COD

23rd January 2024

Photo Credit: slowmotiongli (Getty Images), CANVA

QUOTATION

She that was ever fair and never proud,

Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,

Never lacked gold and yet never went gay,

Fled from her wish, and yet said “Now I may”,

She that being angered, her revenge being nigh,

Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure fly,

She that in wisdom never was so frail

To change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail,

She that could think and ne’re disclose her mind,

See suitors following and not look behind,

She was a wight, if ever wight were -

IAGO: Othello, Act 2, Scene 1

COD (Atlantic Cod: Gadus morhua)

In Iago’s comparison swapping a Cod’s head for a Salmon’s Tail would be a bad decision, exchanging a poorer quality food for a high status food. Cod were important foodstuffs in Tudor England and recent research of the Mary Rose ship remains have revealed dried Cod caught in the distant North Atlantic in the rations which went down with the ship in 1545. Cod were also often used as Stockfish, air-dried preserved fish, which appears as a surname, an insult and a threat in other Shakespeare works.

The Atlantic Cod is a large fish which prefers cold temperate waters. Cod have 3 dorsal fins, 2 anal fins and a distinctive white or pale line along their body. They have been fished for food for millennia and overfishing has drastically reduced their numbers. Some methods of fishing and different Cod stocks are more sustainable than others, and information sources like the Marine Conservation Society, Good Fish Guide give guidance on buying from sustainable sources. There are 2 other Cod species, the Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus) and the Greenland Cod (Gadus ogac).

More Information

Cambridge University: Cod history; Cod bones from Mary Rose reveal globalised fish trade in Tudor England

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

Marine Conservation Society: Good Fish Guide COD

Marine Stewardship Council: COD

MARLIN (Marine Life Information Network): Atlantic Cod

The Mary Rose: Cod bones reveal globalised fish trade in Tudor England