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Davy Jones is a legendary pirate of sea stories. He is known for the legend of the Davy Jones's Locker, which is found at the bottom of the sea, where lost sailors are found. "You will be sent to the Davy Jones's Locker is a euphemism for death in the sea, while Davy Jones is a nickname that must represent The Sea Devil or The Demon of The Sea. The origins of the name are unclear and many hypotheses have arisen around it. The origins of the name of Davy Jones, the sailors' devil, are unclear, with a 19th-century dictionary tracing Davy Jones to a "ghost of Jonah". Other explanations of this nautical superstition have been put forth, including an incompetent sailor or a pub owner who kidnapped sailors.

History[]

Davy Jones owes his existence to the legends of sailors and pirates. It is said that the beautiful and capricious sea goddess Calypso (or Callipsous) and he had fallen in love. So much was her love, that the pirate and bandit Davy Jones, as proof of his feelings and his connection to the sea, agreed to carry out one of the obligations of the goddess, consisting of guiding the souls that perished at sea towards their rest. This fact implied not being able to set foot on solid ground more than once every 10 years, but Davy Jones assumed that burden under the promise of Calypso that the period would be fulfilled and thus they would enjoy their love eternally.

However, the goddess, treacherous and dangerous as the sea, did not keep her promise, and Davy Jones, overcome with humiliation and unbearable torment, ripped out his heart own and hid it where Calypso could never reach. Released from his feelings, he decided to take revenge on her and turned to evil, failing to fulfill the task that had been entrusted to him and thereby allowing the souls of the sailors he had killed to serve tirelessly under the command of she.

All these events gave way to the legend of Davy Jones, whom many had as the devil of the seas. According to some, the original Davy Jones was a Welsh sailor turned clothier of the underwater world. His name derives from Duffy Jonas, Duffy being an old word used by blacks to designate spirits or ghosts. The existence of him can be confirmed in pirate stories and other adventure books of that nature; three examples would be Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1882), in which he is mentioned by Captain Smollett; Moby Dick, in which he is mentioned by Captain Peleg; and the allegorical story The Plague King, by Edgar Allan Poe, in which a sailor mentions him elevating him to the category of king.

AB73E4B4-BD77-49DD-Davy Jones

Commonly, in the seafaring tradition in Scandinavian mythology especially, references have been made to the Davy Jones' Locker ("Davy Jones's drawer"), which was how they referred to the abyss at the bottom of the sea. When a sailor fell overboard and disappeared or died at sea, it was often said that he had gone into "Davy Jones's drawer." Likewise, Davy Jones was a mythical demon of the seas that controlled the rest of the demons and the sea itself.

The seafaring expression of Anglo-Saxon origin "He's gone to Davy Jones's Locker" He went to Davy Jones's drawer"), referring to a person disappeared at sea, admits a more complex translation, if analyzed from a point of view. strictly nautical view. The English word "locker" is currently translated into Spanish as the nautical term "warehouse", and also as "panel". Storerooms are the existing compartments inside a ship, intended to store tools, food, drinks and valuables, among others. It is likely that centuries ago the term referred to all compartments, including those for sailors, something similar to current cabins. On the other hand, at present, "locker" is also translated into Spanish as "cabin". So, the phrase "He's gone to Davy Jones's Locker", "It's in Davy Jones's cabin" or even as "It's in the compartment or cabin of Davy Jones". An obvious metaphor that the person to whom the phrase refers is found, dead or alive, at the bottom of the sea.

Davy Jones' Locker is the underworld of sailors, used to represent a watery grave. It is often affiliated with the counterpart of Fiddler's Green, a sort of Valhalla for sailors who served 50+ years at sea and as such are rewarded with a green land of endless liquor, food and fine music. The earliest known reference of the negative connotation of Davy Jones occurs in the Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts, by author Daniel Defoe, published in 1726 in London.

Trivia[]

  • Some of Loe's Company said, They would look out some things, and give me along with me when I was going away; but Ruffel told them, they should not, for he would toss them all into Davy Jones's Locker if they did.
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