Graham Bould is right to compare the actions of Boris Johnson with those of Wotan in Wagner’s Ring cycle (Letters, 13 September), but the real comparison is even closer than he suggests. Wotan’s spear was the symbolic guardian not just of oaths and treaties in general, but specifically of the agreements that Wotan had himself made, and which were the source of his power; when the spear was broken, his power faded away. Can we hope that the same thing will happen to Johnson?
Dr Richard Carter
Putney, London
• If I should happen to meet up with six of my friends, I realise I would be breaking the current Covid restrictions, albeit in a very limited and specific way. What stops me is my sense of morality and fair play, feelings sadly not evident in our current government.
Rosie Phillips
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
• Feeling sad for Pat Twidale, missing birdsong, bees and the hum of insects (Letters, 14 September). In my tiny garden I have marvelled at the variety of bees, butterflies and wasps collecting pollen from the flowers I have nurtured these past few months. But where have all the ladybirds gone?
Jo Burden
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
• Following my wife’s letter on the mortality of grandpas (13 September), I thought I should write to reassure our many Guardian-reading friends that I am still alive.
Dean Hawkes
Cambridge
• Dear Guardian, please arrest the uptick in the use of this jargon word.
George Marshall
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex
