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Subject: foomen
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All
Does anybody what this word means?
It's and Old English word I accidentally stumbled upon and now I wonder what it means.
For example from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: The Monk Tales:
Unto his lemman Dalida he tolde
That in hise heeres al his strengthe lay,
And falsly to hise fooman she hym solde;
And slepynge in hir barme upon a day
She made to clippe or shere hise heres away,
And made hise foomen al this craft espyn.
And whan that they hym foond in this array,
They bounde hym faste, and putten out hise eyen.
Is this a misspelling of "fooman" or v.v.? Or is it a plural of "foom" (How old is -s for plurals in English or has it always been like that?) or fooman? Is it a friend/comrade/warrior/etc. or is it a woman?
It's and Old English word I accidentally stumbled upon and now I wonder what it means.
For example from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: The Monk Tales:
Unto his lemman Dalida he tolde
That in hise heeres al his strengthe lay,
And falsly to hise fooman she hym solde;
And slepynge in hir barme upon a day
She made to clippe or shere hise heres away,
And made hise foomen al this craft espyn.
And whan that they hym foond in this array,
They bounde hym faste, and putten out hise eyen.
Is this a misspelling of "fooman" or v.v.? Or is it a plural of "foom" (How old is -s for plurals in English or has it always been like that?) or fooman? Is it a friend/comrade/warrior/etc. or is it a woman?
Looks like enemy (foeman) from the context, since when 'they' find him they tie him up and cut out his eyes...
assuming that's what it says..
(edited)
assuming that's what it says..
(edited)
it is an abbreviation of footman or in this case footmen.
Chaucer rocks!
Chaucer rocks!
indeed it does, but it isn't what we learn at school.
Contextually, I think my answer is better. Samson isn't done over by his own chaps, which is how I'd read 'his footmen', unless the 'his' refers not to Samson, but the Philistine head honcho.
Given the randomness of spelling at the time, maybe foomen could be used for both footmen and foemen alike.
Who knows?
Given the randomness of spelling at the time, maybe foomen could be used for both footmen and foemen alike.
Who knows?
At which school do you learn that? Elementary/secondary school or do you need to study English?
for A level English Lit. At secondary school - about a thousand years ago
Its foe men or foes, as we would call them now.
Its the story of Samson and Delilah who in modern day parlance slept with Sampson learned his secrets and sold them to the tabloids for cash before rushng off to bed the next fool that wandered into the VIP suite.
Its the story of Samson and Delilah who in modern day parlance slept with Sampson learned his secrets and sold them to the tabloids for cash before rushng off to bed the next fool that wandered into the VIP suite.
Geoffrey Chaucer......Author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat.
The father of English literature.
Although Chaucer's language is much closer to modern English than the text of Beowulf, it differs enough that most publications modernise (and sometimes bowdlerise) his idiom.
Also a good school named after him....Eh Jaize?
(edited)
The father of English literature.
Although Chaucer's language is much closer to modern English than the text of Beowulf, it differs enough that most publications modernise (and sometimes bowdlerise) his idiom.
Also a good school named after him....Eh Jaize?
(edited)
Ha Ha that would have been funny!
School in Canterbury, with..Good teachers!
Jaize is to tough for any boxing school.
School in Canterbury, with..Good teachers!
Jaize is to tough for any boxing school.
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