Monday, June 8, 2015

This Week's Sneak Peep

We're peeping rather than peeking this week.

The legend of Peeping Tom was grafted onto the story of Lady Godiva some six centuries after her famous ride through Coventry. Linguists have noted that "Tom" is not a name one would expect to find among 11th Century Anglo-Saxon townspeople. The idea that Tom went blind (or was blinded by others) after being the sole resident of the town to sneak a peep at the naturalist equestrienne may or may not have been a part of his original story.

Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. Did you know that there is no feminine equivalent of "Earl"? The closest modern day title would be "countess."

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