month of honey" or "moon of honey").

Just as the Medieval period was a source of many Greek “myths” reputedly from antiquity, in the nineteenth century, encouraged by the popularity the works of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) had lent to the Norse legends, new “legends” were created, one borrowing from Ancient Babylonia and claiming the source of honeymoon was the “custom of the higher order of the Teutones to drink Mead (or Metheglin, a beverage brewed with honey and, in genuine Norse mythology, the nectar the Valkyries serve in Valhalla to the fallen warriors), for thirty days after every wedding.  Long discredited by historians, the fanciful tale still occasionally is quoted.

The high priest of Haitian voodoo, Max Beauvoir (1936-2015) and a relief painting depicting a voodoo ceremony, Port au Prince, Haiti, February 2010.  Mr Beauvoir was a biochemist before succeeding his grandfather as a Voodoo priest, attaining eventually the title of Supreme Servitur (supreme servant), one of the high titles in the Voudou priesthood.

In December 1975, Bill and Hillary Clinton spent part of their honeymoon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  The honeymoon seems to have been a success although in his autobiography, Mr Clinton did note the “…most interesting day of the trip…” was when they both witnessed a voodoo ceremony conducted by voodoo-priest Max Beauvoir, the highlight apparently when a woman bit the head off a live chicken.  Helpfully, Mr Beauvoir also gave the honeymooners what Mr Clinton described as a "…brief course in voodoo theology" (and since that day, crooked Hillary Clinton has never denied practicing voodoo).  Mr Clinton described the rituals:

"After several minutes of rhythmic dancing to pounding drums, the spirits arrived, seizing a woman and a man.  The man proceeded to rub a burning torch all over his body and walk on hot coals without being burned.  The woman, in a frenzy, screamed repeatedly, then grabbed a live chicken and bit its head off.  Then the spirits left and those who had been possessed fell to the ground."

He added that the experience had profoundly transformed his understanding of God and human nature, the way “…different cultures try to make sense of life, nature, and the virtually universal belief that there is a nonphysical spirit force at work in the world."  "The Lord works in mysterious ways" he added.

Amethyst

Amethyst (pronounced am-uh-thist)

(1) A purple or violet transparent variety of quartz used as a gemstone.  The color is caused by the presence of iron compounds in the crystal structure.

(2) As the oriental amethyst, a purple variety of sapphire.

(3) A variety of shades of purple; darker hues of fuchsia.

(4) A thing containing or set with an amethyst or amethysts.

(5) A nymph from Greek mythology.

1250-1300: From the Middle English amatist, from the twelfth century Old French ametiste (the Modern French being améthyste) and directly from the Medieval Latin amatistus, from the Classical Latin amethystus, from the Ancient Greek αμέθυστος (améthystos) (amethyst) a noun use of the adjective which translated literally as "not intoxicating; not drunken", the construct being a- (not) + methyskein (make drunk) from methys (wine (and a variant stem of methýein (to intoxicate), the source of methylene)) + -tos (the Latin verbal adjective suffix); the source was the primitive Indo-European root medhu- (honey; mead), famous as the nectar the Valkyries would serve to fallen warriors in the halls of Valhalla.  The meaning in Ancient Greek was literal, the belief being that the stone prevented drunkenness, the link to reality being the color which resembled red wine diluted with water which was of course less intoxicating; chemistry then rather than magic but those who took their wine pure were still inclined to wear rings with an amethyst stone in the hope of avoiding a hangover.

One (dodgy) legend of Amethyst

Lindsay Lohan in amethyst-colored tank-top.

In antiquity, the Greeks believed amethyst could prevent intoxication and the practice was to wear the gem in a ring if the drinking session was to be epic although some maintain there were those who kept a stone in their mouth which seems not a good idea when taking strong drink.  As was often the case, later writers also created their own Greek "myths" and one was the story of the how the beautiful nymph Amethyst, while walking to worship at the Temple of Diana, had the misfortune of crossing paths with Bacchus, the god of wine.  Angry (as often he was), he had vowed vengeance on the next person he met so unleashed his two guardian tigers upon the poor waif.  As the great beasts bounded towards her, the goddess Diana intervened and to spare her from her terrible fate, transformed her into a pure, clear stone.  Remorse immediately seized Bacchus and in an attempt to atone, poured his wine over the stone, staining the crystal a deep, violet hue and that's how Amethyst lent her name to the crystal.  Although presented in Classical guise, this "myth" dates only from the Renaissance, the French poet Remy Belleau (1528-1577) creating the tale in 1576.

1994 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6  (964) in Amethyst Metallic over Classic Gray.

The presence of manganese in clear Quartz produces Amethyst, while additional amounts of iron vary the purple coloration. It ranges in hue from pale red-violet to deep violet and may be transparent or opaque. In addition, it is sometimes layered with white Quartz (as Chevron Amethyst), found in combination with Cacoxenite, mixed with Citrine as Ametrine, or in rare cases, “rutilated” with Goethite.  In the modern system of, it's a semi-precious stone but to the ancients it was a “gem of Fire" and at some points in history has been as highly valued as diamonds.  Anglican bishops wear an episcopal ring often set with an amethyst, an allusion to Acts 2:15 in which the Apostles are noted to be sober at nine in the morning, the piece of scripture from which is derived that measure of English respectability: never taking a G&T before noon.  Medieval European soldiers wore amethyst amulets into battle in the belief the stone had healing properties and in several cultures, they were a popular burial stone, found most often in Anglo-Saxon graves in England.  Faith in the healing power of the stone is maintained by the new-age movement, something probably no more nutty than their other beliefs.

An amethyst crystal cluster.

In the weird word of the new age, crystals are of great significance and each is said to be imbued with its own unique properties, the amethyst known often as the “stone of the dreamers”, apparently because it can inspire positive thoughts and inspire one to go forth and turn one’s dreams into reality.  Long associated with February, the month the Romans dedicated to the water god Neptune, it’s the stone of Saint Valentine and faithful love, signifying ecclesiastical dignity as the Bishop’s Stone.  To new agers, it carries the energy of fire and passion, creativity and spirituality; yet bears the logic of temperance and sobriety and crystal specialists among the practitioners extol its properties:

"In the modern world, Amethyst’s healing properties and meanings are similar to their historic roots and it remains a remarkable stone of spirituality and contentment; known for its metaphysical abilities to still the mind and inspire an enhanced meditative state.  Its inherent high frequency purifies the aura of any negative energy or attachments, creating a protective shield of light around the body, allowing one to remain clear and centred while being open to spiritual direction.  Amethyst stimulates the Third Eye, Crown, and Etheric Chakras enhancing cognitive perception as well as accelerating the development of intuitive and psychic ability. It initiates wisdom and greater understanding and is a stone of comfort for those grieving the loss of a loved one.  Amethyst’s ability to expand the higher mind also enhances one’s creativity and passion, strengthening the imagination and intuition while refining the thinking processes. It helps in the assimilation of new ideas, putting thought into action, and brings projects to fruition; amethyst is also well-known as a talisman of focus and success.  Amethyst is an exceptional crystal for wearing on the body, for use in healing rituals, and for enhancing one’s environment.  It has however been known to fade if left in direct sunlight so care should be taken and it’s wise from time to time to clear its energies by holding the stone under running water for short periods.  Remarkably, an unpolished amethyst also has special properties which can recharge other crystals so keep one in a dark space and leave some crystals with it to re-energize."