Lamme Goedzak
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Lamme Goedzak is a character in Charles De Coster's novel The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak (1867). He is the best friend of Thyl Ulenspiegel. While Ulenspiegel himself is derived from Dutch-German-Flemish folklore Lamme Goedzak is entirely created by De Coster. Despite this he has become one of the most recognizable Flemish folklore characters since.
Camille Huysmans, in his commentary on De Coster, considered Lamme Goedzak to be modeled on Cervantes' Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's loyal companion.
Character
Lamme Goedzak's name literally translates as "lazy kind soul", which already hints at his personality. Lamme is a jolly, good-natured, if somewhat naïve man. He functions as a sidekick to Ulenspiegel, with whom he shares his knack for fooling other people, especially clergymen and the Spanish invaders. While sometimes slow-witted Lamme is nevertheless Tijl's most loyal friend.
Lamme is also known for being a Bruegelian bon vivant who enjoys eating and drinking . When depicted on book illustrations he is usually carrying food and wine.
In the novel some information about Lamme's background history is provided. As a child he ran away from home because his younger sister taunted him and he wasn't assertive enough to do something about it. He is married, but lost track of his wife and desperately tries to find her back, while resisting the temptation of other women. Eventually, it turns out that the wife - a staunch Catholic while Goedzak himself is a Protestant - has been misled by an unscrupulous monk into taking a vow of abstinence.
While searching for her, Goedzak along with Ulenspiegel is drawn into the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, and despite his fatness and indolence manages to prove his mettle in various perilous situations. Finally he finds an ideal slot as a ship's cook on one of the vessels of the Sea Beggars , the famed rebel/pirate fleet harassing the Spanish; it is commonly agreed that he could take as many extra helpings as he wants from his own excellent dishes. Eventually, after a long and hard search Goedzak finds back his wife, proves to her the hypocrisy of the monk, and they are happily reunited.
