Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #38
August 3, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
38.) Abature
-noun singular
a.) Grass and sprigs beaten or trampled down by a stag passing through them.*
[Origin: from French abatture, from the verb abattre, “to beat down” or “crush.”]
*The hunting of an elusive, unique, and solitary beast such as the white stag, roebuck, or unicorn through the thicket is a theme of great poetic import that began connected to ancient moon-goddess worship (as pointed out by Robert Graves in his book, The White Goddess) and was hungrily assimilated into medieval Christian symbolism. A faerie will relate to the idea of seeking a personal cloister, perhaps among the apple trees just as the fabled beast did, and to the crushing feeling that there may not even be a single soul out there with a certain likeness to his own.
Great word and discussion! I could REALLY have used this word when I wrote about the legendary stag of Portmeirion, Wales:
http://oneletterwords.com/portmeirion/7-legendary-stag/
But you can bet that when I revise my text, I’ll work it in, along with kudos to you.
Fabulous! This image of your stag accompanying the moon-goddess Diana dates all the way back to 20,000 B.C. and appears in the paleolithic paintings of the stag-cult in the Spanish caves of Altamira in addition to the Caverne des Trois Frères in the French Pyrenées.