<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 18 July 2009 - Volume 06<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands@lowlands-l.net">lowlands@lowlands-l.net</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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===========================================<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" lang="NL">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Etymology</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Roger, you wrote under "Resources" about the name Ulensp(i)eghel:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font size="2">5. A
comment in the Segers & Visscher edition about the name Ulenspiegel,
quote:</font></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font size="2"><em>In
de streek van Mölln heet "kussen of likken" "<strong>uhlen</strong>", en het
achterste van viervoetig wild heet "<strong>Spiegel</strong>". Het is dus niet
moeilijk om in 'uil en spiegel' de uitdrukking <strong>'uhl min
Spiegel'</strong> te herkennen, wat zoveel wil zeggen als "kus m'n gat", of nog
platter "lik m'n reet".</em></font></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In other (English) words, in the Low Saxon dialect of the area of Mölln, where Ulenspeghel last lived and was buried, the verb </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">uhlen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> means 'to kiss' or 'to lick'. In the hunters' jargon in a large area, </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Spegel</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> (</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">speygel</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">) and </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Spiegel</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">, literally "mirror") denotes the (usually light-colored) behind of game. The </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Herkunftsduden</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> pretty much confirms this what you cited there. But it translates it literally as </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">feg (mir) den Spiegel</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> ("sweep my mirror"). What is meant here is what many Americans are familiar with in the Yiddish phrase </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kush mir dem tokhes</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> (קוש מיר דעם תּחת, better known written "phonetically" as </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kish mirn tukhes</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">), lately used translated as "Kiss my ass!"</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Why </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">fegen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> 'sweep'? In most Modern Low Saxon dialects, </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">ulen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> means 'to sweep', not with a broom (</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Bessem</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">) in which case the verb is </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">fägen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">, but usually with a soft brush, German </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Handfeger</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">, which in Low Saxon is called </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Handuul</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> or simply </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Uul</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> (Missingsch </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Handeule, Eule</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">), synonymous with the word for "owl". Apparently it started off with a feather duster (German </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Flederwisch</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">). The Duden claims it came to be named after an owl because of its look. Huh? Might it have started with an owl feather or bunch of owl feathers? The origin of a feather duster is supposed to be a goose feather. Perhaps it was preceded by owls' wing feathers which are very strong and can be found lying around in the woods.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A Middle Saxon expression for a disheveled head of hair is </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">ruge ule</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> ("rough owl"). This seems to refer to a feather duster or brush.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">All manner of things have been attributed to owls in Lowlands traditions. Someone already mentioned Dutch </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">uil</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> denoting or once having denoted "fool" (contrary to the tradition of wise owls). In a Low Saxon idiomatic expression (which I think Hanne mentioned once) there seems to be a reference to owls as spoilers: </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Daar hett 'n Uul säten</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> ("An owl sat there"), meaning "It's going to be a bust", "There's no chance of success". This expression existed already in Middle Saxon: </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">dar het ene ule seten</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">. I wonder if this is related to the Dutch use of </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">uil</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> as 'fool', namely something like "A fool was involved (which is why the project will fail)".</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In the said traditions, owls have a bad image. Aside from what I already mentioned, bad people, especially bad children, can be referred to as </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Ulensaat</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> ("owl seed) in Low Saxon. It may all be connected with the supposedly ancient notion that owls are harbingers of death. Repeated owls' calls used to be taken as announcements of impending death among those that heard it, especially if there was an ill person in the house.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Back to Ulenspeghel ... These days he tends to be depicted wearing a jester's costume. If there ever was such a person, I am sure he was not dressed that way. Also, he is depicted with an owl and a mirror. I assume that in Middle Saxon times most people understood that this and the nickname Ulenspeghel constituted wordplay and what it really represented.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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