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"He's got a bundle put away." This, and other idioms, are examples of how language
has evolved from basic forms to a rich and replete code.
The use of language
in its spoken and written forms is essential to human civilization. The colorful uses of language such as kenning, puns, and riddles add richness to a culture of people.
A society's culture affects language and dialect. There is an even greater effect
of two or more languages spoken by the people of a particular culture. The importance of assimilated culture with its
language and ideas has a great impact on Riders to The Sea.
When
one population overruns another or when a land is invaded time after time, people of that land often try to make sense of
it in writing histories. In earlier times, they often attributed many of the features of history to their gods and
customs. They also had to find a way to remember those histories. Eventually, that led to inventing systems of writing.
The
ancient races wanted to record their myths and archetypal legends beyond the oral tradition of those who
memorized and recited them. They began to invent ways of making marks and symbols to form ideas, lessening their need for
people of memory and making these stories more accessible. Inventing the runes and oghams were a way for
them to do this.
The runes, the oghams of memory, were developed
before the majority of people were literate. They were used for writing, but they were also used for magic and soothsaying.
The mystery
and explanation of all things poetic, religious, and political were passed on to the people by the oral tradition of a priestly
class. The play itself is an oral teaching since it is told theatrically.
No reading knowledge is required to see a play.
The runes, an early system
of writing, were stick-like figures that formed an alphabet. Often they were used to write epitaphs for the dead or as memorials
to great deeds. They were also used in divination.
The form of writing called
Oghams, used by the Celts, was discontinued long ago, yet some examples exist today.
In a church once called after
St. Kew, then called St. Docco, and now called St James the Great, there is a kind of "Rosetta stone" with both Ogham script
and Roman letters.
Ogham Stone at St, James The Great Church
St. Kew
There
is some discussion in the play about a stick, presumably in relation to a walking stick or maybe a reference to the Irish
shillelagh. Cathleen says: "Give her
the stick, Nora, or maybe she'll slip on the big stones" (Reinert, 583).
The
word stick is used in a curious way when Maurya discusses her missing husband, father-in-law, and son:
"There
was Seamus and his father and his own father again, were lost in a dark night, and not a stick or sign of them when the sun
went up" (Reinert, 586).
A
passage in The Viking seems to shed some light on this as to the meaning of the "sign":
"Another
Eddic poem tells of a Valkyrie giving Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer instructions on the use of runes as magic signs" (Simpson,
153).
Maurya's
ancient culture handed down the idea that one could expect signs or portents to answer life's difficult questions or portend
the future. The Norse custom of reading the runes came from the knowledge gained by Odin through his ordeal.
The runes, spoken about in Odin's lament on the tree,
were stick-like characters that were both a system of writing and a means of divination. Odin
sacrificed himself to gain knowledge of them. The Viking, states:
"A
few other details about religious ceremonies can be gleaned from scattered sources. Oracles were taken by throwing down pieces
of wood with markings on them, which were called sacrifice chips or lot-twigs " (Simpson, 169).
These
chips of wood functioned somewhat like the runes for purposes of divination. The
Encyclopedia of Religion explains that:
"Odin
is the master of the runes and has the most extensive knowledge of their mighty magic...As for the spells Odin can cast, the
Ljodatal...enumerates quite a few of them: curing illness, stopping a missile in mid-air, dispelling witches, inspiring irresistible
love, and so forth" (Eliade, 58).
The Tiwaz rune is associated with Tyr. This god sacrificed
his right hand to the wolf Fenrir. "As a result of this deed, Tyr is called the 'Leavings of the Wolf', which is to be understood
as a poetic kenning for glory." It is possible that the expression or oath that states "I would give my right hand" for
something and the Hand of Glory used in magic spells originates with the legends of Tyr.
The
mythology of Odin was probably built on the older and previous high god Tyr. The Tiwaz rune is associated with Tyr. While
Wednesday was named for the god Woden or Odin, Tuesday was named for the god Tyr, whose name day was tíwesdæg, "'Tiw's
day" in Old English' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyr).
“In
the Old English Rune Poem, the rune that is otherwise named for Tiw in the other rune poems (Abecedarium Nordmanicum, Old
Norwegian Rune Rhyme, Old Icelandic Rune Poem), is called tir, meaning ‘glory’".
The
rune representing a twig or wand had the meaning of:
"Happiness
and joy, glory. The battle well-fought and won. A wand.
Prosperity and
good fellowship. Peacefullness...
There is a term in Anglo-Saxon, _wuldortanas_, which is "glory twigs."
which
many experts associate with the rune" (http://www.beyondweird.com/occult/intro_to.html).
Glory Twigs
An Anglo-Saxon artifact called Frank's Casket or Auzon Runic Casket from the 7th
century is carved with both pagan and Christian themes. On the right panel, the interpretation of the runic language differs,
but one valid interpretation gives examples of kenning and features some motifs in Anglo-Saxon culture that are similar
to the Norse, especially as the carving relates to Odin:
"The inscription contains three more alliterating lines:
- herh os sitæþ on hærmberge
- agl(ac) drigiþ swa hir i erta e gisgraf
- særden sorgæ and sefa tornæ
Becker attempts the translation:
- "the wood-god sits on harm's mountain"
- "causing ill fortune, as Erta demanded" (W. Krause)
- "they cause sorrow and heartache".
Which is dependent upon the translation of:
- risci / wudu / bita
- "twig / wood / biter"
- Risci means rush or elk sedge in the runic poem, the type
of plant that marks the valkyrie and stands for the white swan (OED), one form of valkyrian appearance. - Wudu can
be understood as a poetic name for spear. The Valkyrie flings a twig at her victim, a twig which turns into a spear.
As a fatal weapon it turns into a bita (sting or wound), just like the staff of the lady at the grave
blends into a spear, the spearhead formed by the rune for t. A similar event is reflected in the Gautreksaga:
"Then Starkathr thrust at the king with the wand and said: 'Now I give thee to Othinn.' Then Starkathr let gto the fir bough.
The wand became a spear and pierced through the king'" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks_Casket).
The main thought was that the thrown twig turned into a wooden spear which inflicted a deadly
wound. The wounded would be metaphorically given to Odin, Chief of the Battle Dead. The Valkyrie were Odin's angels who brought
the dead soldiers to him. This could be thought of as a reality accomplished through the magic of the runes.
Different types of trees were thought to possess different properties and powers and were
linked to various gods and goddesses. A twig was interpreted to be sometimes a spear and sometimes a wand. In pagan ceremonies
in Britain, a "wand" was used in the White Mare ceremony, a carryover from even older pagan customs.
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The Norsemen
invaded Ireland
time and again. Occasionally a few settled and added some of their language to the Irish language. A common
feature of the Northmen’s language was a language device called kenning.
The Vikings especially
liked to give their swords names that indicated great ferocity and bravery in battle. They also gave exalted names to
other items that were important to their lives. The following example calls ships "sea stallions":
"The ships
were a marvel of craftsmanship. The sea stallions of kings could be thirty meters long, with sixty oar
posts and a crew of one hundred warriors...they rode high in the water so they could slip through the shoals and beach and
just as quickly be launched again at the first sign of danger. With the fleet came the cargo ships carrying the cavalry and
its horses as well as the supplies for the entire naval force (Reston, 86)."
The use
of the term sea stallions for ship is an example of kenning.
Kenning
In The
Norsemen in the Viking Age, there is a good example of kenning.
"The surviving
verses of Eilifir Godrunarson's Thorsdrapa portray him on one of his most famous missions, destroying the giant Geirrodr
and his daughters:
Their
hostility-acorns (hearts) did not fail...the Danes of the distant flood-rib (rock-giants) sanctuary had to bow...the driver
of the hull of the storm's hover-chariot (Thor) broke each of the cave women's age-old laughter-ship-keels (backbones)" (Christiansen,
261).
Rudyard
Kipling's poem "The Sea Wife" has examples of kenning in it.
"She willed
her sons to the white harvest,
And that
is a bitter yield.
She wills
her sons to the wet ploughing,
To ride
the horse of tree,"
Altough
written in English,the "white harvest" and "wet ploughing" are both a kind of kenning for death at sea.
Rudyard Kipling's "The Sea Wife"
Teutonic Religion and kenning
The Viking's sword, in the context of kenning, became more than just a sword. It
became an entity itself, an extension of the warrior requiring a glorious name.
We can see a modern example of this in the movie "The Natural" starring Robert Redford. As a
child, the main character, dreaming of glory, wants to play in the big leagues of baseball. He hews a bat out of wood
for himself, calling it Wonderboy.
The bat becomes a kind of battle sword. Naming the bat makes it more than just a stick of wood
with which to hit a ball. It becomes imbued with meaning for the individual and an encouragement in his battle.
In Noirin
Ni Riain"s music CD Stor Amhran, there is a song called Eamann Mhagaine (Wandering Edmond) that
gives a good example of kenning. In the liner notes from this album and song it says:
"...It appears
that Eamann Mhagaine was an outlaw from County Mayo
who falls in love but cannot marry because he now has to face the hangman. So instead of telling his love the full story,
he tells her that he has 'been engaged for a year and nine months to the daughter of Sean Davis' (who is the hangman
- his daughter being a symbol of the hang-rope.)
Noirin Ni Riain Stor Amhran (A Wealth Of Songs) CD
All of Odin's names and designations might be thought
of as a form of kenning.
"He
was known by many names, each name showing a different facet of his personality: Odin, Voden, Woden, Wotan, Votan or Wuotan.
The name Odin probably means furious..."
This
reference to Odin seems to say that his various names were a kind of kenning, recalling different "virtues" of his personality.
The
Norsemen in the Viking Age says in footnote 16 that:
"The phrases marked with asterisks refer to Odin;
Snorri gave twenty-four other kennings for him in Skaldskaparmal, and he was known by the names of other gods: Tyr and Gaut. The English chronicler Ethelweard
(c.980) recognized the prevalence of Odin worship among the Danes, Northmen, and Swedes, but he was himself a direct male
descendant of Woden."
I was on good terms with the lord of the spear*
I grew truthful, believing in him,
Until the friend of chariots*, the prince of victory*,
Broke friendship with me.
I did not sacrifice to the brother of Vikr*
Because I am eager to do so;
And yet the friend of Mimr* has given me
Recompense for my harms, if I count better"
(Christiansen, 263-264).
Language shapes thinking, and thinking shapes language. Spoken language
involves engaging the brain in making an interpretation of the sounds heard by the ear's physical apparatus of the body's
hearing system. The interpretation is vastly complex, involving individual sounds, linked sounds, combination(s) of sounds
and all related data that the brain has learned to link to these sounds.
For example, the "word-name" Odin carries a multitude of connections
in language.
Here is one online explanation of the etymology of gooseberry:
"gooseberry c.1532, perhaps from Ger. Krausebeere or Kräuselbeere, related to M.Du. croesel "gooseberry," and to Ger. kraus
"crispy, curly." Under this theory, gooseberry would be folk etymology. But OED editors find no reason to prefer this to a
literal reading, because "the grounds on which plants and fruits have received names associating them with animals are so
commonly inexplicable, that the want of appropriateness in the meaning affords no sufficient ground for assuming that the
word is an etymological corruption."
As a trickster and magician, slight-of-hand tricks were Odin's stock
in trade. His words were riddles, and meaning was hidden within meaning.
The Irish were invaded by the Vikings who spoke their own language, but the invaders'
language was absorbed to some extent by the Irish and incorporated into theirs.
Whenever their are two or more languages spoken and used in a population, there
are bound to be overlapping meanings caused by false cognates or actual cognates and also meanings arising from links
of sounds of one language that imply nearly the same as a word in another language or, perhaps, only sound
the same as another word with a completely different definition.
There are also blended languages, much as you have blended (a new combination
of two different families forming a third word) families.
Some of this dual meaning is the result of different influences of vowels.
Since the pronunciation of vowels varies slightly from language to language and even in dialects of the same language, it
would probably be acceptable to say, given the many spellings of the word-name Odin, that the use
of the phonetic schwa might justify the expansion cited above.
Schwa
Written language involves various types of visual marks as symbols conveyed through the sensory
apparatus of the eyes that signal to the brain that interprets those signals and link to "pictures" of objects the brain stores
and to sounds which impart meaning to those symbols.
Using a theme from Riders, we can see how word
associations expand upon the total impact of language. For instance, a word such as flibbertigibbet, seems strange
to begin with, but it looks as if gibbet were in the word somehow.
Flibbertigibbet- a silly flighty person (ME flepergebet)
For this particular example, it is not absolutely necessary
to know if gibbet is actually a component of the word. If the mind discerns that it is a component
of the word, it will probably begin its list of links and associations with the word gibbet anyway, although it may
not select any of them for conscious contemplation. Since gibbet is a synonym for gallows, as we see below,
we may find many old links and possibly add new ones by looking up the meaning in a dictionary.
"Gibbet- 1.
A gallows 2. An upright post with a crosspiece, forming a T-shaped structure
from which executed criminals were hung for public viewing tr.v -bet-ed,
bet-ing, -bets or bet-ted, bet-ting, -bets
1.To execute by hanging. 2. To hang on a gibbet for public viewing. 3. To expose to infamy or public ridicule. [ME
gibbet < Ofr., dim.of gibe, staff perh. of Germanic origin.]"
Second College Edition, The American Heritage Dictionary,
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1982
Looking at the definition, how many associations can
you find in the above (first) definition? We arrived at gibbet by removing it from its context in flibbertigibbet,
an obviously silly word with an equally silly definition.
(If you were hanging on a gibbet, you would be flopping
around awkwardly like a wounded bird in mid-flight.)
We see that gallows has a literal
and a figurative definition, much as in the expression "They really crucified (or hanged him) on that)."
The bodies of hanged persons were reputed to have magical properties.
p.313, l.31: "their bones boiled":
The bodies and remains of hanged men were considered more magically potent than any other corpses, and were much in demand
among witches and magicians. Paolus Grillandus, a judge in 16th century Roman witch trials, wrote: "Some take a small piece
of buried corpse, especially the corpse of anyone who has been hanged or otherwise suffered a shameful death... the nails
or teeth... the hair, ears or eyes... sinews, bones or flesh." A moss which grew on the skulls of hanged men was also popular
(Man, Myth and Magic, No.70, p.1954). In Thomas Hardy's "The Withered Arm", the woman with the eponymous cursed arm
is advised that she will be cured if she touches a hanged man's body"
(http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/ArchiveHill.html).
Story Notes: "A View from a Hill"
Additionally, the definition of a gallows describes
a device for execution by hanging. See also:
Gallows bird
Gallows humor
Gallows tree
In the play Riders To The Sea, when Colum make the coffin for Maurya, it sounds like no man will be in the coffin and that he, Colum, presumably the no man, also will make the coffin, much the same as someone "digging their own grave".
A type of seeress, called a volva, was a Norse woman known for her ability
to predict. In many ways, Maurya acts as an archetype of a seeress in the play. The oracle or seeress was often viewed
as a witch after Christianity bgan to replace the old religions. Her ability to tell the future was linked to her ability
to recite certain formulas to bless or curse.
There were lots of spells and curses, sometimes called ill-wishing. Even
after Christianity got a foothold among the people, there was still the human element that tried to get its way by using magic.
Even the Bible was a source for a cursing spell as is related in Man, Myth, & Magic, The Illustrated Encyclopedia
of Mythology, Religion and the Unknown:
"The cursing psalm was often used by witches. Powers of sorcery ran in
certain of the oldest families, in the seventh son of the seventh son or daughter... Touching a logan stone nine times at
night also turned a person into a witch..." (Cavendish, 458).
In Riders to The Sea, Maurya superstitiously feels that she may have incurred
a curse for not giving bread to Bartley before he leaves home.
"My eye!", "My foot", "On my mother's grave" and "By God's
wounds" are all expressions of oaths. Sometimes oaths were used like curses which are related to magic.
It seems that
something generally considered quite important was sworn by, emphasizing its importance by mentioning something important
to the one who swears.
Some forms of mockery were also thought to be part of changing a situation:
"In ancient Ireland, satirical verse was believed to act like a magic
spell..." (Fleming, 54).
That was done by pagans. The Judeo-Christian
ethic says that you must not take the Lord's name in vain or swear in the way heathens do, and that seems to have evolved
into a huge list of bad words and expressions, the set being commonly called swearing
or cursing.
Children's rhymes do not sound sophisticated.
However, they may derive from more complicated ideas and hidden in simple verse so that they seem harmless.
"It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring."
"This old
man, he played one..."
Both these are derived from children's songs.
"Main Entry: 1world
Pronunciation:
'w&r(-&)ld
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English woruld human existence,
this world, age (akin to Old High German weralt age, world); akin to Old English wer man, eald old --
more at VIRILE"
In Christian theology, believers are admonished to
be "not worldly.”
Mirriam-Webster online dictionary:
Definition of world
Another interesting word
is linchpin.
"Main Entry: linch·pin
Pronunciation: 'linch-"pin
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English lynspin, from
lyns linchpin (from Old English lynis) + pin; akin to Middle High German luns linchpin
1
: a locking pin inserted crosswise (as through the end of an axle or shaft)
2 : one that serves to
hold together the elements of a complex <the linchpin in the defense's case"
Do you think of the Gordian
Knot in relation to a linchpin?
Definition of linchpin
The interesting element is that linch sounds
like lynch.
Linchpin sounds like it could function
as the stick or beam from which The Hanged Man dangles.
Look at the word dangling.
Consider the effect of two or more languages and two
hemispheres of the brain trying to pass information to each other and the effect of evolving language.
For instance, there is the word garret.
One entry found for garret.
"Main Entry: gar·ret
Pronunciation:
'gar-&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English garette watchtower, from Middle French garite
watchtower, refuge, from Old French garir:
a room or unfinished part of a house just under the roof"
Definition of garret
Definition of garotte
Carrot is Karrote in German.
There is the expression "To dangle the carrot", meaning
“ to offer some seeming incentive for a desired
outcome”, although it is a ruse, because the carrot always remains elusively out of reach like a mirage, like the leprechaun's
pot of gold, or like a gambler's big win.
People were thought to be hanged from rafters
of rooms with unfinished timbers or from erected beams and scaffolding made for the purpose of execution by hanging.
In that case, they would be dangling, garroted in the
garret, (hardly an incentive, except, maybe, in the negative sense.)
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Aranmanot is the Celtic word for the month of harvest.
The old legends of the Orkney Islands are closely related
to Scandinavian legends because of their geographical proximity and interaction among the peoples. From their many folk tales,
there arises Orkney's hogboon:
"Orkney's "hogboon" is a corruption of the Old Norse "haug-bui",
or "haug-buinn", roughly translated as "mound-dweller" or "mound-farmer"
(http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/hogboon/index.html).
In this context, they are like the "nisse" and like the
Irish fairies.
In the word hogboon, there are two words that
crop up elsewhere in mythology and local custom in Scotland and Ireland: hog, found in the word hogmany, and
boon, which can be looked at from a historical perspective.
Neither of these terms originally meant what they
seem to mean in English today. That may be why we have little idea where the real significance of hot crossed buns
came from.
The Celts language shaped the minds of the people. It must be remembered
that Synge spent a great deal of time in the cottage at Inismann learning the Irish language, and so, it is not surprising
to find that the Irish language appears disguised but not unrecognized in Riders
to the Sea.
The booklet accompanying the instructional language tape Educational Series Language/30
Irish has this to say:
"There are many polite expressions which are part of the daily life of the Irish people...These
expressions are more or less unconscious for people raised in Ireland... A celebrated greeting such as Eireann go brath! (Ireland Forever!) is on the same level as the blessing, Cead
mile failte, (pronounced Kayd Mee-lah FAWL-chah)), A Hundred Thousand Welcomes)."
Almost immediately one thinks of Maurya's speech in the play where she discusses the worth
of a son: "If it were a hundred horses, or a thousand horses you had itself, what is the price of a thousand horses against
a son where there is one son only?" She contrasts this with her previous image of a star up against the moon.
The
same Educational Series tells us in its introduction:
"The
Gaeltacht is a collective name for several districts in Ulster, Connacht and Munster, where the regional dialects are spoken...The
Connacht dialect is found in North Mayo, Connemara, and the Aran Islands...The dialect of English spoken in Ireland (more
accurately Hiberno-English is influenced to some degree by the intonation, syntax, and vocabulary of the Irish language."
Consider
that the way words sound in Irish and also in English, is important because the bilingual speaker hears not
only Irish or English but also a blend of the two meanings as they interact in the mind, sometimes producing a third
variation.
Thus,
the Irish word for three is a tri in Irish and sounds like the English word
tree.
The
effect of this can be understood on the bilingual and bicultural minds of the Irish.
The verbal cue can set off an exponential number of associations in the mind of the bilingual or multilingual speaker.
As
an example, the Irish word for seven, the total number of sons that Maurya had born, is a
seacht. The fact that this has the English sound of shocked calls
several associations to mind. Maurya exhibits a kind of numbed or shocked state
in the play. Her shock of white hair could be a clue to reference to the wave daughters.
Even
surnames in Irish have meaning. One such example is the last name Sullivan which means one-eyed or hawkeyed. Odin was one-eyed, but very keen of discernment and vision.
These
examples in Educational Series Language/30 Irish show their meaning and pronunciation:
bata
(stick) bottah
muc
(pig)
muck
It is interesting to note that the word for secret sounds like runes, the system
of occult writing and divination associated with Odin learned.
The Irish word for pig sounds like the word often
associated with its habitat, muck. The Irish proverb "As bold as a pig" is pronounced
ho dawna le muck and is written in Irish as Chomh
dana le muc (29).
It is also worthwhile to note that the Irish word
for parcel (as in bundle) is beart, pronounced barth (25) and is very much
like the name of Maurya's youngest son Bartley.
The Irish word for Lent is An Carghas and pronounced
un KOR-ees; the pronunciation of which has a similar sound to the English word chorus that also means a Greek play
device and could very well describe the group of women who appear on stage as mourners in Riders.
The Irish word for bread is aran. It is pronounced UUR-awn. The Irish word for brown bread is aran
donn and is pronounced Uur-awn done, donn being the word for brown. It is not
possible to say with certainty that Synge's head full of mythology and Irish language caused him to pun in many places, but
it is certainly probable, if only unconsciously.
Everyday greeting in Irish can run something like this: God be with you. (Irish= Dia dhuit.) This can be translated as simply hello. The response
can be: God and Mary be with you. (Irish= Dias Muire dhuit.), May God bless you.
(Irish= Go mbeannai Dia dhuit) Or The same to you (Irish= Go mbeannai Dia dhuit).
Though the connotation is greater than the actual words, it is seen that a reverent
response akin to a blessing is given in reply, and it would be a discourtesy not to acknowledge a greeting. In the Irish language it seems that withholding the blessing is a serious matter, if one were to judge
by the dismay of Maurya's daughters when Maurya finds herself unable to reply to her son's greeting. Maurya tells of the event:
"MAURYA (a little defiantly): I'm after seeing him this day, and he riding and galloping. Bartley
came first on the red mare; and I tried to say God speed you, but something choked the words in my throat. He went by quickly;
and the blessing of God on you, says he, and I could say nothing. I looked up then, and I crying, at the gray pony, and there
was Michael upon it- with fine clothes on him, and new shoes on his feet.
CATHLEEN (begins to keen): It's destroyed we are from this day. It's destroyed, surely."
Where does this defiance come from and why? Might she figuratively have Odin's triple rope about her neck, seeing as how she is choked, or might she
rather be choked with grief?
In the book Old English:
Grammar and Reader , we read about number as it pertains to Old English grammar:
"In Old English, nouns,
adjectives, and verbs are singular or plural. In addition, Old English has a third number category known as 'dual', which
is found only in the personal pronouns."
This idea of "dual' is
important not only because it pertains to balance and symmetry, but also because it relates to the importance of the number
three.
"Instead of thinking of
all things as being either one-thing or more-than-one-thing, Old English had thought of things as being one-thing, two-things,
or more-than-two things" (Diamond 16).
Aldhelm -101 riddles in Latin hexameters. Each of them is a complete picture, and one of them runs to 83 lines.
Sample of Aldhelm's Riddles
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There is an expression "slippery as a greased pig",
meaning that the thing discussed is elusive.
The Swedish word for pig is gris, producing
an identical idea, as it were, on both sides of the equation: pig = pig, just as
pig in muck (Irish word for pig
being muck) also produces pig = pig.
After generations of passing this saying down, the
memory or its origins would have faded
In the days of the Norman conquest of England, the
upper class French might have used the word pork ( Middle English, from Old French porc ), while the Anglo-Saxons might
say pig or swine ( Middle English, from Old English swIn; akin to Old High German swIn swine).
All three words have been known and understood by all classes.
It might
be possible that one hemisphere of the brain prefers the upper class word, while the other half prefers the grittier
version. If this were true, it might explain why these instances of doubles such as pig = pig, as above, are in so many proverbial expressions, and
it might also explain why those old maxims are so peculiarly satisfying and easy to remember.
Another example might be found in the expression the man in the moon. Although we may have been told as children that it looks
like there is a face on the moon, consider the German expression for this, der
Mann im Mond, the English and German words being man=Mann, moon=Mond (and knowing that mouth=Mund)
The words all sound much alike. Perhaps each hemisphere of the brain is savoring the expression in its own way and then
reporting the outcome to each other (across the corpus callosum?), like Odin's ravens telling secrets to him, one at each
ear.
Yet another example of doubles could be found behind
the words for the Scottish New Year's Eve festival Hogmany, a high holiday in pagan times and still celebrated.
The Swedish word hogtidlig (There should be diacritcal marks over the "o".), which
means solemn or grand, and related expressions
such as ett hogtidlight lofte meaning solemn
promise and en hogtidling stamning, meaning a solemn atmosphere.
Finally, the expression high on the hog may have a meaning less to do with hogs and more to do with the linguistic equation high = high, since the German word hoch (which happens to sound a little like hog)means high or grand or elevated, lofty. Many German American surnames such as Hogg have probably descended
from the word hoch.
Hogg Variations
The following passage ties in the moon
and Hogmany.
"*
SHARON TURNER. Turner cites an Arabic poem which proves that a female sun and a masculine moon were recognised in Arabia as
well as by the Anglo-Saxons.
Meni, or Manai, signifies 'The Numberer' And it is by
the changes of the moon that the months are numbered: Psalm civ. 19, 'He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth the
time of its going down.' The name of the 'Man of the Moon', or the god who presided over that luminary among the Saxons, was
Mane, as given in the 'Edda', and Mani, in the 'Voluspa'. That it was the birth of the 'Lord Moon' that was celebrated among
our ancestors at Christmas, we have remarkable evidence in the name that is still given in the lowlands of Scotland to the
feast on the last day of the year, which seems to be a remnant of the old birth festival for the cakes then made are called
Nur-Cakes, or Birth-cakes. That name is Hogmanay. Now, 'Hog-Manai' in Chaldee signifies 'The feast of the Numberer'; in other
words, the festival of Deus Lunus, or of the Man of the Moon."
From The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
In the manner of mixing languages and false cognates,
it is easy to see how the pronunciation of sow in Samhain and hog might be linked. Hogmany was a celebration in
the darkest days of winter, approximately December 24 or 25.
A boar's head, the boar having a direct connection to the hog in Hogmany, was a literal element in the feasts spoken about, and it is possible
to see how the name Mane could be changed in form to the idea of a horse's
mane, and so, to various pagan symbolic horse ceremonies.
The Two Babylons
Hogmanay is still observed on the last day of the last month of our year in Scotland.
I do not know that any omens are drawn from anything that takes place at that time, but everybody in the south of Scotland
is personally cognizant of the fact, that, on Hogmanay, or the evening before New Year's day, among those who observe old
customs, a table is spread, and that while buns and other dainties are provided by those who can afford them, oat cakes and
cheese are brought forth among those who never see oat cakes but on this occasion, and that strong drink forms an essential
article of the provision"
(http://www.americanpresbyterianchurch.org/Festivals.htm#Section%20I).
As it was the custom in olden times to believe that
the lavishness of the feasts would prefigure the prosperity for the coming new year, it is no wonder that Maurya worries that
they may have little to no food.
In the play, Riders To The Sea, the pagan festival
of Samhain is mentioned. Considering the languages of the Irish and the
invaders and the false cognates in both, it is easy to see how the pronunciation of Samhain and Hogmany might
be linked.
Hogmany was a celebration in the darkest days of winter,
approximately December 24 or 25.
A boar's head was a literal element used in the feasts,
and it is possible to see how the word Mane could be linked to various pagan symbolic horse ceremonies.
The word flowers is blumen in German.
So, flowers = flowers, if you think of blooms as a noun.
The idea that sounds, not just words, in languages
other than those of the native speaker of English or Irish, such as Norwegian, can convey unexpected meaning in or to a bilingual
or multilingual speaker, such as the first sounds of the Norwegian phrase, How are
you? or more literally, How do you have it?
The first two syllable sounds (not necessarily
complete words) can be heard as Wo den, and assuming a schwa for
the second vowel could be heard as Odin.
The hidden nature of the
god Oden and the language used in connection with him shows up in puns and word-play. Consider the old Irish song "She
Moved Through The Fair":
Last night she came
to me,
My
dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
As she laid her hand on me
And this she did say,
It will not be long,
love,
'Til our wedding day.
If you consolidate the main theme of the song and the words her feet made no din, you can reveal the name of the Lord of the Dead:
her feet made no din
becomes
her feet maid(en) odin
and from there we can easily
link to thought of the handmaidens of Oden, the Valkyrie who come flying to escort the dead to the hall of Oden.
The Kilkennys - She Moved Through The Fair or Our Wedding Day
Before his death Bartley says: "It's
hard set we'll be this day with no one in it but one man to work" as if he were prophesying his own death. Notice
that without the apostrophe and also by sound only, we'll contains the word well and weal within.
Wells figured prominently in pre-Christian religion and folk tales, and weal calls wounds to mind.
In the first case, the ear hears the contraction of we
will and also weal, as in the archaic English expression God's wounds! often heard as 'swoons (archaic)".
Additionally, if the apostrophe is overlooked, we'll becomes
well.
Any and all connotations that the mind has to all those words will be gathered and connected.
The sensory input, combined with previous associations stored in each individual brain, contribute
to an overall feeling and reaction that a person has to the total information.
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