Medieval Events of the Week:
Nov. 10-Martin Luther's Birthday
No. 12-Boniface III (d. 607) and Canute the Great (d. 1035)
Nov. 13: Augustine of Hippo born (b. 354) and King Edward III of England
(1354); Pope Nicholas I died, 867,
Nov. 14: Emperor Justinian (d. 565) and Alexander Nevsky (d. 1263)
Nov. 15: Pope Nicholas IV born (1397), and Albertus Magnus died (1397)
Nov. 16: St Hugh of Lincoln (1200) and Henry III of England (1272) died
on this day
Nov. 17: Hild of Whitby (d. 680) and Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231)
Nov 18: Odo of Cluny died (942)
Recreation of a Viking Trip:
http://us.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/10/viking.ship.ap/index.html
An Early Medieval Saxon Sword:
http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=545&ArticleID=1879186
Free LIbrary of Philadelphia announces online Medieval and Renaissance mss: http://libwww.library.phila.gov/medievalman/
A blog discussion on Eusebian Canon Tables, not medieval, but something every medieval bible contained: http://neonostalgia.com/weblog/?p=175
Words of the Day for the week:
From Wordsmith:
tween-tween is a form of between that shows up first in the late 13th century, it comes from Old English between (I've not included the OE and ME spellings) which originally was a prepositional phrase bi + tweonum and variants, "by two", a dative plural. Constructions such as frith freondum be tweon(um), lit, peace by two friends, means peace between friends. bi tweonum, bi tweon in time became a preoposition in its own right, between, shortened in some Middle English texts to tween.
ONe Word A Day
For the 16th, OWD offered abetment, a nominalization of the verb abet. Abet came into English from French, a (from Latin ad) beter, to bait, urge on, hound on, from Old Norse beita, to bite, and cognate to Old English bitan, to bite. The word has since fallen out of French as far as I can tell (though some here will correct me if I'm wrong). Abet (ME abetten) gave rise to a noun abette, incitement, urging, also from Old French, and abettement, a specifically Anglo-French coinage meaning incitement to commit a crime or offense. These meanings are now obsolete in favor of a more general "to give aid or encouragement" most often in a negative sense.
Tyrant
3 hours ago
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading about the etiology of the word "between." I will have to share that with my mentor, Reba Rambo-McGuire. I know she will enjoy it.
It is amazing how language changes in its meaning. Today, the English language is changing so rapidly. With so many different cultures reading English from very different views, internalizing their own interpretations of what words mean without understanding what our culture interprets the word to mean there is the possibility of great misunderstanding.
I have noticed that several readers have started to read my blog from other parts of the world in Pakistan and places like Tajikstan. I can only hope that the language, the words that I choose, speak freedom and understanding to these people.
Keep up the good work Larry.
RamyB
Post a Comment