Myths without toads or snakes

The Blip Report for Thursday, October 10th 2024

Myths without toads or snakes,

by William Lyon Shoestrap

I read a story about some Indigenous people’s myths – ‘Huron and Wyandot Mythology’, by C.M. Barbeau (1915), and in the chapter ‘The Myths, Tales, and Traditions: The Function’, he writes that:

“Most of these narratives were tribal possessions, transmitted orally from one generation to another, and recited by story-tellers on various occasions with a more or less definite purpose. As the natives had no system of writing, human memory was the only keeper of their tribal lore, and their story-tellers had at best but a few mnemonic devices to rely upon, such as certain pictographs or symbols on wampum belts …

The elders used systematically to teach their traditions to the young folks, in order that this national patrimony might be handed down to the coming generations.”

And this made me think of an earlier blip report – ‘The Swiss just said No’, when it was wondered if Canada had a purpose – like Switzerland and the United States, for the common good and general welfare.

And so, I wondered that maybe we could look at some myths or tales about Canada, and perhaps there, we could find a purpose for Canada? OK … well … maybe we could simply look to our national anthem, for a place to start.

Now, I can remember when as a young boy in school, I had to sing ‘God Save the Queen’ as our national anthem, and I think it was some years later, before we finally began to sing ‘O Canada’. I never could find a purpose in that old anthem, but maybe there’s something to find in the new one.

The music was composed by a wonderful soul, Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891), that you can learn about in this story – ‘Calixa Lavallée: Father of Canada’s National Anthem and Lafayette of American music’ by Matthew Ehret, and Matt writes that if you listen to Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’, you can find and hear the opening notes of ‘O Canada’:

“As Lavallée had recently conducted a series of performances of works by Mozart such as the Twelfth Mass and operas by Verdi, and Rossini, the Magic Flute (the famous ‘masonic’ opera) was likely fresh in his mind when he composed the music to what became known as ‘O Canada’.

Upon listening to the first two measures of Act Two (the March of the Priests), the borrowed melody is striking and leaves very little doubt that Mozart was the inspiration for the anthem.”

So, if the music to ‘O Canada’ was inspired by Mozart and Lavallée, what inspired the lyrics to ‘O Canada’? And does it have a purpose for us?

The words were written by Adolphe-Basile Routhier, but not the romantic English language version, but the original French language version, especially that absolutely wonderful 3^rd verse:

“De son patron, précurseur du vrai Dieu,
Il porte au front l’auréole de feu.
Ennemi de la tyrannie
Mais plein de loyauté.
Il veut garder dans l’harmonie,
Sa fière liberté;
Et par l’effort de son génie,
Sur notre sol asseoir la vérité.”

[I shall try to translate it, into English:]

“Of our patron, herald of the true God,
He bears on his brow an aura of fire.
Enemy of tyranny,
But full of loyalty,
He wants to keep in harmony
His proud liberty,
And through the effort of his genius
On our soil, to establish the truth.”

It seems that Canada was dedicated to John the Baptist – the ‘herald’ who prepared the way for others to accept the true God – to take a leap of faith into what may have seemed to be the great unknown. And as an enemy of tyranny, and with a harmonious and steadfast liberty, we could use that spirit – that ‘aura of fire’ – to find the truth.

And so perhaps, our purpose as Canadians should be to act as truth-seekers in taking the next leap into the future for man.

But then I read a little further in the story ‘Huron and Wyandot Mythology’ by Mr. Barbeau, and under ‘When the Narratives Were Recited’, he wrote that:

“Most of the traditional narratives were formerly recited during the long winter nights, by the fireside. The informants are agreed that ‘the rule’ was not to recite stories in the summer time. Otherwise, according to the popular saying, ‘toads or snakes would crawl into your bed’.” [yikes!!!]

So, now that winter is approaching, I guess this would be a good time to sit by the fire, and to listen to Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’, and to wonder about some old tales of Canada and if they have that purpose – without toads or snakes crawling into our beds!!!

“… Sit thee by the ingle, when

The sear faggot blazes bright,

Spirit of a winter's night;

When the soundless earth is muffled,

And the caked snow is shuffled

From the ploughboy's heavy shoon;

When the Night doth meet the Noon

In a dark conspiracy

To banish Even from her sky.

Sit thee there, and send abroad,

With a mind self-overaw'd,

Fancy, high-commission'd: — send her!

She has vassals to attend her:

She will bring, in spite of frost,

Beauties that the earth hath lost …” [from ‘Fancy’ by John Keats]

Have fun. Toadlessly.