New Year's Resolutions & Vows of the Peacock

Do you belong to those who give new year's resolutions? I do not, but it is a quite common tradition in many parts of the world, mainly in the Western world. Make a resolution on the New Year's eve and it takes effect on the first day of the new year. A lot of people resolve to improve themselves or their lives in different ways: to eat healthier, to quit smoking, to exercise more, to work harder, to work less and enjoy life more, and so on. Needless to say, many of them fail to fulfil their resolutions.

The modern, secular tradition has its origin in the United States, and in some sources it is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. However, some form of “new year's resolutions” can be found far back in history.

Medieval knights renewed their chivalric vows every year at the end of Christmas. It was called the peacock vow. It was a great spectacle. In his own literary magazine, “All the Year Round”, Charles Dickens wrote about these ceremonies, although he wrote it several centuries after the Medieval era:

The most celebrated of all the vows of chivalry were those that were called “The Vow of the Peacock,” or of “The Pheasant.” These noble birds—for so they qualified them—perfectly represented, by the splendour and variety of their colours, the majesty of kings during the middle ages, when, superbly arrayed, they held what was called “Tinel,” or full court, corresponding with the “Drawing-room” of modern times. The flesh of the Peacock (or of the Pheasant) according to the old romances, was the peculiar diet of valiant knights and heart-stricken lovers, and its plumage was considered by the Provencal ladies the richest ornament with which they could deck the crowns they bestowed on the Troubadours, as rewards for the poetical talent displayed by them in singing the praises of love and valour. But it was on the day when a solemn vow was made that the Peacock (or Pheasant) became the great object of admiration, and whether it appeared at the banquet given on these occasions roasted or in its natural state, it always wore its full plumage, and was brought in with great pomp by a bevy of ladies, in a large vessel of gold or silver, before all the assembled chivalry. It was presented to each in turn, and each made his vow to the bird, after which it was set upon a table to be divided amongst all present, and the skill of the carver consisted in the apportionment of a slice to every one.

In 1312, Jacques de Longuyon wrote a fictional tale, which the earliest literary occurrence of “the Nine Worthies of Chivalry” and it is the first written source mentioning the “Vow of the Peacock”. This tale was a work of pure fiction and it seems to be the genuine origin of the peacock vows. This story then inspired real life, which imitated de Longuyon's fiction.

The Romans made promises to the god Janus in the beginning of each year. (Janus gave name to the month January. For more on that, see History of Months I: Julian - Gregorian - Christian Months.)

But the oldest documented example is from the Babylonians. In the beginning of a year, they made a promise to return everything borrowed (including paying debts).

We can never know whether these old traditions were inspiring to the modern tradition. It might very well have started independently. Humans have a tendency to think in cycles of periods, as months and years, and to see the beginning of a new period as a new start. Then it is quite natural to see this new starting point as a suitable time to start new habits (or get rid of old ones). That way of thinking comes quite natural to the human mind and does not necessarily require historical precedence.

But let's return to contemporary new year's resolutions: why do people so often fail to fulfil them?

I think one reason can be that they have no action plan, they rarely think of how to do it. It is often a mere list of wishes, left to take care of themselves. But they won't. Without determination, persistence and self-discipline, three qualities necessary for success in reaching any goal, all progress is impossible, and the resolutions remain a list of unfulfilled wishes.

Copyright © 2019, 2021 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.

(Thumbnail by Allan Lau/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain.)

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