Trust me, you can read Middle English.
Before we got married, the_original1 took me to see Peter Schickele and Calliope (the renaissance band, not the Italian progressive rock band) at the historic Egyptian Theater in DeKalb, Illinois. It was arguably one of the best concerts I've ever seen. About half the show was a performance of Schickele's "Bestiary," which really has to be seen and not just heard. It was amazing.
Between numbers, Peter Schickele would chat a little. One thing he told the audience was that while doing some research through some Middle English manuscripts (at least, I think that's how it started, it was a long time ago), he came across the word "wow." And he thought, "Wow! I wonder what it meant in Middle English." Much to his surprise, it meant . . . (wait for it) . . . "wow."
I'm still slogging my way through Malory: Works, ed. Eugène Vinaver, 2nd edition, but I finally finished "The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney that Was Called Bewmaynes" the other day. Tonight I started on "The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones," which starts off with "Isode the Fair." On page 230, line 14, it reads, "And therewith the quene gaff up the goste and dyed." "Gave up the ghost" is a phrase that has been in use for (at least) about 550 years. I say at least, because a few pages earlier, still in Gareth's tale, King Arthur says to Gareth, "What, nevew? Is the wynde in that dore?" (p. 223, line 41), and Vinaver says in the notes that this is the earliest example of the phrase "is the wind in that door" that he's seen, and there is no such note about giving up the ghost, so it must have already been in fairly common use.
Well, I thought it was funny.
Between numbers, Peter Schickele would chat a little. One thing he told the audience was that while doing some research through some Middle English manuscripts (at least, I think that's how it started, it was a long time ago), he came across the word "wow." And he thought, "Wow! I wonder what it meant in Middle English." Much to his surprise, it meant . . . (wait for it) . . . "wow."
I'm still slogging my way through Malory: Works, ed. Eugène Vinaver, 2nd edition, but I finally finished "The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney that Was Called Bewmaynes" the other day. Tonight I started on "The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones," which starts off with "Isode the Fair." On page 230, line 14, it reads, "And therewith the quene gaff up the goste and dyed." "Gave up the ghost" is a phrase that has been in use for (at least) about 550 years. I say at least, because a few pages earlier, still in Gareth's tale, King Arthur says to Gareth, "What, nevew? Is the wynde in that dore?" (p. 223, line 41), and Vinaver says in the notes that this is the earliest example of the phrase "is the wind in that door" that he's seen, and there is no such note about giving up the ghost, so it must have already been in fairly common use.
Well, I thought it was funny.