In Pirates of the Caribbean, Davy Jones wreaked havoc on the high seas, but the legends surrounding the real ship Flying Dutchman are very different, writes JENNIFER LIND-WESTBROOK in an article published in screen rant.
What the Film Depicted?
What’s the true story behind thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise’s most mysterious ship, The Flying Dutchman? Fans of the franchise are familiar with the onscreen story of The Flying Dutchman, but the legends surrounding the real Dutchman are even more intriguing. The Flying Dutchman makes its first appearance duringPirates of theCaribbean: DeadMan’sChest. The ship’s captain is Davy Jones, the octopus-faced spurned lover of the sea goddess Calypso. Like The Dutchman, the lore of Davy Jones struck fear into the heart of many sailors for centuries, and some believed Jones to be the Devil himself.
ThePirates of the Caribbeanfilms take place as theGolden Age of Piracyis drawing to a close. The first three films,The Curse of theBlack Pearl,Dead Man’s Chest, andAt World’s End, borrow from nautical legends surrounding Davy Jones, his infamous Locker, and The Flying Dutchman. The movies chronicle the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann as they face threats from the cutthroat Captain Barbossa, the ever-looming presence of the East India Trading Company, and the impending extinction of pirates. The movies are reminiscent of the swashbuckling adventure films of Errol Flynn, complete with elaborate swordplay. They also rely on the supernatural superstitions embraced by sailors for hundreds of years. The fourth filmOnStranger Tidesfocuses onJackSparrow’ssearch for the Fountain of Youth, and the fifth film,Dead Men Tell No Tales,features Jack partnering with Will and Elizabeth’s son to find the Trident of Poseidon.
The Reality of the Flying Dutchman
According to nautical legend, the real Flying Dutchmancarried spices and silk between the Netherlands and the East Indies during the 17th century.
Its captain was Hendrick Van der Decken. While en route to Amsterdam, Van der Decken took a shortcut around the Cape of Good Hope, andTheDutchmansailed into a storm. By some accounts, Van der Decken was a victim of bad luck who realized his mistake too late.
Others painted him as a drunken or insane tyrant who tempted fate and challenged an angel.
In another version, Satan offered Van der Decken a chance at salvation if he could secure the love of a woman. The captain could make landfall every seven years until he achieved this task.
A Ghost Ship Lost at Sea
The fate ofThe Flying Dutchmanremained the same: the ship was lost at sea and superstitious sailors claimed the ghost ship could be seen hovering above the waves or emerging from underneath, and it was a harbinger of bad luck.
Film VS Reality
In the Piratesfranchise, The Flying Dutchman’s original purpose was to ferry those who died at sea to the afterlife. Calypso entrusted Jones — once a great sailor — to serve as captain of the ship, promising that after a decade at sea, Jones could make port and reunite with Calypso. After his first 10 years of service, Jones returned to land, but Calypso wasn’t thereso the abandoned captain abandoned his duties and roamed the seas, searching for souls to harvest, preying on dying sailors. He promised them that 100 years of servitude on the ship was preferable to the possibility of eternal damnation. Jones goes so far as to call on the sea monster the Kraken to destroy ships to recruit crew members. Unlike the real legends, The Flying Dutchman’s fate is essentially the result of a bad breakup.
ThePirates of the Caribbeanmovies use the folklore surrounding Davy Jones and The Flying Dutchman but creates its own canon.
One story shares a few similarities to the tale of The Flying Dutchmantold in the second and third movies of the franchise with Jones as the captain instead of Van der Decken.
The Jones known to sailors was determined to make it round the Cape even if it meant that he and the crew would die trying. As a result, the Devil took the helm, and the ship was doomed to sail the seas for eternity. Jones’ decision to tempt fate and invoke the name of Satan led to The Dutchman‘scurse.
In the films, Jones’ choice to shirk his responsibilities and defy Calypso causedhim and his crew’s transformations into half-men, half-sea-life.
Because Will Turner became the new captain, he would now serve aboard the Flying Dutchman for all eternity, bound to ferry the souls of drowned seamen into the afterlife, as Jones had before him. After Will's one day ashore with Elizabeth, the Dutchman disappeared into the green flash in order to complete its duty.
The Flying Dutchman is a European maritime legend about a phantom ship condemned to sail forever. Dutch folklore designates the captain as Hendrik Vander Decken, whose mission is to find the Cape of Good Hope. However, a freak storm thwarted the captain, and he could reach his destination.
The Flying Dutchman (Dutch: De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and of Dutch maritime power.
After Jack manages to obtain the heart of Davy Jones from the chest (which is secretly stolen from him by Norrington), the Black Pearl is attacked by the Flying Dutchman. However, the Pearl can outrun the Dutchman owing to a favorable wind (the Pearl being faster with the wind).
Once a man, Jones was tasked by his lover, the goddess Calypso (or Tia Dalma), with ferrying the souls of those who died at sea to the afterlife. When he took on this task, he was forbidden from setting foot on land aside from every ten years, when he would finally be reunited with his love– but she never showed.
The Flying Dutchman was a sea captain who once found himself struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope during a ferocious storm. He swore that he would succeed even if he had to sail until Judgment Day. The Devil heard his oath, and took him up on it; the Dutchman was condemned to stay at sea forever.
The Flying Dutchman is a mythic figure who is condemned to roam the world, never resting, never bringing his ship to port, until Judgement Day. Cursed by past crimes, he is forbidden to land and sails from sea to sea, seeking a peace which forever eludes him. The Dutchman created his own destiny.
By examining the origins and the uses of myth, “the Flying Dutchman” myth itself, and the state of America at the time the play was first shown, it is evident that Amiri Baraka's play positions the myth of “the Flying Dutchman” as a symbol for the curse that is race and racism in America, which has plagued the crew, or ...
Armed with thirty-two guns and bearing the appearance of a ghost ship, the Black Pearl, albeit entirely fictional, is now the most famous pirate ship of all time.
However, when Jones returned to shore after ten years, Calypso failed to appear. Believing Calypso had betrayed him, a heartbroken and enraged Davy Jones turned the Pirate Brethren against her, saying that if she were removed from the world, they would be able to claim the seas for themselves.
With every year that passes, the crewmen become less human, their bodies taking on traits from the sea, until eventually they become part of the Flying Dutchman itself. After Jones' own death, the crew turned back to normal, with Will Turner as the new captain of the Dutchman.
Blackbeard or Edward Teach (c. 1680-1718) is one of the most infamous pirates to have ever lived. Known for his fearsome image and daring acts on land and sea throughout the West Indies and along the North American East coast, his legacy has been the inspiration for many depictions of pirates throughout history.
The pirate captains of this era who survived to accept a pardon or live out their days on a lush tropical island were few and far between, and not one of them was as successful as Henry Every.
The ship was condemned to sail the seven seas for eternity either as punishment meted out by an angel for his blasphemy or because he had made a pact with the devil to survive the storm. The Flying Dutchman, a ship that seemed to come out of the horizon sailing on air, became a harbinger of doom.
But the pain of Calypso's betrayal caused him was too much to live with, so Davy Jones carved out his own heart and locked it away in the Dead Man's Chest. Abandoning his duty, Davy Jones turned into a hideous humanoid sea monster, with an octopus face, a tentacles beard, a claw of crab as a hand and a giant crab leg.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Captain Jack Sparrow used Will's hand to stab Davy Jones' heart. This served a dual purpose: it killed the tentacled villain and saved Will from the sword in his own heart since he would then become the new, immortal captain of Pirates of the Caribbean's Flying Dutchman.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
