Talk:Lyke-Wake Dirge
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The Lyke Wake Dirge sucks Big Balls
- Always pleasant to encounter a fellow scholar! Paul Tracy
[edit] Christian or pagan?
I have had a long interest in the Lyke Wake Dirge, since first hearing the Young Tradition sing it in the 1960s. Despite the obvious Christian references in the song, it has been suggested that the dirge is originally pre-christian, and the Christian bits have been added at a later date. My recollection is that when Pentangle sang it, they introduced it by saying something along those lines. The idea that various sequential states are arrived at after death by donning clothing, consuming food and acquiring money which had been given to others in life does not seem to align with conventional Christian theology. I am familiar with Matthew "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in" etc, but that is not really what is described in the dirge. Has anything definitive been written on this subject? Bluewave 14:38, 15 December 2005 (UTC)
I've changed the "are pre-Christian" to "may be pre-Christian"; while many (if not most) old songs have pre-Christian roots, no conclusions have been reached. While the Christian theology may not be strictly adhered to, this is a traditional song rather than a doctrinal pronouncement and illustrates the idea of 'laying up treasure in Heaven'. It does not tally with what we know of either the Nordic or Celtic views of the afterlife either; the Norse believed you either went to Valhöll or one of the other halls of the Aesir, or else went to Hel, which unlike Hell, is cold and barren but not necessarily bad. The pre-Christian Celts, as far as is known, simply believed in rebirth into an afterlife much the same as this life. Mon Vier 13:18, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
