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Beowulf, Shaft and Red Herrings


In Old English, "sc" followed by "ae" makes the "sh" sound. And, because I'm a geek, I thought wouldn't it be hilarious to do a remake of "Shaft," but with an Anglo-Saxon hero called "Scæft"?


Who's the Anglo-Saxon dude
That likes to show the chicks his rood?
SCÆFT!
That's hwæt's up!

Who's the man that would risk his neck
For his closest-kin?
SCÆFT!
Can you jiggit?

Who's the thane that's off the chain
Say the seaxy mutha's name ...
SCÆFT!
Rihtdónde!

And, speaking of Beowulf, I also recently found out that the word grindle means "herring." I am forced to wonder if Beowulf was just a fisherman. Or, perhaps, a logician who defeated the terrible Red Grindle?

By the way, the term "red herring" originates from the tradition whereby young hunting dogs in Britain were trained to follow a scent with the use of a "red" (salted and smoked) herring (see kipper). This pungent fish would be dragged across a trail until the puppy learned to follow the scent. Later, when the dog was being trained to follow the faint odor of a fox or a badger, the trainer would drag a red herring (which has a much stronger odor) across the animal's trail at right angles. The dog would eventually learn to follow the original scent rather than the stronger scent.

The man in the wilderness said to me
"How many strawberries grow in the sea?"
I answered him as I thought good
"As many red herring as grow in the wood."

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