Historical Legend and Effect

historical legend and effect:

history may seem remote, it may seem dense, somewhat impenetrable, almost irrelevant in its obscurity, sometimes. with the advent of historical fiction, gross revisionism, and the change of focus in the media, what is history and what is legend, or myth, remains a matter of some confusion. how the historian deals with facts and figures of note, how he or she fashions it into a work of history, ready to be read, is a question that many have. the answer is that the historian writes about what is important or clear to him or her, in his or her own mind, primarily.

that truly the world population is static, or that the population of the universe never really changes is a concept. all the people that ever were, still are, and always will be. do people really change?

English history, with the Anglo Saxons, with their short, monosyllabic words, and halting style, the historical legends that everyone has heard of, Merlin the wizard, King Henry VIII and his marriage troubles, Robin Hood, the Magna Carta, and the English sense of fairness, in fair play, in a fair deal, and the Court of Elizabeth I and the favourite, Earl of Essex, and the Court of James I and the favourite, Duke of Buckingham. in all these historical legends, there is the faintest sense of failure in all these accounts. personal relationships are key, what is one without the other? how did the man who became Duke of Buckingham catch the eye of James I? and without the king, what of Buckingham?

that history itself survives is a testament to its relevance. types persist, circumstances repeat themselves, though granted, it is most shocking to see history replay itself in public!

CLEARCHARGE

The Flow of History

the flow of history:

as to what history is, is it the facts of time, a chart of conquest and discovery, a dry list of events? like religion and myth and legend, popular history is often askew with details of personality, great and small, tales of adventure and high risk, power and presence, literated with drama and foretold of jealousy and envy, spite and revenge, ambition and duress.

what we have today of ancient history, of Egypt, Greece, China and England, the mythology of Roman and Norse hue, the panoply of great figures of legend, is not to be confused with facts of things that actually transpired. imagine a king of England, long ago, how did she or he conquer the realm? with its culture magically transported through the mist over the country? of battalions of haste and fortune, giving away all the wealth of the monarchy? of Greek myth with her heroes, Theseus, Perseus, Jason, Heracles or Hercules, Odysseus, all on adventure and discovery, aided sight unseen by powerful presence. of Amun Ra, father of Egypt, and of Thor, with the magical hammer, and of China, with its heroes fighting the odds.

onto premodern history then with its communities, early education and manufacturing, manuscripts and lettering, design and thinking about mechanics. and finally modern history, people actually meet different. and working systems, the sum becomes greater than the total of the parts, synergy, rhythm, and the new and the bold.

all the while, everyone wonders how everything really works. the imagination is wild, ambition is untamed. the false is discarded, therefore the past seems thin, what went down the wrong path is covered up and hidden. the decision is made whole in a new direction.

CLEARCHARGE