Etymology Expeditions: The Bird is the Word

Let's look at names of birds this week.  

You probably guessed which one we're doing first: mockingbird. The earlier form was mock-bird, so mock + bird.  "Mock" comes from Old French mocquer "deride, jeer." The word mock is of unknown origin, maybe from Vulgar Latin muccare "to blow the nose." It was apparently a derisive gesture. (The word sounds a bit like "mucus," doesn't it?)

Here's a personal favourite: Raven comes from Old English hræfn from ProtoGermanic khrabanaz, from PIE root *ker-, imitative of harsh sounds. (Also he source of Latin crepare "to creak," for example.) You can hear the raven's croak in that, right?

Here's another one: eagle comes from Middle English egle, through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin aquila, which might be related to aquilus "blackish, the colour of darkness." Cool, right?

The word bird is an Old English word of uncertain origin, but I did learn where the expression "to flip the bird" comes from. It's slang from the 1860s, originally give the big bird meaning "to hiss at someone like a goose." It was kept alive in vaudeville slang, but the middle finger thing came to play only in 1960s. The gesture is much older though. According to etymonline.com, the anatomy section of a 12th century Latin bestiary in Cambridge describes the middle finger as that "by means of which the pursuit of dishonour in indicated."


Sources:

http://www.etymonline.com
https://en.wiktionary.org/

Reading the Classics: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

     

Image from wikipedia.org

Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, and it became a huge success, winning her the Pulitzer Prize. A classic of American literature, this has been on my reading list for a long time. Somehow I had the idea that the book would be a tough read and really dark, and it is, in a way, but I was surprised by how engaging it was. The writing is immensely readable and immersive, and Scout, the first person narrator, immediately sympathetic. And Atticus Finch is my new hero.

The book handles the heavy subject of a false rape accusation and racism with a firm hand, mostly leaving judgment to the characters while the author doesn’t lecture. The only part where I felt she was laying it on a bit too thick was the scene in the classroom where the teacher talks about how the Nazis had no reason whatsoever to hate the Jews in a horrified tone and some time before we saw her acting racist at the trial.

The first person narration works well, mostly, but at times Scout seems a bit older than her years. The parts where Scout wasn’t actually present and the narration slips into a flashback from another character also feel a bit jolting, but these are minor quibbles.

Mockingbird feels like an important book in how it handles social issues, racism, class differences, and gender roles, but its heart is in the warmth of Scout’s relationship with her brother and her father. Even the minor characters come to life, and a lot of them aren’t what they appear to be, Boo Radley in particular. The vivid descriptions of life in the South during the Great Depression are beautifully done; you can almost taste the crackling bread and smell the camellias Jem ripped up. 

A major theme is the loss of innocence and the realisation that there is no justice in the world. Jem takes this particularly hard, and feels like he loses faith in the goodness of people. Is it futile to fight a battle you can't win, even if it's the right thing to do? Maybe that's what makes it important?  Sometimes it's scary and takes a lot of courage. Not all of us are as brave as Atticus. 

Over the course of the story, Scout learns to put herself in another person's shoes, an important lesson in compassion. It's an uncomfortable thing to do, because sometimes it reveals things about you or your loved ones that you don't like or are ashamed of. That's one reason why reading is so important; it lets you climb inside someone else's skull and see what his or her life is like, and that changes you.  I get why this is a book that kids have to read at school.

A great book, one I'll probably re-read many times. 

Classics read: 28/100

Knights in Shining Armor

                            

Rohan Stables holds a tourney every year at the Turku Medieval Market, but this year was a special anniversary show with a new program.

                            

                               Here's the master of ceremonies. He was hilarious.

                        

                                                   Medieval air guitar!

                                                               Jousting with real lances!

                                                            Behold the awesome!

                              Only one of the knights was a lady, but she was twice as fierce!

                                

                                  The knight getting a favour from a lady in the audience.

                      

Here he is in action, throwing a spear. It tipped some kind of lighter fluid into the fire so the flames jumped. 

                    

                              

Here they are hitting each other with batons, trying to knock the feather thingy off the other's head. 

                              

                                        There's just something about men in armour...

                                 After the show the kiddies (and adults!) got to pet the horses. Awww!

Rohan stables is doing more shows this weekend, but if you can't make it, here's their itinerary for the summer tour (these are all in Finland, but they do shows all over Europe):

• Historiallisen ratsastuksen ja taistelun SM 2016 16. - 17.7. - Turun Linna
• Hollolan Keskiaikamarkkinat 29. - 31.7. - Hollola
• Verlan Aika 6. - 7.8. - Kouvola
• Kokkolan keskiaikapäivät - 3. - 4.9. - Kokkola
• Keskiaikaiset saaristolaismarkkinat 10.9. - Taalintehdas

They also do courses, even private ones. Want to try your hand at knightly skills? These sound so cool.

At the Medieval Market

                        

Turku hosts an awesome medieval market every summer. It's kind of like a Renaissance fair, but with a Finnish flavour. I go every year and eat as many candy apples as I can manage. (My record is five in two days, but maybe I'll break it this year.) There's also a jousting tournament by Rohanin tallit (Stables of Rohan), concerts, feasts,  all kinds of little skits happening at Suurtori, and the museums all have special activities for kids and adults alike. If you really want to get into the spirit, you can even rent a medieval costume on site. With a little imagination, you can pretend you're in your favourite fantasy book on a feast day.

                                 

                                                    Yep. They fry an entire pig every year.

                                

                    Some kids screamed "Follow the Archbishop!" when this guy went by. 

          This year the market's from June 30th to July 3rd. You can see the programme here.

                                

                                                            The blacksmith's shop.

                     

                                                                         Viiiikings!!!

                                      

                                                                    Candy apples and pears.

                                      

           Awesome art. I really, really want those inn signs, but I have absolutely no place to hang them.

                                      

                                   
                                                             More books from Salakirjat.

                                     

                                                                        Deerskins and rabbit pelts. 

                                     

                                                Beautiful garments decorated with fantasy art.

                                   

                           Weapons for the kiddies. My nephew got a working bow. That'll end well.

SpeckLit News

Just a quick heads-up: SpeckLit accepted more of my drabbles for their next quadrant (Yay!), so you'll be seeing more of my stuff over on their site.

You can read the rest here.

The Proust Project: Round Four

Yep, started reading Sodom and Gomorrah, and I'm back in that special sweet spot between frustration and exhilaration. I want to like the book, I really do, but Proust doesn't make it easy. Between the tedious simile about the bees and flowers that goes on and on, the impregnable walls of text (Dude, have you ever heard of paragraph breaks?),  dialogue hidden inside long paragraphs, and pages-long sentences, I just want to throw the book at the wall and never pick it up again.

But then this happens:

"Although it was after nine o'clock, it was still the daylight that was giving the Luxor obelisk on the Place de la Concorde the appearance of pink nougat. Then it diluted the tint and changed the surface to a metallic substance, so that the obelisk not only became more precious but seemed more slender and almost flexible. One felt that one might have been able to twist this jewel, that one had perhaps already slightly bent it. The moon was now in the sky like a segment of an orange delicately peeled although nibbled at. But a few hours later it was to be fashioned of the most enduring gold. Nestling alone behind it, a poor little star was to serve as sole companion to the lonely moon, while the latter, keeping its friend protected but striding ahead more boldly, would brandish like an irresistible weapon, like an oriental symbol, its broad, magnificent golden crescent."

- Sodom and Gomorrah by Marcel Proust 

Wow. Just, wow. That's some gorgeous description.

Guess I'll shut up and keep reading then.

Writing Milestones

I started writing in 2014, and I've always gotten the Clarkesworld form rejection up to now, so I was really happy when one of my stories actually made the second round. (If you've googled their stats, that's pretty rare.)

They held the story for about a month, and then I got the "close, but not quite" rejection, so I'm not that bummed; actually, it's encouraging. Shows that I'm on the right track.

 I think I'll give the story a once-over and then resubmit. Hopefully it'll find a home somewhere else.