In English, it means the Wheel of Fortune, in other words the changing nature of Fate. I am a medievalist, or I was at some point. My latin has always been poor, but the concept of capricious Fate, Rota Fortunae, I understand a good deal. People who thinks medieval times were primitive and uneducated should think twice. The Wheel of Fortune is a very modern concept (before becoming the name of a stupid game show), that I think is the ancestor of the absurd and maybe a distant great uncle of existentialism.
I was thinking about this when I read that unemployment was in a record high in the UK. I was jobless for quite a while and had a string of bad jobs afterwards. Now I don't have the ideal job, but I am lucky enough to have one. And I do look at jobs adverts from time to time, and while there isn't all that much, it seems that there is always something available for a French speakers. I have this asset over the locals (so I hope nobody will ever accuse me of stealing any job here). Wherever I go and live, it will be an asset, except, ironically enough, in Montreal, where there are plenty of bilingual people. So I am feeling lucky... for now at least. But I understand the changing nature of fortune and I know the recession can reach me everywhere too. And I am not even mentioning the other bad things that can happen: sickness, accident, what have you. I understand my luck. I think it is Machiavel who said that you were in control of half your life. The rest was in the ands of Fortune.
When I think of the concept of Rota Fortuna, I also think of the Carmina Burana as adapted by Carl Orf, the first song especially, which I discovered with Excalibur (sadly it is now the theme song of another stupid show). It has been overused, but it lost nothing of its powerful evocation.
Saturday 15 October 2011
Rota Fortunae
Labels:
Angleterre,
Carl Orf,
Carmina Burana,
England,
job,
latin,
medieval,
Middle Ages,
Moyen Âge,
Royaume Uni,
UK
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1 comment:
Same for me, I got my job only because I speak French and English and the French are generally lousy English speakers :)
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