cūe mesa, m.n: cow’s dung. (KOO-eh-meh-za)
This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is about Windsor and its first appearance in writing. Read it on Patreon.
Three knights encounter a bonnacon. Gautier de Coincy, Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame. 13th century. Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, 0551, f. 10v. [demonagerie.tumblr.com]
hearma, m.n: a field-mouse or a dormouse. (HAY-ar-ma)
Worksop Bestiary. England, c. 1185. New York, Morgan Library, MS M.81, f. 47r. [ica.themorgan.org]
wæter-bucca, m.n: an aquatic insect, a water-spider. (WAT-er-BUCK-kah)
weoloc, m.n: a kind of shell-fish, a whelk, cockle; also the dye obtained from such fish. (WAY-oh-lock)
Nucella lapillus. Photo by Martin Talbot (2005). Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. [en.wikipedia.org]
frox, m.n: a frog. (FROKS)
This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is on medieval frogs. Read it on Patreon.
Institutes of Justinian. France, 15th century. Montpellier, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire, Section Médecine, H 418, f. 23v. [discardingimages.tumblr.com]
cū-cealf, n.n: a cow’s calf. (KOO-CHAY-alf)
The Ashmole Bestiary. England (Peterborough?), early 13th century. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1511, f. 30v. [bestiary.ca]
fīfalde, f.n: another word for butterfly. (FEE-vald-eh)
See also buter-flēge.
Romance of Alexander in French verse, from the workshop of Jehan de Grise. Flemish (Bruges?), 1338-1344. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodl. 264, f. 67r. [image.ox.ac.uk]
buter-flēge, f.n: a butterfly. (BUH-ter-FLAY-yeh)
Butterfly in a Book of Hours. France (Provence), c. 1440-1450. New York, Morgan Library, MS M.358, f. 111r. [ica.themorgan.org]
hēah-dēor, n.n: a stag, deer. [HAY-ah-DAY-or]
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Image: Marginal deer in Bible. Northeastern France, last quarter of the 13th century. New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, MS. M.969, f. 411r. [ica.themorgan.org]
gærs-stapa, m.n: a “grass-stepper”, locust. [GÆRS-stah-pa]
Book of Hours of Joanna I of Castile. Netherlands, S. (Bruges), 1486-1506. British Library, Add MS 18852, fol. 30r. [bl.uk]
