As we were driving home from errands, Little Sir was chattering away in the backseat (as usual), and said something about "Your Majesty." So, of course, I had to take advantage of the "teachable moment" and asked him what that meant, and when do you use it, blah blah blah. Since he got the t.v. series Prince Valiant on DVD from his big brother for Christmas, he's had lots of time absorbing medieval protocol and customs.
It got me thinking. Different cultures attach similar titles and phrases ("Oh King __, may you live forever...") Some believe their royalty is descended from, or currently exist as, gods. (This can caused all kinds of terrible repercussions when, as in the case of Japan, the people were subjected to the rude awakening that their sovereign was, indeed, merely human, and able to be conquered and made subject by other powers.)
"Your Majesty." Just think about what that means. I mean, of course you cannot address royalty by their proper name, title-less. I am not up on when it is appropriate to say "Prince So-And-So" and when you use "Your Majesty", but still..."majesty", from whence we get "majestic"...makes me think of awesome nature scenes, like the power of the ocean, or an incredible mountain view. To give that title to a human? I suppose there have been those deserving of the title. In general those in positions of honor and respect get titles thrust upon them, whether they deserve them or not. "Your Lordship"...meaning, you have lordship over me in my mere lowly state. But "Majesty"! Wow. It really is something to think about.
How about "Your Awesomeness"?
I suppose, growing up in the U.S., rather than in a monarchy, say, I don't fully get the significance of these things. But it does give me cause to stop and think.
"My Mere Ordinariness..." me
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I agree, I think growing up in the USA, we don't fully appreciate what Majestic really means. I never use that word even though I know and understand what it means. What was your son's (4 yr old) take on it?
You know, sometimes I'm not sure how much he absorbs until much later, when I get my words back to me, sometimes verbatim. He is interested in the royalty terminology now. We'll see about the rest.
Post a Comment