SC - Horsemeat, was Re: "cruel food"-

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir wrote:
> 
> If you are asking - why celebrate at all - leaving religious issues aside,
> well, the Christianisation of Iceland is one of the major events in our
> history, it laid the ground for structural changes in our society, and
> besides it happened in a pretty unique manner. Is there another instance
> when a whole nation decides, without the use of force and without much
> prelude, to abandon its traditional belief and accept a new faith?

Ireland, roughly 650 years earlier...
 
> The decision to convert was, according to what Ari fróði Þorgilsson wrote in
> the Book of the Icelanders, made by Þorgeir (Thorgeir) Ljósvetningagoði, a
> pagan chieftain who also held the position of Law Speaker – the only public
> office in the Icelandic Commonwealth. He lay down under his pelt and uttered
> no word for two days. At the end of this period, he called together the
> Althing (this happened at Þingvellir, when the Althing was in session) and
> stipulated that Icelanders should be baptised in the Christian faith, to
> avoid conflict and strife. (They were, however, allowed to worship pagan
> gods secretly and practice ancient customs, such as the exposure of children
> and the eating of horse meat.)

A similar situation, actually. One might almost describe the move as a
political opportunity, a way of entering a larger world. The Irish were
a rarity at the time in that they asked for missionaries from beyond
their borders. 
 
Re horsemeat: there has been a fairly stubborn streak of horse-eating in
the North of England until fairly recently. It was linked to both
religious practice and political affiliation, especially after the
Norman Conquest, but the practice seems to have persisted until at least
the 19th century, where the meat, known as "kicker" earned Yorkshiremen
the pejorative nickname "kicker-eater".

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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