Date: Wed, 3 Jun 92 22:04 GMT From: Trevor Jenkins I believe the exhortation is ENJOY but I think in this case it should be GRIMACE. See if you agree. Ailsa --------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised and expanded - June 1992, Ailsa Jenkins (ARKhive) LEAPS IN THE HISTORY OF LOOPS. Or the loopy history of leaps. I have some suggestions for your consideration; a conjectural history of the loop and it's visualisation with reference to the superstring theory of quantum leaping. I do not believe that a lifestring is looped at random. If there is *someone up there* who has given order to the world and order and purpose to Dr Samuel Beckett's leaps then surely his lifestring must be ordered in some way also? Knot theory in mathematics is the study of three-dimensional closed curves. Dr Beckett has blown this theory wide open as he has added the extra dimension of time with his leaps. When he leaps back home he will need to substantially rewrite the knot theory as well as confirming the superstring theory. So how can the superstring be visualised? Perhaps it resembles one of the following examples? Many civilisations, particularly around the Mediterranean, have examples of sophisticated spiral, key and knot designs that required considerable knowledge of mathematics for their execution. The earliest extant example of a knot-like design is a mammoth's tusk ivory bracelet engraved with interlocking swastikas. It was found in the Ukraine and dates from c.20,000 BC. King Solomon's Palace built around 950 BC contained the first examples to be documented. Articles were decorated with "wreaths of hammered work" and "on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around" for use in the palace. [1] A stick decorated with interlacing of granulated gold-work was amongst the artefacts found in the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt. The decoration resembles a plait, or braid, of three strands of thick cord and dates from c. 1360 BC. As I haven't seen "The Curse of Ptah-Hotep" yet I cannot say whether THAT tomb also contained them, though I believe Dr Beckett would have commented on it. Around the world "knots" are found in the art of civilisations as widely distributed as the Maya of Central America, the Moors, the Chinese and the Hausa people of Africa. Knots developed in sophistication and reached their prime in the Celtic constructions of the 6th century. The supreme examples of interlacing are inscribed on the pages of the Book of Kells, (mid 6th - early 7th C). Beautiful stone carving is found in many places in Great Britain; wherever the Celts and Picts were to be found. The Groudle Stone from the Isle of Man has an interesting variation carved upon it; a single knot entirely contained within a Celtic cross. The continuity of the line symbolises eternity. It has been suggested that concentrating upon and following the sacred line from beginning to end will result in success. For Dr Beckett's sake, I hope so. Knotwork underwent a renaissance in the 16th century. Albrecht Durer, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were all fascinated by knots; Particularly well known is da Vinci's intriguing "Concatenation". If there had only been Nobel Prizes when da Vinci was around. Mazes, those wonderfully confused and misleading constructions, have been around for at least two thousand years. Pagans considered them magical devices to ward off evil spirits. (The B**g**man?) The Romans produced intricate mosaic mazes and tiled examples exist in Early Christian churches. The latter are thought to be penitential Christian knots on which a person knelt, journeyed along the maze, praying at particular points along the way - a kind of Pilgrim's Progress? In the Middle Ages mazes were also laid outside in turf with coloured gravel between. Youths used to "tread the maze" as a game and it was also known as the "game of Troy". (Is this what Troian Bellisario is named after?) At Wing in Rutland, now Leicestershire, there is an extant example of a circular maze. Knot gardens were very popular in Elizabethan times. At Hatfield House in Hertfordshire the Knot garden has recently been restored using plants from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. There is also a box-hedged "foot-maze". Another loopy pattern, the parterre, originated in France and the palaces at Versailles and Fontainebleau have notable examples designed by Le Notre. Hampton Court Palace had knot gardens and also has the best known maze in the world built in the late 17th century by Queen Anne's gardeners using hornbeam hedging. Are Dr Beckett and William Samuel Harris two of a kind? [2] Interesting twists in the thread are labyrinthine legends. In Crete a skein was used by Theseus to enter the Minotaur's labyrinth, perform his 'Beckett' like heroics and effect his and Ariadne's escape.[3] At Blenheim, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Henry II is reputed to have constructed a labyrinth to protect his concubine, the fair Rosamund. Queen Eleanor, using a skein or string, entered the labyrinth and successfully poisoned Rosamund. (And, yes, it was Henry II who appointed Thomas a *Becket* as his Archbishop of Canterbury.) What will Dr Beckett find following his lifestring? Will he have reached the centre of the maze or will he have escaped? The simplest manifestation of a "true" knot is the trefoil which has only three crossings. Most knots can be resolved to the product of a trefoil, but those that cannot are termed "prime". PQL must surely be a prime example. Maybe Dr Beckett's lifestring is tied in one great Gordian knot? Who can unravel it? Is there someone as bold as Alexander the Great who will cut it? (again - The B**g**man?) Maybe its configuration is that of a True lovers' knot? It's shape should be familiar to both Beckett the physician and the ancient language scholar. It resembles two serpents entwined about a staff or Caduceus. Greek brides fastened their woollen girdles with this knot signifying "interwoven affection". Both Mercury and AEsculapius, the god of medicine, have associations with this knot. At the moment Dr Beckett is still spry enough to follow Puck's example in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "...put a girdle round the earth in 40 minutes." [4] Maybe he is preparing for his old age by lacing his lifestring into his (Playtex?) girdle or surgical truss? Does Dr Beckett believe in folk medicine? It was believed by some that undoing a knot each day from a knotted cord will bring healing. Reciting a prayer or a charm (Oh boy?) is said to improve the efficacy of the remedy. Is Dr Beckett suffering from an illness such as a psychosis? Can the leaps be viewed as the remedy for this illness, each leap undoing one more knot, bringing Dr Beckett nearer to his leap home and a complete recovery? Maybe he has multiple personality problems? What is the REAL reason he talks to himself and imagines he is someone else? Is PQL really only a dream? Beware Dr Beckett that you are not being trapped on the pretext of helping others. To bind a person with a knotted cord was believed to entrap them into marriage. If Dr Donna Alessi's life was changed by Dr Beckett in one of his very first leaps then maybe she is involved with, or even controlling, PQL in the future and is exercising her wiles over a helpless and hapless Beckett for her own ends (and would Sam mind anyway)? Knot in Old English is "cnotta" allied to knit. "French" knitting produces a continuous tube of material as do the machines developed to knit socks and other items "in the round". Is Dr Beckett's lifestring being knitted in this way into a kind of time tunnel in which he is leaping around? Originally Arran jumpers were knitted for a particular person and stitches with hidden meanings were included to reflect the life and personality of the wearer. Cable stitch is one of the most well known "Arran" patterns. Earlier this century a Norwegian, Captain Brynje, made what is thought to be the first string vest by knitting a long piece of string into shape. In a "Kaffe Fassett" original design Dr Beckett's lifestring would be just one of a multitude of colours and textures that is interknitted with the lifestrings of others. I would be very proud to make and wear such a beautiful garment ... if only I could get the idea of the loopy "knit one, purl one" routine. If I was deputed to knit Sam's lifestring I fear his leaps would ALWAYS be going awry; dropped stitches feature heavily in my technique. Almost sixty years ago Henry C Beck doodled the first topographical representation of the The London Underground Transport system. This loopy multiline diagram overcame the problems of strictly geographical based maps; a successful and refreshingly simple idea that has influenced maps around the world. As far as London Transport itself is concerned the "Old Unreliable" - the Circle Line - has been looping the loop since 1884. It runs in clockwise (outer) and anti-clockwise (inner) directions purporting to serve London and its' travellers. I hope Dr Beckett is not stuck - detrained at Kings Cross - because of "operating difficulties at Baker Street" (again). Ziggy and the LT computer system have a lot in common. It would be a fate worse than leaping to wait for LT to cure the problem. You would do better to walk to your destination. LT would do well to call upon the services of Sherlock Holmes, or maybe Magnum PI? The Central Line's "Hainault Loop" is no longer extant; because of the decline in its use it was cut off from the rest of the system after more than forty years service. A recent addition to the system is the one-way loop on the Piccadilly Line linking Heathrow Central and Terminal 4 with Hatton Cross. Of them all I favour the "Celtic knotwork" visualisation. I, for one, would be hard put to conceive and construct a Celtic style knot myself. Considerable mathematical and artistic abilities are needed to design and draw one. If attempting one please remember that to ward off evil a design must be executed in an anti-clockwise manner whilst a clockwise design would symbolise victory. The choice is yours. Did Dr Beckett lock himself into eternal limbo when he quantum leaped? Maybe he has to perform these leaps as some kind of penitential maze and will eventually work himself out of 'purgatory'; each leap an 'indulgence' along his pathway to purification. Is Dr Beckett destined to loop the loop for ever? Is Dr Beckett into recycling in a big way, each leap being as palimpsest on the lifepages of the leapee? String, knitting, knots, mazes, and labyrinths all have convoluted and tangled histories, (and I haven't even touched on lacemaking, tatting, weaving, plaiting, macrame or basketry). Who inspired man in the first place? The spider's web, the ammonite and the nautilus are just a few of the knots and loops that can be seen in nature. Perhaps the true shape of "this piece of knotted string" [5] will only be realised after the final LEAP HOME has been made and Ziggy is able to plot the points in time and space where Sam touched down. "Oh, what a tangled web we weave." [6] My hope for Sam in all this frantic leaping about is (in Gaelic): "Gun till do cheum, as gach cearn, fo rionnag-iuil an dachaidh." or in other words "May your steps return from all corners of the globe under the guidance of the star that points to home." REFERENCES [1] I Kings, chapter 7 vv 29 & 36, The Holy Bible, New International Version 1978 [2] Jerome K Jerome Three Men in a Boat, chapter 6 1889 [3] Virgil Aeneid, Bk V [4] William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream, c1598 Act II, scene II [5] Bluebottle /Peter Sellers The Goons, BBC Radio, c1960 [6] Walter Scott Marmion, XVII BIBLIOGRAPHY George BAIN Celtic Art, the methods of construction 1951, 10th impression 1984, Constable and Company Ltd, London ISBN 0 09 461830 5 Miles HADFIELD A History of British Gardening 1960, (Hutchinson & Co) 3rd edition, revised and expanded, 1979 John Murray (Publishers) Ltd., London ISBN 0 7195 3644 8 Keyboarded using the BINGO (aka Al Calavicci?) editor, (courtesy of Christopher R S Schanck) copyright June 1992 Permission to distribute is granted as long as no charge is made. For commercial rights of distribution please contact the author. The author would be pleased to receive comments and to hear of other interesting loops not included in the text. ********************************************************************* "Gun till do cheum, as gach cearn, fo rionnag-iuil an dachaidh." Ailsa R Jenkins ARKhive @ 134 Frankland Road, Croxley Green, RICKMANSWORTH, Hertfordshire, WD3 3AU, England. ********************************************************************* I digress a little, but postulate that Don Bellisario, or the BGU, made the right choice in preventing Dr Beckett from going beyond his lifetime. The world of literature would probably be the poorer if Sam had influenced Shakespeare to put everything right that was once wrong. For example: Hamlet's question (to be, or not to be) would have been superfluous. (Do I hear cries of "Shame!" from the entire female population of Western Civilisation who would have been denied Dr Beckett's version in "The Play's The Thing". I haven't seen it yet, but presume Sam could hardly "do" Hamlet without THE speech in Act 3 scene I?) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Trevor Jenkins "RE: deemed!" email: tfj@cix.compulink.co.uk radio: G6AJG mail: 134 Frankland Rd, Croxley Green, RICKMANSWORTH, WD3 3AU phone: +44 (0)923 776436