Hi Philip,
Haha, my martial arts skills extends to being able to enjoy the practice of Chai Tea. Hmm, zoo, I have to get past the video feeds first.
Actually in the Shastar Vidiya martial art of the teacher mentioned. The primary grade of animal style in the sequence, is Wild Boar, a style of unflinching ferocity, without much ability to retreat or any fancy (intelligent?) movements. So interesting that the Wild Boar was revered by the Celts. I’d love to look into that more.
It sounds like the hunting of boars and tigers were heroic rites of passage, of hunter-warriors, equivalent to the slaying of the Minotaur in the labyrinths.
I believe that a Japanese God, Marishi-Ten rides a Wild Boar into battle. Originating from the Buddhist deity Marici.
I’d love to have heard the Boar-Pipes atop the hills of Lairig Gru in the mists.
Cheers
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Originally Posted by Philip
David, I know you have a martial arts background, but please refrain from trying this at your local zoo. Even if the shaft of your mace does have an iron core!
Seriously, the legend makes it a great metaphor. It mirrors the longevity of the tradition of European aristocracy hunting wild boar with spears, from the Middle Ages until recent times as evidenced by countless works of art, and spears of various dates and origins in collections. Indeed, the practice is depicted in Roman art (most notably a dramatically carved marble frieze in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence), and is immortalized in the Greek legend of Meleander and Atalanta killing the Hogzilla-sized Calydonian Boar, as recounted in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Europe, lacking tigers in its native fauna, found the wild boar a worthy substitute for tenacity, strength, and ferocity. The animal was revered by the ancient Celtic peoples as a symbol of courage (the ancient tribes of Scotland used a war-trumpet modeled after a boar's tusked gaping maw, called a carynx, before they got the hang of bagpipes; its sound was enough to cause some alarm in the ranks of Roman legionaries facing them in the field.) Numerous stone boar statues from prehistoric times have been unearthed in northern Portugal and adjoining Spain, where Celtiberian civilization had a long tenure.
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