Travel advice

by CD Richards

An ancient mariner set out to Thule for a dare,
for no one knew what sort of strange folk he'd encounter there.
But when he landed, it would seem things took a nasty turn,
though how he died, or when, is something we have yet to learn.

So, if you have a hankering to go exploring, then
it might be best to take along a crew of sturdy men
and women, for you know not what disturbing things you'll find—
in numbers, there is safety, and a certain peace of mind.

But if you should meet up with fierce and warlike foreign folk,
it's wise to take it soberly, not treat it as a joke.
Best keep your silence, don't be one who's known to run his mouth,
and if it all should turn to crap, turn tail and head back south!

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Today's word: Thule (n.) an extreme point, or the extreme point of a journey of discovery. Pronounced "thoo-lee".

An early Greek explorer named Pytheas wrote of a journey to Thule in the 4th century BC. Iceland, Greenland, Norway and northern Scotland have all been suggested as possible locations for the "ends of the Earth" he describes.

The word is apt for today, as it was on this day in 1911 that Roald Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole.

My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.

Thanks for reading.

Image: Unknown Unknown author [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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Travel advice

by CD Richards

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