In the complex mythology of William Blake, Albion is the primeval man whose fall and division results in the Four Zoas: Urizen, Tharmas, Luvah/Orc, and Urthona/Los. The name derives from the ancient and mythological name of Britain, Albion.
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In the mythical story of the founding of Britain, Albion was a Giant son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He was a contemporary of Heracles, who killed him. Albion founded a country on the island and ruled there. Britain, then called Albion after its founder, was inhabited by his Giant descendants until about 1100 years before Julius Cæsar's invasion of Britain, when Brutus of Troy came and defeated the small number of Giants that remained (as a group of the Giants had killed all the others).
According to another myth, Noah's son Japhet had a son named Histion, who had four sons. Their names were Francus, Romanus, Brittos, and Alemannus and the French, Roman, British, and German people are descended from them. Brittos divided Britain into three kingdoms and gave each to one of his sons. They were Loegria (a Latinization of the Welsh Lloegr, "England"), Scotland, and Cambria.[1]
The division of the primordial man is found in many mythic and mystic systems throughout the world, including Adam Kadmon in cabalism and Prajapati in the Rig-Veda.
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The long, unfinished poem properly called Vala, or The Four Zoas expands the significance of the Zoas, but they are integral to all of Blake's prophetic books.
Blake's painting of a naked figure raising his arms, loosely based on Vitruvian Man, is now identified as a portrayal of Albion, following the discovery of a printed version with an inscription identifying the figure.[2] It was formerly known as "Glad Day", since it was assumed by Alexander Gilchrist to illustrate a quotation from Shakespeare.
Blake also uses the name Albion in its traditional meaning, as an ancient synonym for Britain, in his poem "A Little Boy Lost" in Songs of Experience. The poem tells about a young boy who, using reason, realizes that humans are selfish, and that "naught loves another as itself." He asks the priest, "father, how can I love you/ or any of my brothers more?/ I love you like the bird that picks up crumbs around the door." The priest accuses the boy of blasphemy, and burns him "in a holy place/ where many had been burned before." Blake concludes the poem by asking, "Are such things done on Albion's shore?"
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The Sons of Albion feature in the poem Jerusalem. They are 12, and are named as Hand, Hyle, Coban, Guantok, Peachey, Brereton, Slayd, Hutton, Scofield, Kox, Kotope, Bowen. These names are mostly drawn from figures from Blake's 1803 sedition trial.
The Daughters of Albion feature in Visions of the Daughters of Albion, and other prophetic books. They are named, not consistently though, in The Four Zoas and in Jerusalem; they are mostly drawn from Geoffrey of Monmouth.
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- ^ Thomas Bulfinch. Bulfinch's mythology, published: 1913. place: New York, New York
- ^ British Museum: William Blake, Albion Rose, a colour printed etching with hand-drawn additions in ink and watercolour
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Blake
Blake is a surname or a given name which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory is that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".
Blake was the name of one of the 14 Tribes of Galway in Ireland. These Blakes were descendants of Richard Caddell, alias Blake, who was involved in the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. As such a long present foreign name it became known as de Bláca in Irish.
The origins of the name Blake are also considered to be Old Norse, first appearing in Yorkshire, England, possibly derived from the word Blaker, referring to a village and a former municipality of Akershus county, Norway (east of Oslo).
Blake often refers to the British poet, painter and printmaker William Blake (1757–1827) or to the contemporary figurative artist Blake.
Males with given name Blake
Blake (disambiguation)
Blake is a given name and surname of English origin.
Blake or Blake's may also refer to:
Places
Others
See also
Blake (band)
Blake are a British vocal group. Blake comprises three men whose friendship and musical careers date back to their school days. After reuniting via Facebook as adults they had recorded their first album in six months. It went to No. 1 in the UK Classical Album Chart, selling over 100,000 copies in three weeks, earning the group a Gold Disc. The album received the Classical Brit Award for Album of the Year in 2008.
Their second album, And So It Goes, peaked at No. 12 in the UK pop charts and No.1 in several classical charts around the world. During 2008 and 2009 the group undertook tours of Australia and Japan. 2009 continued with a tour, the creation of their new record label, Blake Records, and the release of their third album, Together. They finished 2009 with a 30-night tour in Scandinavia. In 2010 ‘Beautiful Earth’ was selected by the World Wildlife Fund as its Earth Hour Anthem, and their album Together reached No. 1 in the Australian Classical Charts and No. 1 in the South African Classical Charts. Blake took their ‘An Evening With Blake’ show to over 40 locations throughout the UK, performing to over 50,000 people. After being invited to Buckingham Palace twice during 2010, Blake released ‘All of Me’ in 2011 - written by Simon May.
Albion (given name)
Albion is a given name, usually masculine, which may refer to:
Albion (song)
"Albion" is a song by English band Babyshambles. It was released as the third single from Down in Albion on 28 November 2005 in the UK. The single was released in Japan on 8 March 2006 by Reservoir Records/EMI.
"Albion" deals primarily with the concept of Albion, thought of as a mythical England (or Great Britain), the landscape and life of which is referred to throughout the song. This idea was central to The Libertines and still is to Babyshambles. The song was the first acoustic song Babyshambles released. The song had been used in The Libertines live sets, and thus there was some controversy from fans when it was released. It is always one of the highlights of Babyshambles live shows. The "Albion" is also a recurrent theme in Pete Doherty's music and poetry. A lot of songs contain the word "Albion" in their lyrics: in The Libertines' "Love on the Dole", "Bucket Shop" (both from the Legs 11 Session), "The Good Old Days" (from their debut album Up The Bracket), and in Babyshambles' "Merry-Go-Round" (from their debut album Down In Albion). Most of The Libertines fans discovered the song "Albion" in the 2003 Babyshambles Sessions.
Equatorium
An equatorium (plural, equatoria) is an astronomical calculating instrument. It can be used for finding the positions of the Moon, Sun, and planets without calculation, using a geometrical model to represent the position of a given celestial body.
The earliest extant record of a solar equatorium, that is, one to find the position of the sun, is found in Proclus's fifth-century work Hypostasis, where he gives instructions on how to construct one in wood or bronze. Although planetary equatoria were also probably made by the ancient Greeks, the first surviving description of one is from the Libros del saber de astronomia (Books of the knowledge of astronomy), a Castilian compilation of astronomical works collected under the patronage of Alfonso X of Castile in the thirteenth century, which includes translations of two eleventh century Arabic texts on equatoria by Ibn al‐Samḥ and al-Zarqālī.Theorica Planetarum (c. 1261-1264) by Campanus of Novara describes the construction of an equatorium, the earliest known description in Latin Europe.
