Monday, July 3, 2023

Gematria in ASCII - Is there any appropriateness?


Let's take two main Inklings in gematrias I have already the habit of looking for (one capitals only, one spaces, dots, lower case too).

JRRTOLKIEN
C. S. Lewis

Obviously also the inverse preferences:

J. R. R. Tolkien
CSLEWIS

Test numbers - using the gematria as chronograms.

JRRTOLKIEN = 772, C. S. Lewis = 822

J7407004C67_06007
R8215006. 46321001332
R8223008S83_18016
T8431012. 46322202264
O7938021L76_29028
L7645027e69323503796
K7552032w873243044128
I7359035i733250047160
E6965044s833258050192= 822
N7872052= 772


772

Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expedition from the Middle Rhine into disputed territory lost by the Franks in 695. He starts a campaign against the Saxons and seizes Eresburg, destroying the Irminsul (Saxon sacred tree) near Paderborn. Charlemagne devastates several major Saxon strongholds, and forces them to retreat beyond the Weser River. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, he installs a number of garrisons.[1]

King Desiderius of the Lombards, enraged by the repudiation by Charlemagne of his daughter Desiderata, proclaims Gerberga's sons lawful heirs to the Frankish throne. He attacks Pope Adrian I for refusing to crown them, and invades the Duchy of the Pentapolis. Desiderius marches on Rome, and Adrian turns to the Franks for military support.

In England, King Offa of Mercia attempts to rule Kent directly, possibly to depose his rival Egbert II (approximate date).


All three events in Europe are highly relevant to Tolkien. Charlemagne is half an half a model for Aragorn, and the Two Trees of Valinor can be considered as Tolkien's attempt to replant Irminsul into the more Christian soil of the two trees in Eden. Our author was highly conscious of the Lombards, and part of the "past incarnations" of Audoin and Alboin in a dream journey into the past were the two successors of Waltari of Lombardy in the 6th C. Anglo-Saxon history and Mercian (both language and history) were dear to Tolkien.

822

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine general and usurper Thomas the Slav continues his revolt against Emperor Michael II. He unsuccessfully besieges Constantinople, while his fleet is destroyed by Michael's fleet, using Greek fire.

Battle of Kedouktos (near Heraclea): Khan Omurtag of Bulgaria sends a relief army, and defeats the Byzantine rebels. [1][2][3]


Europe

Emperor Louis I performs public penance for causing his nephew Bernard's death 4 years earlier, at his palace of Attigny (Ardennes), before Pope Paschal I, and the Frankish nobles (this to restore harmony and re-establish his authority).[4]

The earliest known mention of the Serbs, in Einhard's Royal Frankish Annals.


Britain

King Ceolwulf I of Mercia invades Powys (Wales), but is beaten back by King Cyngen. However, Ceolwulf does destroy the fortress of Deganwy, and later takes the kingdom under his control (approximate date).


Al-Andalus

Al-Hakam I, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, dies after a 26-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Abd al-Rahman II, who begins a military campaign against King Alfonso II of Asturias in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).


Religion

Rabanus Maurus, a Frankish Benedictine monk, becomes abbot of Fulda, after the death of Eigil.


The evil of rebellion, the excitingness of war and fleets and unsuccessful sieges, the penance of kings, the discovery of previously unknown peoples, the opposition between Saxon and (by the 19th / 20th C) more anarchic Celt, Southron kings waging war against those of the faith ... we are in the realm of Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Horse and His Boy - in some ways, C. S. Lewis at his best. And Dr. Cornelius, Coriakin, Hermit of the Southern March give Raban Maur a cameo on these works. Not to mention how his "Vexilla Regis prodeunt" have influenced parts of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

J. R. R. Tolkien = 1398, CSLEWIS = 538

J74_07004C6706007
. 46321101032S8314010
R82_19012L7621016
. 46322301864E6927025
R82_31020W8735032
. 46323502696I7342035
T84_43030S8350038= 538
o793250039128
l763257045160
k753264050192
i733271053224
e693277062256
n783284070288=1398


1398

April - May – The Bosnian nobility dethrone Queen Helen and replace her with Stephen Ostoja.
July – The Stecknitz Canal is completed between the rivers Elbe and Trave (at Lübeck) in modern-day north Germany, one of the earliest navigable summit level canals in the world.
September

King Richard II of England exiles his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV of England) for 10 years, in order to end Henry's feud with Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, who is also exiled.[1]
As France withdraws its support for Antipope Benedict XIII, an army led by Geoffrey Boucicaut occupies Avignon, and starts a five-year siege of the papal palace.


October 12 – The Treaty of Salynas is signed by Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Konrad von Jungingen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, in an attempt to cede Samogitia to the Knights.
October 14 – King Taejo of Joseon abdicates the throne of the Joseon dynasty in modern-day Korea, following the murder of his heir Yi Bangsuk, during a coup by Yi's older half-brother, Yi Bang-won, in The First Strife Of Princes. Taejo's eldest son Jeongjong succeeds to the throne.
November 11 – Janus succeeds his father, James I, as King of Cyprus and claimant to the throne of Armenian Cilicia.
December 17 – Timur defeats the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, which has been weakened after four years of civil war. Following his victory, Timur's Islamic troops sack the city of Delhi, and proceed to massacre hundreds of thousands of the state's Hindu inhabitants.

Date unknown

The Teutonic Knights recommence their raids of Lithuania.
The Teutonic Knights conquer the island of Gotland, near Sweden, which has previously been run by the piratical Victual Brothers.
Martin of Aragon launches a crusade against the Moors in North Africa.
The Kingdom of Singapura falls, after being invaded by the Majapahit Empire.
Abdullah succeeds Abu Amir as ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco.
Bunei succeeds his father, Satto, as King of Chūzan (modern-day central Okinawa, Japan).
Glendalough monastery in Wicklow, Ireland is destroyed by English troops.
Ferapontov Monastery is founded in modern-day northwest Russia by Therapont of Belozersk.
The Munmyo Confucian shrine and Sungkyunkwan University are founded in modern-day Seoul.
Mount Grace Priory is established in Yorkshire, England.
According to fringe theorists, the Scottish explorer Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, reaches North America.

Births
... Cecília Rozgonyi, Hungarian noble and heroine (d. 1434)
... Johannes Gutenberg, German inventor of the printing press


Replacing a queen with a king seems to reflect the situation of Miriel. The Stecknitz canal would have had counterparts in Númenor well before her. Tolkien may or may not have believed as Chesterton that Richard II sympathised with the revolting peasants, and was betrayed by the parliament, but his fate would certainly have interested Tolkien. Antipope Benedict XIII, previously supported by France, would be, like other antipopes and false prophets, typified by Saruman, the treasonable head of the White Council. Several items concern Lithuanians and Teutonic order, among whom Tolkien certainly had ancestors. Their name probably not meaning "tollkühn" but rather interpreter - like Swedish "tolk" ... Timur's victory is arguably mirrored in that of Angmar that millennium prior to the hobbits arriving at the Galgals or at Weathertop. The First Strife Of Princes in Korea recalls the Kinstrife in Gondor (and hangul letters share the phonographic if I may so call it principle with tengwar. Three monasteries, including one charterhouse priory are involved. Charterhouses produce manuscript (later on printed) books, obviously a great hit with Tolkien, and Glendalough destroyed by English reminds of Ely destroyed by Normans - for which Tolkien had a great affection.

If Theoden at Pelennor field reminds of St. Stephen of Hungary, his niece Eowyn has a counterpart in another Hungarian, Cecília Rozgonyi - and obviously, Gutenberg was making a revolution in the way Charterhouses were making books.

538

Byzantine Empire

March 12 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths ends his siege (after 374 days) and abandons Rome. He retreats with his Gothic army northeast along the Via Flaminia.
Belisarius attacks the Goths when they have crossed the Milvian Bridge. After fierce resistance, Vitiges routs in panic, and many are slain or drowned in the river.[1]
Gothic War: Vitiges strengthens the garrisons of various towns and besieges Ariminum. Byzantine forces under the Armenian general Narses arrive at Picenum.[2]
April – Belisarius secures Liguria, Mediolanum (modern Milan) and Ariminum, but disagreements, especially with Narses, leads to disunity in the Byzantine army.
Summer – King Theudebert I sends a small Frankish force across the Alps, and defeats the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreats to Tuscany.
Sittas, Byzantine general, suppresses a revolt in Armenia in protest against heavy taxation. During the campaign he is killed by Artabanes, leader of the revolt.[3]


Britain

King Cuneglas of Rhos abandons his wife in favour of his sister-in-law, a nun who he drags from her convent (approximate date).
Gabrán mac Domangairt becomes king of Dál Riata (Scotland).


Religion

As a result of persecutions by the Byzantine Empire, Monophysite Christians establish the Coptic Church in Alexandria (approximate date).
The Third Council of Orléans takes place, and prohibits rural labor on Sunday.


Society

Third year of worldwide famine, a consequence of the Extreme weather events of 535–536.[n 1]


Births

... Gregory of Tours, French bishop, historian (d. 594)


C. S. Lewis cared much more for Christians not in communion with Rome and persecuted, so, Monophysites. Siege of Rome - the most famous one being perhaps Hannibal ante portas. Did you know Hannibal was halted at a place called, on Latin rather than Italian maps, Narnia?

Councils of Orléans are not in fact Calvinist, but about as close to Calvinism as C. S. Lewis got. He did on occasion feature famine, at least as a backdrop and theoretical threat. Cuneglas violation of his sister in law reminds of the attempts of Rabadash the Ridiculous. Gabrán mac Domangairt is also called Gwran Wradouc (byname meaning "traitor") and C. S. Lewis has one (actually good) king who started out as a traitor - Edmund. Everything in the Byzantine Empire can be put under the heading of CSL's comment in the beginning of his action in WWI - "war, this is what Homer wrote about" - and Gregory of Tours is reminiscent of the whole genre of texts in which CSL (and Tolkien) studied old wars.

So, for the two main Inklings, I think there is a great deal of appropriateness in how their ASCII gematria works out as chronograms.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Nanterre
Pope St. Leo II
3.VII.2023

PS, it turns out "ab urbe condita 538" = 216 BC ... check out that one .../HGL

2 comments:

Hans Georg Lundahl said...

It seems AD 663 and 670 are at least moderately relevant for myself.

HGLUNDAHL and HANSGEORG, respectively.

H. G. Lundahl would add 46 * 2 + 32 * 8 = 348 + 663 = 1011
Hans Georg would add 32 * 8 = 256 + 670 = 926

Hans Georg Lundahl said...

1011 gives among other things:

Byrhtferth, Benedictine monk of Ramsey Abbey, writes his Manual (Enchiridion) on the divine order of the universe and time.

Bodl. Ashmole MS 328 preserves Byrhtferth's Latin Enchiridion, or Manual. It is written in Latin and Old English and the largest part is that of a computus similar to the one in Preface. It touches on the belief that the divine order of the universe can be perceived through the study of numbers and can be of great reference for the study of medieval number symbolism.[3] It also contains treatises on rhetorical and grammatical subjects, a table of weights and measures, and three theological tracts on the ages of the world, the loosing of Satan and the eight capital sins

Fairly fine hit, for a man who:
* studies angelic movers
* studies the Biblical chronology
* studies gematria (notably in Apocalyptic context)
as I do.