Owain Glyndŵr, The Imaginary Prince of Wales, Part 3
Who says Shakespeare was wrong in his depiction of certain historical characters, particularly Owen Glendower, a kind of comic Welshman?
Did the real Owain Glyndŵr think he was magic? Could summon spirits from hell?
Where did Shakespeare get that idea?
Owain Glyndŵr, the one in our story, is he magical, possessed of supernatural ability?
Owen Glendower - the one in Shakespeare, perhaps not magical, not really.
But, just a minute…
Magic. That’s a loaded word. Loaded in the sense of nuts.
In his play, Henry IV, part 1, Shakespeare has Owen Glendower claiming to be able to summon devils. Is he joking? Shakespeare that is. Is Owen Glendower joking? Having a laugh at Hotspur’s expense? Is Hotspur in on the joke? Or is Shakespeare suggesting Owen is serious? Who knows? Actors playing the scene can make up their own minds.
As for our Owain… he is calling up much more than the odd devil. He is conjuring into existence an entirely new currency. More diabolical than anything Shakespeare ever dared, witches not withstanding. This is powerful magic.
And there are people now, today, who would like to see him, Owain that is, dragged out and burnt at the stake. A new currency? The worst possible thing imaginable. Hell on Earth.
So, extreme over-reactions aside, what about a new currency? What does that solve, if anything? Might a new currency be as bad as an old currency? The devil you know and all that?
Currency. Money. As pure and immutable as gold. As ephemeral as mist.
Permanent, reassuring. Or the figment of a collective imagination. Coming and going at a whim. Whose whim?
For some, money is a fixed and terrible thing. Never enough. No way of getting more.
For others, money is infinitely flexible, mutable, can appear and disappear, grow and shrink, move and stay still, according to rules… What rules?
Is money a science? A religion? A fantasy? A magic trick?
A language? A language of things? Or a language of action?
Is money a thing? Coins in your pocket? Numbers in a computer? Entries in a blockchain? (What’s a blockchain?)
For Owain, our Owain, money is binary. You have some or you don’t. You can get some or you can’t. It’s real or imaginary. Permanent, impermanent. It’s action or asset. Activity or artefact.
Where you stand is pretty much your identity. You’re an action person, or an asset person. You think the activity is the thing, or you’re hooked on the artefact.
You know, it’s very likely that if you’re old you have assets. If you’re young you don’t. If you’re already successful, then you want artefacts, stuff. If you’re on the way up (hopefully) you are all about activity. Good or bad, legal or nefarious.
Whom does money best serve?
Those who have some, or course. It’s a vicious master to those who don’t.
Shakespeare’s Owen Glendower, he could conjure evil spirits.
Owain Glyndŵr, The Prince of Wales, he can conjure currency. (Well, in our story he can.)
Looked at one way, money is the very devil; looked at another…
What Owain Glyndŵr asks (next week) is: what kind of currency, or evil spirit, bests serves young people?
Tune in for the next episode to hear the answer. Or not. Hear the answer that is. Tune in anyway. I guarantee a surprise.