The Survival of Cockaigne
The concept of Cockaigne survived in the popular mind, morphing and changing in much the way that the medieval Cockaigne morphed out of the classical tales of Lucian. However, by the fifteenth century, the mythical land had changed from being a metaphor from a peasant’s paradise to a symbol of sloth and greed. Pictures such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s ‘The Land of Cockaigne” used Cockaigne as the setting for commentaries of the evils of their times. However, Cockaigne also survived in other, less negative ways.
Cockaigne may have been a mythical place. However, its name formed the inspiration for the names of at least two real villages places in Holland. The Dutch villages of Kockengen and Koekange were both named after the mythical land, possibly because of the fruitfulness of the area and the high standard of living of its people.
Somewhat erroneously, Cockaigne also somehow became linked to London sometime during the 1820’s. This mistake probably came about because of the similarity between the names ‘Cockaigne’ and ‘Cockney’- despite both having different etymological roots. In 1901, the composer Edward Elgar continued the association when he entitled the overture of one of his musical suite “Cockaigne.”The suite was designed to evoke the spirit of the people of London as “cheerful.. stout and steaky…honest, healthy, humorous and strong, but not vulgar.”
However, beyond pictures, music, and names, Cockaigne has also survived in other stories. The Brother’s Grimm preserved the essence of the tale of Cockaigne as a fairytale, Das Märchen vom Schlaraffenland(The Tale About the Land of Cockaigne). However, the Grimm’s Cockaigne is not a place of wish fulfillment. Its rivers may well have flowed with honey, and lime trees presented hot cakes instead of fruit, but these would be wonders are presented alongside events such as mice consecrating bishops and goats heating an oven. They are not simply far fetched. They are impossible. They show Schlaraffenland to be a land of lies.
However, by the early twentieth century, the postcards of German artist Oskar Herrfurth once again showed Cockaigne to be a land of wonders. “In the beautiful land of milk and honey, the birds fly roasted in the air, even directly into their mouths when they open it. The trees carry sausages and ham, the shrubs crispy rolls, the cheese grows like stones. Suckling pigs roast around and even carry knives and forks on their backs. Milk and honey are flowing in the brooks, and a real slacker just needs a bast!” reads the translation on one of the cards. This idea of a land of plenty and wonder survives in other stories such as Charlie and the Chocolate factory and the land of toys in Pinocchio, proving that Cockaigne is not just a land for miserable serfs after all.
Where Do we get this Stuff? Here are our Sources?
Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Sixteenth Edition, Revised by Adrian Room, Cassell, 2001
Brewer’s Dictionary of Names, People & Places & Things, Adrian Room, Helicon
The Land of Cokaygne, The Medival Forum
Lucian’s True History, trans. Francis Hicks, A H Bullen: London, 1894
The Story of Schlauraffen Land, Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, Grimm’s fairy Tales, 1812