Albion (Blake)

{{short description|Primeval man in the mythology of William Blake}} [[File:William Blake - Albion Rose - from A Large Book of Designs 1793-6.jpg|thumb|right|Blake's image of Albion from his ''[[A Large Book of Designs]]'']]

In the [[William Blake's mythology|mythology]] of [[William Blake]], '''Albion''' is the primeval man whose fall and division results in the '''Four Zoas''': [[Urizen]], [[Tharmas]], [[Luvah]]/[[Orc (Blake)|Orc]] and [[Urthona]]/[[Los (Blake)|Los]]. The name derives from the ancient and mythological name of Britain, [[Albion]].

==Sources== In the mythical story of the founding of [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Alebion|Albion]] was a [[gigantes|giant]] and a son of [[Poseidon]], the [[Greek mythology|Greek god]] of the sea. He was a contemporary of [[Heracles]], who killed him. Albion founded a country on the island and ruled there. Britain, then called Albion after its founder, was inhabited by his Giant descendants until about 1100 years before [[Julius Cæsar]]'s invasion of Britain, when [[Brutus of Troy]] came and defeated the small number of Giants that remained (as a group of the Giants had killed all the others).

According to another account, [[Noah]]'s son [[Japhet]] had a son named [[Histion]], who had four sons. Their names were [[France|Francus]], [[Rome|Romanus]], [[Brutus of Troy|Brittos]] and [[Germany|Alemannus]], and the French, Roman, British and German people are descended from them. [[Brutus of Troy|Brittos]] divided Britain into three kingdoms and gave each to one of his sons. They were Loegria (a Latinization of the Welsh [[Lloegyr]]), [[Scotland]] and [[Cambria]].<ref>[[Thomas Bulfinch]]. Bulfinch's mythology, published: 1913. place: New York, New York</ref>

The division of the primordial man is found in many mythic and mystic systems throughout the world, including [[Adam Kadmon]] in [[Kabbalah]] and [[Prajapati]] in the [[Rigveda]].

==Usage== The long, unfinished poem properly called ''[[Vala, or The Four Zoas]]'' expands the significance of the Zoas, but they are integral to all of Blake's prophetic books.

Blake's painting of a naked figure raising his arms, loosely based on ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'', is now identified as a portrayal of Albion, following the discovery of a printed version with an inscription identifying the figure.<ref>{{cite AV media |people= William Blake (illustrator) |year=1794–1796 |title=Albion Rose, a colour printed etching with hand-drawn additions in ink and watercolour |medium=planographic print; engraving; hand-coloured; colour |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1352233&partId=1 |access-date=2008-08-12 |quote=Albion rose from where he laboured at the Mill with Slaves / Giving himself for the Nations he danc'd the dance of Eternal Death}} (Full unabbreviated title at: {{url|https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/william-blake-albion-rose-a-colour-printed-etching-with-hand-drawn-additions-in-ink-and-watercolour/9gH8FkV-uW3zjQ|Google Arts & Culture}} site)</ref> It was formerly known as "Glad Day", since it was assumed by [[Alexander Gilchrist]] to illustrate a quotation from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]].

Blake also uses the name [[Albion]] in its traditional meaning, as an ancient synonym for Britain, in his poem "A Little Boy Lost" in ''[[Songs of Experience]]''. The poem tells about a young boy who, using reason, realizes that humans are selfish, and that "naught loves another as itself". He asks the priest: "Father, how can I love you / or any of my brothers more? / I love you like the little bird / That picks up crumbs around the door". The priest accuses the boy of blasphemy, and burns him "in a holy place / where many had been burned before". Blake concludes the poem by asking: "Are such things done on Albion's shore?"

==Children== [[File:Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion, object 81-detail.jpg|thumb|300px|12 Daughters of Albion; in front [[Queen Gwendolen|Gwendolen]] (left) and [[Cambel]] (right). Jerusalem? Plate 81 (detail)]] The Sons of Albion feature in the poem ''[[Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion|Jerusalem]]''. They are 12, and are named as Hand, Hyle, Coban, Guantok, Peachey, Brereton, Slayd, Hutton, Scofield, Kox, Kotope, Bowen. These names are mostly drawn from figures from Blake's 1803 sedition trial.<ref>{{citation|last=Blake |first=William |title=(Illustrations for) Jerusalem, the Emanation of the giant Albion |place=London |publisher=Trianon Press |year=1804 |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b2200198d}}</ref>

The Daughters of Albion feature in ''[[Visions of the Daughters of Albion]]'', and other [[William Blake's prophetic books|prophetic books]]. They are named, not consistently though, in ''The Four Zoas'' and in ''Jerusalem'':

Gwiniverra has replaced Boadicea, who is later equated with Cambel.<ref>Jerusalem 71:23</ref> They are mostly drawn from [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' and [[John Milton]]'s ''[[History of Britain (John Milton)|The History of Britain]]''.<ref>Damon, S. Foster. A Blake Dictionary. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1988, p. 14.</ref>

== See also == * {{annotated link|Alebion}} * {{annotated link|15760 Albion}}, minor planet

==Sources== {{reflist}}

[[Category:William Blake characters]] [[Category:Male characters in literature]]