NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (5)

[Jasper Fidget]

p. 122
"under an enclosed poplar two soldiers on a stone bench were playing
lansquenet."

As Charles awaits execution he sees these two soldiers playing cards near a
poplar.  In some Christian lore, it's the poplar (or aspen, a species of
poplar) that was used in the construction of Christ's crucifix.  Some Roman
soldiers later gambled for Christ's possessions (John 19:23-24).

Also, ancient Irish coffin makers used a rod made of aspen as a measuring
device.

Oh and aspen is a good choice to carve your stake from if you're looking to
kill vampires (working on my Kinbote as vampire theory).

The Poplar
The populus genus inludes cottonwoods, poplars, and aspens.  Associated by
the Celts with earthly and material aspects of life, the poplar is the
shield maker's tree, thought to be able to protect from death and injury,
also commonly used for writing.  It is the tree of the Autumnal Equinox and
of the commencement of old age.  

Heracles/Hercules wore a crown of poplar leaves when he returned from Hades
with Cerberus during his twelfth labor.  The leaves are black on the outer
side, signifying the Underworld (forecasting Charles' descent into his own),
and the tree was thereafter sacred to Heracles, the symbol of his having
labored in the lands of the dead.  Sunlight damaged Cerberus' eyes when
Heracles brought him out (Gradus again?).

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen
http://www.tarahill.com/treelore/trees.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A650008


p. 122
"two soldiers on a stone bench were playing lansquenet."

"A gambling card-game of German origin" (OED), but also: "a member of a
class of mercenary soldiers in the German and other Continental armies in
the 16th and 17th cents" (OED), so these soldiers may also have been playing
soldier.

Jasper Fidget