Man oh Man....
All right, for all of you etymology 'frekes' out there, here's the list I've compiled of all the names for 'man' found in our Middle English readings...Enjoy!
In no particular order...
Segge: man, knight, person, sir
Lede: man, knight, prince
Renke: man, knight
Hathel: man, knight, lord
Gome: man, knight, servant
Grome: man, retainer
Wy/Wight: creature, being, person, man, knight, servant, maiden
Schalk: man
Maystre: lord, master, learned man
Freke: warrior, man, knight
Wodwyse/wodwose: man of the woods, satyrs
Dotes for elde: old dotard (accent on the second syllable)
What has become of the English language! There used to be five words for 'knight', and now we're down to one! I must admit, however, that the word 'freke' has trickled down to us somewhat, but who was the lousy 'lichtloker' who changed its meaning?!
Mission: Pick one word for 'man' that is particularly close to your heart and re-introduce it to our old and sound-bitten English tongue. You never know, our children's children may once more be able to tell a 'gome' from a 'grome' and elect a 'lede-man' to weed out all the other 'wodwyses'. Good Wyrd to you!
posted by M' Lady's Topsail @ 2:29 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Here's to you and your tireless efforts in behalf of ledekynde, Miss Annie!
Now you've got me thinking... what strange names do we have for Man? Of course there seems to be many more in the lower register of diction:
Guy, Dude, Buddy, Jack, Hombre,etc.
some poetic:
soul, hand (as in all hands on deck)
some more specific: Gentleman, Rake, Husband, Father
I'm sure there are more...maybe we can stretch some use out of our modern clumsy tongue
With someone as creative and verbofilic as the Gawaine poet, we have to believe that he probably drew out or more names for a man than most folks did. I mean, I bet I could think of more names for you, Mr. Tilter, than most other people could.
I do believe there is a difference between giving someone a name and calling them one - though your plan, Mr. Flyte, does sound amusing. :)
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