While I’m away. . .

July 5, 2010 by 46 Comments

I’ll be in Europe for the next couple of weeks, lecturing at John Warwick Montgomery’s apologetics institute in Strasburg, France, and then sightseeing in Germany. Some of you suggested that I get a guest blogger to cover for me while I’m away. What I’m asking is for YOU to be my guest blogger. I will set up some categories and ask you to fill them in with your comments–noting items of interest, putting up links, stating your opinion, and discussing what other people have posted. OK? Will you do that for me? Thanks.

Filed Under: Blog 46 Comments

About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • http://debsueknit.blogspot.com DebbieQ

    What a very interesting idea. I am up for it….I think.

  • http://debsueknit.blogspot.com DebbieQ

    What a very interesting idea. I am up for it….I think.

  • Peter Leavitt

    Dr.Veith, Strasbourg and the Alsace are a very beautiful part of Europe. The students will be lucky to have you, and you will to enjoy the life and scenery there.

    Meanwhile, we’ll try to do justice to your fine idea of some open blogging.

  • Peter Leavitt

    Dr.Veith, Strasbourg and the Alsace are a very beautiful part of Europe. The students will be lucky to have you, and you will to enjoy the life and scenery there.

    Meanwhile, we’ll try to do justice to your fine idea of some open blogging.

  • Booklover

    Is anyone else positively insane with jealousy that they can’t be there to hear JWM and GEV in Europe??? And sightsee in Germany?? Or stand on top of an Alp and holler??

    Are some of you not jealous because you are already there? Like perhaps Bror?

  • Booklover

    Is anyone else positively insane with jealousy that they can’t be there to hear JWM and GEV in Europe??? And sightsee in Germany?? Or stand on top of an Alp and holler??

    Are some of you not jealous because you are already there? Like perhaps Bror?

  • Dan Kempin

    OK, so here is a brain teaser in the absence of Dr. Veith. (A literary brain teaser, too, though I’m not sure what it has to do with vocation.)

    Some time ago I was reading and came across a word I did not recognize. It was clearly a noun by context (and not the hill in east Shropshire.)

    The word was “wrekin.”

    Can you find and define this word?

    I’ll do my best to give you hints if you need them.

  • Dan Kempin

    OK, so here is a brain teaser in the absence of Dr. Veith. (A literary brain teaser, too, though I’m not sure what it has to do with vocation.)

    Some time ago I was reading and came across a word I did not recognize. It was clearly a noun by context (and not the hill in east Shropshire.)

    The word was “wrekin.”

    Can you find and define this word?

    I’ll do my best to give you hints if you need them.

  • Tom Hering

    Rebirth? From an old form of “rekindle” (renew, revive)?

  • Tom Hering

    Rebirth? From an old form of “rekindle” (renew, revive)?

  • Booklover

    When my son ran into the cow with my car, it was a big wrekin.

  • Booklover

    When my son ran into the cow with my car, it was a big wrekin.

  • Peter Leavitt

    Well, Dr. Veith, we tried with this experiment of self blogging on assorted topics; at the moment the effort is at fizzle stage and apparently in process of expiring. We wish you a continued delightful trip to Europe, though will be grateful when you are back; blogs need leadership; yours is sorely missed.

  • Peter Leavitt

    Well, Dr. Veith, we tried with this experiment of self blogging on assorted topics; at the moment the effort is at fizzle stage and apparently in process of expiring. We wish you a continued delightful trip to Europe, though will be grateful when you are back; blogs need leadership; yours is sorely missed.

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Dan (@4), any relation to the archaic word wreke, which means, well, wreck? Because the OED has no idea what you’re talking about. There is, however, this hill in east Shropshire …

    So it’s not a proper noun? And it was in English?

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Dan (@4), any relation to the archaic word wreke, which means, well, wreck? Because the OED has no idea what you’re talking about. There is, however, this hill in east Shropshire …

    So it’s not a proper noun? And it was in English?

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    It is not in my Websters unabridged from 1954, which raised my eyebrow, but when it was not in the Oxford unabridged, I was thoroughly surprised.

    Not a proper noun, and it was in English, though it was a translation of a foreign text. One of Grimm’s tales, in fact.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    It is not in my Websters unabridged from 1954, which raised my eyebrow, but when it was not in the Oxford unabridged, I was thoroughly surprised.

    Not a proper noun, and it was in English, though it was a translation of a foreign text. One of Grimm’s tales, in fact.

  • Dan Kempin

    Booklover, #6,

    I bet he wrecked the grill and left the whole car hamburger. That must have really seared you. Next time, you’ll have to beef up your car insurance.

  • Dan Kempin

    Booklover, #6,

    I bet he wrecked the grill and left the whole car hamburger. That must have really seared you. Next time, you’ll have to beef up your car insurance.

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Wait, Dan (@9), is this a riddle you know the answer to? Because if not, can you just go ahead and give us the sentence in context? If, however, you have worked out the word’s meaning, I’ll see what I can work up, but I’ll probably need more clues anyhow.

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Wait, Dan (@9), is this a riddle you know the answer to? Because if not, can you just go ahead and give us the sentence in context? If, however, you have worked out the word’s meaning, I’ll see what I can work up, but I’ll probably need more clues anyhow.

  • Jacqueline

    Speaking of GEV being away…why is he no longer writing for Tabletalk? I always flipped to the back first to read his commentary. I’ve missed him there this year.

  • Jacqueline

    Speaking of GEV being away…why is he no longer writing for Tabletalk? I always flipped to the back first to read his commentary. I’ve missed him there this year.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    “is this a riddle you know the answer to?”

    Sort of. I have an answer to my satisfaction, but there is probably more to tell. I will be happy to spill the beans, but I thought some might appreciate the challenge. Do you want the word in context?

    In the interest of full disclosure, this is truly a matter of trivia. There is no deep insight to share, theological or otherwise. It is just a funny word that I found.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    “is this a riddle you know the answer to?”

    Sort of. I have an answer to my satisfaction, but there is probably more to tell. I will be happy to spill the beans, but I thought some might appreciate the challenge. Do you want the word in context?

    In the interest of full disclosure, this is truly a matter of trivia. There is no deep insight to share, theological or otherwise. It is just a funny word that I found.

  • http://www.geneveith.com Gene Veith

    Thanks, Jacqueline. I wrote that column for several years, longer than anyone else had. It was time for a change. I will, however, have some articles in Tabletalk coming up.

  • http://www.geneveith.com Gene Veith

    Thanks, Jacqueline. I wrote that column for several years, longer than anyone else had. It was time for a change. I will, however, have some articles in Tabletalk coming up.

  • tODD

    Dan (@13), is it a word applied to a person? Would it help me to know the tale?

  • tODD

    Dan (@13), is it a word applied to a person? Would it help me to know the tale?

  • tODD

    Or is it perhaps a weather phenomenon?

  • tODD

    Or is it perhaps a weather phenomenon?

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    The tale was “Snow White and Rose Red.” The translation was in the Harvard Classics series.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    The tale was “Snow White and Rose Red.” The translation was in the Harvard Classics series.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    (Other translations may render the word differently.)

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    (Other translations may render the word differently.)

  • Tom Hering

    “Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother’s little cottage so neat that it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her mother’s bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the wrekin.”

  • Tom Hering

    “Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother’s little cottage so neat that it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her mother’s bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the wrekin.”

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Thanks, Tom (@19). Having correlated that Harvard Classics version with other translations online, I’ve discovered the apparent meaning of the word, though I’m a little disappointed. Sorry, Dan.

    I was really hoping it was some bizarre early spelling of “hurricane”, using the Welsh W for a long “oo” sound, so that “wrekin” = “oorekin”, which wouldn’t have had a standard spelling so late because it wasn’t something the British Isles dealt with very much. Ah, well. It wasn’t to be.

  • http://www.toddstadler.com/ tODD

    Thanks, Tom (@19). Having correlated that Harvard Classics version with other translations online, I’ve discovered the apparent meaning of the word, though I’m a little disappointed. Sorry, Dan.

    I was really hoping it was some bizarre early spelling of “hurricane”, using the Welsh W for a long “oo” sound, so that “wrekin” = “oorekin”, which wouldn’t have had a standard spelling so late because it wasn’t something the British Isles dealt with very much. Ah, well. It wasn’t to be.

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    “Wrekin Katrina.” That would have been cool, and a little poetic.

    The definition is the easy part, though, thanks to the context. Can you find the etymology?

    Tom,

    That was quick! Do you own the Harvard series, or is it on line? Or do you live at a library?

  • Dan Kempin

    tODD,

    “Wrekin Katrina.” That would have been cool, and a little poetic.

    The definition is the easy part, though, thanks to the context. Can you find the etymology?

    Tom,

    That was quick! Do you own the Harvard series, or is it on line? Or do you live at a library?

  • Tom Hering

    Dan, I did a search for “Grimm wrekin” and it was the first result.

  • Tom Hering

    Dan, I did a search for “Grimm wrekin” and it was the first result.

  • Dan Kempin

    Tom,

    That’s a little disappointing. I was picturing you muttering and wandering with nought but your lantern and your laptop amid the dusty stacks of an old library. Or perhaps you could have lived in the bell tower. Was it at least a dusty old computer you used to “google it?”

  • Dan Kempin

    Tom,

    That’s a little disappointing. I was picturing you muttering and wandering with nought but your lantern and your laptop amid the dusty stacks of an old library. Or perhaps you could have lived in the bell tower. Was it at least a dusty old computer you used to “google it?”


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