the elider?
one who elides
an elder
x
c
On Feb 11, 2012, at 11:58 AM, Lawrence Upton wrote:
> Hi
>
>> In Canada, we have a lot of so-called book length 'documentaries,'
>> usually based on some historical figure & what is archived about him or
>> her. I dont know Elidius as such a figure; is he?
>
> No, I don't think so. There seems to have been precious little written
> about him.
>
> His name became corrupted. I do not have the details and do not even know
> if it applies to his name as Elidius – I once came to the conclusion that
> it means the eraser, and that quite appeals to me, out of Latin
>
> but I am not so concerned with the process of his reputation post-mortem
> as with what I can do with him alive in quotes; and part of that is that
> there is no record
>
> Anyway, the corruption. Briefly, I seem to remember, something happens
> when you translate a name into Latin and then back into Cornish. It
> changes gender. I think it's an a that's added. Poles I know whose name
> ends -ski have wives with names ending -a.
>
> Something like that happens as part of translation.
>
> And then the inability to cope with foreign names. Cornish seems to have
> gone from Scilly / Ennor by the 16th century.
>
> What is thought to be Elid's oratory (and maybe Elid is nothing to do with
> the Latin process of erasure) is now on St Helen's Isle. It appears he was
> St Helen linguistically regendered. (The island of St Agnes is actually
> from ek ennes, off island, in conjectural Cornish – it doesnt seem to have
> been written down till the late 15th century.) But they do like labelling
> everything with saint. Charles Thomas takes pages to rubbish the idea of
> it having anything to do with the female name.
>
> St Helen's island would not have been an island then.
>
> So there isn't much. Nowadays in the summer - 6th Aug – they go over and
> say prayers for him with him at him. I'm never there then.
>
> It was said by one ancient author that two early Christian heretics were
> exiled to Ennor and this has been taken up by many if you read the cottage
> industry of tourist guides for the gullible; so that the archipelago was
> apparently full of exiles rather than the unverifiable possibility of 2;
> but it gives me ideas!
>
> Another thing that I have used somewhere is from relatively late, pardon
> me but I forgotten my source, 18th century? Anyway the island council
> decided that the only thing to do with a persistent thief was to chain
> her to a rock which swamped at high tide... So they didn't actually down
> her or some such nonsense. It struck me as the kind of thing people do to
> each other
>
> And that's that
>
> I have been thinking back to Nichol's martyrology. Not that there is a
> connection. But there is in my head. What am I doing here? That kind of
> connection. I was quite distressed when I heard about the martyrology
> because I was still trying to inhabit the let's not talk about god state
> of mind
>
> Heh ho
>
> Thanks for the question. Another good one
>
> Oh and there is an elidius in Wales. It seemed to me that was someone
> else. A common name?
>
> I have also heard it said that some say he was a Gaul and some a Briton –
> later a dreaded Anglo
>
> So there must be some writing. But I don't think there's much and it's not
> that accessible. which gives me scope
>
> St Elidius and the temple of doom, St Elidius meets Harry Potter, St
> Elidius rescues Indiana Jones
>
> L
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