Crazy 2015 cover of "The Economist"

[Twyla LaSarc]

I find the pied piper interesting too.

One of the alleged meanings of the story is the mythologizing of a historical (?) serial child rapist/killer who lures the children away to a cave and does unspeakable things to them. I do not know now where I read that interpretation, it has been a few years since I did. If anyone has more facts or insight on the piper, I'd love to hear it.

[seemslikeadream]

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
When, lo! as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Child’s Story
Many are familiar with the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Few realise however, that the story is based on real events, which evolved over the years into a fairy tale made to scare children.
For those unfamiliar with the tale, it is set in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. This town was facing a rat infestation, and a piper, dressed in a coat of many coloured, bright cloth, appeared. This piper promised to get rid of the rats in return for a payment, to which the townspeople agreed too. Although the piper got rid of the rats by leading them away with his music, the people of Hamelin reneged on their promise. The furious piper left, vowing revenge. On the 26th of July of that same year, the piper returned and led the children away, never to be seen again, just as he did the rats. Nevertheless, one or three children were left behind, depending on which version is being told. One of these children was lame, and could not keep up, another was deaf and could not hear the music, while the third one was blind and could not see where he was going.
The earliest known record of this story is from the town of Hamelin itself depicted in a stained glass window created for the church of Hamelin, which dates to around 1300 AD. Although it was destroyed in 1660, several written accounts have survived. The oldest comes from the Lueneburg manuscript (c 1440 – 50), which stated: “In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.”
The oldest known picture of the Pied Piper
The oldest known picture of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of the Market Church in Hameln/Hamelin Germany (c.1300-1633). Image source: Wikimedia.
The supposed street where the children were last seen is today called Bungelosenstrasse (street without drums), as no one is allowed to play music or dance there. Incidentally, it is said that the rats were absent from earlier accounts, and only added to the story around the middle of the 16th century. Moreover, the stained glass window and other primary written sources do not speak of the plague of rats.
If the children’s disappearance was not an act of revenge, then what was its cause? There have been numerous theories trying to explain what happened to the children of Hamelin. For instance, one theory suggests that the children died of some natural causes, and that the Pied Piper was the personification of Death. By associating the rats with the Black Death, it has been suggested that the children were victims of this plague. Yet, the Black Death was most severe in Europe between 1348 and 1350, more than half a century after the event in Hamelin. Another theory suggests that the children were actually sent away by their parents, due to the extreme poverty that they were living in. Yet another theory speculates that the children were participants of a doomed ‘Children’s Crusade’, and might have ended up in modern day Romania, or that the departure of Hamelin's children is tied to the Ostsiedlung, in which a number of Germans left their homes to colonize Eastern Europe. One of the darker theories even proposes that the Pied Piper was actually a paedophile who crept into the town of Hamelin to abduct children during their sleep.
One of the darker themed representations of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
One of the darker themed representations of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Credit: Lui-Gon-Jinn
Historical records suggest that the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was a real event that took place. Nevertheless, the transmission of this story undoubtedly evolved and changed over the centuries, although to what extent is unknown, and the mystery of what really happened to those children has never been solved. The story also raises the question, if the Pied Piper of Hamelin was based on reality, how much truth is there in other fairy tales that we were told as children?

[Elvis]

Speaking of The Economist covers, here's another interesting one that's been sitting in a cubbyhole in my desk, waiting to be scanned:

I'll try to scan & post the article somewhere on the board soon.


Edit: There are two mind-control/neuroscience articles in that issue, and I see they're available online:

"The future of mind control": http://www.economist.com/node/1143583
"Open your mind": http://www.economist.com/node/1143317

[Asta]

There are some Youtube vids popping up with the usual uneducated analyses of the magazine cover. It is humorous as well as dismaying to read the comments from the Christian fundamentalists who are taking this to be the Truth pointing to their hoped for Rapture. For example, the creator of one particular video did not even recognize Alice in Wonderland and instead likened her to some Golden Woman mentioned in Revelations. How ignorant is that?

Why are there so many people wanting this world to end? I realize this is a totally off topic question. I, as many others here, have had a little fun picking apart the cover art (it is aesthetically atrocious btw), revisited symbolism, learned some things about Rich People that are disturbing, but personally I never found any delight in thinking that this was The Sign from Above (PTB) that the End Times are Here.

There are just as many insane religious zealots here in the US as there are in the Middle East. Everybody from Day One has been fighting with Everyone who doesn't BELIEVE quite the way they think EVERYBODY should believe.

Back to topic maybe: Where is the Economist published, and are they just looking for a way to antagonize the nut cases and get their offices shot up and increase their subscriptions and sales? Just pondering.

[Nordic]

There are some Youtube vids popping up with the usual uneducated analyses of the magazine cover. It is humorous as well as dismaying to read the comments from the Christian fundamentalists who are taking this to be the Truth pointing to their hoped for Rapture. For example, the creator of one particular video did not even recognize Alice in Wonderland and instead likened her to some Golden Woman mentioned in Revelations. How ignorant is that?

Why are there so many people wanting this world to end? I realize this is a totally off topic question. I, as many others here, have had a little fun picking apart the cover art (it is aesthetically atrocious btw), revisited symbolism, learned some things about Rich People that are disturbing, but personally I never found any delight in thinking that this was The Sign from Above (PTB) that the End Times are Here.

There are just as many insane religious zealots here in the US as there are in the Middle East. Everybody from Day One has been fighting with Everyone who doesn't BELIEVE quite the way they think EVERYBODY should believe.

Back to topic maybe: Where is the Economist published, and are they just looking for a way to antagonize the nut cases and get their offices shot up and increase their subscriptions and sales? Just pondering.

[km artlu]

Sorry…off topic…but the ISIS photo Nordic has posted sparks a thought. There's pundit chatter consensus that air power alone is insufficient to seriously damage these guys.

That photo could be titled "Target of Opportunity". Sitting ducks man; defenseless. And apparently unconcerned.

Raises some questions about whose purposes are being served by the persistence of this thing.

[Luther Blissett]

I find the pied piper interesting too.

One of the alleged meanings of the story is the mythologizing of a historical (?) serial child rapist/killer who lures the children away to a cave and does unspeakable things to them. I do not know now where I read that interpretation, it has been a few years since I did. If anyone has more facts or insight on the piper, I'd love to hear it.

Here I am puzzling over a misremembered or disappeared thread:
viewtopic.php?p=472560#p472560

[Sounder]

Thanks Asta.

I read a bit more of this fellows material, he is a provocateur. Way beyond loose.

[Twyla LaSarc]

Thank you for the info on the piper. I 'alf-arsed looked it up a while back out of curiosity, but gave up because I was getting hits on the story and such that was not pertinent to my questions.

Love the Maxfield Parrish, thanks Luther!