Dungeon
Adungeonis a room orcellin which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated withmedievalcastles, though their association withtortureprobably derives more from theRenaissanceperiod.[citation needed]Anoubliette(from the Frenchoublier,meaning 'to forget') orbottle dungeonis a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (anangstloch) in a high ceiling.
Etymology
[edit]The worddungeoncomes from Frenchdonjon(also spelleddongeon), which means "keep",the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word inEnglishwas near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning asdonjon.The earlier meaning of "keep" is still in use for academics, although in popular culture, it has come to mean a cell or "oubliette".[citation needed]Though it is uncertain, bothdungeonanddonjonare thought to derive from theMiddle Latinworddominus,meaning "lord" or "master".[1]
In French, the termdonjonstill refers to a "keep", and the English term "dungeon" refers mostly tooubliettein French.Donjonis therefore afalse friendtodungeon(although the gameDungeons & Dragonsis titledDonjons et Dragonsin its French editions).
An oubliette (same origin as the Frenchoublier,meaning "to forget"[2]) is a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (anangstloch) in a high ceiling.
The use of "donjons" evolved over time, sometimes to include prison cells, which could explain why the meaning of "dungeon" in English evolved over time from being a prison within the tallest, most secure tower of the castle into meaning a cell, and by extension, in popular use, an oubliette or even a torture chamber.
The earliest use ofoubliettein French dates back to 1374, but its earliest adoption in English isWalter Scott'sIvanhoein 1819: "The place was utterly dark—the oubliette, as I suppose, of their accursed convent."[3]
History
[edit]FewNormankeeps in English castles originally contained prisons, which were more common in Scotland. Imprisonment was not a usual punishment in theMiddle Ages,with most prisoners awaiting an imminent trial, sentence or a political solution. Noble prisoners were not generally held in dungeons, but lived in some comfort in castle apartments. TheTower of Londonis famous for housingpolitical prisoners,andPontefract Castleat various times heldThomas of Lancaster(1322),Richard II(1400),Earl Rivers(1483),Richard Scrope,Archbishop of York(1405),James I of Scotland(1405–1424) andCharles, Duke of Orléans(1417–1430). Purpose-built prison chambers in castles became more common after the 12th century, when they were built intogatehousesor mural towers. Some castles had larger provision for prisoners, such as the prison tower atCaernarfon Castle.[4]
Features
[edit]
Although many real dungeons are simply a single plain room with a heavy door or with access only from ahatchwayortrapdoorin the floor of the room above, the use of dungeons fortorture,along with their association to common human fears of being trapped underground, have made dungeons a powerfulmetaphorin a variety of contexts. Dungeons, as a whole, have become associated with underground complexes of cells and torture chambers. As a result, the number of true dungeons in castles is often exaggerated to interest tourists. Many chambers described as dungeons or oubliettes were in fact water-cisterns or evenlatrines.[5]
An example of what might be popularly termed an "oubliette" is the particularly claustrophobic cell in the dungeon ofWarwick Castle's Caesar's Tower, in central England. The access hatch consists of an iron grille. Even turning around (or moving at all) would be nearly impossible in this tiny chamber.[6]
However, the tiny chamber that is described as the oubliette, is in reality a short shaft which opens up into a larger chamber with a latrine shaft entering it from above. This suggests that the chamber is in fact a partially back-filled drain. The positioning of the supposed oubliette within the larger dungeon, situated in a small alcove, is typical ofgarderobearrangement within medieval buildings. These factors perhaps point to this feature being the remnants of a latrine rather than a cell for holding prisoners. Footage of the inside of this chamber can be seen in episode 3 of the first series ofSecrets of Great British Castles.
A "bottle dungeon" is sometimes simply another term for an oubliette.[7]It has a narrow entrance at the top and sometimes the room below is even so narrow that it would be impossible to lie down but in other designs the actual cell is larger.[8][9]
The identification of dungeons and rooms used to hold prisoners is not always a straightforward task.Alnwick CastleandCockermouth Castle,both near England's border with Scotland, had chambers in their gatehouses which have often been interpreted as oubliettes.[4]However, this has been challenged. These underground rooms (accessed by a door in the ceiling) were built without latrines, and since the gatehouses at Alnwick and Cockermouth provided accommodation it is unlikely that the rooms would have been used to hold prisoners. An alternative explanation was proposed, suggesting that these were strong-rooms where valuables were stored.[10]
In fiction
[edit]Oubliettes and dungeons were a favorite topic of nineteenth centurygothic novelsorhistorical novels,where they appeared as symbols of hiddencrueltyandtyrannicalpower. Usually found under medieval castles orabbeys,they were used byvillainouscharactersto persecute blameless characters. InAlexandre Dumas'sLa Reine Margot,Catherine de Mediciis portrayed gloating over a victim in the oubliettes of theLouvre.[11]
Dungeons are common elements in modern fantasy literature, relatedtabletop,andvideo games.The most famous examples are the variousDungeons & Dragonsmedia. In this context, the word "dungeon" has come to be used broadly to describe anylabyrinthinecomplex (castle, cave system, etc) rather than aprison cellortorture chamberspecifically. Arole-playing gameinvolving dungeon exploration is called adungeon crawl.
Near the beginning ofJack Vance'shigh-fantasyLyonesse Trilogy(1983–1989), King Casmir of Lyonesse commits Prince Aillas of Troicinet, who he believes to be a vagabond, to an oubliette for the crime of having seduced his daughter. After some months, the resourceful prince fashions a ladder from the bones of earlier prisoners and the rope by which he had been lowered, and escapes.[citation needed]
In the musical fantasy filmLabyrinth,directorJim Hensonincludes a scene in which theheroineSarah is freed from an oubliette by thedwarfHoggle, who defines it for her as "a place you put people... to forget about 'em!"[12]
In theThomas HarrisnovelThe Silence of the Lambs,Clarice makes a descent intoGumb'sbasement dungeon labyrinth in the narrative's climactic scene, where the killer is described as having an oubliette.[13]
In theRobert A. HeinleinnovelStranger in a Strange Land,the term "oubliette" is used to refer to a trash disposal much like the "memory holes" inNineteen Eighty-Four.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^The Merriam-Webster new book of word histories.Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster. 1991. p.152.ISBN9780877796039.
- ^Harper, Douglas."oubliette".Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^Oxford English Dictionary
- ^abBottomley, Frank,The Castle Explorer's Guide,Kaye & Ward, London, 1979ISBN0-7182-1216-9pp 143–145
- ^Bottomley, Frank,The Castle Explorer's Guide,Kaye & Ward, London, 1979ISBN0-7182-1216-9p 145
- ^Hull, Lise,The Great Castles of Britain & Ireland(UK: New Holland Publishers, 2005), p. 34
- ^Hull, Lise (2016).Understanding the Castle Ruins of England and Wales: How to Interpret the History and Meaning of Masonry and Earthworks.McFarland.ISBN9781476665979.
- ^Hull, Lise (2006).Britain's Medieval Castles.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN9780275984144.
- ^"Alnwick Castle: The Keep".alnwickcastle.Alnick Castle. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2016.
- ^Brears, Peter (2011), "The Administrative Role of Gatehouses in Fourteenth-Century North-Country Castles", in Airs, M.; Barnwell, P. S. (eds.),The Medieval Great House,Rewley House Studies in the Historic Environment, pp. 204–208
- ^Alexandre Dumas,La Reine Margot,XIIIOreste et Pylade
- ^Carroll, Shiloh (Fall 2009). "The Heart of the Labyrinth: Reading Jim Henson's Labyrinth as a Modern Dream Vision".Mythlore.28(1–2): 109.ISSN0146-9339.
- ^Messent, Peter (1 December 2000). "American Gothic: Liminality in Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter Novels".Journal of American & Comparative Cultures.23(4): 23–35.doi:10.1111/j.1537-4726.2000.2304_23.x.ISSN1540-594X.
Further reading
[edit]
- Berti, Paolo; De Vincentis, Stefania; de Seta, Gabriele, eds. (2023)."Megadungeon [special issue]".magazén: International Journal for Digital and Public Humanities.4(2).doi:10.30687/mag/2724-3923/2023/02.ISSN2724-3923.
- Nevell, Richard (2014–15)."Castles as prisons".The Castle Studies Group Journal.28:203–224.hdl:10871/128699.