Termagant

Termagant , in European fantasy , was the fictional name given to a supposed deity worshipped by Muslims . Through ignorance or wilful disregard of Muslim monotheism for the sake of propaganda , European literature from the Middle Ages often referred to Muslims as " pagans ", or by synonymous expressions such as the paynim foe . These false and deliberately offensive depictions represent Muslims worshipping the Prophet Muhammad as a god, and depict them worshipping various deities from Apollo to Lucifer . The name "Termagant" was an original creation of European folklore . The name came from Old French Tervagan or Italian Trivigante , the original form of the names. As such, Termagant became a stock character in a number of medieval mystery plays , metrical romances . and chansons de geste . In the English romance Syr Guy , a Sultan swears an oath: So helpe me, Mahoune, of might, And Termagaunt, my God so bright. In the Chanson de Roland , the Muslims, having lost the battle of Roncesvalles , desecrate their "pagan idols ": They strip the fire-red gem off Termagant And throw Mohammed down into a ditch. . . . In Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales , in Chaucer the character's parody tale of Sir Thopas , a giant knight named "Sir Oliphaunt" is made to swear an oath by Termagant. Shakespeare 's Henry IV contains a reference to "that hot termagant Scot"; in Shakespeare's day a termagant could still be a male character. On the stage , Termagant was usually depicted as a turbanned creature who wore a long, Eastern style gown ; from this depiction, English audiences got the mistaken notion that the character was female. Termagant would rant at and threaten the villains who were his servants and worshippers. As a result, the name termagant came to be applied to a shrewish woman who was a common scold , and thus the name usually applies today to a noisily aggressive woman. " Herod " was also a character from mediaeval drama that was famous for ranting, hence the disparaging referral to him and to Termagant in Hamlet 's dramatic directions to the Player-King. Virago and shrew are also pejorative names for noisily angry and verbally abusive women.¹