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poetry inchoate desires odd jobs |
| Fengi Note #1: The What and The Why - Revised Version by Greg Gillam author info Having existed for more months than expected, people have begun make inquiries. The most prominent one is "Why slow updates and repeats?" That will be addressed later; the one to be answered today is "What is Fengi?" One could reply, "Does the sun wear a name tag? Do you ask thunder, 'Excuse me, speak up?'" This would, however, be disingenuous. Fengi is a collection poetry, fiction, non-fiction and unusual items. Most contributors live, used to live or have passed through Chicago. Many of them are reputable, in work if not character. The site updates once a month to once a week. This is a no-profit venture, so it varies. People then say "No, what does 'fengi' mean?" Fengi was a favorite nonsense word from childhood, a non-sequitur to be yelled in order to confuse and startle friends. While doing research for Trademark status, however, it was discovered fengi (like many supposed nonsense words) has actual meaning around the world. Fengi is an Icelandic word, a conjugation of the verb fį, which means get, receive, obtain, gain, give, derive, come by, attain, acquire, procure. Online dictionaries are a bit vague. In dictionaries fengi appears with modifiers, but it has common use as a stand alone word. After much research, the best demonstration of proper usage is to think of Bjork. If Bjork wanted to declare, "I can't bring myself to think about frogfish" she'd say, "Get ekki fengiš mig til aš hugsa um golžorskur." In Nordic mythology, Fengi was a giantess in the age of King Frodi. She and her sister Mengi worked the Grotti mill, turning a giant millstone that created food and plenty for Frodi's land. They were also known for their beautiful voices. The king worked them constantly, allowing them to pause only when they sang. Legend do not specify the frequency of tune breaks or if epic prig rock songs were allowed. It's likely the sisters were restricted to a repertoire of pop hits, for they became angry and exhausted, and sang a charm that caused Frodi's death. Again legends are vague on how a song could kill royalty, but it's possible Ministry covered it. Some versions assert they sang the Cha-Cha Slide, adding the line "turn and bash the King's skull with your left hand/and step to your right." Frodi's successor, Mysing, set the sister to work again grinding salt. He worked them so hard the entire ocean was filled with it. The salt sisters seemed minor to this casual mythologist, but a goddess site expanded the minutiae of the story to make them icons of womyn's work and song. The site is gone (a dotbomb victim), but once upon a time a search for this 'zine turned up Wiccan sites. Now it just appears with a few righteous punk grrl sites.
Fengi has a role in another Norse legend which was the inspiration for Hamlet. According to Amanda Mabillard's "Sources: Hamlet" (Shakespeare Online. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/): "King Rorik of the Danes places his trust in two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi. The brothers are appointed to rule over Jutland, and Orvendil weds the king's beautiful daughter, Geruth. They have a son, Amleth. But Fengi, lusting after Orvendil's new bride and longing to become the sole ruler of Jutland, kills his brother, marries Geruth, and declares himself king over the land. Amleth is desperately afraid, and feigns madness to keep from getting murdered. He plans revenge against his uncle and becomes the new and rightful king of Jutland."A mystical connection for fengi comes from newage (pronounced Deeper quasi-mystical meanings for Fengi are given by Society of Kabalarians of Canada, an alleged non-profit organization "dedicated to creating mental freedom in the world by revealing the universally applicable principles of the Kabalarian Philosophy to help everyone live a more progressive, constructive, and healthy life through the knowledge of the Mathematical Principle which applies to language, name, mind, and cycles." This appears to be a cabbalism misspelled for trademark purposes.
According to SKC, Fengi is a name which: "gives you a strongly independent and highly creative nature, with drive and ambition to have experiences and accomplish things out of the ordinary. You can work intently at whatever is new...interest wanes quickly when drudgery and monotony set in. Obstacles to your progress...create a sense of frustration which may cause you to feel resentful and even rebellious...Although you have a clever, quick, capable mind, your progress in life is restricted by instability in your affairs and misunderstandings with people. Your impulsive nature can lead to actions which you later regret taking, or to accidents... nervous tension can develop to the point where you become subject to moods of depression and morbid thoughts..."This would explain many things about our contributors. Fengi is something entirely different for the African nation of Eritrea. This version requires a bit of history.
Eritrea is located in North East Africa between Sudan, Ethiopia and the Red Sea to the north and north-east. In the 6th century the Muslim Persian Empire reduced the kingdom of Axum to an isolated Christian enclave where modern Eritrea stands, thus sealing it's face as a point of religious discomfort for the rest of time. It was part of Abyssinia and was subject to armed forces from Britain, France, Italy, Sudan and finally Ethiopia (with the help of the Soviet Union). A a civil war against Ethiopian rule began in the 70's an killed an estimated 60,000 people until Eritrea became an independent member of the UN in 1993. Four years later the two countries fought a border war until a treaty was signed in 2000 and UN peacekeeping troops were deployed. Some message boards about the Ethopian/Eritrean conflict (which appears to not be over after all) mention an armed group of "God forsaken Fengi Regaches." These references are vague and a full explanation cannot be found (in English, at least). In conclusion let us stroke chins and observe how fascinating. What was previously considered odd syllables yelled by a 12 year old running in circles proves to involve such things as Norse Gods and bloody African border wars. Ah the web, chaos in economic free fall but still a vast repository of random knowledge which can be juxtaposed in almost meaningful ways. ADDENDUM (6/18/02): Thanks to the amazing Gina Cannarozzi, there is more explanation of the meaning behind "Godforsaken Fengi Regaches." Gina asked a colleague, Ghirmai H. Meresi, Ph.D., who replied: "Fengi = explosive, land-mine or just mineDr. Cannarozzi also has an observation in the Quote File. |
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Greg Gillam edits fengi.com. You can contact him at greg@fengi.com.
All material copyright the authors, printed with permission. |