Quicksand Fans

I have come across what may be the earliest written reference to quicksand, at least in English. However, the reference I found is in a book that is in essence a modern transcription and translation of a much earlier work that I do not have access to, so it is not certain if the reference was in the original or not. I wonder if anyone can solve this or if anyone might know of an earlier reference.

The reference I found is on page 264 of The Acts of king Arthur and his Noble Knights by John Steinbeck. It is a translation, transcription, and compilation of stories, mostly from what is called the "Winchester Manuscripts" of Thomas Mallory, originally written and published during the mid to late 15th century and written in what I believe would be called Middle English.

There are other transcriptions by other authors as well but I do not have access to these.

The complete sentence with the reference is, "Then he crossed a fenny land with the reeds grew as tall as his horse and open water dangerous with quicksand where great colonies of ducks and wild swans lived in peace and rose into the air in thundering dances at his approach."

Having spent my entire young life at "Jesus Tech" I know of at least two Biblical references. In Genesis 14 there is mention of the Kings of Soddom and Gmorrah falling victim to "bitumen" pits that are variously translated as "slime" or "tar". The King James translation of the Bible mentions specifically they went "quick into the pit". Now depending on your understanding of how old the book of Genesis is this reference could be five thousand years old. While that's likely not the case it is at least ancient.

A more "contemporary" reference is noted in the book of Acts chapter 27. During the telling of the Apostle Paul's shipwreck while crossing the Mediterranean it is noted that the sailors wished to avoid the quicksands on the coast of an island. Again the King James translation is the most graphic.

Acts 27 verse 17

17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.

It is generally accepted among Biblical scholars that the book of Acts was written no later than 70 A.D. Possibly a few years earlier. The earliest texts from which this is reliably taken are about 1600 years old. At very least it is an old reference.

Now you know at least part of what I was thinking about in daily Bible classes for 16 years.

Two conclusions:
1. here is some evidence at least of religion being useful.

2. The reference I found is obviously not the oldest written reference but may still be the oldest in English, if middle English counts as English.

Duncan Edwards wrote:Having spent my entire young life at "Jesus Tech" I know of at least two Biblical references. In Genesis 14 there is mention of the Kings of Soddom and Gmorrah falling victim to "bitumen" pits that are variously translated as "slime" or "tar". The King James translation of the Bible mentions specifically they went "quick into the pit". Now depending on your understanding of how old the book of Genesis is this reference could be five thousand years old. While that's likely not the case it is at least ancient.

A more "contemporary" reference is noted in the book of Acts chapter 27. During the telling of the Apostle Paul's shipwreck while crossing the Mediterranean it is noted that the sailors wished to avoid the quicksands on the coast of an island. Again the King James translation is the most graphic.

Acts 27 verse 17

17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.

It is generally accepted among Biblical scholars that the book of Acts was written no later than 70 A.D. Possibly a few years earlier. The earliest texts from which this is reliably taken are about 1600 years old. At very least it is an old reference.

Now you know at least part of what I was thinking about in daily Bible classes for 16 years.

I'm not sure how to go about researching this, but back in the 90s, I got into researching ancient images of quicksand. There are several old tapestries, woodblocks, paintings, etc. that depict quicksand. I remember coming across a photo that depicted a scene from the infamous Mt. St. Michel, where a visiting dignitary fell into the quicksands, and was rescued by the regent. IIRC, that tapestry was actually based on an ancient manuscript.

I'll spend some time tonight trying to run that down, see if I can't put an actual name and date to either the tapestry or the "ancient manuscript" my memory may have manufactured.

The tapestry is called the Bayeau Tapestry although I am unsure of the spelling. I was not aware of any manuscript.

Chimerix wrote:I'm not sure how to go about researching this, but back in the 90s, I got into researching ancient images of quicksand. There are several old tapestries, woodblocks, paintings, etc. that depict quicksand. I remember coming across a photo that depicted a scene from the infamous Mt. St. Michel, where a visiting dignitary fell into the quicksands, and was rescued by the regent. IIRC, that tapestry was actually based on an ancient manuscript.

I'll spend some time tonight trying to run that down, see if I can't put an actual name and date to either the tapestry or the "ancient manuscript" my memory may have manufactured.

Fred588 wrote:The tapestry is called the Bayeau Tapestry although I am unsure of the spelling. I was not aware of any manuscript.

Chimerix wrote:I'm not sure how to go about researching this, but back in the 90s, I got into researching ancient images of quicksand. There are several old tapestries, woodblocks, paintings, etc. that depict quicksand. I remember coming across a photo that depicted a scene from the infamous Mt. St. Michel, where a visiting dignitary fell into the quicksands, and was rescued by the regent. IIRC, that tapestry was actually based on an ancient manuscript.

I'll spend some time tonight trying to run that down, see if I can't put an actual name and date to either the tapestry or the "ancient manuscript" my memory may have manufactured.

Again, I'm teasing out a foggy maybe-memory from over two decades ago. It's entirely possible I'm mixing two memories, or that I've completely fabricated one. Having the name of the tapestry will certainly help, though!

Here is an informative website on the Bayeux Tapestry (scroll horizontally to see the tapestry and its translation from start to end):

http://www.bayeux-tapestry.org.uk/

Boggy Man wrote:Here is an informative website on the Bayeux Tapestry (scroll horizontally to see the tapestry and its translation from start to end):

http://www.bayeux-tapestry.org.uk/

Cool! Thanks for this link. This is quite fascinating.

I seem to have found at least one source that contradicts my recollection. The relevant portion is near the bottom of the page (which, btw, contains a pretty excellent description of the quicksand incident) and says

This episode, recorded in the tapestry though omitted in every other source...

So it seems that the tapestry stands alone. Even if there were a manuscript, the events detailed by the tapestry happened around 1066 A.D., well after Acts was penned.