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Post by nellie on Jun 14, 2011 12:32:16 GMT -1
I always loved this, hearing bits and pieces growing up.
Is the song in its many forms an echo of some older belief? If it could be said to echo some sort of harvest belief where is it most likely to stem from?
I haven't chanced across much good info on this, but I think there seems to be some link to Beowulf?? Does that mean that a Barleycorn figure may have come from the Saxons?
I've also seen Lugh mentioned a few times in relation to Barleycorn ~ is there any basis to this or is it simply because Lughnasa takes place at harvest time?
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Post by Lee on Jun 14, 2011 13:22:57 GMT -1
It is a nice 'concept'
If we take an animist view - i think many of us here to some extent - then the idea that the grain harvest has a kind of collective spirit or ungod then John Barleycorn is one name for it.
I have come across the lugh/lleu thing and have sen reference to customs more recent (couple hundred years ago) where people lit fires on top of hills to Lleu. He seems to be in there somewhere, but his exact involvement is a bit fuzzy and his role even more so.
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