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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Two virgers, carrying their wands of office :-) John Briggs Might I be so bold as to enquire, O acknowledged master of the Sarum Rite, how this is expressed in the Latin? We may be dealing here with a simple mistranslation. If someone were for example translating 'virga' as 'wand of office' this would be fine as long as the wretched creature did not suppose that it was his own wand of office. Assuming that the first verger was carrying the Dean's virga, whose was the second? Or must we suppose that the Dean had a virga so large that it took two vergers to carry it? A moment's reflection must assure you that a verger cannot possibly have a wand of office, since his sole function is to carry the dean's wand of office. If the verger had his own wand of office to show that he was the one who carried the dean's wand of office, he would have to carry two wands, one in each hand. Or is that the function of the second verger? But does the second verger have his own wand of office? If so a third verger would be required, and a fourth, and a fifth, and so on to infinity. But we cannot proceed to infinity. Therefore, a verger does not carry his own wand of office. --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html