Tags
baubles, Dictionaries, Dictionary Day, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragonkeeping, Dragons, Gaudy Bauble Day, Month of the Dragon, St. Audrey, Vocabulary
The air is crisp, the October sun shimmering off the remaining leaves gilding the trees, and I just returned from browsing for gaudy baubles, getting a little something by way of draconic thank-you to Boon for not roasting my laptop yesterday. With Dragons and people, a little appreciation goes a long way.
The history of Gaudy Bauble Day goes way back to the fairs of merry olde England in honor of St. Audrey, with their stands full of colorful trinkets and gewgaws. Dragons, being pagan to the core, tend to have no feelings about St. Audrey one way or another, but they do love a good bauble any day of the year. Like bears follow honey, it follows that they would latch onto GBD and claim it as their own.
So, get out. Venture forth to tag sale or fair, and get a jump on your holiday shopping, and remember that, for Dragons, it is the thought – not the expense – that counts.
Now, for a change of pace:
Dragon keeping, like other arcane vocations, has a vocabulary all its own. Over the years, some of these terms have entered the vernacular, but a great many are still little understood by the general public. To remedy that situation, this year, as a public service, we have added something new to the MotD calendar: Dictionary Day!
Though everyone else was celebrating it on the 16th, we realized yesterday dracophiles would be far too busy with their Dragons at the watercooler to have time for much else. So we have pushed it up a day and extended it through this weekend.
Today, we will start with the basics.
Cryptherpetology: A k a Secret Serpent Science, Remarkable Reptile Research, and Dragon Studies. The field for serious dracophiles. Cryptoherpetology also covers such non-dragons as the cockatrice, chimera, and wide variety of water beings who fall in that grey area between fish and reptile.
Enchantment: The basic draconic family unit or clan. A modern enchantment include from 10-15 individuals.
Weyr: A Dragon community. In the old days, a weyr could easily accommodate 5-7 enchantments. Unfortunately, everything is down-sized today: modern weyrs are 2-3 enchantments large at most.
Queen: A breeding female Dragon.
Sire: A breeding male Dragon.
True Dragons: The three species of Big D Dragons: Western or European Dragons, Eastern or Asian Dragons, and Feathered or Southern Dragons. All others are pseudo dragons. Accept no substitutions.
Pseudo dragons: A broad class of creatures who, in the popular imagination, are frequently lumped together with True Dragons but who are distant relatives at best. The ranks of pseudo dragons include wyverns, nagas, house dragons, wyrms, and drakes, to name but a very few.
And finally:
Dracophile: A Dragon lover. Like you.
MacKENZIE's Dragon's Nest 
Magnificent Dragons. Good to know information. Baubles are sparkly. Dragons love them and so does another creature I also love, the Crow. They’d like Dragons for sure. Much to talk about. Adventures to share. I’ve known a few personally. If I thought about, I wonder if they might think along the same imaginations. Clever both and Intelligent. Trust some humans but not sure about some. And like sparklys in an unusual and needed for enjoyment kind of way. jk 🙂
Crows – yes, very bright. And then there are certain cats, too, who decide to hoard anythinng they can.
Yes, they are becoming very characteristic of crows. Special hiding places too. One can’t imagine what treasures one can find if you locate their stash. For crows, it’s in the gold. For cats, squashly and carriable objects. After all they have to use their canine teeth to manage their haul. 🙂 ps. the two words were created just for this comment. I am referring to “squashly” & “carriable.” They just sound right, that’s all. 😉
🙂 Carriable is actually a word. Not used often but it is a word.
Ha! I am impressed with myself for the moment. I had no idea. 🙂
🙂
So nice to be here among other Dracophiles like myself. And thanks for the dictionary look – that is helpful. I often get the enchantment and weyr mixed up.
My pleasure. A few more tidbits coming later today, soon as I scrape the frost off the proverbial pumpkins. >:-)