Holmgang

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    While today many would view a battle between two men to preserve their honor as foolish, in the nineteenth century and earlier, men believed dueling was the only resort to maintain this honor and prove their manliness. Dueling began declining since its beginning due to government involvement and modernization. By explaining the history of dueling and the process of its decline, this paper will explain that dueling continued throughout the nineteenth century, despite significant efforts to end it, due to the revival of the idea of honor and tradition due to the French Revolution. A duel was an arranged fight between two individuals who had agreed on the rules and weapon prior to combat. A duel was called when one man felt that he had been disrespected or deserved to ‘right a wrong’ committed by the man he had challenged to the duel. Duels in the seventeenth to nineteenth century developed from army practices like “trial by combat” to duels watched for entertainment. Duels evolved from medieval sixteenth century “trial by combat.” This was a way of amending a dishonor between the two parties. It had come from the idea of sending one soldier out from each side to fight, proving that the winner had God on his side. The duel was conducted between the individuals only because they were the men who had the problem. The duel was to give a chance for swift vengeance. A duel was usually conducted between two aristocrats, until the nineteenth century, when upper middle class…

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    Summer Of 1969

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    Heaney also alludes to Duel with Cudgels which he compares to "that holmgang" (a traditional duel to the death) (30). Heaney is using these paintings to relate to the current situation in Ireland. Ireland is in the midst of a civil war and members of the same country are killing each other (similarly to Saturn killing his child). Heaney uses cacophonous language to describe these two paintings in order to display the dangers, severity, and problems in Irelands current situation and suffering at…

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