The Blood of the Volsungs or the Lesbian of Snyder Avenue

In Germanic mythology the Volsungs were the race of human heroes whose blood held the hope and heroism of mankind. The Volsungs twins Seigmund and Seiglinda produced Siegfried the greatest of heroes.

In modern literature Wagner told their story in his Ring operas and Thomas Mann in his short story The Blood of the Volsungs retold the story via two twins enamored of Wagner’s opera Die Walküre as well as each other.

But the Volsungs in old South Philly????

My Volsung tale is not a story of real incest but a story of a family that was so close they were, as the Volsungs.

The name was Comatose, well not Comatose but it sounded as such. The oldest was Tony and he lived with his brother Lou and two sisters named Angelina and Lucy in a row home on 10th street. No member of this family every married or had children or even dated, they lived together in the house where they were born and raised. After the deaths of their parents they existed as a family of 4 little orphans holding out together, protecting their Volsungs blood. These young orphans ranged in years from 45-55 when I knew them in the mid 70s. I knew this clan from my time at the Twin Shoppe at 10th and Tasker. Lou and Tony were charter members of the Brotherhood of the Guys who Hung at 10th and Tasker.

Lou was the more sociable of the brothers, he worked as a parts manager for a plumbing supply company. Manager was stretching it as he was the only member of his department. He possessed however an encyclopedic knowledge of plumbing parts and he could discern a washer ring seize with his eyes closed. Had knowledge of plumbing supply parts, instead of philosophical , literary , historical and ethical knowledge, been a ranking in the Ming dynasty Lou would have held the highest order with a ruby hat and 15 chair bearers , directly below the Son of Heaven

In practical terms however Lou was illiterate , a malady also shared by his two sisters. As he grew older he was subject to stress and nervous disorders, leading to a series of small nervous breakdowns. By the late 70’s he would only leave his house to go to work, only coming to the corner on the rarest of occasions. Enjoying the occasion holiday at hospital, yes he would in between nervous breakdowns check into a hospital for a few days of rest.?? Now I am not an expert on stress or nervous disorders, but what kind of stress could a man have who had nay wife nay children, nay bills and lived in the bosom of a family that took care of most of his needs , as well as unparalleled expertise in his career? Perhaps he was concerned that plumbing would go through a revolution in part manufacture and replacement? Perhaps the institution of plastic plumbing was a death knell for the traditional copper pipes he knew so well??? Since he could not read he could not so easily be re-tooled. This may have made Lou nervous.

Despite Lou’s expertise in plumbing parts and nervousness , brother Tony was the head of this clan of South Philly Volsungs. Tony was very much the typical South Philly guy of his age- as tall as he was round with a bald dome and a constant sneer. Tony held a position in a box factory doing something that is now done by a computer. He was, more fortunately then his siblings, somewhat literate, so I guess Tony was given the major roles in their Volsung commune, roles like reading the bills and the TV guide for everyone. Not withstanding his ability to read on a 5th grade level Tony had limited life experiences, limited even by the limitations of South Philly in the 1970’s. He did how ever, often speak with great authority about all kinds of things. This authority of opinion afforded him a sort of leadership role among the older men that every evening were the satellites of 10th and Tasker.

Tony held himself especially as an expert in human personalities and relationships. I recall an illustrative example of this self proclaimed expertise. There existed in the late 1970’s at 10th and Synder a colony of women considered to be from a Greek Island famed for its poetess Sapphro (the island, were your classical history Momentarily deficient, is Lesbos-hence its inhabitants are Lesbians). These followers of Sapphro, in the less open and declusive 70’s, were seen as something extraordinary by the older men of 10th and Tasker, and often the subject of discussion by Tony and his minions. One evening a member of the colony entered the Twin Shoppe. Tony led his minions thought the door to stare and gawk. The woman bore not even the hint of a Greek accent and was well dressed, attractive and spoke with a vocabulary suggesting a far better education then those surrounding her. Perhaps she was the first of the gentry to come to South Philly, a scout sent to investigate the suitability of South Philly for Gentry colonization or Gentrification? The girl was cognitive of the audience she had and after her purchase exited in a grand way with sweeping glances and smiles. Her exit elicited a number of comments from the men of the corner, all to be silenced by Tony Comatose who then pontificated on the girl and the nature of her sexuality. Tony could tell with one glance that she was a Lesbian, that was for sure, he also knew that she was attracted to men, that like Broad street she went in both directions. This extra information was discerned by Tony because the girl had turned and smiled at him, proof positive of her amorous view of men. Tony then went on to say the women was not a full member of the Lesbos sisterhood, but had been co-opted into associate membership following ill treatment by a man. Having been heartbroken and unlucky in an affair with a man she then turned to her own sex for comfort, this Tony pronounced with the authority of the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith discussing the affluent society. Tony when on to expand his ideas , men must be careful in their relations with women for if we hurt them then they will turn to Lesbianism, all said to the nodding heads and ahs of his audience. How Tony who could hardly read, never left the neighborhood , and at the age of 55 was , I strongly believe , still a virgin , able to discern or understand another’s sexuality is an additional profound mystery of my youth. Perhaps the situation he and his siblings lived in granted Tony sensitivity and a level of perception to recognizing alternative lifestyles.

The Snyder avenue woman was not impressed as we never saw her again, wonder why???

Of Tony’s sisters neither held a job outside the home but they were experts at frying food and cleaning a house they hardly ever left except to shop for more food to fry.

What ever these four were really up to defies human understanding. They were our own Volsungs, protecting their blood, keeping their family unit in place and undisturbed despite the advance of age. I wonder what sort of child these Volsungs would have produced were they so inclined? Would they have created South Philly’s first Guido Hero? An Italo American Siegfrido capable of lifting the Melrose dinner on its side and cleaning 9th street in one afternoon?

This Volsung family enjoyed their little kibbutz and lived secure in their ignorance , happy in between nervous disorder while protected their blood of the Volsungs.

Tony remained 10th and Tasker’s own Pontifix Maximus and augur of the various signs sent to us by heaven.