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19:25 Sep 11, 2010
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - History / Psychoanalytic Case History
French term or phrase:noueur d'aiguillettes
Reference to the marriage of Madame and Monsieur de Sévigné, in 17th century France.
Contexte:
"On croyait tromper le diable grand **noueur d'aiguillettes,** en unissant les futurs la nuit. Tout paraissait bon pour empecher l'impuissance et la frigidité," ccncessions faites à d'obscures croyances populaires."
In some cases I think style was about all there was to be cramped! And I think we'll get cramped by the moderators shortly. The points system demonstrated its efficacy the day one "gentleman" knelt at the feet of a very proper and mature lady, proffering his hastily-detached codpiece deferentially on his outstretched hand - such gallantry!
Not sure if this is of any use to you, given the many other more common meanings of the word "point". Originally just the metal tip (also known as a "chape") clamped onto the end of the lace, later the whole lace itself. They can still be bought: http://historicenterprises.com/chapes-lace-package-of-12-p-1...
I'm familiar with the things from my days in a Renaissance dance group (men in tights with oversized codpieces, women in very tight corsets, etc. - good clean family fun!).
a quick web search brings up numerous references to "empêcher la consommation du mariage"
Check out the Golden Bough for interesting reading on knots and marriage consummation.
Alain Mouchel Local time: 18:10 Works in field Native speaker of: French
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
sorcerer
Explanation: *
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 heure (2010-09-11 20:43:56 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
... denounced him as the sorcerer instigating a calamitous series of thunderstorms which had ruined their harvest.19 .... who had abused him as a "sorcier et noueur d'esguillette. ...... See Le Roy Ladurie, "The Aiguillette: Castration by ... www.jstor.org/stable/3789857
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 heure (2010-09-11 21:21:16 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
i.e. purveyor of impotence
kashew France Local time: 18:10 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 20
13 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
rod hobbler
Explanation: Having forgotten my previous research here http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/slang/1553427-dn...
which has been pointed out above,
my first thought was "aiguillette = penis", a common enough euphemism, along with dard etc., and JMLeger's impression backed this up.
Then I reached for Larousse Lexis, where one finds:
1. AIGUILLETTE .....
CLASS. aiguillette n.f. 1.courir l'aiguillette, en parlant d'une femme, avoir des aventures galantes : La garce qui naquit de l'excrément de l'onde Pour courir l'aiguillette en tous les lieux de monde (Saint-Amant) - 2.Nouer l'aiguillette, faire un maléfice qui rendrait impuissant.
However, it turns out it is not the euphemism that gives this word its meaning, but its medieval meaning:
1. AIGUILLETTE ... 1. Cordon ferré aux deux bouts ayant servi jusqu'au XVIIe s; à attacher les vêtements
[Larousse Lexis]
The 1621 Rituel of Evreux also forbids this superstitious practice, and declares excommunicated ipso facto all those who do it. The 1677 Ritual of Reims excommunicates as well “all the wizards and witches, fortune-tellers, and those who, by bindings and spells, PREVENT THE USE AND CONSUMMATION OF MARRIAGE.”.
The magistrates are not afraid to punish “this nastiness” with capital punishment. The Paris Parliament pronounced it in 1582 and in 1597. In 1718, one of the people known as “binders” or “KNOTTERS OF LACES” was burnt by order of the Bordeaux Parliament.
It must be remembered that CLOTHES, IN THOSE DAYS, WERE NOT FASTENED WITH BUTTONS OR ZIPPERS. THEY WERE HELD TOGETHER BY METAL-TIPPED CORDS – rather like today’s shoe-laces. They were threaded into holes on either side of the opening, thereby lacing it shut. The “binders” were accused of figuratively KNOTTING THE CORD WHICH FASTENED MEN’S BREECHES – a delicate way of describing the problem.
A legal expert of the time of Henri IV, Bodin, finds that such an atrocious crime cannot be too rigorously punished. He points out that the KNOTTERS “are the cause of adulteries and debaucheries which are the result of it, for those who are bound, burning with cupidity for one another, ‘go adulterating’.”.
Boguet, still under the reign of Henri IV, writes: “The practice is today more common than ever, as EVEN CHILDREN KNOT LACES, a thing which merits an exemplary punishment… “
Pierre de Lancre, a contemporary of Boguet, tells us that the terror of this curse is so widespread at the beginning of the XVIIth Century, that MOST MARRIAGES ARE CELEBRATED IN GREAT SECRET AND HIDDEN AWAY.
According to Bodin, there are more than fifty ways to bind a man’s sexuality. He can be bound for a day, for a year, or forever.
The most usual rite is commonly accomplished at the church, during the nuptial ceremony. You TAKE A LACE TO THE WEDDING celebration. When the rings are exchanged, you MAKE A FIRST KNOT in the lace. You make a SECOND ONE at the moment when the priest pronounces the essential words of the sacrement. You make a THIRD ONE when the couple is between the sheets. The husband is bound.
Another method consists in lacing your fingers together with your hands twisted so that the palms are on the outside. You start by the little finger of the left hand and continue slowly, until the two thumbs are joined. Then the charm is perfect. This rite must be accomplished in the church, at the moment when the husband presents the ring to his wife.
Abbot Thiers, the enemy of all superstition, does not go as far as casting doubt on the existence of such spells: “It is not an imaginary and fantastic curse, it is real and effective.”.
The legal expert Fevret, invoking daily experience, adds: “It is as easy to render a man impotent in the art of marriage by this magical art, as it is to bind the tongue and remove the use of speech, stop for a moment galloping horses, immobilise and block the wheels of a mill, charm the barrel of a hunter’s arquebus, and similar things, by spells that the sorcerers do with the help of the demon.” http://marilynkaydennis.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/sexual-impo...
One method recommended for escaping incantations which cause impotency is to recite backwards one of the verses of the Miserere psalm, and to pronounce three times the complete names of both of the newly-weds. The first time, you form a knot on a lace. The second time, you tighten it a bit. The third time, you knot it completely.
You can also make three knots on a cord while saying: Ribal, Nobal, Zanarbi, when the priest gives the nuptial benediction.
Some husbands thought that, to avoid such a disagreeable accident, putting salt in one of their pockets or in one of their shoes, when they went to their marriage, would work. Others passed under the crucifix without bowing, at the moment of the nuptial benediction. Urinating three times in the conjugal ring, while saying: In nomine Patris is another method. Or performing the husband’s act before the celebration of the marriage.
A rather more violent method was to hit the heads and the soles of the feet of the newly-weds with sticks, while they knelt under the stove. Other husbands contented themselves with having two or three rings blessed, sometimes as many as five, all destined for the ring finger of the bride. Or, they advised her to drop the ring when it was presented to her. Weddings could also be performed in secret, at night, in some underground, locked chapel, so that the only people present at the nuptial benediction were people exempt of all suspicion.
The famous surgeon Ambroise Pare writes:
“There is no doubt that THERE ARE SORCERERS WHO KNOT LACES at the hour of weddings, TO PREVENT THE CO-HABITATION OF THE NEWLY-WEDS, on whom they want to nastily avenge themselves to sow discord, which is the true profession and office of the devil.” http://marilynkaydennis.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sexual-impo...
However, as I said in that previous posting:
"... I am far from certain that, in English, reference to fly laces or breechclouts will be understood (any more than I think the French is understood to refer to laces rather than "le dard" (cf "aiguillon")), so quite possibly the best solution would be to use a "physical" image rather than one of sorcery."
Still, I wonder if that is the origin of the British expression "Get knotted"!, the most radical of the three curses "F**k off!", "Sod off!""Get knotted!"
Interesting too that marriage is "the tying of the knot".
Any relation to getting one's knickers in a twist, I wonder?
Maybe we could be inventive.
Would "rod hobbler" be immediately understandable in the context?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 hrs (2010-09-12 11:03:31 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Knob nobbler?
Why are the only words I can think of associated with horses? Something to do with being a stud, maybe?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 hrs (2010-09-12 11:27:36 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The Spanish again:
in 1570 the Spanish intellectual Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva wrote the learned text De Frigidis et Maleficiatis to help distinguish the five categories of impotence that might affect the bonds of wedlock:
Impotence by evil spell
Definition: Impotence due to “mischief” from witchcraft, charms, or curses. For example, during a wedding ceremony, an enemy might tie three KNOTS in a string and chant the words “Ribald, Bobal, and Varnabi” to cause sexual problems.
Grounds for annulment? No, because the evil effects can be combated by using “positive magic.” Recommended remedies include pouring white wine over a new wife’s wedding ring or having the husband urinate through the keyhole of the church where he was married. http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article07121001.aspx
Pages 52 and 53 here mention MYSTIC KNOTS referred to by British authors including Defoe and Burns as causing impotence:
books.google.com/books?isbn=0226500764...
Not certain that this actually applies to Britain:
By the Middle Ages, and for many years thereafter, impotence was believed to be caused by witches. Many believed that tying a MAGIC KNOT into a ring or a key using cord or a strip of leather, and then hiding it, caused impotence of the groom at a wedding. This was known as the 'MAGIC LIGATURE'. The impotence would last until the knot was found and undone by the person who cast the spell. A countermeasure against the ligature involved the groom urinating through the wedding ring the night before the wedding. http://www.firstmed.co.uk/articles/history-erectile-dysfunct...
The medieval Catholic theologians accepted the idea of LIGATURE (IMPOTENCE PRODUCED. BY SORCERY). Women become witches: these charges were set forth in 1484 ...
knol.google.com/k/a-short-history-of-impotence
LIGATURES, MARRIAGE AND PROTECTIVE MAGIC The LIGATURE was also frequently used to cause impotence in men, the symbolism of the KNOT being readily apparent. ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0719036402...
In the middle Ages, the Church attributed erectile failure to witchcraft or the effects of demonic possession. During these times, it was also believed that by trying a certain number of special knots in a cord or leather and hiding this ‘LIGATURE’ in a special place, you could render your victim partially or even totally impotent, or even sterile. A ‘STATE OF LIGATURE’ was recognised as valid grounds for the dissolution of marriage.
Louis XVI, King of France from 1744 to 1789, was unable to consummate his marriage and was impotent during its first seven years. Napoleon Bonaparte suffered from erectile failure in middle age. He described ‘an absence of sexual desire’, which may well have been the result of a hormonal deficiency. www.nzmensclinic.co.nz/FAQs/Lifestyle Choices.html
Maybe "knotter of ligatures" would work since "ligature" is defined in this sense on the Web if not in printed dictionaries.
xxxBourth Local time: 18:10 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 154
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
