The Trojan "Brand" 1

Reading the medieval text is an opportunity to encounter the words whose senses are different from, or quite opposite to, what they are now. It often makes me wonder how the semantic gap was born throughout history. Here is the beginning of some Arthurian literary poem:

     SIÞEN þe sege and þe assaut watz sesed at Troye,
     Þe borȝ brittened and brent to brondeȝ and askez,

     (When the siege and the assault had ceased at Troy,
     And the fortress fell in flame to brands and ashes...)

Then it follows how the Trojan survivors explored westwards and became an ancestor of the most European countries, finally reaching Britain (named after Brutus, a grandson or great grandson of Virgil’s Aeneas). The story of Troy was extremely popular in the Middle Ages and a claim of its lineage empowered aristocrats. (see Brutus and Britain and Eponym of Britain)

As the passage shows, the story of Troy serves as a kind of prologue to the Arthurian dynasty that ensues. Interestingly, it is a story of rebirth from “brands and ashes,” a destruction caused by the Greek. "Brand", or devastation of Troy, was not an end but an impetus in creating new nations. Thus, a sense of their identity was boosted by, so to speak, the Trojan "brand."

The Trojan "brand"?

“Brand” is an interesting word here from the viewpoint of semantic change. Here “brand” means a piece of burning or smouldering wood, referring to the state of devastation and wilderness. It has a negative sense such as “an identifying mark burned on livestock or criminals or slaves with a branding iron.” It is a mark of stigma and disgrace. When used as a verb, it is usually used in a negative context like “they have branded him as an imposter.”

To be continued.