The Origins of Cockaigne
The name ‘Cockaigne’ essentially means ‘land of plenty.’ The word has its roots in the Latin ‘cucaniensis’, and in turn passed into Middle English as ‘Cokaygne’ middle french as“cocaigne’ and Middle Germankokenje – all of which are names for small cakes. Across Europe, the Cockaigne had other variations. In Italy,”, it was “Paese della Cuccag,” while in Belgium it was “Luilekkerland.” To the Germans, it was Schlaraffenland while in Spain it was País de Cucaña– the fool’s paradise. All, however, continued to encompass the idea of a land of leisure and plenty.
This concept of a ‘land of plenty’ predates the Middle Ages. Besides the obvious similarities between the Christian heaven and the Garden of Eden, Cockaigne was a concept that drew heavily on earlier classical traditions. Lucian’s True History, which dates from the second century AD, gives an idea of where the concept of Cockaigne originates. In his account, Lucian describes his voyage to several mysterious islands, which were forty days beyond the pillars of Hercules. Each isle contained elements which eerily reminiscent of Cockaigne regarding unlimited food and drink, leisure and uncensored promiscuity.
The first island featured a great river of wine, whose source was “mighty great vine trees of infinite number. ” The roots of these trees distilled the wine that flowed down the river. Further along on their journey, the sailors encounter another island made of a whole cheese afloat in a sea of milk. They then journey to a strange land whose crops bore whole loaves of bread instead of the grain to make them and more rivers of wine, and this time milk. It was in this land that the sailors feasted in woods of unnatural beauty, garlanded with flowers of the perfect color and scent in the company of unlimited sexual partners of both sexes.
So how did Lucian’s True History become a medieval peasant’s paradise? The survival of one of the Cockaigne poems in the Kildare book offers a clue. The book was designed for a traveling friar. Friars by their very nature were not cloistered but lived a life on the road, preaching to the poor and mainly dependent on the charity of those they encountered. The book then was an easily portable pocketbook containing all the Friar’s sermons.
However, as well as containing instructional readings for a Christian life, the book also included entertaining tales to capture the attention of the friar’s audience- especially essential during the dark days of the fourteenth century. Lucian’s tale, translated from the Latin was woven into an English poetic rendering of a peasant’s paradise, where they and they alone could enjoy all they missed out on in life. For the fourteenth century peasant, this was more comforting than a vague notion of heaven. Cockaigne also made a better story- and certainly would have earned the friar a better reception form his audience! It was also a story that had staying power beyond the Middle Ages.