TOM CLARK: Borges: Einar Tambarskelver / The New Foreboding (Acts of State)

Sunday 1 January 2017

Borges: Einar Tambarskelver / The New Foreboding (Acts of State)

Dancing Bear, State Fair of Texas, Austin: photo by Lynn Lennon, 1985 (Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library)

Austin, Texas: photo by gumanow, September 2009, posted 26 January 2010

During the forced evacuation of Finnmark, Byåsen school was used to house evacuees and as a temporary replacement hospital: photo by Ukjent, c. August 1944 (Municipal Archives of Trondheim)

During the forced evacuation of Finnmark, Byåsen school was used to house evacuees and as a temporary replacement hospital: photo by Ukjent, c. August 1944 (Municipal Archives of Trondheim)

During the forced evacuation of Finnmark, Byåsen school is used to house evacuees and as a temporary replacement hospital: photo by Ukjent, c. August 1944 (Municipal Archives of Trondheim)

During the forced evacuation of Finnmark, Byåsen school is used to house evacuees and as a temporary replacement hospital: photo by Ukjent, c. August 1944 (Municipal Archives of Trondheim)

Jorge Luis Borges: Einar Tambarskelver

                   (Heimskringla, I, 117)

Odín o el rojo Thor o el Cristo Blanco...
Poco importan los nombres y sus dioses;
no hay otra obligación que ser valiente
y Einar lo fue, duro caudillo de hombres.
Era el primer arquero de Noruega
y diestro en el gobierno de la espada
azul y de las naves. De su paso
por el tiempo, nos queda una sentencia
que resplandece en las crestomatías.
La dijo en el clamor de una batalla
en el mar. Ya perdida la jornada,
ya abierto el estribor al abordaje,
un flechazo final quebró su arco.
El rey le preguntó qué se había roto
a sus espaldas y Einar Tambarskelver
dijo: Noruega, rey, entre tus manos.
Siglos después, alguien salvó la historia
en Islandia. Yo ahora la traslado,
tan lejos de esos mares y de ese ánimo.

Einar Tambarskelver

                         (Heimskringla, I, 117)

Odin or red Thor or the White Christ ...
They matter little, the names, the gods behind them;
There is no other duty than to be brave
And Einar, leathery captain of men, was that.
He was foremost among the Norwegian archers
And expert in the handling of the blue
Sword and of ships. Of his trajectory
Through time, there now remains to us one sentence,
Which gives off light in the chrestomathies.
He said it in the wild din of a sea battle.
The lost day's fighting done, the starboard side
Open to boarding, a last shot snapped his bow.
The king asked him what was that that had broken
Behind his back and Einar Tambarskelver
Replied, Norway, king, between your hands.
Centuries later, someone saved the story
In Iceland. And I now transcribe it here,
So distant from those oceans, from that spirit.

**Jorge Luis Borges: Einar Tambarskelver, from La moneda de hierro (1976); English version by Robert Mezey and Richard Barnes**

Norway, Acts of State

Statsakten (Celebration of Government Act at Akershus, marking transition to German supremacy in Norway under the national government of Vidkun Quisling): photographer unknown, 1 February 1942

Statsakten (Celebration of Government Act at Akershus, marking transition to German supremacy in Norway under the national government of Vidkun Quisling): photographer unknown, 1 February 1942 (National Archives of Norway)

Statsakt in Berlin. Empfang Quislings beim Führer. Links Reichskommissar [Josef] Terboven, mitte Reichsminister Fr. Lammers, rechts Reichsleiter Bormann, Gruppenführer [Julius] Schaub und Gruppenführer [Martin] Bormann: photographer unknown, 13 February 1942 (National Archives of Norway)

[Walking up Akersgata in Oslo] Statsakt für Minister Lunde. Fra venstre: General Feuerstein, Generaladmiral Böhm, Quisling, Rediess, Terboven : photographer unknown, 11 January 1941 (National Archives of Norway)

Vidkun Quisling, Josef Terboven, tyske offiserer og Rikshirden): photographer unknown, 1 February 1942 (National Archives of Norway)

Arrested and sentenced to death for treason, Vidun Quisling spends his last days at Akershus Fortress awaiting execution by a firing squad: photographer unknown, October 1945 (National Archives of Norway)

Livestock Market

Changed, changed utterly! | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Dublin Livestock Market ("Cowtown"): photo by Robert French, between c.1898 and c. 1902 (Lawrence Photographic Collection, National Library of Ireland)

SYRIA - People search for victims as fire spreads behind them following a reported government airstrike on Douma, Damascus. By @AbdDoumany: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 31 December 2016

Step inside China's hellish, illicit factories Photo: @kevinfrayer: image via WIRED Photo @WIREDPhoto, 20 December 2016

IRAQ - A member of the Iraqi forces looks on from behind a vehicle in Mosul during an ongoing military operation against IS. By @ahmedafp: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 31 December 2016

SAFRICA - A rare male King Cheetah is pictured inside a closed camp at the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre in Hartbeespoort. By @wesselsjohn1: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 31 December 2016

INDONESIA - Balinese children prepare to perform during a New Year celebration in Denpasar. By @sonny_bali #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 31 December 2016

Picture shows #Hizbollah fighters in Alramousah border with the East #Aleppo and cutting the road of the evacuation process: image via IRT @InstRepTeam, 17 December 2016

And I only have eyes for you #Tillerson #Putin @ExxonMobil - #Russia oil giant @Rosneft2012 agreement ceremony @GettyImages: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThe Pix, 10 December 2016

#2016InReview Nov 12 MYANMAR - People protecting themselves from fireworks during the Tazaungdaing Lighting Festival. By @ye_aung_thu #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 31 December 2016

#Kashmir Fishermen cover their heads with blankets and straw as they wait in the Anchar Lake, #Srinagar By Danish Ismail @reuterspictures: image via Photojournalism @photojournalink, 30 December 2016

The New Foreboding

Happy new year everyone. #newyear #family #vacation #familytime: image via Donald Trump Jr. @DonaldJTrumpJr, 31 December 2016

The Enemies List is real, all STRONG LEADERS have one. On 1/20 baby MAGA will feast on the blood and bones of dissenters! #MAGA #EnemiesList: tweet via Trumpmerica @Trumpmerica, 31 December 2016

Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!: tweet via Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump, 31 December 2016

66,712 replies 111,080 retweets 259,291 likes

Reading The Pictures Retweeted Kyle Griffin

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1

It took Trump and his team 87 minutes to fix the word "unpresidented."

Reading The Pictures added,

#Freudianslip telegraphs #Trump's fixation w elec college, Russ hack implications and own legitimacy #wordpictures @rtraister @JuddLegum: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 17 December 2016

What @IvankaTrump meant by taking an interest in climate change? #avertedeyes #Israel #davidfriedman #settlerschanukah: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 31 December 2016

Reading The Pictures Retweeted New York Post

New York Post @nypost

This picture is worth a thousand words. Kanye West was spotted at Trump Tower

Reading The Pictures added,

Classic misdirection. And it works every time. #Exxon #russianhacking #blindtrustha #perry4energy #ivankalaughing: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 13 December 2016

Brilliant. @volkskrant plays Dutch #NewYear doughnut ritual off worldwide political anxiety to charge 2017 apocalyptic fantasy @reinjanssen: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 31 December 2016

Telling #Trump Secret Service pic Scotland June '16 -- Off the reservation @carloallegri @Reuters @timepictures: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 31 December 2016

Reading The Pictures Retweeted Doug Mills

Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt

.@realDonaldTrump is cheered as he takes his seat at the Army-Navy game in Baltimore, Md #ArmyNavyGameDay #armynavy

Reading The Pictures added,

Triumph of the Shill #armynavy #notnormal #AlexJamesFItz @gastropoda @digby56: image via reading the Pictures @ReadingthePix, 10 December 2016

Reading The Pictures Retweeted Joe Hagan

Joe Hagan @joehagansays

This ad nails everything that is wrong with the media. Fascism as ratings spectacle.

Reading The Pictures added,

As well, still from WH visit reinforces fiction that Trump can listen and Obama really has his ear: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 31 December 2016

Thank You Jesus For Lord President Trump Jae C. Hong/Associated Press: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 14 December 2016

How is viz media responding to #Trump #russianhackers blow up? By illuminating our transition into the dark, clandestine and surreptitious.: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 12 December 2016

America is incapable of understanding how it lost touch with reality without accepting how marketing has become its nature @jaethephotog: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 12 December 2016

The new foreboding @reuterspictures #Trump #LaGuardia: image via Reading the Pictures @ReadingThePix, 12 December 2016

State Fair of Texas: photo by Lynn Lennon, 1985 (Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library)

Surgery, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Lisbon. Architect: Hermann Distel. Conception of project: 1938. Period of construction: 1940-1953. Opening: 1954: photo by Estúdio Horácio Novais, 1950(?)-1953 (Biblioteca de Arte / Art Library Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian)

Hospital of Santa Maria, Lisbon. Architect: Hermann Distel. Conception of project: 1938. Period of construction: 1940-1953. Opening: 1954: photo by Estúdio Horácio Novais, 1950(?)-1953 (Biblioteca de Arte / Art Library Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian)

Crowd in Rua do Carmo, Lisbon: photo by Estúdio Horácio Novais, 25 April 1974 (Biblioteca de Arte / Art Library Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian)

Members of the NSB (Dutch national socialist party) and shaven 'kraut girls' are being brought in by members of the Dutch Resistance. Deventer, The Netherlands: photo by Willem van de Poll, 11 April 1945 (Anefo photo collection / Nationaal Archief)

Grande Hotel da Figueira da Foz, Portugal Aechitect: Inácio Peres Fernandes. Opened 1953: photo by Estúdio Horácio Novais, 1950s (Biblioteca de Arte / Art Library Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian)