-Poul and Karen Anderson, The Dog And The Wolf, Chapter III, section 1, p. 65.
A list description of the crowds in Mediolanum includes "...mountebanks..."
-Chapter III, section 2, p. 69.
"Hammers banged, saws grided..."
-Chapter V, section 4, p. 111.
A list description of items used as weapons includes "...billhooks..."
-Chapter II, section 3, p. 48.
"...the hills sheltered their halidom."
-Chapter I, section 2, p. 25.
I have googled these seven words but skipped past some others while rereading. Usually we at least recognize a word or infer a meaning from the context but this can be vague or inaccurate. I advise readers of Poul Anderson's works always to have a dictionary to hand although this can sometimes interrupt reading too much.
Addendum: to loricate, to enclose in or cover with a protecting substance. Merriam-Webster Dictionary.(This is crazy. I post the link but when I click on it the screen has moved somewhere else.)
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Hmmm, "grided" is one word I don't remember at all or have a clear idea of its meaning. Yet again, I have to say Poul Anderson had a truly AWESOME vocabulary. And his story "A Tragedgy of Errors" revolves around the muddle and confusion caused by how the same words in the same language can change meaning in different places.
Sean
Paul and Sean:
I hate to say this, but PA MAY have slipped with "loricated cuirasses," because "lorica" is Latin for "body armor" of ANY kind, and includes the "lorica segmentata" shown in the picture above as well as what we might call chain mail (lorica hamata), scale mail (lorica squamata), and other types. Unless he was using a turn of phrase I didn't understand, "cuirass" (breastplate) is simply PART of one variety of lorica.
David,
See Addendum to post.
Paul.
Hi, David!
Nice to see retired military like you with an interest in military history! Yes, I think you have found another small slip in THE KING OF YS by the Andersons. I don't think Poul Anderson would have minded you pointing that out to him! (Smiles)
Sean
David and Sean,
My Chambers Dictionary gives "to loricate" as a transitive verb meaning "to coat or armour protectively."
Paul.
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