Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance studies Proclamation ! The Trident Vol. XXVII, Issue 4 March 2017 Upcoming amrs EVENTS AMRS End of the Year Party: Look out for your invita- tion to the annual end of the year AMRS party! Details of the event will be given in the invite.

Annual Essay prize! Apr. 26th - The AMRS Department is calling for submis- sions to their annual Essay Prize! Majors and non-majors are encouraged to submit papers to Dr. DeMarco’s mailbox in Sturges Hall by April 26th at 4:00 PM. There is no page length requirement, but must be from an AMRS course from the 2016/2017 school year. For more information, go to OWU’s AMRS Facebook page. Medieval Castles in a Modern Context

By: Kyle Rabung at castles and see huge defen- The Staff of the Trident When the average per- sive structures and envision son looks for medieval cas- massive movie-like sieges that Student Editor: Jordan Waterwash tles, they are left with two op- must have dominated the Mid- tions: to look at ruins, or to dle Ages. This is what we Contributing Writers: Matthew Pheneger, Kyle Rabung, Merritt look at a castles that survived want castles to be. We want Ver Steeg, Christopher Shanley, Ashley Vassar, Amanda Sisler into modernity. Yet, these sieges and battles and, more AMRS Chair: Dr. Patricia DeMarco both often inspire similar re- importantly, we want our cas- actions. We, as moderns, look tles to be simple in purpose Want to write a story? Have ideas for the next issue? Continued on pg. 2 IN THIS ISSUE Send them to [email protected]. The Ides of March - pg. 3 Why are Dwarves Scottish? - pg. 4 Religion in Medieval Ireland - pg. 6 Gaul: Rome’s Final Frontier - pg. 5 Don’t forget to submit to the Annual Essay Prize! A Recollection of a Senior Capstone - pg. 9

2 11 Continued from Page 1 that say about us? This phe- nomenon is similar to the ex- Continued From perience in the United States page 2 when Prince William was mar- ried. For those of us who live under rocks (like myself) noth- culture interprets the artifacts ing seemed amiss, but those left by the past and then incor- who tuned into the news were porates them into their own barraged with live-coverage of society is a subject that is bet- the affair. Castles are like roy- ter left to a far longer article alty: Americans lack them, on that subject alone. But rest and, thus, are fascinated by assured that it does indeed Check it Out! them. In fact, this American happen from culture to culture. New books at the library! fascination runs quite deep. Those seeking some measure -Art and Nature in the Middle Those who require proof need of evidence may seek out the Ages by Nicole Myers only visit Landoll’s Mohican Anglo-Saxon poem The Ruin. The Routledge Research castle or Squire’s castle in Ultimately, our fascination Companion to Early Drama Cleveland. Certainly, Ameri- with castles and the past only and Performance by Pamela and thus simple in nature. See, cans have a history of fascina- prove one thing: We are not so King the complicated truth is that tion with castles—although different from our ancient and -French Visual Culture and castles were rarely used in the some may argue that this only medieval ancestors. the Making of Medieval The- manner that we envision, nor extends to British castles in atre by Laura Weigert in the way we might think. particular. Perhaps this is due -Gutenberg's Europe: The Castles were important pieces to our strong cultural affinity Book and the Invention of of all manner of medieval is- for that nation. Western Modernity by sues: cultural, social, econom- Fret not, however, as Frederic Barbier ic, and militarily. Castles were this endless fascination with -Love, History and Emotion used for all of these purpos- the structures of the past hard- in Chaucer and Shakespeare es—and the military purposes ly makes us unique. Each peri- by Andrew James Johnston were rarely large sieges. Even od of history seems to reveal -Elf Queens and Holy Friars: so, we can try to put this no- that the current culture remains Fairy Beliefs and the Medie- tion aside for a moment, and fascinated by cultures before val Church by Richard Firth think about what castles mean them. Early Greeks looked on Green to us today. the works of their predecessors -Living History: Experienc- Castles seem to us a and saw structures that could ing Great Events of the An- symbol of dominance, or a only have been built by giants; cient and Medieval Worlds: symbol of a perhaps-noble Romans considered Greek art Alexander the Great past. Speaking from a strictly to be the best in the world. -Living History: Experienc- American context, the United And then medieval peoples ing Great Events of the An- States lacks castles, so we looked on Roman works as cient and Medieval Worlds: seem to romanticize them to a marvels of a lost empire. In Socrates on Trial greater degree. But what does fact, the subject of how each Continued on pg. 11 10 3 The Ides of March

قيصر” )“ By: Merritt Ver Steeg “Czar,” to the Arabic As both a Classics and Qays’r), to Bahasa Indonesian an English major, Julius Cae- “Kaisar,” Caesar’s name has sar is my favorite of Shake- influenced dozens of lan- speare’s plays. Most people guages’ word for emperor— I’ve talked to think it’s bor- Caesar seems inescapable. ing. I might be a little biased, Shakespeare wasn’t but I disagree. too concerned about historical When Caesar was a fact when he wrote his play, young man, he followed Mari- but even so, there is a meas- wealthy Roman family that These museums tell us, the leader of the Populares ure of truth. A story about a probably wanted an “exotic” the history of a certain site or (a populist party). A civil war charismatic egomaniac stand- vacation home in the German region through its objects. We broke out between the Popula- ing astride the narrow world countryside. Craftsmen settle- saw how an object from late res and the Optimates lead by like a colossus; an ignorant ments were situated just out- antiquity evolved or disap- Sulla—who wanted to keep and gullible populace all too side of the villa’s gates, which peared into the medieval peri- power in the senate. Sulla put willing to be lead; and a frac- were much more advanced od, what stayed, and im- a hit on him, but Caesar man- tious government of avari- than the settlements at the proved, and what was aged to escape. cious stooges. In these inter- fort—stone hearths, several scrapped. By displaying these In his book The esting times, I can’t under- wells, and a large public bath Gallo-Roman objects in mu- Twelve Caesars, Suetonius stand how people find this house survive. seums we saw how other tells us that the Vestal Virgins play boring. Museums gathered groups of people influenced and other important Roman However, Americans many of these Gallo-Roman the Gallo-Roman objects; for figures pleaded with Sulla to are notoriously leery of kings, objects from the region and example, the inlaid enamel pardon him, until finally Sulla and it shows. According to we could see how much of the technique common in Celtic caved: “Very well, then,” he Gallup, Trump’s average ap- Roman culture was adopted jewelry applied to Gallo- said, “you win! Take him! But proval rating was 45% by into the Gallic material cul- Roman jewelry. never forget that the man January 29th. As of February ture. The collection at The blending of these cul- whom you want me to spare the 19th, it has fallen to 40% Römisch-Germanisches Mu- tures were not always peace- will one day prove the ruin of according to Gallup.com. seum in Cologne, Germany is ful, even after the initial con- the party of Optimates which And no matter what happens, almost exclusively chroni- quering by Caesar. The Gallic you and I have so long de- I find comfort in this: I am a cling the history of the Roman and Roman forces met most fended. There are many Mari- classicist, and I settlement—Colonia Claudia strongly at the Battle of the us’s in this fellow Caesar.” know better than Ara Agrippinensium—on Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE He was right. Caesar most that em- which modern Cologne was when many Roman legions— went on to fight a civil war, pires fall, built; there is an entire floor- thousands of soldiers—were assume control of the govern- walls crumble, to-ceiling wall of Roman demolished by the Gallic ment, and became a dictator. and what goes glass and pottery found in Co- tribes leaving an eerie empty The Roman Republic never up must al- logne and other material field as a mass grave site. recovered. Nor, it seems, did ways, always, goods. the world. From the Russian come down.

4 9 Why are Dwarves Mesuline and the Fae: A Recollec- Scottish? tion of a Senior Capstone By: Ashley Vassar going well. By: Christopher Shanley Hebrew, in particular. This I initially became ac- Until her hus- When J. R. R. Tolkien coincides well with the con- quainted with the subject mat- band sneaks a reinvented the dwarf from tra- structed Dwarven cul- ter for my capstone thesis in look at her as ditional myths, he did so by ture. Similar to medieval the English Department dur- she bathes one altering their ancient charac- Jewish communities, Tol- ing my Senior Seminar with Saturday. He teristics. One of the primary kien’s Dwarves only speak Dr. Demarco. In this seminar, later denounc- ways he did this was by craft- their own language when I encountered the concepts of es her. Then, ing a language and culture for speaking to other Dwarves, liminality, otherness, and oth- she turns into a dragon and them. Tolkien was an accom- and speak the languages of er themes surrounding the flies away. My argument fo- plished philologist; he learned the groups they live amongst blurred lines of animality and cused on the themes of peni- the constructed language Es- in their daily use. Similarly, humanity. One of the works tence and salvation that ap- peranto, and wrote poetry in Hebrew was only spoken in a we read was Le Roman de pear within the narrative, as the language sometime before religious contexts among Melusine. well as how these themes of he was 17. many medieval Jews. It was Le Roman de Melusine penitence weave into a greater The Dwarves of Mid- considered a grave taboo to was written in the late 14th narrative that serves to legiti- dle Earth are primarily based speak it in a mundane context, century by Jean d’Arras in mize Jean de Berry. on the dwarfs of Germanic considering the holy nature of order to help legitimize Jean It was really exciting myth, yet the language that the language. de Berry’s claim of the for- to have the opportunity to re- Tolkien created for them was There are a variety of tress of Lusignan. The titular search anything that interested not Germanic as one might other parallels between Jews character, Melusine, is a half- me. That was a lot of freedom assume. Instead, the Tolkien and Dwarves, such as a vast human/half-fairy woman who, to have, and it allowed me to Dwarven language, called diaspora. Tolkien admitted, "I after entombing her father in a choose a topic that I knew Khuzdul, is nearly entirely do think of the ‘Dwarves’ like mountain—as revenge for his would produce some of my based on Semitic languages— Jews: at once native and al- betrayal of her mother—is best work. I was able to dive cursed by her mother to turn deeper into the scholarship into a serpent from the waist surrounding a piece that had down every Saturday. In order fascinated me when I first en- to break the curse, become countered it in class. I got a fully human, and attain salva- more “authentic” idea of the tion, Melusine must find a type of work that graduate husband who will agree to level scholars do. This paper never look at her when she is definitely felt like a bridge in serpent form. She marries a between undergraduate and nobleman, and raises him to graduate work. It was one of riches with her cleverness and the most rewarding experienc- fairy powers. They have many es of my undergraduate ca- sons, and it seems as if all is reer. Continued on page 8

8 5 ien.” There were criticisms Gaul: Rome’s Final made of Tolkien for this, claiming he was showing anti- Frontier Semitism in his works. These critics believe the Dwarves’ fondness of gold, their alienat- By: Amanda Sisler ing culture, and their large This past summer, I noses were gross caricatures of had the privilege of going on a the Jewish people that were Theory-to-Practice grant trip unwarranted. Tolkien attempt- with Dr. Arnold and Johanna ed to rectify these issues in Burr to a region of Germany The Lord of the Rings by were used by Dwarves is that that was formerly invaded by showing deep friendship be- many of the qualities the Scot- the Romans in the time of Jul- tween Gimli the dwarf and tish language invokes are simi- ius Caesar—the mid-40s BCE. several elves. However, he did lar to how Dwarves are per- For this trip, we examined claim that the similarities were ceived. Scottish accents elicit places and objects to see the coincidental. certain ideas: “Shrewdness, coming together of Gallic and So the Dwarves started honesty, straight-forward Roman cultures. We visited a as a part of Germanic myth speaking.” Watt suggests that Roman fort, a villa, and some that became situated in a cul- the similar cultural stereotypes larger Roman structures that ture based on medieval Jewish surrounding drinking habits were worked into the modern Gallic artisans to congregate culture. How, then, did carica- link Dwarves and Scots. Now, cityscapes; they showed how around the Roman location. tures of Dwarves advance so however, virtually all English- different people lived based on Therefore, the Romans and distinctly as Scottish, or at language fantasy, dwarves are their social standing and Gallic people would interact least Scandinavian? The Scan- portrayed as Scottish, not He- whether they identified as Ro- with each other. Around the dinavian Dwarves are an at- brew or Arabic as Tolkien en- man. The objects preserved Roman fort at Saalburg, small tempt to return to the mytho- visioned. The Victorian ac- from these archaeological sites settlements for local artisans logical Germanic dwarf. The cents of elves have a similarly were housed in museums, and lined the road leading to the idea of pre- complex history for the inter- depicted this ethnic blending fort and allowed these locals senting ested reader to research. in finer detail. We found that to buy and sell to the Roman Khuzdul as as Roman society began to soldiers basic amenities and Scottish take firmer root within the specialized goods. Some of the evolved Germanic countryside, settle- exchanged goods are dis- slowly Essay Prize! ments expanded outward with played within the walls of the time, and Gallic and Roman fort and many objects were over time Submit to the AMRS Annual through vari- identities began to blend into made using Gallic techniques Essay Prize by April 26th at the hybrid culture of the Gallo but with Roman subject mat- ous sound adaptations of Tol- 4:00 PM! More details are on kien’s works. Dominic Watt, a -Romans. ter. the back of this issue. There’s There appeared to be a The villa at Bliesbruck Senior Lecturer of Forensic also a post on the AMRS Fa- Speech Science at the Univer- settlement pattern in which is another example of this sys- cebook page where you can establishment of a Roman set- tem of settlement. The villa sity of York, suggests that part find the guidelines sheet. of the reason Scottish accents tlement would initiate local was initially built for a Continued on page 10 6 7 Religion in medieval Ireland: to the monastery. Considering source of livelihood unless the nature of the social rela- there was some form of reci- A Talk by John Soderberg tionships between seemingly procity between them and juxtaposed spheres of life, we their benefactors. By: Matthew Pheneger arrive at a deeper understand- From a sociological/ The AMRS Depart- ing of the role religion played anthropological view, this ment was pleased to welcome in ordering Early Medieval suggests that modes of reli- Denison University Professor society, and, by proxy, we can gious belief are an outgrowth of Sociology/Anthropology better appreciate the “big of a primal human impulse, John Soderberg at the end of questions” at the heart of for cooperation within large, February. Though his work Soderberg’s research. complicated groups. As such, covers a range of disciplines, Most of the archaeo- Soderberg asserts that it is his presentation centered on logical evidence in the case of too anemic to portray the dy- religion in Early Medieval classes. From the monasteries the Early Medieval Irish mon- namic between mankind and Ireland from an archaeologi- to the land, Soderberg utilized asteries points toward an ex- its perceptions of God as one cal point of view. The big what is left of the architecture tensive communal dynamic— of hierarchical exploitation. question his research focuses and archaeological record of between the clerical and secu- On the contrary, the Medie- on—in Soderberg’s own animal remains found in the lar—with monasteries and by vals understood the spiritual words—is, “What does it vicinity. extension their religious func- and the mundane as inherent- mean to be a human taking Monasteries are a tions acting like a conduit ly linked aspects of that or- part in religious activity?” point of interest because of through which a great degree ganic whole for which they To help illustrate such their nature as religious struc- of cooperation was fostered ever strived. a broad topic, Soderberg tures—which are seen by within the medieval world. honed in on the relationship most scholarship as a single Contrary to the typical view between the clerical and secu- step in a long chain of reli- of monasteries that depict lar aspects of the medieval gious settlements that stretch- them as cloistered structures experience within the context es back to the Near East. Ani- which are far removed from of space and place, in particu- mal remains are of a very the secular world, Soderberg’s lar Ireland. In Soderberg’s practical benefit, often being research suggests that entire opinion, Ireland offers a the biggest remains that are communities may have sprung uniquely uncomplicated case preserved at archaeological up around the monasteries. with which to study his que- sites. By examining these re- Among these were farmers ries, because of the country’s mains, archaeologists are able and skilled craftsmen from historical lack of distinction to discern clues about the so- whose expertise the monks among its noble and common cial relationships between received the benefits of life’s those secular farmers, who day-to-day necessities. It isn’t What does it mean must have provided the live- entirely clear how the crafts- to be a human tak- stock to the monastery and the men and farmers benefitted themselves, though Soderberg ing part in reli- clerical monks. The monks, then, inhabited and performed insists that these people were- gious activity? the associated religious func- n’t stupid— they weren’t go- tions with the livestock given ing to be tricked out of their