Tlacaelel

[Craig Berry]

I don't know; I've always thought that having a pivotal player in
Nahua history named "Big-liver guy" was somehow very appealing. :)  On
a more serious note, if one does go with the big liver interpretation,
is there any evidence for a mythic connection with the liver which
might explain the name, analogous to e.g. Richard the Lion-Hearted?

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 11:52, John F. Schwaller <schwallr at potsdam.edu> wrote:
>
> In teaching my class on the Mexica I always try to translate the names
> of the characters who play such an important role in their history.
> There are good translations for the names of the huei tlahtoque, but how
> would one translate Tlacaelel, the famous cihuacoatl?
>
> I have always thought that it was more related to anguish and suffering
> (tlacaellotl) than to liver (tlacaelli).  Along the lines of anguish we
> have Molina's gloss of "tlacaellelli" - The one who is dispossessed,
> punished, or who has great poverty, for having been avaricious, cruel,
> without mercy towards the poor, when he had abundance with which to aid
> them and do good toward them"
>
>
>
> --
> *****************************
> John F. Schwaller
> President
> SUNY - Potsdam
> 44 Pierrepont Ave.
> Potsdam, NY  13676
> Tel. 315-267-2100
> FAX 315-267-2496
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nahuatl mailing list
> Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl
>



-- 
Craig Berry - http://www.cine.net/~cberry/
"Lots of things in the universe don’t solve any problems, and
nevertheless exist."  -- Sean Carroll

_______________________________________________
Nahuatl mailing list
Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl