by Freebeard on Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:25 pm
i saw that show. the woolen maille was fairly hilarious - worse than that in monty python's hile grail.
but one thing i might bring up for ancient sources is translations.
not all translations are purely satisfactory - the vast majority of translations are given as ok, unless it can be proved otherwise. by this i mean, one person's translation of a certain text/word/phrase can be accepted as proper merely by being the closest (if it is not entirely accurate) and until someone can provide a better translation, this will be the accepted.
this is appening alot in Irish manuscripts these days, where many scholars are editing old translations of texts and try to provide better translations. so maybe the translation of "armour of maille" may not be wholly accurate but acepted as the best translation. saying this though it could be an entirely accurate translation.
but i think people need to be weary of the fact that a translation of a text is going to be based on someone's interpretation of the language, especially with older translations.
regards,
Andrew
-'Dligid Diummus Dermat'
"Wyt ti’n ffrwtin fel gwyddel"
(you are farting like an irishman)