Saturday 24 August 2019

Vandals And Goths

Vandals were a tribe or are perpetrators of vandalism.

See Vandal blog search result. (Scroll down.)

SM Stirling's and David Drake's Raj Whitehall thinks:

"Van-dals..."
-The Hammer, CHAPTER EIGHT, p. 444 -

- when a fountain is used as a watering trough.

Goths were a people or are a fashion/subculture.

See Goths blog search result. (Scroll down.)

When I asked Nygel, the great-grandfather of all the Goths in Lancaster, to write for the blog about Goths, he texted:

"They r miserable. That was easy :). I await ur nxt challenge :)"

Words have fascinating histories, carried from history through current usage into future histories.

Goths fight Vandals in some of the linked posts.

6 comments:

David Birr said...

Paul:
Mr. Stirling threw in a classical history shout-out, too. The long-ago leader of the Squadron who brought them to the Southern Territories was Admiral Geyser Ricks (at least once, the family name is given as simply "Rick," no final "s" — that may be a typesetter's error — and Geyser is sometimes but not always put in quotes as a nickname). Of course, Gaiseric was a chieftain of the historical Vandals, described by one account as "the most capable of all the German tribal leaders of his time." And he took north-coastal Africa as his new kingdom.

As for the Goths, it should be remembered that, as I've posted here at least once before, the Visigoths "wanted literature, music, art ... we were starved for these things. We didn't sack Rome, really, we were just looking for poems. I'm sorry if we broke some stuff..." — courtesy of the National Lampoon

Nygel said...

Good heavens above , Paul. Myself ...The great grandfather of all Goths in Lancaster. A kind comment is in there somewhere but alas i have never been a Goth. When i came to Lancaster in 1982 Goths were those people who used to spend all day working on their intricate face make up , over their very white face, spend hours on choosing their cloths....then spend all night sitting in the shadows so you couldn't see them...

I was an 'Alternative' (Backed crimped hair, pointy shoes and listening to The Cramps and the Pogues).
But thank you.... Here's a link as an aid in spottong a 1980's goth...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=strict&biw=1024&bih=677&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=8J1hXYj5FoSLlwTB76aYDw&q=80%27s+goth+fashion&oq=80%27s+goth&gs_l=img.1.1.0i67l7j0l3.2950.3664..6651...0.0..0.341.437.1j3-1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.zpNvX-7gjJY

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Nygel,
An Alternative?
Thank you,
Paul.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

David,
I don't know the history, certainly not in that amount of detail, but then I don't need to with knowledgeable combox commentators to hand.
Paul.

David Birr said...

Paul:
Speaking of shout-outs ... looking at the map in the front of The Hammer, I noticed a few place-names I'd never taken note of before. In the Midworld Sea, closer to Brigade lands than to the Civil Government, is an island named Tortug, a name which is suggestive to anyone who's read or watched old stories of pirates on the Spanish Main. Nearby is the island of Sabatin, resembling the name of a 20th-century author of just such stories. And, oh look, right next to Sabatin is Sangrecap, which certainly made me think of the name Captain Blood (Capitán Sangre to the Spanish), possibly Sabatini's most famous character....

It's really fun discovering these hidden references. Even when it's a touch embarrassing that I missed them for so long. If the nearby island of Blanchefer refers to someone famous, I still haven't recognized that one.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul and DAVID!

Paul: I had to laugh at Nigel's humorous comment about the Goths! And I did know Drake/Stirling modeled the oafish Squadrons on the historical Vandals. And the Goths were not all like the Vandals--many admired Rome and its culture, and strove, somewhat clumsily, to emulate it.

David: I too have studied that map at the front of THE HAMMER. But, alas, I missed the shout outs the authors slipped in. "Tortug" of course alluded to the real world TORTOGA. And I'm chagrined at missing the Sabatini/Captain Blood references.

Sean