Under the Tuscan Sun I

Whew! It has been a long, long time. I'm sorry. I've been reading...just not blogging about it. So sue me! Hah.

I have been reading Under the Tuscan Sun and loving it. Frances Mayes' descriptions...her vivid language, verbs, adjectives....her observtions of Italian life and consequently, American life...it's been great.

It's nothing like the movie. I like the movie, but the movie is no Citizen Kane or Little Women. It's not a watch-again-and-again movie, if you get my drift. But the book! It's been good, good, good to read a book 'thats more setting than plot.

More Vocabulary

argent: something silvery or white.

blench: to shrink; flinch; quail.

embrasure: (in fortification) an opening, as a loophole or crenel, through which missiles may be discharged.

ghyll: A ravine.

lave: Archaic. to bathe.

oast: a kiln for drying hops or malt.

peach: To inform on someone; turn informer.

puissant: powerful; mighty; potent.

recking: to take heed of or to have caution.

recreant: 1. cowardly or craven. 2. unfaithful, disloyal, or traitorous.

serried: pressed together or compacted, as soldiers in rows.

tilth: the physical condition of soil in relation to plant growth.

vambrace: Armor used to protect the forearm.

wain: a farm wagon or cart.

---


"argent." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"blench." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"embrasure." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"ghyll." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"lave." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"oast." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"peaching." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"recking." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"recreant." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"serried." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"tilth." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"vambrace." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 19 Sep. 2008. .

"wain." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 19 Sep. 2008. .

British Vocabulary for a British Mythology

Maybe it's been too long since I've read anything of substance, but I've been coming across words I don't know while reading The Lord of the Rings. (I have a memory for vocabulary and spelling, and if I don't know a word, believe me, it's an Event.)

(Does anyone else get excited about vocabulary? I do. I love learning new words, and memorable words lodge themselves in my mind, along with the way I learned them. These words will always remind me of The Lord of the Rings. Hooray! They're like...intellectual mementos. Others collect sea-shells, or postcards, or pennants, to remember places they've traveled. I, apparently, collect words as knick-knacks.) (If only I could learn to use them as handily!)

My husband pointed out that these words are Middle English. (Because Tolkien was writing a mythology for the British people, you know.) You know what I say to that? "Go ahead on with your clever sassy self, J. R. R.!"

Anyway, here's a list of words from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers that I didn't know. Now I know them.

coomb: deep hollow or valley, especially on flank of a hill.

drabbling: to draggle; make or become wet and dirty.

eyot: An islet, or little isle, in a river or lake.

gangrel: 1. a lanky, loose-jointed person. 2. a wandering beggar; vagabond; vagrant.

holm-oak: evergreen oak of southern Europe having leaves somewhat resembling those of holly; yields a hard wood.

ilex: 1. any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex. 2. a holly.

laund: A plain sprinkled with trees or underbrush; a glade.

mere: A small lake, pond, or marsh.

sward: 1. the grassy surface of land; turf. 2. a stretch of turf; a growth of grass.

---

"coomb." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coomb.

"drabbling." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drabbling.

"eyot." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eyot.

"gangrel." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gangrel.

"holm oak." WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holm oak.

"ilex." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ilex.

"laund." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/laund.

"mere." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mere.

"sward." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Sep. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sward.