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In theMiddle Ages,Termagant orTervagant was the name of a god that some EuropeanChristians believedMuslims worshipped.[1][2] It originates in the eleventh-centurySong of Roland.
The word is also used in modern English to mean a violent, overbearing, turbulent, brawling, quarrelsome woman; avirago,shrew, orvixen.[1]
European literature from the Middle Ages often refers to Muslims aspagans and depicts them worshippingMuhammad along with variousidols and sometimes other deities, such asApollyon,Lucifer and Termagant. In some writings, such as theSong of Roland, these were combined to create an "unholyTrinity" of sorts composed of Apollyon, Muhammad and Termagant.[3]
The original form of the name isTervagan. There are many hypotheses explaining the origin of the name, but it does not seem to derive from any actual aspect of Muslim belief or practice, however wildly distorted. Gustav Beckmann lists 23 different theories. He defends that first proposed byUgo Foscolo in 1819 that Tervagan is thedea trivia, the threefold moon goddessLuna–Diana–Persephone (orSelene–Artemis–Hecate), attested since classical antiquity. Thus,ter vagan means 'three wandering [i.e., like the moon]'. Apollyon (Apollin) is simplyApollo, Diana's brother.[4]
Walter William Skeat, accepting the meaning "thrice wandering" as a reference to the moon, tied the name "Trivagante" to the Islamic use of crescent moon imagery. Joseph T. Shipley argues that the ItalianTrivigante became confused withtermigisto, meaning "boaster," derived fromHermes Trismegistus, leading to Termagant.[5]Leo Spitzer argues that Tervagant, like several other names ending in-ant from theMatter of France (e.g.Baligant andMorgant), is an "occitanization" of avulgar Latinpresent participle created byOld French poets for exotic effect. He proposes as its etymonterrificans ("terrifying"), appropriate for a god.[6] Alternately,Aleksander Gieysztor derives the name from theSlavic deityTriglav, with the name having spread west into French-speaking lands.[7]
James A. Bellamy proposes that the names Tervagan and Apollin in theSong of Roland derive fromIbn ʿAffān andAbū Bakr, two of Muhammad's companions, in-laws and successors.[8]
Whatever its origins, "Termagant" became established in the West as the supposed name of the principal idol supposedly worshipped by Saracens, being regularly mentioned inchivalric romances andchansons de geste. The spelling of the name varies considerably (Tervigant, Tervagant, Tarvigant, etc.).[6]
InOccitan literature, the troubadourAustorc d'Aorlhac refers to Bafomet and Termagant (Tervagan) side by side in onesirventes, referring also to the latter's "companions".
In the 15th-century Middle English romanceSyr Guy of Warwick, aSultan swears an oath by Termagant.
In theChanson de Roland, theSaracens, having lost the battle ofRoncesvalles, desecrate their "pagan idols" (lines 2589–90) including Tervagan.
Tervagant is also a statue worshipped by the "king of Africa" in theJean Bodel play inOld French after the end of theThird Crusade (c.1200),Le jeu de saint Nicolas.
In theSowdone of Babylone, the sultan makes a vow to Termagaunte(lines 135–40):[9]
InGeoffrey Chaucer'sThe Canterbury Tales, "Sir Thopas" (supposed to be told by Chaucer himself on the pilgrimage) is a parody of these chivalric romances. In the tale, a knightgiant named "SirOliphaunt" is made to swear an oath by Termagant.
InHerman Melville'sMardi (Chapters 25, 26, 28), Samoa's wife Annatoo is described as a Termagant, and metaphorically referred to asAntonina to Samoa'sBelisarius. Explaining why she did not need the armaments on the ship, Melville writes "Her voice was a park of artillery; her talons a charge of bayonets." (Chapter 23.)
Ludovico Ariosto used the formTrivigante.[6]
It has been claimed that Termagant became astock character in medievalmystery plays[10][11] but another source denies this.[12] In thetheatre, Termagant was usually depicted as aturbanned creature who wore a long, Eastern stylegown. As a stage-villain, he would rant at and threaten the lesser villains who were his servants and worshipers.
As a result of the theatrical tradition, byShakespeare's day the term had come to refer to a bullying person.Henry IV, part 1 contains a reference to "that hot termagant Scot". InHamlet, the hero says of ham actors that "I would have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing Termagant, it out-Herods Herod".Herod, like Termagant, was also a character from medieval drama who was famous for ranting.Beaumont and Fletcher's play,A King and No King, contains the line "This would make a saint swear like a soldier, and a soldier like Termagant."[13]
Mainly because of Termagant's depiction in long gowns, and given that female roles were routinely played by male actors in Shakespearean times, English audiences got the mistaken notion that the character was female, or at least that he resembled a mannish woman.[5] As a result, the name "termagant" came increasingly to be applied to a woman with a quarrelsome, scolding quality, a sense that it retains today. This was a well-established usage by the late 17th century.Thomas Shadwell's playThe Squire of Alsatia (1688) contains a character called Mrs Termagant who is out for revenge on one of the other characters, and is described as a "furious, malicious, and revengeful woman; perpetually plaguing him, and crossing him in all his designs; pursuing him continually with her malice, even to the attempting of his life."[14]Arthur Murphy's playThe Upholsterer (1758) also contains a female character called "Termagant".[15] InWashington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" (1819), Dame Van Winkle is described as a "termagant wife". "Virago", "fishwife" and "shrew" are near-synonyms for "termagant" in this sense. In season 2 ofWestworld, Major Craddock callsDolores a termagant.
The term is still sometimes used of men. In 2008, the Australian politicianKim Beazley labelled opponentTony Abbott a termagant.[16]
The dictionary definition oftermagant at Wiktionary