MajorIn many European languages, the term Major is a military rank, implying seniority at one of usually various levels of rank. For example:*"General-Major" or "Major-General", denoting a senior ranking general officer....
FitzRoy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan (10 June 1885–1964) was a British soldier, beekeeper, farmer and
independent scholarAn independent scholar is anyone who conducts scholarly research outside universities and traditional academia. Independent scholars play an especially important role in areas such as art history and other humanities fields.-References:...
. He is best known for his book
The Hero, where he systematises
heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
mythMythology is the study of myths and or of a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;...
s.
Raglan, the great-grandson of
FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron RaglanField Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC , known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British soldier.-Early life:...
of
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
fame, attended
EtonEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
before entering the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
. He joined the
Grenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
, serving in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
,
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
, and eventually rising to the rank of major.
From 1913 to 1918, he served in Southern
SudanSudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area...
, where he became interested in cultural anthropology, particularly of the
LotukoLotuko is an ethnic group in Sudan. Their population exceeds 100,000. Their traditional home is Equatoria area on Southern Sudan. They speak Otuho language, a Nilotic language....
people.
MajorIn many European languages, the term Major is a military rank, implying seniority at one of usually various levels of rank. For example:*"General-Major" or "Major-General", denoting a senior ranking general officer....
FitzRoy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan (10 June 1885–1964) was a British soldier, beekeeper, farmer and
independent scholarAn independent scholar is anyone who conducts scholarly research outside universities and traditional academia. Independent scholars play an especially important role in areas such as art history and other humanities fields.-References:...
. He is best known for his book
The Hero, where he systematises
heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
mythMythology is the study of myths and or of a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;...
s.
Life
Raglan, the great-grandson of
FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron RaglanField Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC , known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British soldier.-Early life:...
of
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
fame, attended
EtonEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
before entering the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
. He joined the
Grenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
, serving in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
,
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
, and eventually rising to the rank of major.
From 1913 to 1918, he served in Southern
SudanSudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area...
, where he became interested in cultural anthropology, particularly of the
LotukoLotuko is an ethnic group in Sudan. Their population exceeds 100,000. Their traditional home is Equatoria area on Southern Sudan. They speak Otuho language, a Nilotic language....
people. An accomplished linguist, he became fluent in Arabic and produced the first Lotuko-English dictionary. A serious illness in 1914 prevented his assignment to the dangerous
Western FrontWestern Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West...
in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
; he remained instead in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Following the death of his father in 1921, he retired from the service and returned to his ancestral home, Cefntilla Court in
MonmouthshireMonmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
. He ran the estate as a working farm, and was a proficient
carpenterA carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who performs carpentry. Carpenters work with wood to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
,
bricklayerA bricklayer or mason is a tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
, and
beekeeperA beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...
. He became active in local affairs and began studying and writing in areas as varied as
anthropologyAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
,
political sciencePolitical science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is often described as the pragmatic application of the art and science of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how",...
, and
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
.
He published his first book,
Jocasta's Crime, in 1933, and
The Hero in 1936. He worked independently of the academic establishment, carrying out little original research but synthesizing existing scholarship into provocative new lines of reasoning. He corresponded widely with scholars and participated in many professional associations, though he never pursued nor was awarded any academic degree. He served as president of the Folk Lore Society, Section H of the
British Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between scientific workers...
, and the
Royal Anthropological InstituteThe Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is the world's longest established anthropological organisation, with a global membership. Since 1843, it has been at the forefront of new developments in anthropology and new means of communicating them to a broad audience...
, and many other organizations.
Lady Raglan's lone foray into folklore was a notable success. In a 1939 article in the journal
Folklore, she coined the term "
Green ManA Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit...
" to describe the foliate heads found in English churches. Her theory on their origin is still debated.
Raglan's outspokenness and relentless
skepticismIn classical philosophy, skepticism is the teachings and the traits of the 'Skeptikoi', a school of philosophers of whom it was said that they 'asserted nothing but only opined.' In this sense, philosophical skepticism, or Pyrrhonism, is the philosophical position that one should suspend...
earned him both admirers and detractors. An aristocrat himself, he often stated that there was "no such thing as a
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
pedigree," and was fond of pointing out cherished local legends that could not be historically true. He believed Shakespeare was actually a syndicate of a half-dozen writers, with Shakespeare himself writing only the comic parts of the plays. In 1934, he created a stir at a British Association meeting by declaring that black and white Americans would eventually merge into one race. In 1959, he aroused the fury of the
Welsh Nationalist PartyPlaid Cymru is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union.Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
by declaring
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
"a moribund language" and accused nationalists of trying to create a "fictitious druidical past." He ignored ensuing calls for his resignation as
Lord Lieutenant of MonmouthshireThis is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire. Before the English Civil War, the lieutenancy of Monmouthshire was held by the Lord Lieutenant of Wales, except for the period from 1602 to 1629, when it formed a separate lieutenancy in conjunction with Glamorgan...
and president of the National Museum of Wales.
Until his death at 79 in 1964, he remained an imposing figure, with a military bearing and gait. He was buried in the family plot in
LlandennyLlandenny is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Llandenny is located three miles south of Raglan and three miles north of Usk.- History & Amenities :...
.
Family
He married Hon. Julia Hamilton, daughter of
Lt.-Col.Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Robert Edward Archibald Udney-Hamilton, 11th Lord Belhaven and StentonLieutenant-Colonel Robert Edward Archibald Udny-Hamilton, 11th Lord Belhaven and Stenton, CIE, DL was a Scottish representative peer and a soldier....
and Kathleen Gonville Bromhead, on 9 April 1923. They had five children, one of whom died as an infant.
- FitzRoy Somerset (b. 9 January 1924, d. 13 January 1924)
- Janetta Somerset (b. 8 June 1925)
- FitzRoy John Somerset, 5th Baron Raglan
FitzRoy John Somerset, 5th Baron Raglan was born on 8 November 1927. He is the son of FitzRoy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan and Hon. Julia Hamilton. He married Alice Baily, daughter of Peter Baily, in 1973. He and Alice were divorced in 1981. They had no children.-References:...
(b. 8 November 1927)
- Geoffrey Somerset (b. 29 August 1932)
- Cecily Somerset (b. 10 August 1938)
The Hero
Raglan's best-known work,
The Hero, A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama, was published in 1936. The book's central thesis is that
heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
figures of
mythologyMythology is the study of myths and or of a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;...
had their origin in ritual
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
, not historical fact. In the book's most influential chapter, he outlined 22 common traits of god-heroes. They are:
- The hero's mother is a royal virgin;
- His father is a king, and
- Often a near relative of his mother, but
- The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
- He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
- At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
- He is spirited away, and
- Reared by foster parents in a far country.
- We are told nothing of his childhood, but
- On reaching manhood he returns to go to his future kingdom.
- After a victory over the king, and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
- He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
- Becomes king.
- For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
- Prescribes laws, but
- Later loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
- Is driven from the throne and city, after which
- He meets a mysterious death,
- Often at the top of a hill.
- His children, if any, do not succeed him.
- His body is not buried, but nevertheless
- He has one or more holy sepulchers.
Raglan then encapsulates the lives of several heroes and awards points (marks) for thematic elements for a possible score of 22. He dissects
OedipusOedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
, Theseus, Romulus, Heracles, Perseus, Jason, Bellerophon, Pelops, Asclepios, Dionysos, Apollo, Zeus, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Watu Gunung, Nyikang, Sigurd or Siegfried, Llew Llawgyffes, Arthur, and
Robin HoodRobin Hood is a hero in English folklore, a highly-skilled archer and outlaw. In particular, he is known for "stealing from the rich and giving to the poor," assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men"...
. Oedipus earns the highest score with 21 marks.
Thus Raglan calculated the likelihood that these protagonists were actual historical figures. Unlike
Joseph CampbellJoseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, who published
The Hero with a Thousand Faces in 1943, Raglan was not interested in the psychological or personal aspects of hero myths, only their factual basis.
The Hero established Raglan as a leading proponent of the "myth-ritual" theory of the origin of religion, whose antecedents included Sir James Frazer and the Cambridge Ritualists. Both specific and general aspects of
The Hero have since been challenged and in many cases discredited. Some of the heroes analyzed by Raglan, notably
Leif EricsonLeif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is currently regarded as the first European to land in North America 492 years before Christopher Columbus...
, are now almost universally considered to be historical personages.
The myth-ritual theory had a profound influence on literature and subsequently on
literary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
, reaching its height in the 1960s. Because of its succinct presentation of the theory, Raglan's scale is still frequently used as a teaching tool in
cultural anthropologyCultural anthropology is one of four or five fields of anthropology . It is the branch of anthropology that examines culture as a meaningful scientific concept....
and
comparative literatureComparative literature is critical scholarship dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
.
Significantly, Raglan excludes Jesus from the study, even though he "is reputed to the the son of a god", returned to his future kingdom, and met a mysterious death on the top of a hill, and was not buried. Raglan later claimed to omit
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
to avoid conflict with his original publisher. The idea of Jesus as a god-hero is sometimes used by both sides in the debate over the historicity of Jesus.
Politics
Though less well known today as a political commentator, Raglan applied the same
deductive reasoningDeductive reasoning, sometimes called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments.In logic, an argument is said to be deductive when the truth of the conclusion is purported to follow necessarily or be a logical consequence of the premises and its corresponding...
to
political sciencePolitical science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is often described as the pragmatic application of the art and science of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how",...
as to anthropology, with similarly controversial results. In
The Science of Peace (1933), he denounced
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
as an artificial construct independent of linguistic, racial or economic divisions, and a leading cause of war. At the same time, he opposed
disarmamentDisarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. The most common form of disarmament is abolishment of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...
and the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
and believed
imperialismImperialism, as defined by the dictionary of human geography, is “the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination.” Imperialism, in many ways, is described...
was an effective antidote for rampant nationalism. He advocated the "civilization of women," including access to education, and believed that people of African descent were just as capable of developing advanced civilization as Europeans.
In 1934, publishing house Methuen invited a number of prominent intellectuals to write on what they would do if granted
dictatorialA dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power with military control but, without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
power in England. In
If I Were Dictator, Raglan responded in typically idiosyncratic and sometimes inflammatory style. The book was written as a thought exercise and not, as it has sometimes been represented, a descriptive or prescriptive formula for being a dictator.
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/001320.php
Quotations
- "Culture is roughly everything we do and monkeys don't."
- "It is often said that 'there is no smoke without fire.' What those who use this expression mean by it is that their wish to believe any story or part of a story makes it historically true. They never apply it to a story which they know to be historically untrue, however much 'smoke' it may have emitted." (Preface to The Hero)
- "If, instead of saying that thieves will go to prison or liars will go to hell, we could make people think that stealing is as bad as going to a funeral in a coloured tie, or lying as bad as frying a sausage on the parlour fire, we should achieve a colossal reformation."
- "I believe that before many centuries have elapsed, there will not be a single person in America without a certain portion of Negro blood."
External links
- Lord Raglan's Scale The 22 points are applied to other heroes such as Beowulf
Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden...
and Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
.
- Theory and Criticism Brief historical overview
- National Library of Wales Dictionary of Welsh Biography