Who do the Mandalorians most resemble from our history

This disturbs me.


Now let's get back on track, lads.... whatever the topic was, anyway.

 

I'm with Thrawn on the Vikings being the historical group most closely resembling Mandos (or rather, vice-versa), but he's already explained why far more eloquently and effectively than I'm capable of doing.

 

I know most of the fans in here are probably of European descent. But it would be refreshing to see other wise. I saw the Mandos like the Maoris of New Zealand. Heck, Jango and Bobba were played by Maori actors. And the poetic strains and the language in Traviss' books are very similar to Maori chants. If anyone of you have witnessed the Haka you know what I'm talking about.

 

Well, I gotta say, this is the most interesting Lit thread I?ve seen in months?

Obviously, I have to comment! So, who are the Mandalorians based off? *whistles cheerfully* No idea. Or, OK, I?m sure they?re based off some Celtic group from way back when. But let?s face it ? this is Star Wars, and if the Imperials can go from racist, misogynist jerks to a stable society with civil rights in a spare twenty-five years, I figure a group like the Mandalorians can change as well.

And I?m bored with the usual warrior/nomads everyone is tossing out. So, for that reason, I would like to suggest the Jews as the group the Mandalorians most closely parallel.

No, don?t laugh ? I?m serious! I actually have an argument for you guys.

-My first point of reference is the relationship the Mandalorians have with Mandalore (the planet) itself. Quite honestly, it mirrors the relationship between Israel and the Jewish diaspora to an amazing degree. Mandalore, like Israel, is the traditional homeland of its people, yet many of them live away from their home in foreign lands.

-On a cultural and ethnic level, Boba Fett?s ruminations on the subject in Bloodlines are rather illuminating, because they sound exactly like the present day debate on the definition of a Jew. Do you count someone who isn?t Orthodox? How about someone who lives outside Israel/Mandalore? What about the language problem?

-However, the Mandalorians, like the Jews, seem remarkably open to conversion, accepting the clones, orphaned children, mercenaries who accept their way, and various others who accept their general culture and belief.

-And as I noted before, there is the Mandalorian ?diaspora?, which may have well kept them alive in the last couple millennia, considering their propensity to be the underdog in any galactic fight. Q_M, before you get all tetchy, I?m just pointing out a pattern of events, OK?

-As of Bloodlines, Mandalore itself seems to be undergoing a renewal in its Mandalorian population, akin to the settling of Israel by Zionists before and after WWII. Boba Felt seems to be moving from a largely ceremonial leader to an actual chief-of-state?without British colonial forces messing about, of course.

-And lastly, sure, the Jews have not been a particularly martial culture for the last two millennia (does the modern state of Israel count?). But as the lovely Mirta Gev pointed out, there is more to the Mandalorian people than the clones and mercenaries we have seen so far ? farmers, traders, and yes, everyday, normal people.

Elena

 

No cause for concern. I actually agree with you quite strongly in regards to the parallels that you've pointed out, and I think you've raised some very interesting points in what's perhaps the most original proposal in this thread.

Here's a bit of trivia you may find interesting. Due to their being barred from bearing arms in many countries during the Middle Ages, European Jews turned to the practice of unarmed combat, and apparently became quite well-known for their skill in many cases. For example, the renowned 15th century combat instructor Hans Talhoffer derived most of his hand-to-hand fighting techniques from the skills of an Austrian known as "Otto the Jew," so I guess you could say that there's always been a strong ethos of personal training for self-defence among the Jews, as among the Mandos.

 

Good point. The connection had occured to me - especially to pre-Solomon Israel, when their warrior ethos was in fact stronger - but I couldn't think how best to put it. Props to you, Vode.

 

It doesn't do too much for me . . . except "He's no good to me dead." That I find oddly amusing.

 

Quiet_Mandalorian:

No cause for concern. I actually agree with you quite strongly in regards to the parallels that you've pointed out, and I think you've raised some very interesting points in what's perhaps the most original proposal in this thread.

*preens a little* Well, I do try.

And I didn't know that stuff about self-defense and the Jews, although, come to think of it, there were an awful lot of Jewish boxers way back when...

Elena

 

You're certainly right about that. According to Francis Place (quoted in Modern England: From the 18th Century to the Present ), "One circumstance among others put an end to the ill-usage of the Jews. About the year 1787 Daniel Mendoza, a Jew, became a celebrated boxer and set up a school to teach the art of boxing as a science. The art soon spread among young Jews and they became generally expert at it. The consequence was in a very few years seen and felt too."

Also, to maybe add something in support of your premise, it could be said that, judging by some of Karen's comments, another parallel exists in that the Mandalorians in diaspora, like the Medieval Jews, tend to assume roles within the broader communities around them (soldiering/law-enforcement and finance), that are essential to the maintenance of a functional society but which tend to attract the unwarranted contempt of their neighbours for whatever reason.

 

Quiet_Mandalorian:

Also, to maybe add something in support of your premise, it could be said that, judging by some of Karen's comments, another parallel exists in that the Mandalorians in diaspora, like the Medieval Jews, tend to assume roles within the broader communities around them (soldiering/law-enforcement and finance), that are essential to the maintenance of a functional society but which tend to attract the unwarranted contempt of their neighbours for whatever reason.

That's...an interesting idea. The Republic (or Sith, or whatever) doesn't seem to have any moral objections to usury or the other accoutrements of a free market, but they do have some sort of thing about war, judging by the fact that the state religion officially condemns it and spends a lot of time talking about the evils of aggression, blah blah blah.

Actually, thought in that light, it makes a lot of sense.

Of course, in that light, what does it say about the Republic that they can no longer summon the will to fight, let alone die en masse as their forebears did? Honestly, at least mercenaries get paid - slave armies have no such compensation, not even the warm, fuzzy feeling of being a citizen and having a voice in the democratic process.

Elena

 

Although I do see both Spartan and Viking in the Mandalorian, I'm beginning to see a lot of Mongolian in them too. I've been reading up on the Mongols and they do compare in many ways to the Mandalorians. In Military structure and the like. Also the use of meritocracy. In the loosest sense of course.

Having certain skills is essential to their military structure.

But if anything I think the closest relation to the Mongols would come at the time of Mandalore the Ulimate, more so then the time of Shysa or Fett.

 

Oh, definitely. Temujin (whom we all know as Ghenjis Kahn) rose to power among the tribes as a necessity to survival. That is essentially one of the core values of any fictional or True Mando.

Moreover,so is family. Consider the Mongolian word ordu. This word means both "family" and "camp". In the Kahn's time, both meanings were used in tandem. One's camp was necessarily one's family, a concept upheld by the Mandalorian clan.
Heck, consider the fact that the ruler of the Ancient Mongolians was called the Kahn (which essentially meant "Lord") instead of his previous name, and was regarded as a father to the whole of his tribe and anybody else he ruled over.

I could go on for a while, but I don't want to. I'll just say this: Mongolians are also cool.

 

Yeah so it all connects pretty well. Save for their fighting style, which didn't focus on honor as say the Spartans would. Mongols didn't really honor or glory, they just wanted to beat you in the best way possible.

 

I just thank God the Mandos aren't as homoerotic as the Spartans.

 

Oh no?

Now....who's being naiive.....