wæfer-gange, f.n: a spider (lit. walker-weaver). (“wa-ver-gong-eh”)
See the new spider post on Dēor-hord, a medieval and modern bestiary!
A six-legged spider spins a web. Jacob van Maerlant’s Der Naturen Bloeme. Flanders, c. 1350. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, fol. 130r. [manuscripts.kb.nl]
illustration by James Merry
bān-fæt, n.n: the bone vessel, the body. (“bahn-vat”)
dæg-candel, f.n: day-candle, i.e. the sun. (“da-y-kahn-dell”)
The Creation of the Sun and the Moon (detail), Master of Jean de Mandeville, in Historical Bible (Bible historiale; original sources in Latin). Paris, c. 1360–70. The J. Paul Getty Museum. MS. 1, vol. 1, fol. 5.
lind-plega, m.n: shield-play, battle. (“leend-pleh-ga”)
grēot-hord, n.n: a repository of earth, i.e. the body. Occurs only 1x (Guthlac B).
friðo-webba, m.n: a peace-weaver, an angel.
Image: British Library, Add. MS 49598, f. 51v: Full-page miniature of the Three Marys at the Tomb, preceding the benediction for Easter Sunday. The manuscript is the Benedictional of St Æthelwold, written by the scribe Godeman for St Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester from 963-984.
brim-lād, f.n: the path of the sea, sea-way.
Image from Manuscript Road Trip blog post: The beast of the sea encounters the dragon. From the Burckhardt-Wildt Apocalypse. France, ca. 1295. Detroit Institute of Arts, Acc. 1983.20A, verso.
hēafod-gim, m.n: jewel of the head, i.e. the eye.
Diagram of the seven tunics and three humours of the eye, with parts of the head.
Image: Illustration from a medical miscellany that includes the ‘book of Macharias on the eye called Salaracer or secret of secrets’; British Library, MS Sloane 981 (fol. 68r). England; last quarter of the 14th or first quarter of the 15th century.
sǣwudu, m.n: a ship; literally, ‘sea-wood’.
Noah’s Ark image from Coquinaria. If anyone knows more about it, please comment below.
segl-rād, f.n: the sail-road, the sea.
