Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #129

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

129.) Abraxas

a.) A diety of the Gnostic faith.

b.) An ancient gem-stone carved with the name Abrasax and a composite figure, used as an amulet.*

[Origin: Unknown.]

*The word, clearly with magical portent, may have given rise to our current word, abracadabra.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #128

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

128.) Ebberman
-noun singular

a.) One who fishes under bridges.*

[Origin: Unknown.]

*A profession usually reserved for trolls…

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #127

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

127.) Kantikoy
-noun singular or verb

a.) A sacred dance, especially among American Indians.

b.) To dance as an act of worship.*

[Origin: Unknown.]

*A truly ancient act found in many cultures that was later observed by intruders, offering a possible explanation of the fondness for dancing found in so many faerie legends.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #126

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

126.) Iceblink
-noun singular

a.) A bright reflection of sunlight, especially in polar regions, on the bottom of a low cloud, caused by ice on a distant expanse of water or land.*

[Origin: From the English words ice and blink, possibly a translation of the Dutch ijsblink or Danish isblink.]

*Like Saint Elmo’s fire, foxfire, or will-o-the-wisps, iceblinks are a physical phenomenon that would have easily fallen into the category of mysterious effects of the other side in the eyes of earlier cultures.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #125

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

125.) Laconicum
-noun singular

a.) A sauna, or vapor-bath.*

b.) The sweat room in a Roman bath.

c.) A Roman archaeological term referring to the chamber in a bathing-establishment warmed by means of air artificially heated.

[Origin: Possibly from the name of the Greek prefecture of Laconia (the capital of which was Sparta) since the Laconians used such a dry or sudorific bath, avoiding the use of warm water as enervating.]

*Also referred to by Cassius as the Laconium Gymnasium or “naked-place sauna” thus inevitably attracting members of the tribe.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #124

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

124.) Err
-verb

a.) To go astray.*

b.) To make a mistake.

[Origin: From Latin errare meaning "to wander."]

*A simple word, that we associate with being mistaken, but whose original meaning had more to do with wandering (with the error being a diverging from the truth). The will-o’-the-wisps and the pixies are the most adept with making people wander. One who wanders away is said to be “pixie-led.”

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #123

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

123.) Renifleur
-adjective

a.) One who is sexually aroused by odors.*

[Origin: From French renifler meaning "to sniff."]

*One of the Plinian races, the Astomi (also mentioned in the Indica of Megasthenes) had no mouths and subsisted entirely on the smell of apples. They were also reported to be in danger of dying upon smelling an unpleasant smell. I wonder if these details effected their mating habits.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #122

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

122.) Aeonian
-adjective

a.) Everlasting

b.) Lasting for an immeasurably long period of time.*

c.) Of, relating to, or constituting an eon.

[Origin: From the Greek aiōn meaning "an age" or "an eternity."]

*Disappearances into the faerie realm are often characterized by a kind of time travel such that enormous periods of time elapse in the world of mortals that seem like mere sojourns to the traveler.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #121

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

121.) Nesiote
-adjective

a.) Insular.

b.) Living on an island.*

[Origin: Unknown.]

*It is most often from the more remote cultures (especially insular ones) that we get the richest faerie lore.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #120

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

120.) Sagbutt
-noun singular (with variants including sackbut,and sacbutt)

a.) The predecessor of the modern trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.*

[Origin: From the Middle French sacquer meaning "to push," and bouter meaning "to pull," or from the Spanish sacar meaning "to draw or pull," and bucha meaning "a tube or pipe."]

*A potentially unpopular instrument among contemporary members of the tribe who tend to prefer pert butts.