V.V. (2) Eulenspiegel (Owlglass), Rachel

[jbor]

Eulenspiegel, Till. The name [...] of a 14th Century villager of Brunswick
who became the subject of a large number of popular tales of mischievous
pranks and crude jests, first printed in 1515. The work was translated into
many languages (first in to English c. 1560) and rapidly achieved wide
popularity. Till Eulenspiegel is the subject of Charles de Coster's
picaresque novel *Ulenspiegel* (1867), of various operas and of a tone poem
by Richard Strauss, *Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche* ('Till
Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks') (1895)

from *Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable* (1999)

Though it brings in the picaresque link again, I don't really see any
meaningful connection between this character and Rachel, and I think that
what it might demonstrate is how the apparent resonances in Pynchonian names
(eg. Oedipa Maas = Oedipus, McLintic Sphere = Monk etc) are in actual fact
red herrings, leading nowhere, perhaps deliberately and tantalisingly so.

The other half of her name has just as much potential resonance:

Rachel. The younger and prettier daughter of Laban and the wife of Jacob.
Jacob loves her, and works seven years for Laban to get her, but he is
tricked into taking her elder sister, Leah. He serves another seven years
and marries Rachel as well. Rachel is barren, however, and persuades Jacob
to sleep both with Leah and with her servant Bilhah. Her prayers are finally
answered and she gives birth to Joseph. Later she bears Benjamin, but dies
in childbirth. Her story is told in Genesis 29-33, 35.

Cf. the potential links with Benny ("Benjamin") Profane. But it would be
just as easy to make a link with bennies (Benzedrine pills, amphetamine du
jour in the 40s to 60s), the Benjamin tree (which yields benzoin), or, most
fittingly, the Italian phrase "ben travato":

Se non é vero, é molto ben trovato.

best


----------
>From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: VV (2) - Owlglass/Mirror
>Date: Wed, Oct 25, 2000, 10:14 AM
>

> Just to make sure no one missed this detail in that earlier post.
> Owlglass = Mirror
>
> Any comments from the crowd?
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/65/eu/Eulenspi.html
>
> Eulenspiegel, Till
>
> (tl oi´ln-shp´´gl) (KEY) [Ger.,=owl-mirror, hence English Owlglass], a north
> German peasant clown of the 14th cent. who was immortalized in chapbooks
> describing his practical jokes on clerics and townsfolk. The first Till
> chapbook (c.1500) was probably in Saxon, but the story it told spread all
> over Europe and North Britain. Till is the hero of a tone poem by Richard
> Strauss and of many novels, poems, and stories. Tyll Ulenspiegel is one of
> the variant spellings. 1
>
> See K. R. H. MacKenzie’s adaptation in English, Master Tyll Owlglass (1890).
> 2
>
>
>
>
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