Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #24
April 27, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
24.) Wergeld
-noun singular, also wergild or weregild
a.) In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person’s life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud.*
b.) A reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime.
[Origin: From Middle English wargeld and Old English wergeld, from wer or "man" and geld or "payment."]
*Literally translated as “man-payment” the weregeld in cases of murder, was calculated conditionally based upon the social rank of the victim. An aetheling, or prince, was worth 1500 shillings. A yeoman farmer was worth 100 shillings. A laet, or agricultural serf, was worth between 40 and 80 shillings. Thralls and slaves technically commanded no weregeld, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and the value of the slave in such a case. How much would you and I be worth now?
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #23
April 20, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
23.) Spraints
-noun plural, singular spraint
a.) The dung of an otter.
b.) The dung of various wild animals.*
[Origin: Old French espraintes, espreintes, and later French
['e]preintes from espreinte “a desire to go to stool,” from
the verb espreindre.]
*Sprainting is the act of marking territory by leaving dung. The term is used especially in Britain of deer, otters, and other larger mammals. It seems that our tribe is often the butt of jokes employing scatological humor. This term makes me imagine what it would be like if gays, often categorized themselves by the names of various fauna and other creatures, exhibited this behavior. I’ve encountered the following species to describe our various habits and incarnations: bears, cubs, wolves, otters, seals, pigs, capons, chickens, roosters, hawks, geese, ducks, birds, butterflies, bedbugs, fruit flies, toads, lobsters, tunas, fish, cats, puppies, dogs, rats, whales, octopuses, donkeys, moose, vampires, faeries, and trolls. Are there others I wonder? What a fantastic range of spoor we’d represent!
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #22
April 13, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
22.) Rood
-noun singular
[Origin: Middle English from Old English rōd meaning "rod" or "rood;" akin to Old High German ruota or "rod" and perhaps to Old Russian ratište or "lance."]
*The word rood is actully an archaic word for “pole,” from Anglo-Saxon rōd or “pole,” specifically “crucifix,” from Proto-Germanic rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda or “rod:” the relation of rood to rod, from Anglo-Saxon rodd or “pole” is unclear, but the latter was perhaps influenced by Old Norse rudda or “club.” The word is featured in the title of the the famous Anglo-Saxon poem known as The Dream of the Rood in which the “rood tree” tenderly voices its experience with the hanging Christ.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #21
April 6, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
21.) Exuviae
-noun plural, singular exuvium
a.) The cast-off skins or coverings of various organisms, such as the shells of crabs, skins of snakes, or the external coverings of the larvae and nymphs of insects.*
[Origin: From Latin exuere, "to take off."]
*Domestic dust is composed largely of what I consider to be bits of human exuviae. In fact, it is estimated that our entire outer layers of skin are shed every day or two at a rate of 7 million skin flakes per minute! Let the spring cleaning commence! My question is, does this, our collectively sloughed residue floating about, count as power parts, thus making us susceptible to evil sorcery if obtained by the wrong hands?
