The Anathemata
Rite and Fore-time (continued)
They set the thwart-boards
and along:
Two for the Gospel-makers1
One for the other Son of Thunder
One for the swordsman, at the right-board,2 after;
to make him feel afloat. One for the man from Kerioth,3
seven for the rest in order.
David Jones notes
1 Cf. song, Green grow the rashes O
‘Four for the Gospel makers’.
Of the four evangelists, Matthew was present at the supper, John, one of the two ‘Sons of Thunder’, was also present. Whether this was the author of the Fourth Gospel has been much debated. Here the traditional identification is taken for granted.
2 ‘the right-board’—starboard.
3 Kerioth, a village of Judea from which Judas came, hence ‘the Iscariot’.
additional notes
The other ‘Son of Thunder’ was James. See here for a list of the disciples at the Last Supper.
The ‘swordsman’ is Peter, because he was the one who slashed the servant of the High Priest in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.
The nautical metaphors are introduced because the ship was an early Christian symbol for the Church, sometimes accompanied by an anchor, oars, a steersman etc.
DJ is reported as having said ‘I actually meant that Peter would feel more at home if he could think of the seats at the supper board as the thwart-boards of a ship’ [Hague, p.30]. I do not know why DJ felt this.
see also
semantic structures
glossary
thwart-board: a board in a ship which runs from side to side of the ship.
right-board: not only on the starboard but where the steering oar was controlled.
comments
This and the following two paragraphs take up the nautical theme introduced earlier through nave –> navis –> ship.