oh my stars and garters

[angevin2]

Yet another excerpt from the Golden Garland of Stuff &c. This one is about the legendary and certainly untrue tale of the foundation of the Order of the Garter, notable for its extremely odd depiction of the Hundred Years War (obviously they didn't call it that then). It is interesting, too, that the lady in this version of the Garter story (

Comments

[kd5mdk]

I'm entertained at the notion of a "princely queen".

[angevin2]

I know! I mean, "princely" and even "prince" were apparently not as strictly gendered back then -- Elizabeth I is called a prince frequently -- but it still feels weird. (OED's last citation for prince used of a female monarch is 1734.) I think it's used for both genders because it's from the Latin princeps which means, literally, "foremost," and to a degree royalty is seen to transcend gender (or perhaps I should say confer a kind of default masculinity on people), and I guess that counts even for non-reigning queens like the one in the ballad.

[owlfish]

most delightfull shoes

I'm all for a well-heeled government.

[angevin2]

*groan*