RE: Inaccurate myths; bronzes

From: ALISON PLACE <alison_place_at_...>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:58:32 -0700 (PDT)


Jane Williams wrote: "sword "ex saxo" - from the stone. Original had him taking it "ex saxono" - from the Saxon."

        An amusing derivation, and I'd love to believe it. I've seen heaps of those elision marks, myself. De for domine, for instance. One problem that I can see:  what about the context? Sounds like the middle of a battle scene, taking a sword out of a Saxon. Hardly corresponds with the whole ceremonial set-up. Since Arthur is always fighting the Saxons, I can't imagine him accepting a sword from one as a token of kingship, either.

        On the subject of metallurgy, I remember checking out bronze in the old 11th ed. of the Enc. Britannica way back when I started in Glorantha. Turns out that you can make RW bronze do amazing things by altering the alloys. Even ductile bronze is possible, which doesn't come to mind when thinking of the way the commoner cast alloys can shatter. And there's always the old fallback, which is that bronze is just the nearest equivalent word for the Gloranthan metal.

Alison                 




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