Evil_Genius' Berserk community, Kentaro Miura's epic masterpiece, still active and translated. (Please don't ask about older Volumes. Buy from DarkHorse and support Miura.)
Starnum wrote:I just happened to be reading through Genesis the other day...you know, first book of the bible. Anyway, I discovered something kind of interesting I thought I might mention. Remember the town where the gang fought all those trolls and the ogre. Yeah, and then Schierke called in the flood and shit. Well, the name of that town was Inock. It just so happens that after God cursed Cain for killing Abel, he went off and created his own city, which was named Enoch, which would be pronounced the same way.
Yeah thats true, what is also kinda cool is that Enoch was destroyed by the great flood (at least i think i read that in Genesis), you know the whole Noa's ark thingie. So i find it kinda amusing that Schierke called in a flood on Inock.
Starnum wrote:Actually, I don't think that would be possible, because Enoch was built between Nod and Eden. So, it's most likely in the Ephereal Plane.
Anyway, welcome aboard.
Thanks, I've been lurking here for a while and i figured it was time for my public appearance.
And about the Enoch thing: you might just be right.
Damn, you beat me to it. That site talks about a particular Kanishka:
The rule of Kanishka I, the second great Kushan emperor, fifth Kushan king, who flourished for at least 28 years from c. 127, was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Vima Taktu, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 CE on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research (see Reference section below).
A lot of the religious themes can be almost directly linked to Medieval Catholicism. They have that bird emblem instead of the cross, they take the word of the priests to be just and in total accord with justice. The group of men that the crazy priest guy were like the inquisition and you have a group of religious leaders that bless wars (only the winners of course) and dictate the order of the state. If I dcould remember which chapters that part happened in, I could probably see more... but I'm not even sure which volume this happened in....
Someone already beat me to Kushan and Kanishka (Can't K and G be written really similar in Japanese btw, meaning it's meant to be Kanishka and not Ganishka?)
I've got this one though:
Pope Paul III (roughly early-mid 16th century), real name: Alessandro Farnese.
Edit: About the Nod/Eden/Enoch discussion, I always assumed Eden and Nod were considered physical and historical places within the Genesis context, seeing as a lot of Early Judaism was very-much concerned with the physical world. For example, why the Messiah is seen as ushering a physical Kingdom of God (the rebuilt Kingdom of David) and the lack of mcuh discussion on an afterlife in the early texts. This changed later of course, particularly through contact with Zoroastrianism and with the Post-Christianity Rabbinical movement after the fall of the Second Temple. Anyway, I always thought Enoch would have been a physical city and thus destroyed in the great flood. I study religion, so shoot me.
I totally missed this sticky when i posted my post about Griffith´s simbolism, sorry about that, and thanks to Wandering_mystic to pointing me out that.
Anyway, i´ll write my post in here, where it belongs. =P
Recently i´ve been researching on the internet possible simbolisms presented on the manga related to Griffith, note that this is my interpretation of the manga and may be wrong, don´t be afraid to correct me if i´m way off.
Kentaro Miura named Griffith "the White Hawk". While at first view, this sounds only to sound "cool" and had no meaning, even so i was researching the symbolisms of said bird and found several extremely interesting information.
The hawk has been used by many countries as a national symbol, depicting power, beauty and independence. Those traits remind you to a certain God Hand member? Yes, same here.
Furthermore, in dreams, the eagle embodies lofty thoughts and its significance is almost always positive. It symbolizes the “sudden impulse,” “devouring spiritual passion,” but its characteristic as a bird of prey which carries its victims off to eyries from which they cannot escape, "Kill all who still resists" (After winning the war against the purple Rinos) Griffith´s commands are very firm, like the Hawk, not allowing their prey escape), makes it the symbol of an undeviating and devouring thirst for power as well (Which was the downfall of the original group in the end, when he sacrificed what was most dear to him to continue his dream).
Also, there´s is the two-headed eagle; The two-headed eagle (Griffith and Guts both work very well together, he does what she wants, two heads acting like one). In the ancient civilizations of Asia Minor, the two-headed eagle symbolized supreme power.
The Hawk normally is a figure of divine spirit, power in battle, protection from evil, clear vision, success, prosperity, wealth, intelligence, renewal, leadership, courage. Most of these traits are strong in Griffith. (Except of course, protection from evil)
The Hawk mostly signifies a person of action, ever more occupied in high and weighty affairs, and one of lofty spirit, ingenious, speedy in apprehension, and judicious in matters of ambiguity; true magnanimity and fortitude of mind; a symbol of power and sovereignty. Finally, it symbolizes courage, freedom, and immortality, which makes me wonder Griffith’s ultimate fate even more, altough Guts is still the "struggler", the "error" in the perfect sistem of causuality so i still have no idea what is going to happen in the end.
There it is, sorry about spelling errors if you see any or if the writting is confusing, english is not my first language and i tend to get carried away.
One interesting thing that i found out while researching this, i found out that Baphomet is the pagan god of fertility and is often depicted as having a human body and a goat´s head.
Familiar? Shows that Miura´s been doing his home work, no?
Last edited by Deathbringer on Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi, I've been a lurker for some time, saw this thread and had to contribute.
There has been some talk as to the relationship with Guts and the dogs, but I haven't seen any info on why the dog itself is significant. Anyway, here's my shot at a post.
BARGHEST, BARGTJEST or BARGEST, the name given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a monstrous goblindog with huge teeth and claws, The spectre-hound under various names is familiar in folk-lore. The Demon of Tedworth, the Black Dog of Winchester and the Padfoot of Wakefield all shared the characteristics of the Barghest of York. In Wales its counterpart was Gwyllgi, the Dog of Darkness, a frightful apparition. of a mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes. In Lancashire the spectre-hound is called Trash or Striker. In Cambridgeshire and on the Norfolk coast it is known as Shuck or Shock. In the Isle of Man it is styled Mauthe Doog. It is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in The Lay of the Last Minstrel For he was speechless, ghastly, wan Like him of whom the Story ran Who spoke the spectre hound in Man.
A Welsh variant is the Cwn Annuis, or dogs of hell. The barghest was essentially a nocturnal spectre, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. Its Welsh form is confined to the sea-coast parishes, and on the Norfolk coast the creature is supposed to be amphibious, coming out of the sea by night and travelling about the lonely lanes. The derivation of the word barghest is disputed. Ghost in the north of England is pronounced guest, and the name is thought to be burh-ghesl, town-ghost. Others explain it as German Berg-geisl, mountain demon, or Bar-geist, bear-demon, in allusion to its alleged appearance at times as a bear. The barghest has a kinsman in the Rongeur dOs of Norman folklore. A. belief in the spectre-hound still lingers in the wild parts of the north country of England, and in Nidderdale, Yorkshire, nurses frighten children with its name.
Mr. Pilgrim wrote:Hi, I've been a lurker for some time, saw this thread and had to contribute.
There has been some talk as to the relationship with Guts and the dogs, but I haven't seen any info on why the dog itself is significant. Anyway, here's my shot at a post.
BARGHEST, BARGTJEST or BARGEST, the name given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a monstrous goblindog with huge teeth and claws, The spectre-hound under various names is familiar in folk-lore. The Demon of Tedworth, the Black Dog of Winchester and the Padfoot of Wakefield all shared the characteristics of the Barghest of York. In Wales its counterpart was Gwyllgi, the Dog of Darkness, a frightful apparition. of a mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes. In Lancashire the spectre-hound is called Trash or Striker. In Cambridgeshire and on the Norfolk coast it is known as Shuck or Shock. In the Isle of Man it is styled Mauthe Doog. It is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in The Lay of the Last Minstrel For he was speechless, ghastly, wan Like him of whom the Story ran Who spoke the spectre hound in Man.
A Welsh variant is the Cwn Annuis, or dogs of hell. The barghest was essentially a nocturnal spectre, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. Its Welsh form is confined to the sea-coast parishes, and on the Norfolk coast the creature is supposed to be amphibious, coming out of the sea by night and travelling about the lonely lanes. The derivation of the word barghest is disputed. Ghost in the north of England is pronounced guest, and the name is thought to be burh-ghesl, town-ghost. Others explain it as German Berg-geisl, mountain demon, or Bar-geist, bear-demon, in allusion to its alleged appearance at times as a bear. The barghest has a kinsman in the Rongeur dOs of Norman folklore. A. belief in the spectre-hound still lingers in the wild parts of the north country of England, and in Nidderdale, Yorkshire, nurses frighten children with its name.
i always thought that the dog/wolf in guts was a reference to scandinavian lore of berserker warriors drinking wolf blood to invoke the wolf spirits and get worked into a frenzy.
Offhand, I can't remember the name of Schierke's elf-fairy-thing, but Puck is, of course, pretty well-known from Shakespeare's play, 'Midsummer Night's Dream' as the elf-king Oberon's lieutenant, known for trickery and mischief. No bechi, though.
Azan the Bridge Knight might be from Greek mythology; there was an Azan, son of Arcas (one of Zeus's many illegitimate sons), but I dont remember enough about him to tell if it's an exact match. There's also a story from one of the provinces of China; one about a monk, wielding a staff weapon, that defended a bridge from 100 men, which is what Azan is famous for in Berserk. It might have been Zhang Yu, I'm sort of drawing a blank on the name.
And last, Nosferatu Zodd. It's probably nothing, but wasn't there a Superman movie about a Zodd? Kneel before Zodd!
The dog in guts looks like an "dobberman" (probably the wrong word in english). It's a type of dog thats really cute when it's young, but as it grows older, their skull is too small for their brain (thats not good)--> so they might get berserk anytime at anybody... nothing symbolic here but I thought I might contribute