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09 Nov 08 - 01:57 PM (#2489150) Subject: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens I saw a reference a while ago, and I can't find it now. It referred to the legend that the Queen of Sheba had hairy legs. Can anyone shed any light on this story? I can find no biblical reference giving any indication about her legs one way or the other. |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:25 PM (#2489180) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: John MacKenzie My mate had an Alsation called Sheba, and it had hairy legs! ¦¬] |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:29 PM (#2489182) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Did they have good depilatories in her day? |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:30 PM (#2489183) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Megan L the hirsuteness or otherwise of her legs is not mentioned in the bible. She is mentioned in two books 1st kings and the book of chronicles. Some think she may have been the subject of the song of songs but there is no documentary or archeological evidence for this. |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:31 PM (#2489185) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Emma B Answers.com give one explanation for the origins of the legend.... 'The Islamic legend of the Queen of Sheba, or Bilqis (alternatively, Balkis) as she is known in the Arabian tradition, stems from these short Jewish narratives. The story of the Queen's appearance at Solomon's court in the Islamic holy text, The Qu'ran, follows a thread similar to that of the Book of Esther. In Chapter 27 of the Qu'ran, a messenger bird declared: "I have come to thee from Saba with sure tidings. I found a woman ruling over all of them; she has been granted everything and she has a wondrous throne. I found her and her worshipping the sun, instead of Allah." The passage further explains that Satan has led the queen and her subjects away from Allah, and Solomon, thinking to test this assertion, sends the bird back to the queen with a letter requesting confirmation of the bird's tale. Upon receiving the queen's response of extravagant gifts, Solomon is not satisfied and writes again, requesting her presence. The queen visits Solomon and, awed by his court, converts to the worship of Allah. Arabian legends based on the Qu'ran embellish this story to include some speculation about the queen's descent from demons and later, her possible marriage to Solomon. Solomon's advisors inform him that the queen has hairy legs; to discover the truth of this, Solomon constructs a palace with glass floors. The queen, believing the floor to be made of water, lifts her skirts, revealing her legs and feet.' "later Moslem writers interpreted this physical peculiarity as showing that she was of jinn descent; they constructed a romantic history of her father's marriage to a jinn maiden. " |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:32 PM (#2489186) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Alice Why would you even want to know, or care? |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:43 PM (#2489198) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Alice ah, didn't see your post when I posted, Em. Just curious, greg, why did this question come up for you? |
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09 Nov 08 - 02:48 PM (#2489202) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Emma B The legend has also been the subject of illustrations like this modern minature by Caroline Hayes and a series by Ana Maria Pacheco |
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09 Nov 08 - 03:21 PM (#2489220) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Charley Noble So Solomon had a hairy legs phobia, or was it a phobia of his advisors? There is also a legend that the Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia. Charley Noble |
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09 Nov 08 - 05:07 PM (#2489286) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Big Al Whittle Its a strange thought. If the scriptures had been more explicit, Handel might have written a piece called:- 'Old Hairy Legs is Back' Rather than 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'. Yul Bryner might have co-starred with Ernie Wise in 'Solomon and Sheba'. Who knows perhaps she was like one of those East German shot putters and she had vestigial testicles as well. She could have written an autobiography, 'Knackers Under My Yashmak'. I would have bought a copy. |
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09 Nov 08 - 05:21 PM (#2489296) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens Alice: the reason I asked is very simple. I am the project director for the Penkhull Mystery Plays, which is a community drama type of project in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The subject of King Solomon is coming up for a potential script discussion meeting, and I have undertaken to deliver a synopsis of Solomon's life to the meeting tomorrow night. I had this snippet of folk lore about Sheba's legs tucked away in my brain, but I couldn't think where I had read it. Thanks to Emma B's very informative anbswer a few posts back, I now know the facts. Mudcat, as always, is an excellent source of comment and knowledge. |
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09 Nov 08 - 06:08 PM (#2489342) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Rapparee She was a-wearin' angora chaps, pardner. |
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09 Nov 08 - 08:17 PM (#2489443) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Stilly River Sage I would think the answer is naturally "yes, she had hairy legs. Women do." The question then becomes, did she do anything about it? SRS |
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09 Nov 08 - 08:39 PM (#2489450) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Emma B 'Determined to discover if the stories of her deformed foot were true, he (Solomon) arranged for a stream of water to flow onto the glass beside his throne (in the Quran, he had running water with fish swimming about it under clear glass), so that Sheba would lift her skirts as she approached him. When she did so, he noted the hair on her legs, and told her, "Thy beauty is the beauty of a woman, but they hair is masculine; hair is an ornament to a man, but it disfigures a woman." He then invented a depilatory' (described elsewhere as a mixture of lime and arsenic) Targum Sheni, retold in Ginzberg, (1913) p.145, in Ginzberg (1956) p.562, in Silberman in Pritchard, pp. 70-71. Also appears in ben Yosef, Sadya, the Ma'ase Malkath Sehba, THE TALE OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, and in the Qu'ran Another perspective on the legend from Ruth Fainlight whose collection of poems, Burning Wire, (published to coincide with the exhibition `The Queen of Sheba: Treasures from ancient Yemen' at the British Museum 2002) contains a long sequence inspired by the legend. 'The prime symbol of the challenge Sheba presented, and the sense of fear, mystery and repugnance it produced, is her hairy legs. To establish the truth of rumours that her mother had been a demon (because no fully human woman could possibly be so self-sufficient, and demons always have hairy legs), Solomon received the queen in a court where his djinns had magicked the floor to seem a pool of water. Deceived, Sheba raised the hem of her skirt to stop it getting wet. Solomon's reaction to the sight was intensely erotic; and yet as though he must suppress any flicker of homosexual arousal, he ordered his demons to concoct the first recorded depilatory ointment to make Sheba feminine enough for his attentions. A hairy woman is a threat not only sexually but also politically, and his need to seduce her was as much an attempt to neutralise the power of a rival as to dominate her as a man.... Sheba's challenge was first posed millennia ago, but the fear that, by claiming sexual and political parity, dangerous women will upset the balance of the universe still dominates masculine thinking - and sensible women should never forget it.' |
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09 Nov 08 - 08:43 PM (#2489453) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Rapparee Abe Lincoln said when asked how long leg hair should be, "Long enough to reach the ground." I'm pretty sure that was what he said that about anyway. |
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09 Nov 08 - 09:05 PM (#2489465) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Charley Noble Here's to old Abe! What a weird thread! Old Solomon was one wise ass. Charley Noble |
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09 Nov 08 - 09:52 PM (#2489496) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Ed T This hair is starting to grow legs. |
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09 Nov 08 - 09:56 PM (#2489498) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Ed T http://humor.about.com/b/2003/07/24/wise-ass-colonoscopy-remarks.htm |
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09 Nov 08 - 10:03 PM (#2489506) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: artbrooks I can't honestly say that I have been able to find any comparative study on the web of the relative amount of leg hair between Ethiopian and Middle Eastern women. |
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09 Nov 08 - 11:01 PM (#2489531) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Stilly River Sage You haven't wasted your time looking for it, have you, Art? |
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09 Nov 08 - 11:26 PM (#2489535) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Bert and the hairs |
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10 Nov 08 - 02:10 AM (#2489573) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Big Al Whittle I never knew there were that many verses. Its a strange emotion, the urge to create poetry and great music. I wonder if there ever was a Mayor of Bayswater? These traditional pieces often had a sound basis in fact. I think Martin Carthy said that. |
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10 Nov 08 - 09:17 AM (#2489766) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Charley Noble Was not the child produced by the successful conjugation of Solomon and Sheba the hair apparent? I rest my case! Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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10 Nov 08 - 09:23 AM (#2489769) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: artbrooks Apparently not, Charley...consider David. |
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10 Nov 08 - 10:45 AM (#2489837) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens In the bible they never conjugated(or at least, it is not referred to), though I believe there was some fraternisation in Muslim versions of the story. |
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10 Nov 08 - 10:51 AM (#2489846) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Liz the Squeak The Romans used to pluck their underarm hair, but I can't remember any references to them plucking leg hair.. I suppose if they thought one distasteful, then the other would naturally follow. I do like a good fraternise now and again. LTS |
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10 Nov 08 - 11:11 AM (#2489875) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Azizi With regard to The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon see this excerpt from the wikipedia page on Haile Selassie I: "Haile Selassie I was born Lij Tafari Makonnen... "Lij" translates literally to "child", and serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood. He would later become Ras Tafari Mekonnen; "Ras" translates literally to "head"[9] and is the equivalent of "duke",[10] though it is often rendered in translation as "prince". In 1928, he was elevated to Negus, "King". Upon his ascension to Emperor in 1930, he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Power of the Trinity".[11] Haile Selassie's full title in office was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God" ...(This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who in the Ethiopian tradition was the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[12]" {italics added by me for emphasis} -snip- Also, see this excerpt from Queen of Sheba 2 by Tracy Marks*: ..."Arabian folklore and the Qu'ran present fanciful stories of the Queen of Sheba. Many of these tales involve magic carpets, talking birds, and teleportation - the miraculous transfer of Balkis' throne in Sheba to Solomon's palace. One notable tale involves the hoopoe bird, who tells Solomon about Balkis and delivers to her a demand from him - unless she visits him, he will annihilate her people. In one story, her foot which is shaped like an ass's foot is transformed into a human foot when she steps on Solomon's glass floor; in another story, Solomon invents a depilatory in order to remove goathair from her legs. Several Jewish legends which developed in post-Biblical times also present dubious accounts of the Queen and Solomon. Although many of her challenges to Solomon are believable, others given in the Targum Sheni, the Midrash Mishle and the Midrash Hachefez are similar to Islamic tales, and likewise unconvincing. More realistic portraits of the Queen of Sheba appear in the Bible and the Kebra Negast. According to Ethiopian legend, she was born in 1020 B.C. in Ophir, and educated in Ethiopia. Her mother was Queen Ismenie; her father, chief minister to Za Sebado, succeeded him as King. One story describes that as a child Sheba (called Makeda) was to be sacrificed to a serpent god, but was rescued by the stranger 'Angaboo. Later, her pet jackal bit her badly on one foot and leg, leaving lasting scars and deformity. When her father died in 1005 B.C., Sheba became Queen at the age of fifteen. Contradictory legends refer to her as ruling for forty years, and and reigning as a virgin queen for six years. In most accounts, she never married. Sheba was known to be beautiful (despite her ankle and leg), intelligent, understanding, resourceful, and adventurous"... * Sorry for the lack of website addresses or hyperlinks. I'm away from my computer and for some reason I can't get the website addresses to show. |
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10 Nov 08 - 11:12 AM (#2489876) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Lizzie Cornish 1 I think Sheba should have told Solomon exactly where to put his hair removing concoction, put her hairy legs proudly to the fore, then explained to him that she was far more than hairy legs..and if couldn't see past that, then he was sixpence short of a shilling in her book... "Love Me, Solomon, Love My Hairy Legs, as I Love Yours" Why DO women have to have smooth legs anyway, and not men? |
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10 Nov 08 - 11:29 AM (#2489899) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Azizi Wikipedia's page on the Queen of Sheba provides the following information about the Queen of Sheba and the geographical location of "Sheba", and more: "The Queen of Sheba (Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ Nigista Saba, Hebrew: 'מלכת שבא Malkat Shva, Arabic: ملكة سبأ Malikat Sabaʾ), was the woman who ruled the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an. The location of the historical kingdom may have included parts or all of modern day Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Yemen... Known to the Ethiopian people as Makeda (ማክዳ mākidā), this queen has been called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. To King Solomon of Israel she was the Queen of Sheba. In Islamic tradition she was Bilqis. The Roman historian Josephus calls her, Nicaula. She is thought to have lived in the 10th century BC (1000 BC-901 BC). In the Hebrew Bible, a tradition of the history of nations is preserved in Beresh't 10 (Genesis 10). In Beresh't 10:7 there is a reference to Sheba, the son of Raamah, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, son of Noah. In Beresh't 10:26-29 there is a reference to another person named Sheba, listed along with Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab as the descendants of Joktan, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Arphaxad, the descendant of Shem, another son of Noah. Aharoni, Avi-Yonah, Rainey, and Safrai placed the Semitic Sheba in Southern Arabia in geographic proximity to the location of the tribes descended from their ancestor, Joktan. In addition to Sheba, Hazarmaveth and Ophir were identified. Semitic Havilah was located in Eastern Africa, modern day Ethiopia. Semitic Havilah (Beresh't 10:29) is to be distinguished from Cushite Havilah (Beresh't 10:7), the descendant of Cush, descendant of Ham; both locations for Havilah are thought by these scholars to have been located in present day Ethiopia.[1] The multiple references to Havilah may indicate historical Semitic migration from the southern Arabian peninsula to the African continent. An alternative account would place the origins of the Semites and the ancient Israelites in Ethiopia. The ancient Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote that "many, again, say that they [the Israelites] were a race of Ethiopian origin" (Histories (Tacitus), Book 5, Paragraphs 2 and 3).[2] Thus, the Queen of Sheba would rightly be placed as a descendant of the Semitic Sheba people located in southern Arabia, but with more than likely origins from Ethiopia"... |
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10 Nov 08 - 02:37 PM (#2490080) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: heric You know - You think you can give up reading mudcat BS and then a thread like this comes along. Followed up, of course, by "Monks Battle in Jerusalem." |
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10 Nov 08 - 04:16 PM (#2490192) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Bee-dubya-ell Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? I dunno, but if she were the Queen of France, I'd say the odds were pretty high. |
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10 Nov 08 - 05:04 PM (#2490227) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Rowan In the bible they never conjugated But they certainly seemed to "know" one another quite well. Cheers, Rowan |
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10 Nov 08 - 07:56 PM (#2490379) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Big Al Whittle 'Why DO women have to have smooth legs anyway, and not men?' I suppose its cos most men don't use fishnet stockings. The hairs stick out in an unattractive manner. I should imagine. Also you wouldn't like shaving. It would give you stubbly legs like emery paper - people would be striking matches on you in the bus queue. and other places. All this about Gillette giving you a close shave is bollocks. You'd end up woith a bum like Desperate Dan's chin. Also you could attract a funny sort of man - it would start out with hairy legs,but within a short while, he'd be plying you with steroids and feeling your muscles. So in conclusion - go for smooth. |
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10 Nov 08 - 08:29 PM (#2490393) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Charley Noble Azizi- Thanks for tracking down the Ethiopian background of the Queen of Sheba. Her encounter with King Solomon (aka "None the Wiser") was still commemorated when I was in residence back in the 1960's. And Menelik I was indeed well known to be their off-spring. Charley Noble |
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11 Nov 08 - 02:10 PM (#2490935) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Mrrzy Solomon's advisors inform him that the queen has hairy legs; to discover the truth of this, Solomon constructs a palace with glass floors. The queen, believing the floor to be made of water, lifts her skirts, revealing her legs and feet.' But were they hairy? |
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11 Nov 08 - 02:15 PM (#2490943) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens It seems to me that if the floor was made of mirrors, the picking up the skirt bit was unnecessary. He could have just looked anyway. The deformed foot angle is interesting, that has been mentioned earlier in the thread. A lot of kings had deformed legs or feet didnt they? I think Odysseus, among others? I ssem to remember some Robert Graves theory about this, he reckoned Jesus had a bad leg or something. It was to do with ritual maiming of the heir apparent for some puropse or other. I think perhaps to do with the maiming of smiths by tribes in the Iron Age. |
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11 Nov 08 - 03:40 PM (#2491042) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: TheSnail Faxinating! Do you have any references for this? I've been intrigued about the lameness of smiths since noticing that both Wayland and Hephaestus (Smith by Divine appointment to the Pantheon of Olympus) were lame. The Fall of Hephaestus after he was thrown out of Olympus has interesting parallels with the Fall of Lucifer. I expect smiths had (and have) hairy legs. |
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11 Nov 08 - 03:48 PM (#2491054) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens I think the theory was that smiths must have been very valuable memebers of the tribe once metals were discovered, so smashing their legs was a reasonable ruse to stop them running off in search of higher wages elsewhere. But how that applies to kings, or even queens, I am not sure. Sheba had mines, I suppose, so something to with metallurgy? Might explain the deformed leg, or the hairy leg...descended from devilish/djinn/underground troll type? |
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11 Nov 08 - 04:00 PM (#2491058) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: TheSnail Could have been the other way round. Smithing is mainly arm work so if you've got a strapping big lad with a gammy leg (either by birth or accident) that stops him hunting or working in the fields, make him the smith. Whether Solomon would have fancied him is an entirely separate question. |
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11 Nov 08 - 05:23 PM (#2491136) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Azizi For what it's worth, I don't think that blacksmiths have a deformed leg in West African legends. However, blacksmiths were definitely revered in many traditional West African cultures. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia page of Blacksmiths Of West Africa: ..."Ogun, the god of iron, is one of the pantheon of "orisa" traditionally worshipped by the Yoruba of Nigeria (Ross). Ogun is the god of iron and metalworking and was himself a user of iron as a blacksmith and metal worker. In Yoruba the use of "O" means "a spiritual force has mastered a particular form of wisdom" (Fatunmbi). Ogun therefore means the survival through assertive and aggressive action that is directed toward maintaining survival (Fatunmbi). Most of Nigeria's numerous ethnic cultures have a god of iron and metalworking in their traditional religion. The Mande blacksmiths The Mande blacksmiths are powerful individuals holding very important positions in society. Blacksmiths are often called upon by the chief for guidance in major decisions regarding the village. The power of the blacksmith is thought to be so great that they are also feared. Mande Blacksmiths control a force called nyama. This means that they control all energy and power in the village as well as the makeup and workings of the Mande society (Ross). The ability to control such a force is not given to just anyone. A single family in the village is designated to produce blacksmiths. The boys from that family are taught the daliluw, "the secret knowledge about the use and nature of nyama"(Ross)"... -snip- There are a number of online websites about Ogun. I chose to quote from the Wikipedia page because I thought that hyperlink might be more durable given how many years other Mudcat threads have been archived. |
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11 Nov 08 - 05:37 PM (#2491148) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Ed T http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_/ai_n12638653 |
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11 Nov 08 - 06:14 PM (#2491188) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Did Queen Victoria have hairy legs? How about Martha Washington? A tarantula has hairy legs. Who cares? |
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11 Nov 08 - 06:52 PM (#2491248) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: artbrooks I would think that it would be pretty hard to stand at a forge all day if one had an injured or deformed leg. And I think that anyone who ever swung a sledge would tell you that it is a total body experience. |
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12 Nov 08 - 01:03 AM (#2491439) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Little Hawk I've waited years for the dumbest Mudcat thread title question possible or even conceivable to be asked. Years. And now it has been done. Greg Stephens, you have achieved a milestone. A dubious milestone, albeit, but a milestone nonetheless. You must be very proud. ;-D |
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12 Nov 08 - 03:48 AM (#2491492) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: greg stephens Little Hawk: proud? I am flabbergasted. I thought you had cornered the market in dumb threads. To think that I could be included in the pantheon... |
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12 Nov 08 - 10:51 AM (#2491735) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: GUEST,Kim C Supposedly, different cultures at different times in history had all manner of different ways for removing body hair. I've read that the process of sugaring (which is sort of like waxing, only with a sugar-based paste) came from ancient Egypt. All I can really tell you is that Western women didn't shave their body hair until the 1920's when the flapper look came in style and legs and underarms were exposed. |
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12 Nov 08 - 11:02 AM (#2491751) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Little Hawk Greg, I admit to having almost cornered the market on really dumb threads in the past couple of years, but you blew me out of the water on this one. ;-) Even William Shatner would be impressed. |
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12 Nov 08 - 11:09 AM (#2491760) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: GUEST,Kim C Well, someone has to wonder about these things. Might as well be Greg. Because if it weren't him, it would probably be me! Although, I must admit I never gave much thought to the Queen of Sheba's legs. |
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12 Nov 08 - 11:13 AM (#2491766) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Mrrzy This is nowhere NEAR the dumbest thread, sorry, guys! |
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12 Nov 08 - 11:36 AM (#2491783) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Little Hawk Well, it's a decent try at least... I've been wondering about similar things, like.... Did Julius Caesar have halitosis? How did Jesus trim his toenails? Was Napoleon well-endowed in inverse proportion to his height? What did they do to clean their ears prior to the invention of Q-tips? Who was the first crowned head of Europe to master the unicycle? |
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12 Nov 08 - 05:11 PM (#2492155) Subject: RE: BS: Did the Queen of Sheba have hairy legs? From: Rowan I think the theory was that smiths must have been very valuable memebers of the tribe once metals were discovered, so smashing their legs was a reasonable ruse to stop them running off in search of higher wages elsewhere. This would be a notion of "culture" grounded in economic theory [I just thought I'd divert some of the recent thread distraction] and, while economic theory is useful and Steve's comment that smiths were valuable is true there are other aspects that could be relevant. Experts in knapping, reciting the origins and legends of their group, healing, magic etc were all given extremely high acknowledgement and status in traditional societies and many still are in our current ones. The first people who managed to produce metal from ores and high temperatures and then go on to work those metals were, as far as we can tell, also given similar recognition; some were regarded as magicians. Just think of all the lore attached to Vulcan and Hephaestus and their successors/counterparts. Azizi has mentioned African examples but the smiths that produced swords, especially damascene swords, were revered to the extent that some groups still regard skillful metalworkers and their products with awe. Some here will, if given the opportunity, wax eloquent about the metalwork attached to duelling pistols and shotguns commissioned by members of the aristocracy and there are still one or two makers of samurai swords who are recognised in Japan as National Treasures, along with various products of their predecessors. I've long ago lost my copy of Graves' "White Goddess", where the notion of lameness and limb distortion was discussed in mythological terms but my recollection is that it was largely a feature of midwinter ceremonies where a "leader" was ritually sacrificed and replaced. My recollection doesn't extend to this becoming a feature of "kingship" generally, but that may be because my recollection is flawed. But I can't recall any proposition connecting such lameness with the magicianship involved with smithing or the later alchemy. But I do recall (vaguely) a long ago discussion about the Queen of Sheba and her association with Solomon and a foot deformity, unspecified (in my recollection), was part of the story. Cheers, Rowan |
