A Medieval Abbess's View on The Two Sisters

Commentary on “The Tale of the Two Sisters,” by Abbess Austreberta, circa 704 C.E. Translated by Gopika Nambiar.

“The Tale of the Two Sisters” has been something that has been read multiple times, and yet has not been commented enough on. Today, as Abbess Asutreberta, I have decided to share my views on these two sisters and explain as to why the fate of the two sisters were what they deserved and the result should not have been any different from exactly what happened to them. Furthermore it is important for the public to realize that their destinies were planned ahead of time, and what they did should be a lesson for society to not make the same mistakes the evil and cunning Dimia did. Rather, they should be pious and caring as Gloriana was.

Two sisters - related, yet so different. How is that possible? Well, the answer to this is simple, the parenting skills and styles. The mothers of both Dimia and Gloriana were exact opposites of each other. While one was cunning and crooked, the other was graceful, pious and caring. These things were the main reasons for the upbringing of the children Dimia and Gloriana.  While this story looks to focus on primarily the daughters Gloriana and Dimia, I think it is of crucial importance to also understand the mothers and their cultures, too. The tale particularly focuses on the evil and cunning Ryia, and has barely two sentences on the mother of Gloriana. This therefore demonstrates that the queens of the time, were more successful in getting their way, primarily because of being able to manipulate the king and reign power over him. It was exactly under these conditions that Queen Ryia, managed to stay in power and overpower the king’s decisions as well.

Yet while all of this is concerning, our focus should be something else. To me as the Abbess of the area today, religion is of key importance and that is clearly what set the two sisters distinctly apart. As an abbess we have a lot of power in the area, and with time we even have the ability to be influential mediators in times of both political and military crisis. While one was pious and generous about religion, the other was as cynical and vain about religion. The answer to these behaviours were not going to be answered on Earth, but rather were going to be answered in Heaven and Hell respectively. It is important to remember, that one’s doing on Earth will be rewarded or punished for in Heaven and Hell accordingly. Sometimes it can also be rewarded by God to the individual while they are alive and that is the case with Gloriana and Dimia. Gloriana married into a barbarian family, and where everyone only saw misery ahead for her, her piousness and good nature converted the barbarians into Christians and also converted her empire’s men into Christians, which is something worthy of praise, especially for a woman of her calm and quiet nature. Dimia, on the other hand, is another story. Her vanity and ignorance of the Christian faith has always made me irate when I think of it, and she ultimately drove herself, her husband, and his empire to their death. Yet not once did she regret any of her decisions, and continued to blind her husband with her beauty and continued to destroy all the hard work he had put into the building of his vast and extensive empire. Her overindulgence in worldly things caused her quick downfall, and not once did she think about her wrongdoings or try to alter her ways and repent.