Of Vikings and Viruses: On Keeping the Border Closed
In A.D. 991, a battle was fought in England, between Earl Byrhtnoth’s Anglo-Saxons and a large number of Viking Warriors. It was no ordinary battle, but rather one that has given rise to one of the more famous pieces of Old English literature outside Beowulf: The Battle of Maldon. J.R.R. Tolkien was sufficiently interested, both professionally and artistically, in the Battle of Maldon that he actually wrote a historical fiction play about the aftermath, titled The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm’s Son.
What attracts so much attention to a thousand year-old battle? It’s not simply its role in the long struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Norsemen, a struggle that would only end at Stamford Bridge in 1066. No, what attracts attention to the Battle of Maldon is the mindset of Earl Byrhtnoth. A mindset that might be termed madness today.
You see, what happened was this: the Norsemen landed on a small offshore island, which was connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway at low tide. The Anglo-Saxon forces were on the mainland. The Norsemen tried getting across the causeway, but as a defensive position it was too strong. So the Vikings had an idea. They asked Byrhtnoth to let them come across to the mainland, so the two sides could have a proper, honourable battle. Christians and Pagans… let’s just fight it out, so our warriors can go to Heaven and Valhalla respectively, and songs can be sung in the mead halls in the years after.
Byrhtnoth agreed, a battle was fought, and Byrhtnoth was killed. The Vikings won… because it turns out that seeking a glorious death in battle is a really stupid and selfish idea, so far as protecting your people is concerned. Tolkien’s own analysis – quite apart from the play, he also wrote an entire essay on the concept of Byrhtnoth’s ofermod, overconfidence and excessive pride – is scathing. He goes so far as to say that the Earl’s actions were simply too foolish to be heroic.
I agree with Tolkien here, as would most people today – the bunch who consider War to be Glorious are (fortunately) a small minority. But at least Byrhtnoth was operating in accordance with his society’s cultural norms, where “glorious death” was something to be treasured.
The same cannot be said of Heather du Plessis-Allan.
Du Plessis-Allan, a prominent Wellington TV journalist, has just castigated the New Zealand public for wanting to keep the borders tightly closed during the international pandemic. She’s accused 68% of us of lacking bravery, while invoking the image of past New Zealand courage on the international stage. Supposedly we need to start letting non-New Zealanders back in again, so long as they pay for their own Quarantine.
Honestly, the comparisons with the Battle of Maldon just invite themselves. New Zealand takes the place of the Anglo-Saxons, the causeway is the Quarantine/border, and the Vikings are the Coronavirus. Du Plessis-Allan is a would-be Byrhtnoth, extolling us to do something monumentally stupid in the name of courage… and accusing those who disagree of cowardice.
All I can say is that I am pleased Jacinda Ardern is Prime Minister, not Heather Du Plessis-Allan, and if wanting to not let a deadly virus into the country is cowardly, then I am a coward. Better a coward than a fool.
(Never mind the thousands of deaths that might well result from taking Du Plessis-Allan seriously… it would also negate the sacrifices this country made between March and May. New Zealand knows how to do lockdown properly, and it was no laughing matter).
Now, Du Plessis-Allan and her ilk argue that they’re not really reopening the border. They’re just wanting wealthy foreigners to be allowed in, with people paying for their own two-week Quarantine stay. The problem with this is twofold:
(1) New Zealand’s Quarantine facilities are currently stretched looking after returning New Zealanders. The last thing we need are thousands of Plague Refugees suddenly turning up, demanding to be looked after for two weeks. Not least because it increases the likelihood that something will go wrong. There have already been people escaping facilities.
(2) If the Coronavirus gets back into New Zealand, it will be due to problems with Quarantine. Recall that Melbourne – currently the Plague Pit of Australasia – saw its second-wave outbreak originate from Quarantine staffers catching the disease. Du Plessis-Allan’s proposal is a recipe for something similar.
The worst thing? Earl Byrhtnoth actually had the (insane) courage to put his money where his mouth was. It led to a Viking soldier cutting his head off, but notwithstanding his selfish pursuit of glory, Byrhtnoth was at least willing to suffer the consequences of his actions. Du Plessis-Allan is doing this from behind the shelter of the Government’s protection measures, in a country that has eradicated the virus, and is not in the at-risk age group… Medical Chickenhawkery if ever there was. Moreover, if the Government were ever stupid enough to listen to her, you just know that she would be condemning system incompetence. We know this, because the media here went from screaming about people not getting exemptions for funerals to screaming about people getting exemptions for funerals.
Du Plessis-Allan (and the 29% who agree with her) are entitled to their stupid and dangerous views. We’re a free society. But if she’s going to call me (and the 68% who agree with me) cowards, then I warmly invite her to bugger off to some plague-ridden hellhole, and take her own chances with the Coronavirus. I’m guessing she won’t, for some reason.
A Phuulish Fellow 