-SM Stirling, A Meeting At Corvallis (New York, 2007), Chapter Nine, p. 247.
I quote this sentence because the word "melee" recalls:
ER Eddison;
James Blish;
John Brunner;
Poul Anderson.
For this particular connection between these four authors, see here - and the same post also addresses yet another parallel between Poul Anderson and Neil Gaiman.
A Meeting At Corvallis is set in a period when medieval terms like "melee" are back in practical use.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think "melee" is still a practical military terms. Because there are still times when soldiers of hostile armies engage in up close and VERY personal combat.
Sean
Paul:
The term "melee" is OFTEN, and indeed routinely, used in role-playing games such as *Dungeons & Dragons*. It actually startled me to see that you seemed to consider it archaic or obscure.
David,
But such games use archaisms?
Paul.
Paul:
In the DIALOGUE, certainly; the ones set in fantasy situations. Not so much in the rulebooks' advice, and it's there to which I referred. The rules of D&D speak of two types of physical battle (other than casting spells against the foe): melee combat and missile combat.
What's more, I've got two dictionaries I regularly consult: a Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedic from 1972, and a Merriam-Webster Collegiate from '93. Neither of them adds the "Archaic" tag to the definition of "melee." The Merriam-Webster, in fact, indicates the word was first attested in English print only in 1648.
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