Celt and Magyar Connection and Iconic Realism: Part One (Linguistic Elements)

Map of the Germanic Kingdoms and East Roman Empire in 486 A.D. 

Map by William Robert Shepherd (1871-1934)

Map from Google Images

From my paper, presented at the American Conference for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana: 

In three parts, I will bring attention to the music, art, and linguistic elements that have proven to be common between the Celts and the Magyars of approximately 5-600 A.D. I will demonstrate the similarities in cultural traditions through the prism of iconic realism. For instance, found in ancient Magyar burial grounds near Budapest were weaponry, bearing the same symbolic features of those used by the Celts. This anthropological find indicates the significance of cultural rituals and artistic renderings among a group of people not usually associated with each other. That is where iconic realism enters the discussion.  The three components of this theory follow: 

1.    The artist presents a realistic icon in a work of art.

2.    The artist places the icon in a realistic setting unusual for this icon.

3.    The purpose for this placement is to make the audience aware of a need for cultural transformation.

The study of iconic realism in this presentation will demonstrate the similarities in the way that the Hungarians and Irish have struggled throughout history to maintain cultural identity. In the sense of comparison between the Magyars and the Celts, let’s look at some commonalities in a linguistic sample of both languages, hailing from the Finno-Ugraic linguistic root:

A cup of mead:  Celtic MEDUHun  MEDOS (Hungarian "mézes") 

A sunny disposition: (Irish SCOIR = szór; Irish SCORAIOCHT = Hungarian szórakozás / SORCHA

In Irish CHELL = trick, game CALAOIS = to trick, CEALG to trick, to fish, CEALA =to make something disappear, to hide; In Hungarian: csal, csel, csali

BODUA is the Celtic word for "victory" and it is possible that the incoming Hun troops were greeted with a joyful exclamation of "Bodua!" The victorious Huns were considered liberators because their society did not practice the inhuman institution of slavery of the "civilized" Romans. After the "victory" BUDA was built, the "Ancient Buda" (Ős-Buda), which we know as "Atilla's castle" (Etzilburg) from history.

The proud city of Sicambria, the Celtic city, which could have been called SICAN-BHARR before it became Latinized. This name means "Szék-bérces" in Hungarian (a 'Seat' upon a hill) - this type of word composition was also part of the Hungarian language structure; for further examples see Hegy-magas at Lake Balaton, or Becs-kerek in the Bánság. (In Irish, SUIOCHAN (Hungarian: szikán) means a seat, seating place, bench; seat as a seat of a settlement, a residence; a gathering, assembly, a court of law)

In the sense of comparison between the Magyars and the Celts, let’s look at some commonalities in a linguistic sample of both languages, hailing from the Finno-Ugraic linguistic root: 

A cup of mead:  Celtic MEDUHun  MEDOS (Hungarian "mézes") 

A sunny disposition: (Irish SCOIR = szór; Irish SCORAIOCHT = Hungarian szórakozás / SORCHA

In Irish CHELL = trick, game CALAOIS = to trick, CEALG to trick, to fish, CEALA =to make something disappear, to hide; In Hungarian: csal, csel, csali

BODUA is the Celtic word for "victory" and it is possible that the incoming Hun troops were greeted with a joyful exclamation of "Bodua!" The victorious Huns were considered liberators because their society did not practice the inhuman institution of slavery of the "civilized" Romans. After the "victory" BUDA was built, the "Ancient Buda" (Ős-Buda), which we know as "Atilla's castle" (Etzilburg) from history.

The proud city of Sicambria, the Celtic city, which could have been called SICAN-BHARR before it became Latinized. This name means "Szék-bérces" in Hungarian (a 'Seat' upon a hill) - this type of word composition was also part of the Hungarian language structure; for further examples see Hegy-magas at Lake Balaton, or Becs-kerek in the Bánság. (In Irish, SUIOCHAN (Hungarian: szikán) means a seat, seating place, bench; seat as a seat of a settlement, a residence; a gathering, assembly, a court of law)

Clearly, there is a phonetic as well as semantic correlation between some relevant terms in both the Gaelic and the Hungarian (Magyar) languages. These correlations also appear in aural structures as well.

Saint Stephen and Iconic Realism

The Stoning of Saint Stephen

by Rembrandt, 1625

This painting is housed in le Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon, France

Saint Stephen was ordained one of the first deacons of the Christian faith by decree of the first apostles of Jesus after Jesus' crucifixion. He was outspoken about the hypocritical actions of the Jewish leaders. Many widows in Jerusalem were not being appropriately cared for, and Stephen made this known to the Sanhedrin. Instead of listening to his reasoning, the Jewish leaders and others led him outside the gates of Jerusalem and proceeded to stone him to death. As he was being stoned, he spoke these words, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." (Acts 7:60)

How does this act of martyrdom reflect the semiotic theory of iconic realism? 

1. An iconic, real figure, Stephen, is brought to trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin. (an iconic, realistic council in a place not usually associated with Christian leaders)

2. He believed in the Law of Moses, yet the Jewish leaders thought of him as a political and religious threat, and gave Saul of Tarsus orders to have him stoned to death. (An extreme action that causes Stephen to resist any thought of combative response.) 

Note: Saul would eventually receive the Divine calling to serve the Lord as Paul and compose many of writings found in the New Testament. 

3. As Stephen was being stoned, he was heard crying out, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." (Acts: 7:60) Forgiveness within his heart that reflected the words of Jesus before He perished on the cross. (This action brings the reading audience to an awareness of the need for forgiveness and faith in God in order for one to save one's soul.  

Saint Stephen's feast day is December 26. 

Background information has been paraphrased from this website: 

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=137

Vincent Van Gogh and Iconic Realism (Click onto title to hear Don McLean sing "Vincent" with accompanying Van Gogh paintings.)

Vincent Van Gogh

Painting by William Rock

Poetry by Huang Xiang

Translation of Huang Xiang's poetry, written in Chinese calligraphy on painting:

The painting holds high like torches 

Sunflowers turning high-heaven's blazing

SUN

To burn up the magnificent painting spirit 

stopped by a bullet

To burn down the temple of golden yellow

Opaque color -

dabs like clots of Blood

Gush fiery tears

Struggling lines feverishly erupt, 

twitching like raw nerves

The back view of a giant

Reappears

~ Huang Xiang

Starry Night 

by Vincent Van Gogh

An example of using a visual image to enhance meaning through the collective memory of a community exists within Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, Starry Night. He places iconic, celestial figures: moon, sun, stars, as the focal point, disproportionate to the small, darkened village. With wide, brush strokes, he creates a memory in the form of movement that transcends the primary source of his painting, that of the cosmic link between the silent structures of society and the dichotomy of chaos and structure found in nature. 

He paints contrasts of light and dark, structure and non-structure, illuminating his audience of the need to consider his idea of the bleak constraints in many organized religions. Thus, he paints a challenge for the members of his society to consider personal enlightenment as an action that illumines the darkness of the soul. 

Through actively engaging in a positive response to our daily struggles, we become enlightened and aware of the chaos as seen in the brilliant, night sky. Once enlightened (or saved), we can attempt to make positive choices to help this world become more balanced and orderly, following the precepts set before us through our foundational beliefs. In this painting, Van Gogh illustrates his personal connection with the vast beauty of nature and many possibilities through spiritual enlightenment. 

The Great Escape movie and Iconic Realism

The Great Escape movie poster from 'Duck Duck Go' Images

Once, I was channel surfing and landed on The Great Escape, a 1963 film directed by John Sturges. I couldn't help but notice that this film illustrates the semiotic theory of iconic realism in that the audience perceives icons of both freedom and constraint through the character representations of the Allied prisoners of WWII and the German gestapo. 

As the film progresses with bucolic settings that also provide a perception of freedom, only to be constrained by the Nazi forces, the viewer becomes poignantly aware of freedom and its multiple forms. In the end, those characters who are still alive, question their need for physical freedom from the p.o.w. camp as they learn to appreciate their spiritual, intellectual, and emotional autonomy. 

To hear me read this, please click HERE.

William Butler Yeats' poem, "Fragments," and Iconic Realism

I took this photo of a stone etching, commemorating Yeats at Coole Park, Ireland.

Fragments

by William Butler Yeats

I

LOCKE sank into a swoon;

The Garden died;

God took the spinning-jenny

Out of his side.

II

Where got I that truth?

Out of a medium's mouth.

Out of nothing it came,

Out of the forest loam,

Out of dark night where lay

The crowns of Nineveh.

The following is an excerpt from my book: 

In his poem, “Fragments,” Yeats rejects the icon of Christian philosopher, John Locke, and insinuates that mankind may not be “inherently good,” for “Locke sank into a swoon” (l.1) In lines 2-4, he writes, “The Garden died;/God took the spinning-jenny/Out of his side.” Since the spinning jenny enabled laborers to produce many more skeins of yarn, this allowed for the presence of many ‘yarns.’ His play on words creates the yarn. God (Jesus), the male icon of Christianity, has removed the tales of faith, the sins for which He was crucified. 

The last stanza provides a reality of the truth, which emanates from a non-Christian source, a medium, then, “Out of nothing it came,” from the Book of Genesis, the beginning of time, and the source of God. He follows this with the pagan version of truth, “Out of the forest loam,” the most fertile, lowest part of the forest floor, where nutrients for the forest thrive. Finally, truth comes “Out of dark night where lay/The crowns of Nineveh.” Here, darkness reveals only ignorance, silence, no words of wisdom, and the source of superficiality. 

Yeats juxtaposes the iconic with realistic in this poem to question the mystery of human faith, [and to illustrate the strength of human spirit that exists only with God's help.] He moves the reader along his wave of resonating artistic flow, for the next poem in this series is “Leda and the Swan,” his iconic poem that alludes to the rape of Leda in order to illustrate polar opposites in human consciousness.

Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and Iconic Realism

Adler Planetarium Astronomy Museum, Art Institute of Chicago

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

by Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,

and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with

much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Above is a poem by the American poet, Walt Whitman. Here, the speaker leaves an astronomy lecture to step outside the fixed parameters and subsequently, learns first-hand the beauty in viewing the same firmament of which the lecturer speaks, but viewed simply with the naked eye, in silence. By leaving the lecture, the speaker has knowledge shared by the astronomer inside and now enjoys the silent beauty with appreciated knowledge. More importantly, the speaker has appreciation of the significance of the stars’ natural state. 

This poem illustrates iconic realism in that the subject, constellations in a contrived setting, brings the audience (the speaker in the poem) to a recognition that education of natural phenomena directly connects humanity with nature. 

I warmly thank the Art Institute of Chicago for purchasing a copy of my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism: Understanding the Arts through Cultural Context.

To hear me read this, please click HERE.