Folklore in History

Author(s): Margaret A. Murray

Source: Folklore, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Jun., 1955), pp. 257-266
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1258267 .
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 fol khLore
TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY

VOL. LXVI JUNE 1955 [No. 2

FOLKLORE IN HISTORY
(Presidential Address deliveredbeforethe Society at the Annual General
Meeting on March I6th, 1955)
BY MARGARET A. MURRAY

IN studying Folklore in History, it is necessary to take History into

account. And it must be rememberedthat Folklorecan become History,
and History Folklore.
Accordingto Geoffreyof Monmouththe history of Englandbeginswith
the invasion by Brutus and his band of Trojans. Brutus started from
Greece, i.e. the Eastern Mediterranean,passed through the Straits of
Gibraltar,then sailed north till he came to the Loire. The invaders tried
to take possession of the country, but finding the inhabitants too strong
for them, they crossed the Channeland landed at Totnes in Devon, i.e.
West Country. They were influenced by an oracle which Brutus had
obtained from the goddess Diana that they should settle in an island
inhabited by giants. Albion was at that time inhabitedonly by a few
giants. It should be noted that Brutus and his followerswent westward
on landing, and it is from the West Country and Wales that all our
legends of giants and ogres come.
Corineus,one of Brutus's companions,becomes king of Cornwall. " It
was a diversion to him to encounter the giants, who were in greater
number there than in all the other provinces." One detestable monster
named Goamagotwas twelve cubits (18 ft.) high; he could pull
up an
oak with " one shake ". Single combat, in the form of a
wrestling match
(Cornwall was always famous for its wrestlers), took place between
Corineusand Goamagot. The giant broke three of Corineus'sribs, then
Corineusthrew Goamagotover his shoulder,ran with him to the
edge of
the cliff and cast him down on the rocks below.
There are other legends about giants in the West Country; I quote
here only two. In the legend of Childe Horn, a Saracen
(i.e. Eastern
R 257

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258 Folklore in History
Mediterranean) invasion enters the country, led by a giant, who kills
Horn's father, and is himself killed by Horn. Then Havelok the Dane,
when in Cornwall, kills a horrible Pictish (i.e foreign) giant who is about
to marry the very unwilling Cornish princess.
All the stories point to the giants being in the West Country (or Wales)
only. They were invaders and foreigners, usually coming from the
Eastern Mediterranean. They are quite different from the Trolls and
giants of the North, who are usually supernatural beings. The West
Country giants not only come from the East, but they travel along the
ancient trade route which in later times was followed by the Phoenicians

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The legends suggest that some of these people settled in the West,
chiefly in Cornwall. In our native folklore the western giants were of the
type known as Ogres, and ogres were always cannibals.
The typical appearance of these people was probably handed down
orally, and has now become stereotyped. The Ogre was not only very
tall but big-boned as well. He had a broad face with coarse features,
high cheek-bones, lumpy nose, wide mouth with large teeth, and his
beard was coarse, stright and straggly. These are all characteristics of
the moujik of Southern Russia (pl. II a, b). If such a moujik is slightly

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 Folklore in History 259
caricatured and given a sinister expression, he would represent the
Perfect Ogre. And it must be remembered that even as late as Roman
times the Scythian or Southern Russian was a cannibal. Our nursery
rhymes emphasise this custom, as for instance, " Robin-a-Bobbin, the
big-bellied Ben ", who ate " all the good people ". The Beanstalk Ogre
had three heads, and it is interesting to note that as late as the sixteenth
century the South Russians were credited with worshipping a three-
headed god (pl. III). The South Russians belonged to the Ugrian race,
and it is tempting to see in Ugrian the origin of our word Ogre.
I suggest that in these legends there are traces of two distinct invasions
from the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. The first was of the
savage barbarous Scythians, who made a small settlement but did not
spread. The second was of Brutus and the Trojans, who exterminated
the previous settlers, and have left a few traces in the language as well as
in tradition.
There is the third invasion from the Eastern Mediterranean, the record
of which is so overlaid with folklore that it is difficult to see the solid facts
on which the tradition rests. This is the coming of the Christian mission-
aries disguised under the legend of Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy
Grail.
It is a historical fact that the first Christian missionaries to the British
Isles came to Ireland, and the west of England and Scotland, and founded
the British Church. They must have come by the ancient trade route
direct by sea from the Mediterranean.
Kiot is said by Wolfram von Eschenbach to have been the first to
discover the story of the coming of the Grail, which was in an Arabic
manuscript at Toledo, and he had to learn Arabic in order to translate it.
Robert de Borron (c. 1350) gives the earliest record extant in his poem
Yospeh of Aromathea. He recounts the various adventures of Joseph and
his companions bringing the Grail, first to Egypt and then to Britain.'
The Legend. Joseph and his friends leave Jerusalem and go to Bethany
and the country of Damascus and reach Sarras. European scholars have
always looked for Sarras in the neighbourhood of Damascus, and failing
to find it have jumped to the conclusion that the place-names are
fictitious and therefore that the whole story is fictitious. If, however, the
old trade route from Jerusalem to Egypt is followed it will lead
through
the Gebel Damashq (country of Damascus), that strip of desert which
1 For the full
discussion of the subject see my article, " Egyptian Elements in
the Grail Romance ", in Ancient Egypt, 1916, pp. 1-14, 54-69. I am indebted to
that great Arabic scholar, Sir Thomas Arnold, for the identification of the Arabic
personal names.

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260 Folklore in History
lies between Suez and the southern part of the Delta. Here on the east
side of the habitable country is that spring of water which has been
sacred from time immemorial, for it was there that R8, the Sun-god,
washed his face daily, there that the Pharaoh had to wash as part of his
installation ceremonies, and there that, according to Christian legend,
the Virgin washed the clothes of the infant Christ. Crossingthe head of
the Delta to the west side, there are three villages still called Sarras. Of
these Sarras al-Liyaneh appearsto be the town mentioned in the legend.
The King of Sarras was named Evalach, and he was at war with
Tholome Cerastre, king of Babylon. All the personal names in the
legend can be identified as Arabic; the place-namescan be identified as
being chiefly in the Delta. The mediaeval Europeanform of the Arabic
Ibn (son of) being Ave or Avi (as in Averroes and Avicena) Evalach can
be Ibn al-Ukht, " Son of the Sister ", a not unlikely name as emphas-
ising the matrilinealdescent which was probably still practised in Egypt.
Tholome is clearly Ptolemy, and Babylon is the Europeanizedfrom of
Bablun, the capital of Egypt in late Roman times until the conquest by
the Arabs,who foundedthe modernCairo. The place-namesof the legend
can be identified, especially those where battles were fought, for they
survive in small and insignificant villages. I give one example out of
many. The important strategic town of Valashim survives in the village
of Barashim. Another point to notice is that Tholome's subjects and
army are always called Egyptians.
Much of the ritual of the Grail still survives in the Coptic ritual. In
the legend the Grail was enclosed in a receptacle and covered with a
" plateyne ". One of the newly baptized ventured to raise the plateyne
and look inside, and was immediately struck with blindness. But by
sincere penitence and the use of a magic ointment he recoveredhis sight.
Eye-diseases, especially ophthalmia, are common in Egypt, and were
always attributed to the wrath of God, and until the British introduced
scientific treatment of disease, magic ointments found a ready sale.
In a Coptic church no lay person may enter the sanctuary, which is
reserved for the priests only. At the Eucharist the chalice is enclosed
in a decoratedbox without a lid (pl. IV a, b), the cup being hidden undera
mat of stiffenedcanvas coveredwith muslin,in otherwordsa " plateyne ",
a necessity in a land of flies. This chalice box is a unique feature in
Christianritual, found only among the Copts. There are other features
of Coptic ritual which approximate to that of the Grail.
One of the incidents in the war between Evalach is the single combat
between the young prince Nasciens and a giant called Ferreyn, in which

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 Folklore in History 261
Nasciens kills his opponent. The name Ferreyn is obviously a variant
of Faral6n, the Arabic form of Pharaoh. In Egyptian folklore Pharaoh
is always a giant and, being a pagan, he is also a wicked enchanter, and
is therefore very rightly killed by the Christian prince. It should be
noticed that here again is a giant in the Eastern Mediterranean. After
Evalach defeats and kills Tholome, the little body of Christians leave
Egypt to carry the Gospel to Britain, bringing the Grail with them. On
the way the ships are scattered by storm and Evalach, now called by his
baptismal name of Mordrayns, is cast upon a Turning Island. This is a
magical island which pulls itself out of the water twice a day. I take
this to be a description of the Atlantic tide made by a person accustomed
only to the almost tideless Eastern Mediterranean. Joseph brings not
only the Grail but his staff which, when planted, becomes the miraculous
thorn which flowers only at Christmas. After a short stay, Galahad,
son of Joseph, returns to Egypt to become King of Sarras.
The date of the story can be fixed only approximately. Egypt was
christianized very early, possibly in the first century, for according to
tradition it was St. Mark who was the missionary to Egypt. It is, how-
ever, more likely that an organized company of missionaries would come
in the third century, when there were possibly already small groups of
Christians in the country, for the British Church was established in the
West at least three centuries before Augustine came from Rome. The
legend of the early missions would return to Egypt with accretions, and
there obviously received other accretions. Then after the Arab conquest
of Egypt the characters were given Arabic names, and in that
guise came
to Europe. There is a corroboration of this dating from an
English
legend of a Christian prince from Constantinople coming as a missionary
to the West Country. He is said to have planted his staff which became
a tree. The exact date of his coming is given as 71 which is the
I, year of
the final conquest of Spain by the Moslems.
There is an interesting piece of folklore in the Bible, which was
certainly
historical. This is the episode of the Witch of Endor. It was just before
the disastrous battle of Gilboa, and Saul seems to have been
thoroughly
disheartened. Samuel was dead and Abiathar had gone off with the
ephod to David, and though Saul tried all the other legitimate means of
learning the future, " the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams,
nor by Urim, nor by prophets ". He then had recourse to a woman who
had a familiar spirit, what the modern spiritualist calls a " control ".
He told the woman he wished to see Samuel.
Unfortunately her method
of incantation is not given, but she must have done
something for she

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262 Folklore in History
said, " I saw gods ascending out of the earth ", and then, " An old man
cometh up covered with a mantle." It is clear that Saul saw nothing,
but he at once jumped to the conclusion that it was Samuel. One must
remember that he was exhausted by fatigue and want of food, and in a
highly nervous state before a battle, so that the conversation between
Saul and Samuel is not necessarily authentic. What to me is the
interesting point is the method of incantation, which was probably the
same as practised in ancient Egypt and is still done in North Africa. In
Egypt the magician took a bowl of black bronze in which was engraved
a figure of the god Anubis (pl. V). The bowl was filled with clear water,
on which was floated some fine oil; this gives a reflecting but not glitter-
ing surface. The actual seer was a boy under puberty; he gazed into
the bowl, while the magician burned incense and chanted monotonously.
The boy would then see Anubis enter and spread carpets and prepare
thrones for the great gods, who then came in, sat on the thrones and
answered the magician's questions. In Morocco the liquid used is ink,
which like the oil in a black bowl gives a good reflecting surface without
glitter. The seer is again a young boy, who looks into the ink-pool and
sees first servants erecting a pavilion and preparing a throne and then
comes the Sultan, who sets himself on the throne and answers the
magicians' questions. In the case of the Witch of Endor, she was her
own seer, she saw the attendants arrive first; then came the principal
personage, an old man covered with a mantle, who answered the questions.
There was nothing but Saul's own excited fancy to show that this was
really Samuel. In those days the result of a battle depended entirely
on the spirit of the leader. Saul went into that battle completely dis-
couraged, with a presentiment and prophecy of failure.
The belief that God in person led his people in battle is very ancient
it is probably connected with the idea of the divinity of the King. An
early example is when Moses told the Israelites not to go up against the
Amalekites " for the Lord is not among you. But they presumed to
go up. But the ark of the Lord departed not out of the camp. Then
the Amalekites and Canaanites came down and smote them and beat
them down " (Num. xiv). The interesting point here is the fact that
there was nothing in the ark but the tables of stone. These must then
be regarded as Beth-el, the House of God, the object in which the Deity
was indwelling.
In later times an emblem of God was used, and this may be the origin
of the standard. Even now one of our regiments has the Lamb and
Flag as the emblem on their colours.

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 Folklore in History 263
Joan of Arc's banner was of white cloth fringed with silk. In the
centre was the King of Heaven with a figure of the world and an angel
on each side. She valued her banner forty times more than her sword.
Yet her swordwas magical, having been miraculouslyfound in the church
of St. Catherineof Fierbois.
When the Deity was not present in person or in emblem, there were
often supernaturalhelpers in battle.
At the second battle of Barnet, when Edward IV won the decisive
victory over Henry VI, and Warwick the King-makerwas killed, a mist
came up, which was of the utmost value to Edward's army. This was
popularly regardedas being due to the magic of Friar Bungay, who was
a supporter of the Yorkists.
In 1651, the night before the decisive battle of Worcester, Colonel
Lindsay claims that he accompaniedCromwellinto a wood at midnight,
and there they encountereda big black man, with whom Cromwellwent
a little apart. They conversed together, but Lindsay could not hear all
they said except that Cromwellwas trying to persuade the black man to
give him fourteen, while the black man insisted on seven. Finally
Cromwellhad to consent, though unwillingly to seven. The next day
Cromwellwon the battle of Worcester, and that day seven years after
he died in the midst of a tremendous thunder-storm. The account was
published after the Restoration, and is clearly a piece of Royalist
propaganda, but the interesting point is that it was expected to be
believed seriously.
Supernatural helpers have been known in modern times. The great
national hero of Serbia is a mediaeval prince, MarkoKralyevitch (King's
son) who will appear riding on his Sharatz (piebald horse) to help his
country in her time of need. In the Balkan War of 1912 Serbia fought
Turkey for the possession of Macedonia. On one occasion a force of
Serbians were orderedto attack the strong fortress of Prilep held by the
Turks. An eye-witness gives an account of this battle. " Our infantry
was ordered to make a forced march on the eve of that battle. They
were to wait at the foot of the mount of Prilep, on which stood the
Castle of Marko, for the effect of the artillery. They were especially
cautioned against storming the fort until they received the order from
the Commander-in-Chief. During the early morning the infantry kept
quiet, but at the first cannon-shots we noticed an effervescenceamong
our troops, and soon after we heard them shouting frantically and saw
them running like wolves straight to the Castle of Marko Kralyevitch
I could hear the voice of our Captain Agatonovitch commanding them

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264 Folklore in History
to stop and await the General's order. When the immediate commanders
saw that discipline proved futile, they essayed in vain to appeal to their
reason. In a little while our artillery ceased firing, lest they should kill
their own comrades, who were now crossing bayonets with the Turkish
infantry. A few minutes later we saw the Serbian national colours
floating on the donjon of Marko Kralyevitch's castle. A parade was
ordered. I praised my heroes for their brave conduct, but reproached
them bitterly for their disobedience. At my last admonishing words, I
heard from thousands of soldiers, 'Kralyevitch Marko commanded us all
the time " FORWARD ". Did you not see him on his Sharatz?' " (Woislav
M. Petrovitch, Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, translated by C.
Miyatovitch, p. 64, note).
Those of us who have an intimate recollection of the 1914-18 war
cannot forget the Retreat from Mons and the story, believed by thousands
of our own people, of the angels who protected our men. Less known
though equally credited were the White Cavalry of Bethune who, though
seen only by the Germans, caused them to retreat hastily.

PORTENTS AND OMENS

The belief in portents and omens seems to be inherent in the human

race, and at one time was certainly held as a matter of religious faith
Herodotus (vi. 27) makes this definite statement, " The deity is wont to
give some previous warning when any great calamities are about to
befall any city or nation." This is the Pagan view ; Henry of
Huntingdon
has the same opinion but expresses it in Christian
phraseology. " The
great Creator-himself invisible-graciously condescends to instruct our
ignorant minds concerning what is about to happen by visible appear-
ances, and sometimes in very deed gives us a sign from heaven." (Acts
of Stephen, p. 348.) These signs from heaven were
usually comets or
the aurora. All the classical historians and our own old chroniclers are
full of instances of these terrible portents. Henry of
Huntingdon
records that in 729 " two portentous comets appeared near the
sun, one
preceding its rising, the other following its setting, presaging, as it were,
dreadful calamities to both east and west. The comets turned their
blazing tails towards the north. They remained visible for nearly a
fortnight. At which time the Saracens spread destruction far and wide
in France and Spain; but not long afterwards
they met in the same
country the fate their impiety deserved ".
In io66, according to Matthew of Westminster
(p. 564), "a large

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 PLATE III

THREE-HEADED GOD OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA

From Olaus Magnus, Comnpendious History

of the Goths, A.D. 1555

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 PLATE IV

(a)

(b)

COPTIC CHALICE BOXES. WHEN IN USE THE CHALICE

IS ENTIRELY HIDDEN

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 PLATE V

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 Folklore in History 265
comet of a blood-red colour with long hair appeared at the beginning of
this year ". This is the comet which is depicted in the Bayeux tapestry
(p.VI).
The aurora, when seen far south, would certainly be regarded as a
sign of terror. Henry of Huntingdon (Acts of Stephen, p. 347) gives an
eye-witness account of a fine display which he saw before the disastrous
rebellion in Northumberland (1138). " So stupendous was this calamity
that not only makind trembled at it, but the heavens betokened it as
something awful. Shortly before it began, a large quarter of the heavens
was seen to emit fiery sparks like a furnace, and balls of fire of wonder-
ful brightness, like sparks of live coal, short through the air. I myself
witnessed the northern hemisphere in a flame, and saw with my own
eyes luminous flakes floating densely in the blazing air. This visible
appearance of a flaming sky portended either a great effusion of blood
or denoted the burning of towns and villages."
Two modern occurrences of the aurora would certainly have been taken
as portents of war in ancient times. (I) Early in 1939 there was displays
of the aurora seen as far south as London. (2) On three successive nights
just before the Pearl Harbour disaster, the aurora was seen in the United
States as far south as Cleveland, Ohio.

PERSONAL OMENS

The best known of these omens is of William the Conqueror, who fell
as he landed, and rose with his hands covered with mud, when a soldier
pointed out, " Behold, the land is in your hand " (Matt. West, p. 559).
Henry of Huntingdon records several omens which preceded some of
the exciting incidents in King Stephen's career. The most interesting
occurred on Candlemas Day, 1140. " While mass was being celebrated
at dawn of day, and the king, as is the order and office of the festival,
was holding a candle of wax in his hand, it was suddenly extinguished,
the candle as it is said being broken short; but retaining it in his hand,
it was stuck together again and re-lighted, a token that for his sins he
should be deprived of his crown, but on his repentance, through God's
mercy, he should be wonderfully and gloriously recover it. For, inasmuch
as he still held the candle in his hand, although broken, that was a
sign
that he should not resign the crown nor lose the name of king."
There was a terrible omen at the coronation of Henry VI, for the
crown fell from his head.
A great number of omens, all pointing to his fate, are recorded after

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266 Folklore in History
the death of Charles I. The most significant was that when going to his
coronation he had to pass a bust of himself, and as he passed the blood
of a wounded falcon fell on the neck of the bust.
A certain amount of folklore is gathering round Queen Victoria. Her
luck in fine weather was phenomenal. It was said that whenever she
appeared officially in public it was always fine; that even if it was a
wet day, the rain would always hold off while she was " on view ".
Many people believed, and stated their belief openly, that the fine
weather and the peace and prosperity of her reign, showed that she
received special favour from the Almighty.
There were several omens at the beginning of the reign of Edward VIII
which were noticed at the time, merely as current news in the daily papers
but were regarded with misgiving by many people. To give only one
instance: On the occasion of his driving in state to open his first Parlia-
ment, great preparations were made. Traffic was diverted along the route,
and hundreds of police were on duty to control the expected crowds. But
that day the rain came down in sheets : I have seldom seen such heavy
rain lasting almost all day. The king was obliged to go in a closed motor,
and there were few people who ventured to stand in that downpour.
To anyone who remembered the " royal weather " of Queen Victoria
and Edward VII, and believed that to have been granted as a special
favour of God, the omen was certainly unpropitious. Though the
Coronation Day of Queen Elizabeth II was rainy, many people expressed
satisfaction that a gleam of sunshine greeted Her Majesty as she stepped
out of the door of Westminster Abbey.
In this paper by its very title I have had to take most of my information
from books, for we are too near to events which will become history to
realise what folklore underlies them. But folklore is a living thing, it is
always with us, and therefore may have effect on even the greatest
events of history.

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