Jerry: I’ve also been browsing listserv for Vseslav enlightenment. So many matches. One point I don’t find mentioned, probably because it’s TOO obvious to Victor Fet and his compatriots (whose wretched homeland, according to the TV Weatherperson, has brought sub-arctic conditions to our Sceptered Isle – we demand satisfaction – dyuel snegom? - icicles at dawn), may not be familiar to those with less Russian than me: Vseslav from prefixial Vse = all/omni- , would seem to mean PAN-SLAV. I know that Pan Slavism has nasty modern connotations in some areas, but its roots go way back, and it’s a natural name and aim, perhaps even a HONORIFIC for any self-resepecting, expansionist, Mad King.
Re-that virile vir root, our week-one Virgil lesson (1941) was “Arma virumque cano!” (I sing of arms and the MAN)
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 07/02/2009 18:59, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] new in Zembla
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 09:17:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> <mailto:jerry_friedman@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> <mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
CC: jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
Dear Steve Arons,
If you don't mind my disagreeing with something in your
recent post, I interpret "Vseslav" as one of Charles's
given names. In Russian it's a given name, not a surname
(I believe). Charles has several names and no surname,
like Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) or Prince
Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George).
Here's a post of mine from December 2006 on the name
Vseslav (after some other stuff):
http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8245
with a response from Jansy Mello:
http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8557
and one from Victor Fet:
http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8373
This reminded me to check something I wondered in those
posts: whether Russian /vira/, meaning kinbote or weregild,
is related to "weregild" (and "werewolf"). It is. The
Russian etymological dictionary by Max Vasmer (Maks Fasmer)
is available at
http://imwerden.de/pdf/preobrazhensky_etimologihesky_slovar_tom1_1914.pdf
(volume 1), and on p. 318 it says that "vira" is assumed to
be a loanword from the Germanic languages, related to
modern German "Wergeld". (If I'm reading it correctly
with the help of a dictionary.)
This doesn't prove anything, but if Nabokov meant "Vseslav"
and maybe "Kinbote" to suggest werewolves, as I think, then
it may provide a little additional enjoyment.
On your suggestion about the V., I'm with Matt--I enjoy the
idea, but I don't think there's any way to be sure (not
totally different from "vira" and "werewolf"). Now if
Kinbote's first name had begun with an R...
Jerry Friedman
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