In the essay "The Myth of the Ant Queen," by Steven Johnson, and in the excerpt “The Code of Hammurabi” from Society and Law in Ancient Babylonia, two distinct approaches to establishing order in society are discussed. The debate in how society should establish order regularly results in contrasting opinions.
This common question has been prominent throughout time, and has been debated in government and society. The pondering question however lies in what is the best approach to establish order. Order, whether it be defined as assigning roles in society, or establishing a set of rules to maintain control, can be done through various approaches. Establishing order is key to developing a prosperous society. In Germany, fairy rings were called Hexenringe, or “Witches Rings,” and were believed to be places where witches danced to celebrate Walpurgis Night, a festival that welcomes the beginning of spring.Within any community, it is safe to say that the goal of maintaining a society that prospers on for many years is common. They are said to improve fertility and fortune. While Welsh tradition doesn’t recommend entering them, it is good fortune to grow crops around them and allow livestock to feed nearby. Some legends say that fairy rings are, in fact, good luck. Not all myth surrounding the fairy ring is quite so dark, however. And if one manages to make it back into the human realm, the shock could easily kill them. According to the legend of Llewellyn and Rhys, the pace of the fairy world differs from that of the human one a person could dance for minutes in a fairy ring only to discover that it has been days or weeks in the human one. Welsh tradition’s dire tale varies slightly in that the unfortunate consequences of a human’s arrival into a fairy ring are not brought about by the fairies themselves, but by the nature of their world. If one were to accidentally add a tenth circle, “evil would befall the runner.”
#THE MYTH OF THE ANT QUEEN CITATION FULL#
An Austrian legend also claims that fairy rings were the work of dragons that burned them into the ground with their fiery tails.Īccording to The Encyclopedia of Superstitions, a Northumberland tradition states that in order to investigate a fairy ring, one must run around it nine times under the full moon. Dutch traditions tell of fairy rings that were created by the devil as a place to keep his milk churn, and any livestock that were to enter said circle would suffer the souring of their own milk. What then could be so dangerous about a circle of mushrooms? According to many English and Celtic tales, any human who enters a fairy ring will be forced to dance with the creatures, unable to stop until they go mad or perish of exhaustion. A ring found in Belfort, France– the largest ever seen– measures approximately 2,000 feet in diameter, and is an astounding 700 years old. The formations continue to expand outward, using up all the nutrients within them as they grow larger.
Mushroom caps then appear at the edges of this network. Fairy rings occur when a mushroom spore falls in a favorable spot, grows a mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus), and spreads out an underground network of fine, tubular threads called hyphae. Science tells us that fairy rings– or patterns of certain types of mushrooms that grow in circular formations– are naturally-occurring phenomenon that usually appear year after year on lawns, in fields, and in forests. Even though fairy rings were thought to be little realms where fairies dance and play, lore suggested that if a human interrupted the fun, the cost could be deadly serious. Folklore tells us that cultures across Europe have traditionally believed that fairy rings are the dwelling place of fairies, elves, witches, and other magical beings– and that in some cases, they may be dangerous to enter. For thousands of years, peoples of various cultures have regarded fairy rings with a strong sense of curiosity and fear, believing them to be mystical, supernatural places.
0 kommentar(er)
