[Ansteorra] Fw: arbalest: M-W's Word of the Day

[Sean Hertzberg]

Well....yes, I did.  ;)

Avery Shaw
Apprentice to Master Iolo Fitzowen
sometime Head Salesman of New World Arbalest

>But we all knew this one, didn't we?  <G>
>
> > The Word of the Day for December 2 is:
> >
> > arbalest   \AHR-buh-list\   (noun)
> >      : a crossbow especially of medieval times
> >
> > Example sentence:
> >      The destructive power of the arbalest was so greatly
> > feared during the 1100s that some governments tried to outlaw
> > its use.
> >
> > Did you know?
> >      The arbalest was the distance weapon of choice for
> > medieval armies. It was first mentioned in 1100 in _The Anglo-
> > Saxon Chronicle_, a historical record of Saxon England. In 1622
> > British historian Peter Heylyn wrote that Richard the Lion-
> > Hearted, the 12th-century English monarch, was "slain by a shot
> > from an Arbalist." The crossbow's name is one of many terms that
> > came into English from Old French when the Normans took control
> > of England after the Battle of Hastings; our word is adapted
> > from "arbaleste," the French name of the weapon. The French, in
> > turn, derived their word from a combination of the Latin "arcus"
> > (meaning "bow") and "ballista" (itself a derivative of the Greek
> > word for "throw").
> >
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>
>==============================================================
>"There is no problem so serious that it cannot be set
>   right by a sensible woman in an afternoon."
>                               (From "The Madwoman of Chaillot")
>"We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces, saying
>  'Whiskey for my men, and beer for my horses.' "
>                 ---= Willie Nelson and Toby Keith
>
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