Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #28

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

28.) Astragalus
-noun singular, plural astragali

a.) The ankle bones from various cloven hoofed animals used in ancient games and divination.*

b.) (anatomical) The bone of the ankle which articulates with the bones of the leg, also known as the talus.

c.) (botanical) The root of the perennial Astragalus membranaceus plant, which is a member of the pea family, found only in the grasslands and mountains of central and western Asia. Known also as milk vetch root and called Huang Qi in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is considered to be an important tonic herb.

[Origin: Latin, from Greek astragalos, neck vertebra, ankle joint, or milk vetch (from the vertebra-like appearance of the flower clusters).]

*The words astragalus, talus, huckle-bone, and knuckle-bone appear to be used indiscriminately in both ancient and medieval literature describing their use in many cultures for thousands of years. A game known as Astragals, (also known as hucklebones, dibs, dibstones, jackstones, chuckstones, five-stones, or jacks) is a pastime of very ancient origin played with five small objects, originally the astragali of sheep or goats, which are thrown up and caught in various ways. The ancient astragali, quite possibly the origin of modern dice, usually had two sides that were rounded and therefore they could only come to rest on four of the edges. They have been found in large quantities in Egyptian finds dating to around 3,500 BC and were apparently used even then for games and predicting the future. Sophocles stated that dice (called tessera from the Greek word for four, possibly related to the four resting faces of the astragali) were invented by Palamedes during the Tojan War. Heroditus, on the other hand, gives credit for the creation to the Lydians, a kingdom that ruled Western Anatolia in the 7th Century BC. Of particular interest here, according to a still more ancient tradition related by Apollonius, the mighty Zeus, perceiving that his beloved boy Ganymede longed for his playmates upon Mount Ida, gave him Eros for a companion and golden astragali with which to play, and even condescended sometimes to join in the game.