On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 6:14 PM, jansymello
<jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
"somebody had said that triplets and heraldic
dracunculi often occurred in trilingual
families..."
From former postings J.Friedman brought up
"Artemisia/Ada" following Victor Fet's information about the
"dracunculus" (botanical and zoological).
Just as something that someone might find to lead somewhere. I think it's much more likely that "spigotty" is supposed to suggest the derogatory "spiggotty" as well as "spigot".
By the way, I didn't remember it; I searched the archives for "Artemisia".
[...]
As for the herbs, there are:
(a) Artemisia
dracunculus L. (Tarragon or dragon's-wort);
(b) "Artemisia tridentata" (sage
brush);
(c) "Common Mugwort Artemisia Vulgaris, L.
Felon-herb, Sailor's Tobacco*.
And many others, some listed at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_%28genus%29
Among the best known is wormwood, /Artemisia absinthium/. The latter is referred to a number of times in Shakespeare, the Bible, and places like that. The Wikiparticle says, "In Russian culture, the fact that
Artemisia species are commonly
used in medicine, and their bitter taste is associated with medicinal
effects, has caused wormwood to be seen as a symbol for a "bitter
truth" that must be accepted by a deluded (often self-deluded) person.
This symbol has acquired a particular poignancy in modern Russian
poetry, which often deals with the loss of illusory beliefs in various
ideologies." I don't know whether that's true or whether it would have any relevance to /Ada/.
Apparently, it is the Common Artemisia that is related to Ada's
sister, Lucette - by the reference to a common sailor and the
Tobakoff, contrary to an expected direct link with the "Artemisia
dracunculus/dragon's-wort" :
(a) " is it true that
a sailor in Tobakoff’s day was not taught to swim so he
wouldn’t die a nervous wreck if the ship went down?’
‘A common sailor, perhaps,’ said Van. ‘When
michman Tobakoff himself got shipwrecked off Gavaille, he swam
around...
(b) Lucette, jumping into the sea from the "Admiral Tobakoff"
ship "did not see her whole life flash before her as we
all were afraid she might have done...the myosotes of an unanalyzable
brook...she swam like a dilettante Tobakoff in a circle of
brief panic and merciful
torpor"**.
All very tempting.
How does the "Artemisia dracunculus"
relate to the "heraldic dracunculi", or to the "tripartite" Artemisia?
Should we refrain to the zoological "dracunculus" and the
caduceus?
The connection to the caduceus strikes me as the most tenuous of all of these.
Aren't we being misled by Artemisia/Ada
to be drawn away from the much simpler link:
"dracunculus/draoncle/festering wound"?
I think "heraldic" suggests that it's not that simple, although the festering wound is probably part of it (and "draguncel", swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin, could be specifically relevant).
Incidentally, I feel sure the mythical Artemisia was named after Artemis, a virgin goddess, which could be connected.
Jerry Friedman