medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Chers tous
"brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts" is a french locution present in
Oudin (17th century, but probably before) = use and abuse of something.
I met also "avoir des ongles assez grands pour faire des lanternes" to
have nails large enough to build a lantern with.
But nothing in french, as I know, about nails and candles...
Et meilleurs voeux à tous
Denis
Le 11/01/2012 20:24, Christopher Crockett a écrit :
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> hello Otfried.
>
> good to hear from you.
>
> while i cannot help with your specific question, it did put me in mind of the
> English expression, a "burning question," which the OED traces back to the
> French "question brûlante" and the German "brennende Frage."
>
> Americans also have Ms. Millay's famous candle which "burns at both ends"
>
> http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/burn+the+candle+at+both+ends
>
> which the Brits apparently claim to have invented
>
> http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/burning-the-candle-at-both-ends.html
>
> but this is probably not related.
>
> i've certainly never seen any visual representation of the phenomenon and
> can't Nail the issue down any further.
>
> c
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> Received: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:53:49 PM EST
> From: "[log in to unmask]"<[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [M-R] Query: candles glued on fingernails?
>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> Dear all
>>
>> In German, there is an idiomatic phrasologism, 'etwas brennt jemandem auf
> (or:
>> unter) den (Finger-)Nägeln' ("something is burning on somebody's
>> (finger-)nails"), for expressing a situation of urgency requiring an
> immediate
>> solution (for more detail see my article "Auf den Nägeln brennen" in the
> German
>> Wikipedia). It can be traced back to the 16th century, where it was recorded
> by
>> Eberhardus Tappius (1539) and Sebastian Franck (1541) in its linguistically
>> slightly different and in its metaphor slightly more concrete form 'die
> kertz
>> ist vff den nagel gebrant' ("the candle is/has burnt to down to the nail")
> as a
>> popular German adage and semantic equivalent to the (etymologically
> unrelated)
>> Latin adage 'res ad triarios rediit' (which in turn is referring to a
> critical
>> situation in battle, when all normal troops have failed and only the
> 'triarii'
>> can still be used as a reserve).
>>
>> In its earlier form attested by Tappius and Franck, the German saying seems
> to
>> imply a candle held between the fingertips and burning down to them: in
> this
>> case, the "nagel" would have to be understood as a metonymy for the
> fingertip
>> and probably also as a synecdoche sing. pro plur. circumscibing both
> fingertips
>> that are holding the candle and are burnt by its flame when the wax has
> reached
>> its end. In the 19th century however, Josua Eiselein (1840) has brought up
> a
>> more concrete explanation, wich has since gained a certain currency and
>> acceptance in dictionaries and etymological discussions: according to
> Eiselein,
>> people (later critics speak of "medieval monks") in need of light for
> reading in
>> a dark churchroom used to glue small candels with wax on their fingernails.
> In
>> this case the "nagel" could be taken to the letter as the single fingernail
> to
>> which the candle fixed on this nail is burning down.
>>
>> Eiselein and his followers never supplied any evidence for the alleged
> medieval
>> or early modern practice of fixing candles on ones fingernails. I myself
> have
>> certain reseverations (especially with regard for claiming this practice as
>> typical for the churchroom), but as I am no expert for everyday practice in
>> medieval or early modern times, I would like to ask the usually better
> informed
>> members of this list: have you ever encountered a mention of this practice
> in
>> your sources, or do you happen to know iconographic evidence of it?
>>
>> Kind regards to all (and belated wishes for a happy new year to everyone!),
>>
>> O.L.
>>
>> Dr. Otfried Lieberknecht
>> D-48157 Münster
>> Dorbaumstr. 86
>> Tel. +49 (0) 173 864 7127
>> [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.lieberknecht.de
>>
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--
« Je me méfie des gens qui écrivent des livres; si on en est arrivé là, c'est bien à cause d'eux... »
Denis Hüe
professeur de langue et de littérature du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance
codirecteur du département de Lettres
responsable du Centre d'Etude des textes médiévaux
http://www.sites.univ-rennes2.fr/celam/cetm/
co responsable du site arthurien de Rennes
http://bbsia.adinlive.com/
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