Boar's Head!

[Brian Krashpad]

Rehearsals have begun for our church's annual Boar's Head Christmas presentation, and yet again I've dodged the bullet of being roped into being in it. My kids have been in for several years now. If anyone was wondering why it's called that, stumbled across this on a church member's fb page:

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/316562_10150376040896107_562091106_8543671_3773896 40_n.jpg

That's Jack Krashpad doing the work of two. ;)

[Commodore 64]

That's kinda like the Ark of the Covenant.

[Spudman]

From the Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar's_Head_Carol)

According to folklorists the boar's head tradition was:

"initiated in all probability on the Isle of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons), although our knowledge of it comes substantially from medieval (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval) times....[In ancient Norse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_paganism) tradition] sacrifice carried the intent of imploring Freyr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyr) to show favor to the new year. The boar's head with apple in mouth was carried into the banquet hall on a gold or silver dish to the sounds of trumpets and the songs of minstrels." [2]

I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar's_Head_Carol#cite_note-folklore-1) never knew there was anything to it other than the meat distrubtor
http://canarsiemeat.com/uploads/BoarsHead_259173921_std.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

Also from wikipedia:

The Boar's Head Feast is probably the oldest continuing festival of the Christmas season.

This pageant is rooted in ancient times when the boar was sovereign of the forest. A ferocious beast, and menace to humans, it was hunted as a public enemy. At Roman feasts, boar was the first dish served.[citation needed] Roasted boar was a staple of medieval banquets. As Christian beliefs overtook pagan customs in Europe, the presentation of a boar's head at Christmas came to symbolize the triumph of the Christ Child over sin.

Ours is basically a "play within a play," albeit told entirely in song, with no spoken parts. There is the Medieval banquet portion, with cast dressed as such, and then the retelling of the Christmas story (at the banquet) by the Biblical cast (dressed as such). There are thus two casts, though some participants have small roles in each. For instance, my son Jack is a Boar's Head Bearer in the Medieval cast and a Shepherd in the Biblical cast. At the end, Joseph, Mary, and the Baby are present at the banquet and all the Court, even the King and Queen, bow down to them, showing Christ's supremacy over all the world.

It's actually quite impressive. Here's a newspaper article on our production:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20091209/ARTICLES/912091001

Here's a pic of the final scene, that's my Hannah as Mary:

http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs010/1102549393342/img/147.jpg

[duhvoodooman]

I can't imagine that the boar is too thrilled about this. What about his Christmas, huh? Did you people ever think about that?!? ;)

[Brian Krashpad]

I can't imagine that the boar is too thrilled about this. What about his Christmas, huh? Did you people ever think about that?!? ;)

His head gets a prime part in a play year after year instead of ending up in a landfill!

[duhvoodooman]

Show biz immortality, eh?