Author's Notes: I completed this Double Dactyl write on June 8, 2016. Under the title, "Trickster Extraordinaire," it concerns the legendary 12th century medieval clown, prankster, jester, trickster, and all-together classical flimflam artist known as "Till Eulenspiegel" who was born in Kneitlingen near Braunschweig in what is present day northern Germany. Needless to say, Till Eulenspiegel is a rather colorful historical character to many Germans and other Europeans today. He is even historically known by his various tales in Great Britain under the name: "Mister Owlglass." Till Eulenspiegel was famous for his literal interpretation of the figurative language of the various people he ran into during his rather eventful and prank-filled life. He even managed, for example, to trick a local baker by preparing morning roll confections for his bakery in likenesses of both "owls and monkeys." Till was essentially following the literal words of the baker himself, when the baker told him to just go ahead and bake owls and monkeys. (I allude to this in the first verse of this poem rendered in German: "Eulen und Meerkatzen," which means "Owls and Monkeys," and references this particular prank among many, many others that occurred in various tales during Eulenspiegel's adventurous life.) Most people don't know about Till Eulenspiegel unless they've studied aspects of medieval German history and literature. In that world, he is very well remembered for fooling and deceiving people by playing to their sense of inflated self-worth, vanity, and gullibility. Professor Paul Oppenheimer, in his book, "Till Eulenspiegel: His Adventures," published in 1995 by Oxford University Press, rendered a masterful interpretation and translation into English of Till Eulenspiegel's legendary adventures. It's worth a read if the reader is interested in more details about this fascinating flimflam character from medieval Germany. (Note: There are other authored sources to be found as well, in German, on Till Eulenspiegel.)  (Gary Bateman - June 11, 2016) (Double Dactyl)   

Categories: allegory, fun, hilarious, humorous, hyperbole, symbolism, and vanity.