THE TERRIBLE ONE'S HORSE: CHAPTER 28

THE NORSE AND THE BRITISH MORRIS DANCES

Morris Dances fell on Whitsun, which is Pentecost. In the West, the earliest possible date for Pentecost is May 10 (as in 1818 and 2285), and the latest possible date June 13 (as in 1943 and 2038). In the East, this range of possible dates presently corresponds to May 23 through June 26 on the Gregorian calendar.

What does Morris mean? Several theories have been proposed, though none help us understand the origin and meaning of the dance.  For those who would like to review the main theories, please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance

It may not a coincidence that the Morris Dance often incorporates a sword dance.  One of the towns claiming precedence (indeed, a “lineage”) for the Morris Dance tradition is Abingdon, England.  Not surprising, then, that we find in The History of the Church of Abingdon the claim that Hugh Capet, King of France (c. 939 – 24 October 996) , sent to Athelstan, King of England (King of the West Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939), the standard of St. Mauricius, patron of swordsmiths, and that this relic was installed in the church at Abingdon.  St. Maurice was called ‘Moris’ in the Golden Legend.  His story may be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Maurice

More information on him can be found here:

http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/synexarion/maurice.html    

http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/h_stm_e.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/221.html

http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/goldenLegend/maurice.htm

http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/maurice.html

http://www.heroicage.org/issues/7/hare.html

The only problem I can see with this theory is that the Feast Day of St. Maurice the patron of swordsmiths is September 22nd.  Why, then, would a dance in his honor be performed on Pentecost/Whitsun?  I’ve not been able to resolve this problem, unfortunately.

The only actual Morris-like name that can be directly linked to Christian ritual during Pentecost has to do with the "Veni, Creator Spiritus" (Come, Holy Spirit), a prayer attributed to Rabanus Maurus (A.D. 776-856). It is prayed during the liturgy today. On Pentecost, as on 1 January, a plenary indulgence can be acquired, under the usual conditions, by reciting it.  On this Maurus (another Latin name meaning Moor, like Mauritius/Mauricius), see

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12617a.htm

http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/VeniCreator.html

Can St. Maurice be linked to the Morris Dance, despite his unpromising Feast date?

Well, here’s where the story takes a strange twist.  A friend and Morris Dancer reminded me of the Papa Stour sword dance, held on the island of that name in the Shetlands.  The Shetland Islands, as is well known, were fairly early on settled by the Vikings.  It is, therefore, generally agreed that the dance is of Norse origin.

This made me look to the Scandinavian countries for some of their Pentecost traditions.  I did not have to look long before I found very clear evidence of the involvement of earlier solar worship. For example, I can cite the following practice from Denmark:

“PINSE (Pentecost, or Whitsun) The fiftieth day after Easter

Pentecost or Whitsun is the great spring holiday. For weeks beforehand housewives are scrubbing, scouring and putting everything to rights. Tailors are busy, too, because Whitsun is the traditional time for new summer clothes. Since beech trees are beginning to bud at this season many Copenhagen residents go by bicycle to woods and forests and gather armfuls of tender young branches. These boughs are used to decorate the houses--in symbol of welcome to early spring.

According to an old folk saying, "the sun dances on Pinse morning." Townsfolk, as well as country people rise at dawn to witness this miracle. In Copenhagen it is customary to get up early and go to Frederiksberg hill to watch the sun rise and "see it dance." According to custom, coffee, which is served in the garden, must be on the table by six o'clock, although the sun is up long before that hour.

Anden Pinsedag, or Whit Monday, is a general holiday. People make excursions to the woods for picnics or go to rural restaurants for an outdoor party and a good country meal, followed by dancing and singing. Indeed, singing is an important feature of most celebrations, as this is the day when singing society members, accompanied by wives and children, make all kinds of rural expeditions.”

The key to this set of observances is the curious coincidence of both the sun and the people engaging in dance for the holy days in question.  We are immediately led to surmise that the dancing people are, in typical ritual fashion, replicating the sun’s own dancing.  If this is so, then we may have found the answer to the mystery of the Moorish or Maurice Dance!

The names Maurus, Mauritius/Mauricius and the like all stem from the Latin, which in terms come from Greek mauro.  Mauro means “black, blackened or charred”, a description of the black skin color of the Moors of Mauritania.  This coloration was thought to be due to the power of the sun, and indeed, their country was far to the south where the sun was at its most powerful.

We need now only look to Norse mythology.  There we find the fire demon (or god) Surt, whose name means ‘the Black one’ (cf. ON svartr, ‘black’, English swart, ‘black’).  He lives in the south, like the Moors, in the land of heat and fire.  More importantly, his sword is intimately associated with the sun. From the Old Norse poem “Voluspa” of the Poetic Edda:

50.

Surtr ferr sunnan

með sviga lævi,

scínn af sverði

sól valtíva;

griótbjörg gnata,

enn gífr rata,

troða halir helveg,

enn himinn klofnar.

This first part of the stanza may be translated as follows (from Ursula Dronke):

Surtr moves from the south

With the scathe of branches;

There shines from his sword

The sun of the gods of the slain… etc.

What I would propose happened, therefore, is simply this:  the purely pagan Surt/’Black One’ with his sun-sword has been replaced by Maurice/’Black One’, who also bears the same solar weapon.  That when the Morris Dancers perform, they are, literally, the sun dancing, as in Denmark on Whitsun and Whit Monday.  In other words, Maurice is an acceptable Christian substitute for the earlier Surt, who must’ve been known in all those parts of England that came under Viking domination or control.

In the Spring, the Sun RETURNS TO THE NORTH FROM THE SOUTH.  In other words, the sun or sun-sword is brought north again, presumably by Surt/Maurice, who issues forth from the home of the sun in the south.  This is what the Morris Dance seems to be celebrating.

I think the most important work on the Moorish question was done here: Gallop, Rodney (1934). “The Origins of the Morris Dance”. Journal of the English Folk and Dance Society 1 (3): 122–129.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4521040?uid=3739960&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102591044501

Gallop would see the Moorish element as an overlay, not as the origin for the dance. I agree with Gallop on this point.  We need to bear in mind that things Moorish were considered “pagan” by Christian standards of the day.  In similar fashion, ‘Sarsen’, a variant of Saracen, is used for a certain type of stone found used in megalithic monuments.  This is because of its connotation as stone erected by pre-Christian pagans.

Thus a Moorish Dance or Morris Dance is a “Pagan Dance”.

A NOTE ON THE ABBOTS BROMLEY HORNED DANCE

I did some thinking on the horn dance element of the Abbot Bromley Horn Dance...

Made no sense to me, given the deer in Britain.  They rut in mid September to late October (rarely into November). and the hinds give birth in late March, peaking in the beginning of June.  Bulls shed their antlers in the Spring (March or April).  So none of the hallmarks of the deer life cycle fits the late December to early January dates of the dance.

However, as is well known, the first Abbot Bromley horns were FROM REINDEER.  The older reindeer bulls, i.e. the ones in their prime, DROP THEIR ANTLERS FIRST, IN LATE DECEMBER OR EARLY JANUARY.

Thus the notion that this custom was imported from Scandinavia is doubtless correct.  Staffordshire (wherein we find Abbot Bromley) may have for a time lain at least in part in the Danelaw and thus been under Viking control.  My guess is that the custom should be traced, then, to no later than the end of the period of Danish rule in this part of England, say the 11th century.  It may, of course, have come in as early as the 9th.

The shedding of the reindeer horns would be a seasonal marker of midwinter, essentially.  The dance is celebrating this particular time of year by replicating the shedding of the reindeer horns.