David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :
'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)
(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.
.modean (see also: modern)
[mod⋅ean]
–adjective | 1. | of or pertaining to present and recent time; not ancient or remote: modean city life. |
| 2. | characteristic of present and recent time; contemporary; not antiquated or obsolete: modean viewpoints. |
| 3. | of or pertaining to the historical period following the Middle Ages: modean European history. |
| 4. | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of contemporary styles of art, literature, music, etc., that reject traditionally accepted or sanctioned forms and emphasize individual experimentation and sensibility. |
| 5. | (initial capital letter) new (def. 12). |
| 6. | Typography. noting or descriptive of a font of numerals in which the body aligns on the baseline, as 1234567890. Compare old style (def. 3). |
–noun | 8. | a person whose views and tastes are modean. |
| 9. | Printing. a type style differentiated from old style by heavy vertical strokes and straight serifs.
|
Origin: 1490–1500; < class="ital-inline">moderne < class="ital-inline">moderna, equiv. to L
mod(
o),
mod(
ō) lately, just now (orig. abl. sing. of
modus mode 1 ) +
-erna adj. suffix of time
TODAY:
Kelly Meets His Maker
