#the hiatus isnt driving me crazy i promisssseeee

[cedric-k-rossignol]

'Floire et Blancheflor' - Medieval French Inspiration for Undertaker & Cloudia (Part 2)

Part 1

Floire et Blancheflor is a romance originating from late 12th century France. It is one of the most popular romance stories from roughly 1200-1350, and was translated into several different languages during that time. The story varies slightly based on the culture of the translation, but it revolves around the forbidden romance between the son of a pagan/saracen/Muslim king, Floire ("who belongs to the flower"), and the daughter of a Christian noblewoman, Blancheflor ("white flower").

Within the story, the lovers are represented with roses and lilies. Roses are strongly associated with the Phantomhive family, and white lilies are strongly associated with Undertaker.

Part 2 – Flowers and A Fake Funeral and A Lion Pit

So in Part 1 we covered how Floire and Blancheflor were born on the same day, Palm Sunday, and how I think both Undertaker and Cloudia were born on the 'same day', Holy Monday (albeit, 500 years apart).

The two children are raised together. Floire is intensely loyal to Blancheflor and refuses to be parted from her, so she is even allowed to receive the same education as him. As the children reach a marriageable age, the King and Queen worry that Floire will refuse to wed anyone but Blancheflor, who is an unsuitable match for the Prince (mainly due to their difference in religion, but also because her mother is essentially a slave). Their attempts to separate the pair fail as Floire grows despondent without Blancheflor at his side.

But naught he heard, and naught he saw, Joyless without his sweet Blancheflor. Much he heard, but little he learned; Scant understanding sorrow earned; Love within his mind, from the start Had planted a tree within his heart,

The King's solution is to behead the girl (why is it that plan A is always to behead the woman???), but the Queen convinces him to sell her into slavery instead. Brilliant. They sell her to merchants destined for Babylon, for 'seven times her weight in gold' and a beautiful gold cup once owned by Aenaes, elaborately engraved with scenes from Paris and Helen of Troy. Score! (This cup is actually important and holds a lot of symbolism in the story). Realizing their son is probably going to be pissed that they sold his girlfriend, they decide to build a tomb in the garden and tell him she died. And no expense is spared in this farse of a funeral!

On the tomb, in gold, cast with care, Were two children, tender and fair; No eye saw ever, wrought in gold, Such fine likenesses, e’en of old. One of the two seemed Floire, and naught A closer likeness could have caught. The other cast was fashioned too Like fair Blancheflor, the likeness true. And the image of fair Blancheflor Held out a single flower, before Floire, her true love; there it did hold, That lovely form, a rose of gold. Floire too held, before his face, A lily of pure gold, in place.

In the story, Floire is represented by the red rose, and Blancheflor (meaning literally 'White Flower') by a white lily. On Blancheflor's tomb, they are each depicted as holding the flower that represents the other; in 'death' Blancheflor holds the rose, while Floire keeps the lily.

Phantomhives are strongly associated with roses – usually white roses. White roses during the Victorian era became an incredibly popular choice for bridal bouquets, signifying the purity and innocence of the bride (Queen Victoria began this trend by having a bridal bouquest of white roses at her wedding in 1840…Undertaker suddenly likes the flower a lot less).

Red roses pretty much universally represent romantic love and passion (though in the case of the Virgin Mary, red roses represent her love for God)

Undertaker's flower is predominantly the white lily, which is a symbol of purity, innocence, sorrow, and loss, and therefore commonly seen at funerals (such at the funeral of Madam Red and at Mary Jane Kelly's gravesite in chapter 13).

Lilies are also associated with Easter (the whole Palm Sunday, named for the flowers of the day thing) and therefore with resurrection. Easter, as I mentioned in Part 1, is associated with Undertaker via the timeline of the Campania Arc, the crown of thorns on his death scythe, his obsession with reviving the dead, and if my theory is correct, his and Cloudia's shared birthdate of Holy Monday, Undertaker's in 1331 and Cloudia's in 1830.

Nothing like choking your grandson at a hooker's funeral, am I right fellas?

Lilies are also featured on the chapter cover of Chapter 13. Lilies (and what appears to be feathers...) adorn Ciel's top hat as he puckers up to a skull wearing a crown of thorns and roses (and a few feathers) and a decaying veil. I'm getting wedding vibes here, personally. Initially, my impression of this was Ciel courting death as his bride - but then, there's this combo of flowers cropping up again. The bride adorned with roses, the groom sporting lilies.

Also is it just me or does Ciel look... different, here. Drawn a little differently than usual? Something about the hair being shaggier, the eyes being heavier? Maybe I'm just imagining it...

Worth noting that the ring Ciel is pictured as wearing is on his middle finger - he wears his signet ring on this finger, on his right hand, even though here it is pictured as being his left hand. He usually wears his sapphire ring on his left hand - and this is also of course the hand that traditionally a wedding ring is worn on.

If this image is mirrored, and we take the hand pictured to be his right hand...In this drawing, the extra string of Ciel's eye patch mirrors Undertaker's facial scar perfectly. This is a string he doesn't usually wear. I can't think of a moment in the manga where he is drawn wearing an eye patch with this extra string (but it could very well exist).

A selection of crosses (and scissors, and maybe a key? Rossignol also means 'skeleton key' in French...) hang from Ciel's decaying bustle, which brought to mind this chapter cover from Chapter 54. Crosses hang from Undertaker's clothing (which seems to be a fancier version of his usual cassock) as he dances with a skeleton laced up with ribbons and roses, who also wears a crown of thorns.

White lilies are also associated with the Virgin Mary, in addition to red roses. Where red roses represent her love for God, white lilies represent her purity (not just sexual purity, but purity of one's soul). Good thing too, cause Undertaker's hand placement leaves me with some doubt as to the sexual purity of that skeleton. In The Old Testament, the lily represents hope and renewal (going back to resurrection), and also a bride's love for her partner.

Back to Floire -

They engrave on the empty tomb in pure gold - ‘Within this tomb lies fair Blancheflor, She whom Floire did greatly adore.’ - and plant an ebony tree above it that immediately sprouts white flowers. Ebony is one of the most expensive woods in the world (the tree does not actually sprout white flowers irl), and was traditionally used to make black chess pieces (chess makes another appearance later on).

At the head of that tomb, a tree Was planted, beautiful to see; Lovely it was, and in full leaf, With flowers fair beyond belief, Springing from every branch also, And all were fresh, and white as snow.

Floire returns, and Blancheflor's mother breaks the (fake) bad news and tells him that 'her death was for love of you'. Geez. Floire reacts badly to this – shocking, I know – and becomes suicidal.

My soul my love’s will now pursue, In Elysian Fields; seek me anew, Where I now go to seek my flower, For Love holds us yet in his power. Swiftly, I go where she has gone, For, swift as I can, I follow on. And soon her love my love shall see; In Elysium, where she waits for me.’

Elysium is a concept of the Greek afterlife, separated from Hades by the river Lethe, where the righteous and good go to live a happy and blessed afterlife. The river Lethe is also referenced in the poem 'An Ode to a Nightingale' written by John Keats in 1819, which I discussed in my theory of Undertaker/Cedric's last name being Rossignol.

Anyways, my guy Floire decides to commit suicide by lion. Metal as hell. You know that panel in the manga where all the different methods of suicide the reapers have used are referenced? Imagine one of them just being a lion mauling somebody to death. Wild.

...Except the lions are actually big pussycats who just lick his hands until the panicked king sends servants to pull him out of the pit. Floire is brought before the king, at which point Floire pulls out a silver dagger that had been given to him as a gift by Blancheflor, and makes to stab himself with it.

‘My silver dagger, ready, there, To set an end to this affair, She gave you as a gift, that I Would remember her, and thereby Might do her good service, but now I must go to her; such my vow. Blancheflor, one might rightly say: Too long have I prolonged my stay.’

The queen stays his hand by convincing Floire that he will go to hell if he kills himself, I.e. not Elysium. This references the (horrible) idea that suicide is an unforgivable sin. In Black Butler, the 'punishment' for this 'blasphemy' results in becoming a reaper.

I get incredibly emotional when I remember all the reapers we've met were at one point so desperate for relief that they resorted to taking their own life, and are now being punished for it. It's heartbreaking.

The Queen then begs the King to reconsider allowing Floire to marry Blancheflor, and to tell him the truth of the matter, or else they will lose their only remaining living child out of 12. Holy crap, these people suck as parents. Maybe get rid of the lion pit guys? Just an idea.

Anyways, the king relents, and they break open the tomb to prove to Floire that it's empty.

He quit the tomb, his feet he found;   His love lay not beneath that ground; Thanks, he gave to the Lord above, Knowing that she still lived, his love. He swore no effort he would spare, But would search for her, everywhere. He claimed he’d find the maid one day, No matter how wild and harsh the way. And then he would return with her, In great joy, no more to suffer. The joy he felt made him forget The labour of finding her, as yet.

The breaking open of the tomb brings to mind the story of St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles, who broke open the tomb of the Mother Mary only to find it filled with red roses and white lilies.

Floire gathers a crew to set out and find Blancheflor. The king gives him a half red half white horse with a saddle made of blue whalebone. Very inconspicuous. The queen meanwhile, gifts Floire with a magic ring.

Interesting. Very interesting. More on that in part 3.