SC - Marion Zimmer Bradley: Mourning Song (FWD)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

"Mike C. Baker" wrote:
> 
> And a special thank you to Master Adamantius for
> correcting my poor Latin, and adding the dear lady's
> SCA name.  (Couldn't remember everything through
> my own tears...)

This time, I won't say, "My pleasure"... and you have Master Steffan ap
Cennydd to thank for posting her SCA name on the East Kingdom list.
 
> Now, for the on-topic connection: funerary feasts.
> Big deals in many Native American cultures, wide
> variations in how Christian Protestants and other
> "mainstream" religions handle the situation.
> 
> What are the _culturally_ taboo or else "required" foods
> and how have those changed historically? (There has to
> be SOME history behind the American Midwest
> tradition of a parade of casseroles...)

I think they are cultural off-shoots of dishes like cholent; things that
make cooking on the day, when your mind and emotional energy are
occupied elsewhere, unnecessary. Now why that would make many Americans
view casseroles as the epitome of haute cuisine, I don't know. I'm
reminded of Hamlet's line about "funeral baked meats" (i.e. pies), which
may well say more about the viewpoints of a typical Elizabethan
Englishman than about medieval Danes, but some American subcultures seem
to be descended from transplanted Elizabethan English folkways.  
 
> Related to that, as in providing the settings and possible
> reasons for any number of traditional "funeral foods":
> When did the practice of funeral games fall into disuse?
> Did it survive even as late as the Norman Conquest of
> England in "Christian" lands?

Offhand I can't remember exactly where I've seen this, but I'm sure I've
seen references to Roman feasts for mourning, and they do appear to have
invented or at least popularized funeral games (all gladiatorial
contests were originally funeral games: somehow the spilling of blood or
the deaths of slaves were supposed to appease the spirit of the
deceased, with a rationale somewhere in between human sacrifice and
suttee).  

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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