Friday, 8 November 2019

A Circassian And A Coin

Rogue Sword, CHAPTERs I-II.

Lucas infers from her name that the rescued slave girl, Djansha, is a Circassian from the Caucasus. Her people's name for themselves is the Adygei and her father was Aoublaa, an uork (noble) of the Chipakou tribe.

She hopes that Shible the Just will smite with thunderbolts those who had enslaved her - a deity familiar to us in his function if not by this name.

The visiting Hospitallers lodge in a room near the Church of the Holy Apostles (see here), overlooking the blue Bosporus. Hugh asks Lucas whether he would make amends to the wronged Gasparo Reni. Lucas lacks money but Hugh replies that:

"'The florins are only a token.'" (p. 43)

We used to have a different florin. See here.

4 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

One of Djansha's gods was called "Shible the Just"? And one of his attributes was controlling thunderbolts? That reminds me of Scandinavian Thor!

And like the ducats of Austria-Hungary, I recalled reading of how the UK used to still have florins down to possibly the 1950's. Some Britons might still be nostalgic for shillings, florins, and guineas!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
The British florin was demonetized in 1993. See the Wikipedia article linked from the post.
Paul.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
I also recently referred to the thunder god, Perun. See the post, "Psychologists And Philosophers," Friday 4 October 2019.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I read the Wiki article about British florins with interest. And I had not known florins continued to circulate and remain legal tender till 1993.

And I will reread the earlier blog piece you cited.

Ad astra! Sean