Testament of Morann
Kingly Advice.

To read the testament of Morann as a historical document is interesting in and of itself.  It  is all vaguely familiar somehow. I’m not a big Bible reader in any way shape or form.  That would be a diatribe for another post someday, but I know enough about that book to see or at least feel something familiar when I read the Testament of Morann.

The Beatitudes from Matthew 5, 3-12, come from the famous Sermon on the Mount.  For a review, here they are.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven
Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The construction of the give and take between the Beatitudes above and the large middle section of the Testament is interesting, coincidental? Perhaps.

Let him keep my advice which follows here.
 Tell him before every [other] word
Bring him with every word this lasting justice.
 Let him preserve Truth, it shall preserve him
 Let him raise truth, it will raise him.
 Let him exalt mercy, it exalth him
 Let him care for his tribes, they will care for him
 Let him help his tribes, they will help him
 Let him soothe his tribes, they will soothe him

Regardless of application, both these passages have great words of wisdom for the meek and for the king. While it is true the Testament of Morann is written from one “older” ruler to the up and comer, the truth of it is a lesson to everyone.  Certainly anyone who is on a Druid path can see the benefits of these words.

Be truthful, promote truthfulness in others. Be merciful and you will be looked upon with kindness and honor; care for your people and they in turn will care for you. Help them, they will help you, comfort them and they will comfort you.

Now we have the Golden Rule that is found is so many culture around the world. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But it takes is one more step. Do unto others and that in turn will benefit you because others will admire what you have done and be there for you in your hour of need. A good “ruler” understands this and while they are forced to make hard decisions, if they are truthful, honest, and have the best welfare of their people in their sights at all times, they people will go with the decision.

The second part of that long stanza in the Testament is all about Truth and how through truth the ruler will gain so much more than by deceit.  If I may use the one other Bible verse I know, Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When reading the Testament, I kept thinking. “The Greatest of these is truth” Or so it appears to Morann.  I don’t know which is greater, love or truth. I imagine probably love. Again, that sounds like another essay in theological greatness.

The final part of the Testament is really helpful advice from an older ruler to a younger one. He asks him to heed the advice of his elders because they have “been there and done that.”  Don’t re-invent the wheel.  It begs him not think before judging, learn before teaching, know your limits, etc.   Some of the suggestions are quite particular to the time and place, but one can easily see how they might be translated or modified to reach a modern audience or a particular set of people, like  a druid reconstructionist.  The Testament gives helpful advice on how to judge things that perhaps we might not think about “judging” today, but, in a sense, we judge all the time.  I confess, I don’t judge cattle at all, let alone by their “winter-circuit of fame”, but one can’t help be judge earth by its fruits. “That is good soil, the garden grows well!”  Is that not “estimate(ing) the earth by its fruits?

The final part of the Testament reminds him and us that good will win out.

Darkness yields to light
Sorrow yields to joy
An oaf yields to a sage
A fool yields to a wise man
A serf yields to a free man
Inhospitality yields to hospitality
Niggardliness yields to generosity
Meanness yields to liberality
Impetuosity yields to composure
Turbulence yields to submission
A usurper yields to a true lord
Conflict yields to peace
Falsehood yields to truth.

Morann wraps it up with a final plea to Feradach Find Fechtnach, to be a true ruler and sets down a final set of help advice to guide him on that path.

 King Henry IV

 

This is the part of the Testament that reminds me of Henry IV, part one, Act III, scene ii.   Not all of it, of course, but chunks of it.  In Henry IV, The King and his son, Prince Hal (Prince Henry, later Henry V) are having a little chat.  The King is, well, put out, by the antics of his son out and about town.   First he moans that he isn’t sure what he has done to anger God so much as to have God send him a wayward son.

Hal says, “sorry”

Then Henry launches into a guide for his own kingship and how he deported himself.

 God pardon thee! yet let me wonder, Harry,
At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost.
Which by thy younger brother is supplied,
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my blood:
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd, and the soul of every man
Prophetically doth forethink thy fall.
Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company,
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had still kept loyal to possession
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.
By being seldom seen, I could not stir
But like a comet I was wonder'd at;
That men would tell their children 'This is he;'
Others would say 'Where, which is Bolingbroke?'
And then I stole all courtesy from heaven,
And dress'd myself in such humility
That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
Even in the presence of the crowned king.
Thus did I keep my person fresh and new;
My presence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er seen but wonder'd at: and so my state,
Seldom but sumptuous, showed like a feast
And won by rareness such solemnity.
The skipping king, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,
Soon kindled and soon burnt; carded his state,
Mingled his royalty with capering fools,
Had his great name profaned with their scorns
And gave his countenance, against his name,
To laugh at gibing boys and stand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative,
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity;
That, being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,
They surfeited with honey and began
To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.
So when he had occasion to be seen,
He was but as the cuckoo is in June,
Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes
As, sick and blunted with community,
Afford no extraordinary gaze,
Such as is bent on sun-like majesty
When it shines seldom in admiring eyes;
But rather drowzed and hung their eyelids down,
Slept in his face and render'd such aspect
As cloudy men use to their adversaries,
Being with his presence glutted, gorged and full.
And in that very line, Harry, standest thou;
For thou has lost thy princely privilege
With vile participation: not an eye
But is a-weary of thy common sight,
Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more;
Which now doth that I would not have it do,
Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.

Basically, he lets him have it and tells him to be a good ruler is to pay attention and don’t act like an idiot.

(Even that doesn’t affect Hal, not until the King tells his son that he wishes Hotspur, Hal’s rival, was his son instead. Then Hal gets it and the play turns from hapless youth to noble young warrior.)

I admit the parallel isn’t as strong as it might be, but when I read the Testament of Morann, it was Henry IV plea to his son I heard. Sure in Henry, the King is scolding him, but the ideas are much the same. Act like a King if you wish to be treated like a King.

In our world today, the Testament of Morann is not without merit.  Many of the rules and guidelines therein are still worthy of being considered, discussed, and utilized.  Whether one wishes to be ruler, a better co-worker or supervisor, or a king, or a druid, the Testament of Morann contains many gems of wisdom.

 

Sources:
Testament of Morann http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/morann.html
The Bible – Matthew 5: 3-13  and Corinthians 13:13
Shakespeare, William, The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, Act III, Sc ii