Page 96 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

3.1 Medieval hail archers. (olaus magnus, historia de gentibus
septentrionalibus, 1555)

chains and beat milk pails to scare away the destructive spirit of the storm. But
is it dangerous to ring church bells during thunderstorms? Because a large num-
ber of bell ringers had been struck dead by lightning, Archduchess Maria Theresa
of Austria banned the practice in 1750. The French government followed suit in
1786, but noted in its decision that the demons were still suspected of throwing
lightning at churches. Still, bell ringers were well advised to avoid any proximity
to or contact with a wet rope connected to a large metal object in a high tower
during electrical storms.
Confronting the storm with displays of military might was also a venerable
practice (figure 3.1). The mythical King Salmoneus of Elis, who traced his lin-
eage to Aeolean roots, was an arrogant man who imitated thunder by dragging
bronze kettles behind his chariot and hurled blazing torches at the sky to imi-
tate lightning. It was his impious wish to mimic the thunder of Zeus as it rolled
across the vault of heaven. Indeed, he declared that he actually was Zeus and des-
ignated himself the recipient of sacrificial offerings. Zeus punished this ridicu-
lous behavior by striking him dead with a thunderbolt and destroying his capital
city of Salmonia. His mistake of playing god brought down the wrath of heaven
against him, but also triggered the annihilation of both the unjust and the just
in his kingdom. In this case, imitation was not rewarded as the sincerest form of
flattery. In the fifth century b.c.e., Artaxerxes I of Persia was said to have planted
two special swords in the ground with the points uppermost to drive away
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clouds, hail, and thunderstorms. In France in the eighth century, the populace

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