The English language has developed many words and phrases to describe those who betray their clan. There are turncoats, defectors and collaborators. There are back-stabbers, sellouts and two-timers. From the animal kingdom, we’ve got weasels, rats, snakes and wolves in sheep’s clothing. Perhaps the most interesting category of characterizing the double-dealing, fifth-column renegade is the eponym.
At the top of that list is “quisling,” coined in recognition of Norwegian army officer, Vidkun Quisling, who collaborated with Nazi Germany and helped facilitate its 1940 invasion of Norway. He ruled as a puppet leader while promoting fascist policies and assisting the Gestapo in suppressing resistance. Naturally, Quisling was despised by Norwegians. After Germany’s defeat, he was arrested, tried, and executed by firing squad.
Another eponymous double-dealer was Judas Iscariot, whose betrayal of Christ caused his given name to become synonymous with traitor. The words Judas and quisling differ a bit in that quisling is more fully lexicalized, to the point where dropping the capital letter from Vidkun Quisling’s surname is the common usage. Even when using Judas as an epithet for untrustworthiness, the capital J is retained.
Another eponymous expression for the betrayer is Cataline, which is the family name of Roman Senator Lucius Sergius Catilina, whose attempted overthrow of Cicero in 63 BCE was revealed by Cicero in front of the senate. Catilina fled rather than face trial and was finally killed in battle against the Republic.
My former home state of Vermont was a longtime host to Benedict Arnold, who secretly negotiated with the British in 1779–1780, planning to surrender West Point for money and a commission. He died in England after serving with the British Army, his name permanently cemented in American memory as a symbol of treachery.
Brutus qualifies as well. One wonders which of the current crop of American traitors will find their way into the dictionary.
