"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the Britishscience fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April2007,[2] and is the second episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was the fifth most popular broadcast on British
television in that week. Originally titled "Love's Labour's Won",[3] the episode was re-titled as a reference to The Da Vinci Code.
The Tenth Doctor takes Martha Jones on her first trip in the TARDIS. Arriving in Elizabethan England, they meet William Shakespeare, who is writing his play Love's Labour's Won. However, evil, witch-like Carrionites plot to end the world by placing a code in the new play's closing dialogue. Shakespeare will
have to give the performance of his life in order to save the Earth.
Plot
A young woman is serenaded from her balcony by a lute-playing suitor, Wiggins. She bids him enter the house, but to his shock he finds it full of witching artefacts. The woman, Lilith, kisses Wiggins — but, on pulling away, he finds her transformed into a wrinkled hag. She introduces her two "mothers", Doomfinger and Bloodtide, who appear, cackling, and lunge at the screaming youth, apparently devouring him.
Meanwhile, the TARDIS lands in Elizabethan London. Martha questions whether it is safe to walk around in the past, citing such time travel concepts
as the Grandfather paradox and a reference to the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder"; and also worrying about her reception as a black woman in a time when slavery still exists. The Doctor tells her not to worry. He declares that they have arrived in London
in 1599 and takes her to a performance at the Globe Theatre. At the end of the play, Love's Labour's Lost, Shakespeare announces that there will soon be a sequel called Love's Labour's Won. Lilith, using a poppet, influences Shakespeare to declare, rashly, that the new play will premiere the following evening.
Martha asks why she has never heard of Love's Labour's Won. The Doctor knows of the lost play and, curious, decides
to find out more about why it was never published — and extends Martha's "one trip".
The two go to The Elephant, the inn where William Shakespeare is staying. They chat with the
playwright, who intends to finish writing the final scene of Love Labour's Won that night. An instantly beguiled Shakespeare
("Hey, nonny nonny!") tries to woo Martha, describing her as "a queen of Afric" or a "blackamoor lady", which she finds slightly offensive. The Doctor claims she comes from 'Freedonia' to explain her strange clothing and modern attitudes. Shakespeare sees past the Doctor's psychic
paper, which the Doctor cites as proof of the man's genius.
Lynley, Master of the Revels, demands to see the script before he allows the play to proceed. When Shakespeare offers to show
him the finished script in the morning, the official leaves proclaiming that this slight means he will ensure the play will
never be performed. The trio of 'witches' watch the scene in a cauldron. Lilith, who works at the inn, secretly takes some
of Lynley's hair and makes another poppet, which she plunges into a bucket of water. The Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare hear
a commotion in the street and run out, where they witness Lynley vomiting water. Lilith stabs the doll in the chest, and Lynley
collapses, dead. The Doctor calmly announces that Lynley has died of an imbalance of the humours, and privately tells Martha that any other explanation would lead to panic about witchcraft. When Martha asks what did kill Lynley, the Doctor responds, "Witchcraft."
Martha and the Doctor stay overnight at the inn. The Doctor gives a disgruntled Martha mixed
signals by casually sharing a bed with her, only to then openly bemoan the lack of Rose's insight. Meanwhile, Lilith entrances Shakespeare and, using a marionette, compels him to write
a strange concluding paragraph to Love's Labour's Won. She is discovered by the landlady (also the Bard's lover), whom
she frightens to death. On hearing another scream, the Doctor runs in and finds the body. Through the window, Martha sees
a witch fly away on a broomstick.
In the morning the Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare proceed to the Globe Theatre, where the Doctor
asks why the theatre has 14 sides. Shakespeare replies that the architect thought it would make sound carry well and mentions
that he eventually went mad and talked of witches. The three then visit the architect, Peter Streete, in Bedlam Asylum. The Doctor helps Streete to emerge from his catatonia for long enough to reveal that the witches dictated the Globe's design to him. He also tells
the Doctor that the witches were based in All Hallows Street.
The witches observe this interview through their cauldron. Doomfinger teleports to the cell
and kills Peter with a touch. She threatens the other three but the Doctor works out who the witches really are. He names
the creature as a Carrionite, which causes her to disappear. The Doctor explains that the Carrionites produce their magic
through an ancient science based on the power of words.
Back at the Elephant, the Doctor deduces that the Carrionites intend to use the words of a
genius — Shakespeare — to break their species out of eternal imprisonment when Love's Labours Won is performed.
The Doctor tells Shakespeare to stop the play whilst he and Martha go to All Hallows Street to thwart the witches. Shakespeare
bursts on to the Globe's stage to make the announcement, but two of the Carrionites are already there and use one of their
dolls to render him unconscious. The actors — thinking Shakespeare has passed out drunk — carry the playwright
off stage and the performance proceeds.
The Doctor and Martha reach All Hallows Street and confront Lilith, who is expecting them.
She confirms the Doctor's suspicions: the three Carrionites hope to gain entry for the rest of their species, eliminate the
humans, begin a new empire on Earth and spread out from there. Martha, mimicking the Doctor's actions at Bedlam, tries to
neutralise her by speaking the name Carrionite, but Lilith mocks her, since naming only works once. Instead, she names Martha
Jones, rendering her unconscious.
Lilith tries to do the same to the Doctor, but it fails to affect him, as she is unable to
discover his real name. She attempts to weaken him by naming "Rose", but he assures her that that name keeps him fighting.
Lilith then feigns an attempt at seduction, which brings her close enough to the Doctor to steal a lock of his hair. Taking
flight through the window, she attaches the hair to a doll — which the Doctor explains is essentially a DNA replication module — and stabs it in the heart, whereupon the Doctor collapses. Assuming
that he is dead, Lilith flies to the Globe. Martha wakes, and helps the Doctor restart his left heart before the duo race
to the Globe.
The actors have already spoken the last lines of the play, a series of directions and instructions
that have opened a portal allowing the Carrionites back into the universe. The Doctor tells Shakespeare that only he can find
the words to close the portal. Shakespeare improvises a short rhyming stanza but is stuck for a final word. Martha comes up
with Expelliarmus which is shouted at the Carrionites in the scene shown in the picture. The Carrionites — together with all the
extant copies of Love's Labour's Won — hence, are sucked back through the closing portal. Martha, Shakespeare
and the actors from the play are left to take the applause of the audience who believe it all to be special effects. The Doctor meanwhile finds the three witches trapped, screaming in their own crystal ball and appropriates it for safe keeping in a dark attic of the TARDIS.
In the morning, Shakespeare flirts once more with Martha and with the Doctor. He reveals his
deduction that the Doctor is not of the Earth and that Martha is from the future, once again proving his genius. For his "Dark Lady", he produces the sonnet, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" in her honour, but is interrupted when two of his
actors burst in, heralding the arrival of the Queen. Queen Elizabeth enters, recognises the Doctor as her "sworn enemy" and declares, "Off with his
head!" The Doctor is surprised at her outburst, since he says he has not yet met the Queen, but comments that he is looking
forward to finding out what he will do to offend her. He and Martha flee to the TARDIS, slamming the door just as an arrow
embeds itself in the TARDIS's exterior before dematerialisation.
Continuity
Shakespeare has appeared in Doctor Who before and the Doctor has also mentioned prior meetings.
The Bard is seen by the Doctor and his companions on the screen of their Time-Space Visualiser in The Chase, conversing with Elizabeth I; in Planet of Evil, the Fourth Doctor mentions having met Shakespeare; in City of Death he claims that he helped transcribe the original manuscript for Hamlet; and in The Mark of the Rani the Sixth Doctor notes that 'he must see him (Shakespeare) again some time'.
In an interview with Lizo Mzimba, Russell T. Davies stated that these past references to meeting Shakespeare would be neither referenced nor contradicted
in this episode.[4] Similarly, Gareth Roberts told Doctor Who Magazine that "The Shakespeare Code" "neither confirms nor denies
what's already been said."[5] He also noted that an early draft of "The Shakespeare Code" contained "a sly reference to City of Death", but
it was removed because "it was so sly it would have been a bit confusing for fans that recognised it and baffled the bejesus
out of everyone else."[5]
Current scholarship has not reached consensus as to how many sides the original Globe Theatre had. Written descriptions, contemporary illustrations, and archaeological evidence do not lead to any
agreement. Gareth Roberts took artistic license to give the Globe 14 sides.
The Doctor's psychic paper makes its first appearance since Army of Ghosts, but is shown to
be ineffectual on Shakespeare, who only sees blank paper.
References to other Doctor Who episodes and stories
One of the putative lines of Love's Labour's Won, "the eye should have contentment where it
rests", is taken from episode three of the 1965 serial The Crusade[6] — a story consciously written in Shakespearean style.
The Carrionites' contribution to Love's Labour's Won is an incantation that reads:
"The light of Shadmock's hollow moon doth shine on to a point in space betwixt Dravidian Shores
and Linear 5930167.02, and strikes the fulsome grove of Rexel 4; co-radiating crystal activate!"
Dravidians are mentioned in The Brain of Morbius, Solon's servant Condo having been found in the wreckage of "a Dravidian starship".
Lilith refers to the Eternals, a race introduced in the original series serial Enlightenment.
The Doctor finds a skull in Shakespeare's prop store that reminds him of the Sycorax from "The Christmas Invasion". (Shakespeare says that he will use the name — Sycorax is the name of Caliban's mother in The Tempest.)
The Doctor uses his Time Lord psychic abilities to improve Peter Streete's mental state. This ability
was previously seen in "The Girl In The Fireplace" and "Fear Her". The Fourth Doctor also demonstrated a hypnotic, possibly psychic ability with Sarah Jane in Terror of the Zygons and The Hand of Fear.
Gareth Roberts' 1995 New Adventures novel, Zamper, featured cyber-turtle creatures known as the Chelonians, who described their slug enemies as "arrionites". According
to Roberts, "I always thought it was a nice word, and I was thinking of the witches as carrion creatures, so I bunged a C
in front of it".[7]
The Doctor uses the title "Sir Doctor of TARDIS," which was awarded to him by Queen Victoria in "Tooth and Claw".
References to other works
At one point, Martha says "It's all a bit Harry Potter", which prompts the Doctor to claim that he has read the final book in the series ("You'll love it, I cried.")—which was released three months after the episode first aired. At
the end of the episode, Shakespeare, the Doctor and Martha cry out "Expelliarmus!" and the Doctor exclaims "Good old J.K.!". David Tennant played the part of Barty Crouch, Jr. in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Martha mentions the possibility of killing her grandfather, an allusion to the grandfather paradox when she first steps out from the TARDIS into 1599. Martha also mentions that stepping on a butterfly
might change the future of the human race, this is due to Butterfly effect. The Doctor attempts to explain how history could be changed with devastating results by referring to
the movie Back to the Future.
The Doctor claims Martha comes from Freedonia, a fictional country in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. (It is also the name of a planet in the Doctor Who novel Warmonger by Terrance Dicks, but it seems unlikely that this is a direct reference.)
The Doctor quotes the line, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light," from "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas — but warns Shakespeare he cannot use it as it is "somebody else's".
References to Shakespeare's life and works
The episode concerns the "lost" Shakespeare play Love's Labour's Won, which may be just an
alternate title for an extant play. In reality, a reference to Love's Labour's Won (in Francis Meres's Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasury, 1598) predates the construction of the Globe Theatre (1599).
Just before the Doctor steps out of the TARDIS, he exclaims "Brave new world", from Act V Scene I
of The Tempest.
The Doctor and Martha make numerous references to Shakespeare's appearance: Martha wonders why he is not bald, while the Doctor says he could make his head bald if he rubs it and
later gives him a ruff to keep (calling it "a neck brace").
In an early scene a sign is glimpsed for an inn named "The Elephant". This is the name of a recommended hotel in Twelfth Night.
Shakespeare flirts with Martha multiple times during the episode. At the end, he composes Sonnet 18 for her, calling her his "Dark Lady". Sonnet 18 is in fact numbered among the Fair Lord sonnets. The Dark Lady is the subject of sonnets 127–152.
At one point, Shakespeare flirts with the Doctor as well, to which the Doctor replies, "Fifty-seven
academics just punched the air." Most of Shakespeare's sonnets, including Sonnet 18, are believed by Shakespearean academics to be addressed to a man, and there is
a sizable body of scholarship on Shakespeare's sexuality.
In a few instances in the episode, the Doctor, apparently creating an ontological paradox, inspires Shakespeare to steal some phrases that the Doctor quotes from his plays. Examples of this include
the Doctor telling Shakespeare that "all the world's a stage", which appears in the famous Act II monologue in the play As You Like It, and also saying "the play's the thing", a line from Hamlet.
Before heading to visit the Carrionites, the Doctor exclaims "Once more unto the breach". Shakespeare
initially likes the phrase, before realising it is one of his own from Henry V, which was probably written in early 1599.
Shakespeare says "To be or not to be" which the Doctor suggests he write down, although Shakespeare considers it "too pretentious".
The three witches are an allusion to the Three Weird Sisters from Macbeth. Like those witches, the Carrionites use trochaic tetrameter and rhyming couplets to cast spells. (Macbeth was written after the setting of this episode.)
When regressing the architect in Bedlam, The Doctor uses the phrase "A Winter's Tale", whilst the architect himself uses the phrase "poor Tom" in the same way as the 'mad' Edgar in King Lear.
Lilith credits the Carrionites' escape from the Eternals' banishment to 'new...glittering' words.
Shakespeare is credited with adding two to three thousand words to the English language including 'assassination', 'eyeball', 'leapfrog' and 'gloomy').
Wiggins is named after Doctor Martin Wiggins, a distinguished academic in the field of Elizabethan
and Jacobean literature and the editor of the New Mermaid Editions of several influential plays of this period. Wiggins is
also a Doctor Who fan and a friend of Roberts'. According to writer Gareth Roberts, "if anyone was gonna trip me after transmission
it'd be him, so I thought I'd butter him up first".[8]
Production
As revealed in Doctor Who Adventures issue 30, this episode had the working title of "Love's Labours Won". By the time of production, however, the title had
been changed to "Theatre of Doom", according to David Tennant's video diary shot during production and included as a bonus
feature of the Series 3 DVD set. Tennant remarks that the title would likely change before broadcast, suggesting "Theatre
of Doom" was only a temporary title.
Gareth Roberts began his professional writing career on the Virgin New Adventures, a series of Doctor Who novels, with The Highest Science (1993). He went on to write several more books for Virgin Books and further Doctor Who spin-offs while also developing a TV writing career. With the new TV series, Roberts again produced a tie-in novel
(Only Human, 2005) and then various smaller jobs for the TV show, including the "Attack of the Graske" digital television interactive mini-episode. This is his first regular episode of the show.
The shot of the Doctor and Martha looking at the Globe Theatre and the Doctor saying "The Globe Theatre"
was changed between the Series Three preview at the end of "The Runaway Bride" and this episode; the edge of the Globe Theatre has been replaced with a CGI shot of a village and the
distant theatre itself.
A cut line had Martha mention that the sign for The Elephant Inn looked nothing like an elephant,
and the Doctor explained that the people of 1599's London had never seen one.[13]
A cut line had the Doctor telling Shakespeare, "See you earlier." This, according to Roberts, would
both explain the Doctor's later friendship with Shakespeare in City of Death as well as being a line from City of Death itself.[14]
The ending featuring Queen Elizabeth was Russell T. Davies's idea, who told Roberts to "make it a
bit like the ending of The One Doctor", a Big Finish Productionsaudio drama also written by Roberts.[
Enter subhead content here
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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CAROLINE E. KENNEDY
THE CLAIMS
OF
MICHAEL MORAN
AND
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA
THIS IS A TRUE STORY
OF
THE DIVINE COUPLE
AND
THE MOTHER'S OF DARKNESS
ON
THIS DAY JANUARY 29, 2004 1:00 PM
MICHAEL RAYMOND MORAN
THE COUSIN
OF
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA
VISITED ME AT MY APT IN ALAMEDA, CA AND TOLD ME THINGS HE COULD OF NOT
KNOWN THAT WERE IN MY APT SUCH AS THE PICTURES OF HERA AND ZEUS -
CRIVELLI ITALIAN SALSA PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
RODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
THIS IS A TRUE STORY
OF
THE DIVINE COUPLE
AND
THE MOTHER'S OF DARKNESS
ON
THIS DAY JANUARY 29, 2004 1:00 PM
MICHAEL RAYMOND MORAN
THE COUSIN
OF
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA
VISITED ME AT MY APT IN ALAMEDA, CA AND TOLD ME THINGS HE COULD OF NOT
KNOWN THAT WERE IN MY APT SUCH AS THE PICTURES OF HERA AND ZEUS -
CRIVELLI ITALIAN SALSA PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
CRIVELLI ITALIAN SALSA P
I FEEL THAT JFK,JR OR LAWRENCE AS JFK,JR
AND
SHARI BROBECK
HAVE BEEN HAVING AN AFFAIR AND HE PAYS HER 5,000.00 EVERY 5 MINUTES FOR
BLOW JOBS AND SHE MAKES ABOUT 300,000.00 A DAY DOING THIS AND HAS THE ABILITY WITH THE HELP OF A CHARGER TO ASCEND AND DESCEND
FOR HIS PLEASURE WHEN HE WANTS IT
SHE BELIEVE SHE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HERE IS WHY
SHARI WAS HELPING ME MOVE FROM MY HOUSE ON TARRYTON WHERE I WAS JUDGING
SPIRITS BECAUSE MY HOUSE WAS ON A MAGNET LAY LINE AND SHE SAW HIM IN MY BEDROOM AND HE WAS A SHADOW PERSON AND GOT SCARED
AND RAN DOWN THE HALL TO MY OFFICE AND LEFT
THEN SHARI AND MY MOTHER TEAMED UP TO TAKE ME TO A PARANORMAL DOCTOR BECAUSE
THEY THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY AND WANTED ME TO LEAVE MY HOUSE AND THIS MADE LAWRENCE - JFK,JR REALLY MAD AND HE MADE HER
SMALL AND TRIED TO PUT HER IN THE CONTAINER OF EVIL IN MY BODY BUT SHE GOT OUT AND STOLE MY ABILITIES TO ASCEND AND DESCEND
RODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
CRIVELLI ITALIAN SALSA PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
I HAVE POWER PICTURES OF ANCIENT SYMBOLS HANGING IN A ROOM THAT COULD NOT
HAVE BEEN SEEN WHEN YOU FIRST WALK IN
AND
WE HAVE NOT SPOKEN IN MANY YEARS HE LIVES IN LOS ANGELES
I ASKED HIM TO FOLLOW ME AND SHOWED HIM WHAT HE WAS ENVISIONING
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA
I FEEL THAT JFK,JR OR LAWRENCE AS JFK,JR
AND
SHARI BROBECK
HAVE BEEN HAVING AN AFFAIR AND HE PAYS HER 5,000.00 EVERY 5 MINUTES FOR
BLOW JOBS AND SHE MAKES ABOUT 300,000.00 A DAY DOING THIS AND HAS THE ABILITY WITH THE HELP OF A CHARGER TO ASCEND AND DESCEND
FOR HIS PLEASURE WHEN HE WANTS IT
SHE BELIEVE SHE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HERE IS WHY
SHARI WAS HELPING ME MOVE FROM MY HOUSE ON TARRYTON WHERE I WAS JUDGING
SPIRITS BECAUSE MY HOUSE WAS ON A MAGNET LAY LINE AND SHE SAW HIM IN MY BEDROOM AND HE WAS A SHADOW PERSON AND GOT SCARED
AND RAN DOWN THE HALL TO MY OFFICE AND LEFT
THEN SHARI AND MY MOTHER TEAMED UP TO TAKE ME TO A PARANORMAL DOCTOR BECAUSE
THEY THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY AND WANTED ME TO LEAVE MY HOUSE AND THIS MADE LAWRENCE - JFK,JR REALLY MAD AND HE MADE HER
SMALL AND TRIED TO PUT HER IN THE CONTAINER OF EVIL IN MY BODY BUT SHE GOT OUT AND STOLE MY ABILITIES TO ASCEND AND DESCEND
RODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
CRIVELLI ITALIAN SALSA PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
I HAVE POWER PICTURES OF ANCIENT SYMBOLS HANGING IN A ROOM THAT COULD NOT
HAVE BEEN SEEN WHEN YOU FIRST WALK IN
AND
WE HAVE NOT SPOKEN IN MANY YEARS HE LIVES IN LOS ANGELES
I ASKED HIM TO FOLLOW ME AND SHOWED HIM WHAT HE WAS ENVISIONING
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
OF WIDSOM III - CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA
"Impossible Dream"
To dream the impossible dream To
fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow And to run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable
wrong And to love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star This
is my quest To follow that star No matter how hopeless No matter how far To fight for the right Without question
or pause To be willing to march, march into hell For that heavenly cause And I know If I'll only be true To
this glorious quest That my heart Will lie peaceful and calm When I'm laid to my rest And the world will be better
for this That one man, scorned and covered with scars, Still strove with his last ounce of courage To reach
the unreachable, the unreachable, The unreachable star And I'll always dream The impossible dream Yes, and
I'll reach The unreachable star
This is the first english translation of Dr. Annette Zgoll’s german, academic
translation of Nin-me-sara found at the beginning of her book, "Der Rechtsfall der En-hedu-Ana im Lied Nin-me-sara"(1997), "En-Hedu-Ana's Lawsuit in the poem Nin-me-sara". It is a combined effort between myself and Tatjana
Dorsch, who has very accessibly translated the whole book for me. It is the most recent, updated translation of Enheduana’s
most famous poem since Dr. William Hallo’s grounbreaking translation, "The Exaltation of Inanna" in 1968. Dr. Zgoll has generously given of her time and corrected it and allowed me to post it here.
1. Queen of all the ME, too numerous to count, rising forth as resplendent light [1]
2. Woman [2], most driven, clothed in frightening radiance, loved by An and Uras,
3. An's nugig [3], you are above all the great SUHkese-breastplates,
4. You, who love the right aga-crown [4], who is suited for the en-priest-hood,
5. empowered
with all of its all seven ME --
6. my queen! You are the guardian of the great ME!
7. You have uplifted the
ME, you have held the Me in your hand.
8 You have gathered the ME, you have clasped the ME to your chest.
9
Like a dragon you cast venom upon the enemy land.
10 In the regions where you thundered like Iskur, Asnan no longer
exists because of you
11 Flooding waters surge down on such an enemy land
12 You are the supreme one in Heaven
and Earth, you are their Inana!
[1] This
can also connote through homophone and homonym: "Queen of the countless battles, (as) a raging storm rising"
[2] Or we can read the sign of 'munus-zi' as 'zirru': “female”( bird). This is a title
of Ningal, that is of Enheduanna. - Dr. Joan Westenholz has identified zirru as a title of the goddess Ningal, used
by Enheduanna in her article, “Enheduanna, En-Priestess, Hen of Nanna,Spouse of Nanna”. In this article she deduces
that Enheduanna is endowed with this title of zirru to convey that she is the human embodiment of Ningal.
[3] nugig is a title of Inanna in the context of the exercise of power or the broadening of power,
important in the context of legitimization of rulers. -One of Dr. Zgoll’s theories is that Enheduanna herself,
as en-priestess of Nanna in Ur, is endowed with the power to legitimate a king’s rule.
[4] I.e., Inanna loves the aga-crown/cap (object). It can also be read as: the aga-crown/cap (subject)
loves Inanna, whereby then the aga metonomycal stands for Nanna, compare chapter 3.4.-- The attribute “right”
is the same word as in line 2 “driven” , it can be understood here also as a replacement for ‘thirst for
creating’. (dictionary definition of metonymy- one word is put for another that it
suggests; as, we say, a man keeps a good table instead of good food; we read Virgil, that is, his poems; a man has a warm
heart, that is, warm affections)
13 Unceasing raging fire, you shower down upon the land of Sumer
14 Queen, whom An gave
the ME, you ride atop a beast
15 Authorized by the fate-determining word of An, you utter words.[5]
16
The great rites are yours-- who else could fathom their meaning?
17 Destroyer of enemy lands- you empowered
the storm
18. Beloved of Enlil, you let terror reign over the land of Sumer
19. You stood prepared, waiting
to fulfill the orders of An
20. My Queen! All enemy lands bow down at the sound of your roar!
21. Under
your fearsome radiance, your terrible glare and storm, the people
22. turned their steps toward you in mute dread
23.
-- of all the ME, you had grasped the most terrible and deeply stirring--
24. Mankind [6] opened the gateway of
tears, on your account [7]
25. They must walk the path to the house of all the great laments, on your account.[8]
[5] Or: “Who, authorized through the fate-determining mouth of An, says
words”.
[6] In reference to nam-lu-ulu (mankind, men) line 21.
[7] literally: “to you” (or
because of you)
[8] literally: “to you” (or because of you)
26. Because of you [9], all [10] had been ripped away even before the battle.
27. My Queen!
With your strength a tooth can even crush flint [11]!
28. Like an invasive storm you barge in.
29. With the
howling storm you howl.
30. With Iskur you thunder.
31. With raging thunderstorm you do exhaust,
32.
while your own foot has never yet tired.
33. With the harp of laments one [12] strikes up a song of lamentation
34.
My Queen! The Anuna, the great gods,
35. Like terrified [13] bats, fluttered away from you to the top of the mounds
of ruins.
36. They could not withstand your devastating glance [14].
37. They cannot stand up against the fright
on your brow.
39. Your hostile heart has become too violent to
pacify!
40. Queen, has your soul [16] really been satisfied? Queen, is your heart really now filled with joy?
41.
Your rage does not cool, great daughter of Suen! [17]
42. Queen, greater than the enemy land-- who would dare take
away any of your territory? [18]
43 You take the ‘mountain range’ [19] into your territory: its Asnan
is no longer.[20]
44 Fire was set against its great gate. [21]
45 Blood flowed in its river for you, its
people had to drink it for you. [22]
46 Their troops, all gathered together, [23] had to surrender themselves to
you.
47 Even their elite troups, united together, had to be struck down for you.
48 Even their strong men-
all of them, had to stand before you [24]
49 In the town’s places of pleasure, a storm rages.
50 They
hunt down their best men as captives for you.
[15] Literally
‘cool’ with connotation ‘refresh’.
[16] Literally also “liver”, “stomach’.
[17]
Another translation possibility: “Rage (glowing) and not cooling, great daugher of Suen!”
[18] Literally:
“your earth”.
[19] Compare chapter 3.6.2.
[20] Some texts: “When you.... the ‘mountain
ranges’” LaC: “you looked angrily upon the enemy land , ....”; UnH “When you looked angrily
at the enemy land”.
[21] UrB: “in ihre (their, her, your) great temple”.
[22] 2 text segments:
“they have nothing to drink”.
[23] Other translation possibility, also in the following lines” “in
their fear”.
[24] NiW: “stood in front of you”.
51. The city, which would not say “This land is yours!” [25]
52. where the people
did not say “He is your loving father!”--
53. He has spoken your fate-determining word [26]: the territory
is restored beneath your foot.
54. Then care [27] disappears from within, from their stall.
55. That woman
there - she no longer speaks of love with her spouse.
56. At night she no longer holds counsel with him.
57.
She no longer reveals her innermost self to him , which holds the hope of future life[28].
58. Aggressive wild
cow, great daughter of Suen,
59. Queen, greater than heaven- who would dare take any of your territories away from
you?
[25] NiMM and LaB: “The enemy city, which
has not said “To you”
[26] Variant: “ spoken from your fate-determining word”.
[27]
Another word variant yielded the translation: “from the mother love”. Literal translation: “Then... the
foot is slipped”.
[28] Literally: “the fate-determining thing of her insides”.
60 The Great queen (NIN.GAL) of queens, born for the rightful [29] ME,
61 born of a fate-laden
body, you are even greater than your own mother,
62 full of wisdom, foresight, queen over all lands,
63.
who allows existence to many, I now strike up your fate-determining song!
64 All powerful divinity, suitable for
the ME, that which you have said magnificently is the most powerful! [31]
65. Of unfathomable heart [32], oh highly
driven woman [33], of radiant heart, your ME [34], I will list for you now!
66. Into my fate-determining Gipar [35],
I had entered for you.
67. I, the en-priestess, I, En-hedu-Ana [36].
68. While I carried the basket, I struck
up the song of jubilation,
69. as though I had not lived there [38], they offered the death sacrifice. [37]
70.
I came close to the light, there the light became scorching to me.
71. I came close to the shadow, there it was
veiled by a storm.
72. My sweet mouth became venomous [39].
73. That with which I gave delight, turned to dust.
[29] See the opening of line 4: the adjective “right”
also comprises the connotation of true powerfulness.
[30] The goddess Ningal. Literally: “as her own mother”.
[31]
Simultaneously valid to the version: ”What you have spoken in as great a manner, is the ‘most powerful’.”,
i.e. “No one can become more praised than you”.
[32] By the use of “heart” the connotation
of “Anger” from the context of line 38-41is not to be overlooked.
[33] NiRR: ‘zirru’, “(bird)woman”;
this version is also possible in the parallel text. It is a title of Ningal, that is, Enheduanna; compare with chapter
6.1.
[34]NiRR: “the fate-deciding ME.” LaB, UnC: ”the rightful ME”.
[35] A part of the
temple complex of the moongod in Ur, which encompasses the residence of the en-Priestess and the shrine of Ningal.
[36]
The name means translated “En,Ornament of An”. Compare to chapter 4.5.
[37] UrB, UrG, LaB, write euphemistically
instead “the beautiful place”. NiRR: “One of them has set down my meal (for the gods)”. NiA: “.....one
of them offered, on his account as if I had never lived there.”
[38] Literally: “Haven’t I not
lived there?”
[39] This version is in Text NiC and Text NiHHH, all other texts have one of the homophonic
expressions. NiRR writes “bitter”.
74. My fate with Suen and Lugal-Ane,
75. report it to An! May An resolve it for me!
76.
Report it to An immediately. An will resolve it for us!
77 "The Lady will tear away the destiny of Lugal-Ane.
78.
At her feet lie hostile land and flood.
79. She is truly mighty- she will make the town tremble before her.
80.
Go (before the court), so that she will be calm in her heart for me!"[40]
81. En-hedu-Ana am I, I will now
say a prayer to you.
82. My tears, like sweet beer
83. I now shed them freely for you, fate-determining Inana,
"Your judgement!" I will say to you. [41]
84. As for ASimbabbar, concern yourself not!
85. While changing
the purfication rites of the fate-determining An, he [42:Lugalane] altered everything for him,
86. he tore away
the Eana from An!
87. He showed no awe for the most venerable God (AN)!
88. This house, whose abundance he [43:AN]
was not sated with, whose beauty he had not tasted,
89. he [44:Lugalane] turned this house into a despised home
for him!
90. All the while, upon entering, as if he were the companion, he approached me with envy! [45]
91.
My driven, divine, wild cow! You must drive away this 'someone', you must seize this 'someone'!
92. In this
place where life is made possible-- what am I?
93. This rebellious territory, despised by your Nanna: An should
force them to surrender!
94. This city-- An should strike it down!
95. Enlil should curse it!
96. The
mother shall not soothe her crying child!
[40] In other
texts: "so that she calms her heart for me."
97. Queen! The laments which were struck up over the land, [46]
98. your ship of wailing should
be left behind in the enemy land! [47]
99. And because of my fate-determining song -- must I die? [48]
100.
I-- my Nanna has cared not for me [49].
101. In the rebellious land, they completely and utterly destroyed me.
102.
ASimbabbar most certainly has not passed a final judgement upon me!
103. Has he spoken it-- does it mean anything?
Has he not spoken it-- does it mean anything?
104. After he stood there in triumph, he expelled me from the
temple.
105. He made me fly like a swallow from the window- my life was consumed --[50]
106. and so I must
go to the thorny undergrowth of the enemy land.
107. He tore the rightful aga-crown [51] of en-ship from me.
108.
Handing me a dagger, he said, "This is now your ornament!" [52]
109. One and only Queen, beloved of An,
110.
Mighty is your fate-determining heart, for my sake, may it be turned to its place! [53]
111. Beloved wife of Usumgal-Ana
[54],
112. From the base to the zenith of heaven, you are the great Queen (NIN.GAL),
113. the Anuna have
submitted to you.
114. From birth you were the smaller queen,
115. the Anuna, all the great gods-- how you
have surpassed them!
116. The Anuna kiss the ground before you with their lips.
117. My own trial is not yet
over, but a stranger sentence surrounds me as though it were my sentence.
[46] Or: "the lamentations, which were established".
[47] LaB: "should be approached".
[48]
LaB: "they will die".
[49] UrB: "has not decided [my] verdict".
[50] NiU, NiDD: "He consumed my life."
[51]
UnB: "the right garment".
[52] 2nd Version: "This will be pushed against you (like horns of a bull)”.
[53]
This turn (idiom) is a regular formula of the heart-soothing of the gods, which in this context agrees with the similar
sounding: "may it be ... turned to its territories".
[54] NiRR:"The beloved wife of An [has...], beloved [ ] of
Ama[-sumgal-Ana]".
118. To the radiant bed [55], I did not stretch out my hand.
119. Nor did I reveal the words
of Ningal to that 'someone' [56].
120. The radiant en -priestess of Nanna am I.
121. My Queen, beloved of An
[57], may your heart be calmed for me.
122. It shall be known, it shall be known: Nanna has proclaimed no decree, "It
is yours" is what he has said!
123. That you are as high as heaven, shall be known!
124. That you are as wide
as the earth, shall be known!
125. That you anhilate rebelling territiories [58], shall be known!
125a. That
you roar against the enemy lands, shall be known!
126. That you crush the leaders, shall be known!
127. That
you devour corpses like a predator, shall be known!
128. That your glance is terrible, shall be known!
129.
That you raise your terrible glance, shall be known!
130. That your glance is sparkling, shall be known!
131.
That you are unshakable and unyielding, shall be known!
132. That you always stand triumphant, shall be known!
133.
That Nanna has not proclaimed (the decree), that he has said, "It is yours",
134. my Queen- it has made you greater,
you have become the greatest!
135. My Queen, beloved of An, I will announce all of your wrath![59]
136.
I have heaped the coals, prepared the purification rites,
137. The Esdam-ku [60] stands ready for you- will
not your heart calm down for me? [61]
138. Since the heart was full, too full, great Queen, I birthed it for you.
[62]
139. What was said to you at midnight,
140. the cult singer shall repeat it to you at midday:
141.
"Because of your captive spouse, because of your captive protégé,
142. your anger has grown large, your heart
has not calmed down."
[55] NiDD:"In my radiant bed".
[56]
UrB:"I will not say anything to him".
[57] NiA, UnB: "You are the beloved queen of An"
[58] UrA, LaC: kur.
[59]
NiYY:"before your throne".
[60] The name of the Inana-temple in Girsu/Lagas; beside it is also professed a place
in various Inana-temples.
[61] Other texts:"May your heart be calmed/refreshed for me!"
[62] The meaning is
first of all the text of NMS itself; for a broader translation compare with Chapter 7.2.
143 The Queen, the strong one, the ruler over the gathering of the 'en' [63],
144 she did
accept her prayer and sacrifice [64] .
145 The heart of fate-determining Inana has turned to its place.
146
The light was sweet for her, delight was spread over her, full of abundant beauty was she.
147 As the light of
the rising moon (NANNA), she too was clothed in enchantment.
148 Nanna came out [65] to rightfully gaze (at her)
in awe,
149 (he and) her mother Ningal blessed her,
150 and then the gate post said unto her "Be hailed!"
151
What each said to the nugig is exalted.
152 Destroyer of enemy lands, endowed with the ME from An,
153 My
Queen, draped in enchantment, (to you) Inana be glory!
[63]
'en' is a title for priests and rulers.
[64] In Sumerian this is only one lexeme. (=word)
[65] Another
possible translation: (he) "led her out".
I have added a few explanations
of her research in italics beneath some of the footnotes. For those unfamiliar with the Sumerian terms, Dr. Zgoll’s
literary paraphrase will be most helpful and I will be posting it in the near futur. I have also taken the liberty
in presenting the long lines of the poem as shorter pairs of lines whenever possible, to facilitate reading the poem. ---------------------------------------
