Author: lfsaldenbirch

Lust

lfsaldenbirch , , , ,

This word’s obsolete meaning of desire descends from earlier meanings such as pleasure and delight, spotted in King Alfred’s translation of Boethius around the year 888.  The parallel and interlocked meaning of sexual desire is attested from about the year 1000, and seems to be locked with the descriptor “fleshly” in theological writings for a few centuries.

  • 12.015 but the splendour, the lust,
  • 15.049 and the lust of it was heavy on him.

“lust, n.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Mead (meadow)

lfsaldenbirch , , , , ,

While we contemplate this regional word for meadow, let’s enjoy some fermented honey and water.  Mead the drink is discussed here and the honey comes from flowers, which meadows certainly have!  It’s a low word… in a poem sung by elves.  Fascinating.

  • 09.053 Back to pasture, back to mead,

“mead, n.2.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Skrike

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

“Skrike”, to utter a shrill, harsh cry, has the very cool past participle “skryȝte”.  OED says “dialectical” and therefore this fabulous word earns the “low” tag.

  • 04.036 shrieking and skriking,

“skrike, v.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Tomnoddy

lfsaldenbirch , , , , , ,

“Tomnoddy” means a foolish or stupid person and Tolkien says right there in the text that it’s an insult.  We’re tagging it as “low”.  Trivia, Tom-Noddy is also a local name for a the puffin (Fratercula arctica).  Notice something that Tolkien does now and then?  He has made a compound word out of a hyphenated one (click here for our discussion of making hyphenated words out of two singles).  There are more examples which we will be interested in later, and these feed my theory of Tolkien reminding us that he is merely translating from Bilbo’s Westron writings.

  • 08.097 Old Tomnoddy,
  • 08.097 Old Tomnoddy can’t spy me!
  • 08.098 and Tomnoddy of course is insulting to anybody.

“Tom-noddy, n.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Wrought

lfsaldenbirch , , , ,

“Wrought” is the archaic past participle of the very common word “work”, but I simply couldn’t bear to throw it away.

  • 01.075 They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
  • 12.013 gold wrought
  • 12.013 and unwrought,
  • 12.096 for it was wrought of pure silver
  • 13.037 wrought for some young elf-prince long ago.
  • 18.033 and gold, wrought and unwrought
  • 18.033 and gold, wrought and unwrought

Lade

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

While the past participle “laden” is not archaic, the present form is!

  • 07.126 and he would lade them with food
  • 10.045 laden with rowers,
  • 11.003 each leading another pony heavily laden beside him;
  • 14.016 into laden boats
  • 19.004 O! Whither so laden,

“lade, v.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Kine

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

The old plural of “cow”.  Some Middle English and earlier plurals were formed with and “n” ending (housen = houses, eyen = eyes, oxen).  This word appears in an elven poem, so it gets a double boost in register!

  • 09.053 Where the kine and oxen feed!

“kine, n.1.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

Forebode

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

“Bode” is archaic, but “forebode” is not.  I am fascinated.  Based on “bode” and since foreboding is certainly uncanny, I have given it a high tag.

  • 12.090 and his foreboding grew.
  • 14.007 You are always foreboding gloomy things!’

“bode, v.1.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.

“forebode, v.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 20 May 2015.