He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool.
〰 Albert Camus 〰
Hope for the World
background photo © Birger Strahl on unsplash, sculpture of jester
The Wise Fool
How the character of the Fool came to be associated with their name is a mystery. The Latin source word follis refers to an empty bag, originally the bladder of an animal, used as a ball, balloon or bellows. All these words are essentially the same as belly, originally a leather bag or pouch.
Perhaps the association lies in the (alleged) lack of contents or the fool’s head?
Despite the contemporary reputation of being stupid, ignorant, or imbecile, the fool has played an important role in all cultures as an archetypal character associated with wisdom.
The Heyoka of the Sioux, for example, is revered as a person with a special connection to the sacred thunder beings. Heyokas play a similar role in indigenous tribal culture as the fool in Medieval Europe. They are able to say the unspeakable, ask impossible questions, violate taboos, and provoke laughter in distress.
“For people who are as poor as us, who have lost everything, who had to endure so much death and sadness, laughter is a precious gift,” explains John Fire Lame Deer. “When we were dying like flies from white man's disease, when we were driven into reservations, when the government rations did not arrive and we were starving, watching the pranks and capers of Heyókȟa were a blessing.”
Once upon a time, in Europe, China, India, and Ancient Egypt, kings, emperors, rajahs and pharaohs wouldn’t dream of ruling their countries and people without a professional fool by their side. The royal sidekick was not regarded as an idiot (although some historic fools had ‘mental health issues’).
These 'fools in high places' were employed as court entertainers. Most importantly, however, they were held in regard as truthtellers. You could say, the fool's job was to keep tabs on the ruler. They observed the activities at court and pointed out inconsistencies before things got out of hand.
Rulers and their fools were inseparable companions. In her book Fools are Everywhere Beatrice Otto writes, “if you were a big shot and used to being able to scare the hell out of people, wouldn't you have respect for some funny chap who wasn't scared of you and didn't mind saying what he thought you ought to hear even if you didn't like it?”
Fools were the only ones who could point out the uncomfortable truth in a time and place when free speech was an unthinkable privilege. They could say things into the emperor’s face without having their head chopped off. And with their wit and status they would save the necks and lives of fellow subjects too.
The act of fooling around was a way to show up mistakes and weaknesses in others in an innocent way and without causing offense. Like the child in Hans C. Andersen’s fairytale The Emperor’s New Clothes who exposes the fact that the emperor is naked.
In other words, fooling was a form of wisdom.
This is also expressed in the Fool of the Tarot card deck, which represents the beginner’s mind. The Tarot Fool is preserved in the Joker of common playing card decks, which means that the fool can represent anything you want.
The card and character of the Fool (= joker) is versatile and can take on any identity, which may explain how the verb fooling someone has become associated with telling the untruth.
If being the Royal Fool was once associated with raising awareness and making an audience realise some deeper truth, this meaning has flipped into its polar opposite. Fooling someone – in contemporary English – is deception. Making a fool of someone is making fun of them or tricking them into doing something ridiculous.
Fond of Fun and Farting around
The funny thing about the word fun is that it was once used as a verb in the sense of cheating. It is easy to see how making fun and fooling around play into each others hands.
Funny money is another word for counterfeit banknotes, although the association with fakery in this case is not necessarily ‘pure etymology’. Many words are put together in funny ways simply because rhyming is fun.
Funny as an adjective has two meanings, used in the sense of humorous and peculiar. When something is different from ‘normal’ or familiar, funny may describe either of two potential reactions.
The association between laughter and mental illness pops up again in the expression Funny Farm in the sense of ‘mental hospital’ (from the 1960s).
The more recent use of the word fun as an adjective with its comparative and superlative forms 〰 funner and funnest are only used in informal speech 〰 so far.
An unexpected relative of fool and fun is the word fond. The adjective originates from the verb fon, an older form of fun. The added ‘d’ at the end can easily be explained as a contraction of being ‘fonned’.
We might think that fond (= have an affection for) comes from the pleasure of fun or being entertained by a fool.
Fooled again! It’s a funny wordfamily which catches us out every time.
In the 1400s the word fond was used in the sense of deranged, insane. The related verb fon describes the action of ‘losing savour’, but it’s not clear whether this relates to the sense of taste or the flavour of food, or whether it includes the sense of smell (the two senses are anatomically and functionally closely related).
In any case, eating food without savouring it is not much fun, therefore you can’t be as fond of it. When it comes to farting, on the other hand, losing the sense of smell can be a bonus.
In Medieval Europe, professional fools were apparently associated with farting. From historic records dating back to the 12th century we know that King Henry II of England employed a flautist called Roland.
Among other performances, Roland had to entertain the court with “one jump and whistle and one fart” on special occasions, like Christmas and His Majesty’s birthday celebrations. For his services he received not only the name Roland the Farter but also a substantial manor house in Suffolk along with a handsome fee of 110 acres of land.
Suggestive Jesters
One of the most intriguing synonyms of the fool is jester. Professional storyteller, skilled juggler, comedian and royal courtier, being a jester suggests an entertaining way to make a living.
“The jester is also perceived as being on the side of the people, the little man fighting oppression by the powerful,” writes Beatrice Otto.
While ‘buffoons at royal courts’ have become rare, the traditional role of the jester is being continued by comedians, and political cartoonists. But let’s stay on the track of the word jester and find out what the name itself carries in the bundle over the Fool’s shoulder (the classic Tarot Fool is depicted carrying a bundle on a stick).
The English jest was born in early 13 c. in the sense of ’tales of heroic deeds’. The French gest (= action, exploit) and Latin gesta (= deed), from the verb gerere (to carry, act, perform) show a clear and straight forward lineage.
The jester became the reciter of great deeds and adventures, a minstrel of romances and soon enough a ‘buffoon at a prince’s court’ ~ such as Roland the Farter. What is most interesting in the story of this word is how the jester has found it’s way into common expressions still used today 〰 and their meanings.
1300s gest = famous deeds, exploits, story of great deeds or adventures
mid-14 c suggest = prompting evil (from old French hint, temptation)
late 14 c digest = separate, divide, sort out law codes
digestion = assimilation of food
digestive = medical preparation to aid digestion
register = keeping accounts
suggestion = proposal, statement, declaration
early 15 c congest = to accumulate body fluids
gesture = manner of movement or carrying the body
1520s jest = speak in a trifling manner
1530s gestation = riding on horseback as a form of exercise
1550s digest = collection of writings
gesture = movement to express a thought or feeling
jest = to joke, say or do things meant to amuse
1600s egest = to discharge, defecate
1610s gestation = carrying a fetus in the womb
ingest = take in as food
1830s register = device by which data is automatically recorded
1883 congestion = crowding of people and traffic
1887 suggestion = hypnotism
1916 gesture = act of good will to express feeling
The same Latin root word gerere has produced the English words belligerent (1570s), geriatric (1909), gerontocracy (1830), gerontology (1903).
In the current state of affairs it looks like geriatrics and jester have fused into one and the same character, especially in politics, which would be funny, if those gerontocrats didn’t wield so much power and weren’t so belligerent.
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