The Rom, Roma, Romany, also known as "Gypsies" (pejorative, see notes), mostly living in middle and eastern Europe (including Serbia, Transia, or Transylvania).
History
Hyborian Age[]
Groups and individuals have been designated as "Gypsy" as soon as the Hyborian Age, circa 10,000 BC.[7][8][9] Whether those have any relation to the modern Romany remains unrevealed.
Captain Pendak and his mercenary troop looted and pillaged on their way, posing as soldiers. One night, they attacked a Gypsy camp. Their leader, an old sorcerer begged for mercy, proposing to draw them a map to retrieve a treasure buried in the bed of a lake that would run dry twenty years later, but ended up tattooing parts of it on the mercenaries' arms as they didn't trusted each others with the map. Pendak tried to grab the sorcerer's daughter Lilane, but one of Pendak's men, Bolar, opposed him, and had his arm removed. The girl escaped and the mercenaries set fire to the Gypsy camp to slay all evidences and any witnesses. Surviving the ordeal and nursed by Lilane, he lost his mind but retained his memories and lusted for vengeance. Afterwards, one of the mercenaries, Morlock, became the leader of a Gypsy group.[9] It is unknown if he was a Gypsy himself before taking the lead of the group.
Conan, while under the curse of the Ring of Jukas, went to a Gypsy shack, hoping to find information about his curse, which he did.[7]
Conan later joined the travelling gypsy wagon of Grendl's Traveling Fighters.[8]
Twenty years after his ordeal, Bolar hunted down his former comrades, slaying Morlock. Conan, while travelling with the son of one of the mercenaries (slain little before), encountered gypsies in a funeral procession for him. In the end, all mercenaries were killed by Balor. Lilane revealed herself, and after Pendak was killed by Balor, only to be slain by Conan, Lilane adopted the boy.[9]
Origins[]
The origin of the "gypsy" tribes are unconfirmed. Among hypothesises, the deserts of ancient Egypt (from where the word "Gypsy" is derived), or India or Pakistan.[10]
Some of the culture and language of the Romany came from the Zingarans and Zamorans of the Hyborian Age.[11][2]
18th century[]
Cagliostro, "olden king of the Gypsies", wrote the Book of Cagliostro, detailing eons of magic knowledge. The book was passed down thru generations among Romani[11] loyal to Cagliostro.[12]
20th century[]
In Schwartzhof, Austria, Baron Krutze and his heirs, corrupt and tyrannous nobles, disregarded their Romani serfs, firing Papa Nuti for his old age, leading to the death of his wife and his own afterwards. In 1935, their son Lucio Nuti approached the Witch of the Hills to gain revenge over the Krutze family.[13]
The Roma, whether Muslim or Orthodox, suffered from the unrest and wars in Serbia.[4]
At the time of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff's birth, the twins were adopted by fellow members of the tribe, Django and Marya, and lived with them until becoming teenagers. Tension between the Rom and neighboring Transian villagers precipitated an assault on the travelers' encampment, resulting in Marya's apparent death and Django urging the twins to flee.[14][15]
Religion[]
In Serbia, Romany included Muslims and Christian Orthodox.[4]
Some Roma are magicians,[16] and prayed to gods such as Marduk, Ishtar and Baal.[17]Notes
- The term "Gypsy", often used to describe Romani people, is considered pejorative by many Romani and its use is rejected, due to its connotations and use as a racial slur.[18] The use of the term was widespread in Marvel Comics when mentioning or describing Romany. More recent references have switched to use the term "Romany", such as Quicksilver's profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9 (July, 2009), the Great Cataclysm's profile in Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe #1 (March, 2011) or Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #8 and #11 (July and October, 2016) or "Roma", such as in Werewolf's profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #13 (April, 2010), in Lilith's profile in Vampires: The Marvel Undead #1 (December, 2011), or in Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #11, often followed in handbooks with "Gypsy" or "Gypsies" in brackets and parentheses.[1][5][6][2]
See Also
- 17 appearance(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
- 9 mention(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
- 1 image(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
- 15 member(s) of Romany (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9 ; Quicksilver's profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe #1 ; Great Cataclysm's profile
- ↑ Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #13 ; Werewolf's profile
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Vampires: The Marvel Undead #1 ; Lilith's profile
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Conan the Barbarian #131
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Conan the Barbarian #137
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Conan the Barbarian #149
- ↑ Domains of Doom #1 ; Chapter 1: The Region - Gypsies of the Balkans
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Marvel Premiere #12
- ↑ Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Tomes of Eldritch Knowledge, Book of Cagliostro's entry
- ↑ Monsters Unleashed #3 ; The Death-Dealing Mannikin
- ↑ Avengers #182
- ↑ Avengers #185–187
- ↑ Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2)
- ↑ Tower of Shadows #7 ; The Scream of Things
- ↑ Romani people at Wikipedia