Gormenghast Vocabuloot #2

I’m not quite halfway through Titus Groan, the first installment of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast. It’s a peculiar book which merits a separate effort to describe. Briefly: the vibes are certainly gothic, but it isn’t edgy or grimdark; in fact, the characters and scenarios are really quite kooky. It reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth or especially Roald Dahl’s work. What pulls me along is not necessarily the plot but the wry humor lurking in the locution of so many sentences.

Speaking of word choice: I admit I’m a fan of esoteric vocabulary. Here be more of the treasure I’ve picked up from Peake so far:

• Welkin: the sky or the heavens above.
• Cruet: a stoppered bottle for oil or vinegar (I knew the thing but not the name).
• Marl: a crumbly soil rich with calcium carbonate, traditional used to neutralize acidic soil for agriculture.
• Byre: a stable, barn, or “cow house”.
• Infanta: daughter of a monarch.
• Mantilla: lacy formal head scarf.
• Hake: fish.
• Lapsury:  one of Peake’s many portmanteaus; the lap of luxury.
• Fustian: a pretentious style of speech.
• Fructify: to bear fruit or become fruitful.
• Dropsical: swollen with fluid; inflicted with dropsy (edema).
• Pellucid: transparent.
• Abactinal: pertaining to the end opposite the mouth.
• [C]apparisoned: clothed?
• Interlarded: interspersed or interlaced.
• Calumny: defamation or deceptive description.

Posted on Friday, April 5th, 2024.