medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>It is this latter word, and its semantic
>counterpart in German ("Driesch"), for which I have been wondering if
>there isn't a conventional term in English, as there is in French and in
>German. If the French and German words are used in toponyms (e.g. "aire
>St.-Mittre", "Gereonsdriesch"), then the pieces of land to which they
>refer in this usage must be permanently or at least usually left
>uncultivated. So one of these could be an "uncultivated area" or a
>"fallow area" but not, in English, a "fallow", as the latter noun
>implies an intent to cultivate in a coming year.
Dear John,
I don't mean to challenge your expertise in agriculture, but as I understand it a 'driesch' is simply a piece of land that is either permanently uncultivated or supposed to be recultivated after a regular interval of normally -- I believe -- four years. The verb 'drieschen' (not to be confounded with 'dreschen') means to plow a fallow, and 'drieschhafer' is oat or other seed to be sown on a fallow. See Grimms Woerterbuch der deutschen Sprache:
http://www.dwb.uni-trier.de/
So I would say that there is no real difference between a fallow and a 'driesch'.
Best, O.
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