• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Trivia

Chaos said:
Next question: Why is it actually not correct to claim - as it is said - that Ferdinand Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the globe?
Click to expand...

Because he visited the Philippine island of Cebu on the way and decided to stay there for the rest of his life.

But do you know the name of the native chief who led the tribe that killed him?
 
Damn, too slow. To answer Marquis' question, it was of course the South at Palmito Ranch, a month after Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
 
chris epic said:
Maybe I should have rephrased the question. They both ruled Babylon- they were both Emperors over the region of Mesopotamia.
Click to expand...

Actually, no. There is no archaelogical evidence that the city of Babylon existed during the time of Sargon of Akkad (there may have been a small village at the place but it is not certain). It seems that it first rose to the position of a prominent city about 300-500 years after his death, though later Babylonians faked the history on their records because they wanted a piece of the fame of Akkadians for their own city.

Sargon I unified the mesopotamian empire (Akadian) with fear and blood shed. King Cyrus the Great (hence the epitaph) met with opposing forces that opted out of battle before any blood was shed at all. Its just nice to see a little peace in an area and era where there was constant discord and uncertainty
Click to expand...

Cyrus was not exactly innocent in the bloodshed department: he had all inhabitants of the town of Upi (Opis in Greek) massacred and he did fight battles.
 
LW said:
Because he visited the Philippine island of Cebu on the way and decided to stay there for the rest of his life.
Click to expand...

Correcting myself: it wasn't Cebu but a neighboring island.
 
We seem to have multiple questions outstanding. Should we keep them sequenced?
 
I don't know how we're gonna keep it sequenced- I do know we can put the "obvious" questions in the humor section for starters.
 
chris epic said:
Speaking of "Frank" what does "Frank" mean?
Click to expand...

Since no one has bothered to answer this before...

Again, there are at least two possibilities:
  • a member of the coalition of German tribes that conquered the country that later became France around the 6th century; or
  • any Western crusader in the Holy Land.
 
LW said:
Since no one has bothered to answer this before...

Again, there are at least two possibilities:
  • a member of the coalition of German tribes that conquered the country that later became France around the 6th century; or
  • any Western crusader in the Holy Land.
Click to expand...

Not who they were- what the word means. "Franc" "May I speak frankly?" Franc means "Free"
 
chris epic said:
Not who they were- what the word means. "Franc" "May I speak frankly?" Franc means "Free"
Click to expand...

OED disagrees:
It is usually believed that the Franks were named from their national weapon, OE. franca (:*frankon-) javelin; cf. Saxon (Sahson-), thought to be from *sahso- (OE. seax) knife. The notion that the ethnic name is derived from the adj. meaning ‘free’ (see FRANK a.2) was already current in the 10th century; but the real relation between the words seems to be the reverse of this.]
Click to expand...

And the Frank a.2 says:
francus free; originally identical with the ethnic name Francus (see FRANK n.1), which acquired the sense of ‘free’ because in Frankish Gaul full freedom was possessed only by those belonging to, or adopted into, the dominant people.
Click to expand...

Though, I disagree with OED in one respect: franca was not a javelin but a throwing axe.
 
LW said:
OK, I'll change my criticism to: the national weapon of Franks was the throwing axe and not javelin.
Click to expand...

I don't know if that's entirely true. It is certainly a weapon strongly associated with the Franks, but so is the franca (framée), a javelin somewhat shorter than the Roman pilum.
 
Nick Bogaerts said:
I don't know if that's entirely true. It is certainly a weapon strongly associated with the Franks, but so is the franca (framée), a javelin somewhat shorter than the Roman pilum.
Click to expand...

I went through my bookshelf and it seems that it is not a clear cut matter. Consistent spelling of non-latin words and consistent usage for the latin ones was something that didn't exist.

Here is what Philippe Contamine writes about framea in War in the Middle Ages (page 176, footnote 4):

The term framea (French: framée) sometimes used by modern historians to designate the spear is ambiguous. In fact it signifies a lance in the works of Tacitus but a sword in those of Gregory of Tours and Isidore of Seville. Framen is recorded with the meaning knife in English sources c.550 AD.
Click to expand...

Gregory and Isidore were both contemporaries of early Frankish kings. The contemporary term for javelin was ango that occurs in Agathias's famous description of Frankish warfare [the one that is included in almost every book about early Medieval warfare that I have] and later in the poem Walthari. Contamine gives Latin terms lancea and hasta as occurring in Latin texts describing the ango. As for axe in general, he gives the terms: securis, securis missilis, fransisca, bipennis.

Contamine doesn't use franca anywhere. Neither could I find that term in any other book that I looked at. However, Oakeshott's The Archaelogy of Weapons had:
The other typical weapon was the short light throwing axe. This was always referred to as ''Fransisca'' by the Latin writers and it is hard to say whether the weapon was named after the people who used it, or whether the people were named Franks on account of their favorite weapon; we read of it being called ''Frakki'' as well.
Click to expand...
 
Etymology and Linguistics

Hey, maybe we should just start an etymology and linguistics thread :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom