The Honeymoon

So what is the origin of the word "honeymoon"? Was it a medieval term for the first month of marriage? Well, in times like these I turn to the Oxford English Dictionary, in which the earliest we see that phrase in English where we are certain it refers to the first month of marriage comes from 1592:

They were marryed: well that daye was past with dauncing and Honney moone it was for a moneth after.

This was written by a writer and playwright Robert Greene (1558-1592). There was an earlier entry. It was yet but hony moone. This is from John Heywood's A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue, 1st edition, 1546. It is likely that this is also the familiar use of "honeymoon." We simply don't know when the phrase was first used. The common notion in cases like this is to say "Well, it must have been around for awhile." Fine, but for how long? Marriages are pretty common, and writing about them is also pretty common, so not finding an earlier reference to a couple embarking on the "honey moon" should give us reason to pause in our assumptions.

Another theory about the origin is that newly married couples were gifted a month's worth of honey mead. I like it. Women were the brewers in the household, since they could stay in and work while the men farmed. A gift like this would allow her time to follow other home-making (baby-making) pursuits. I wish I could find a source for this.

Old English had a term, hony moone, but it refers to a moon during June. Now, perhaps they associated June with marriage, the way the Romans did (June being named after Juno and Juno being the goddess of marriages, and all that), but unless June was the only month that Anglo-Saxons got married...

Speaking of the Northern European types, I found one website that claimed the Norse word hjunottsmanathr meant honeymoon. I can see the resemblance, since "hjuno" looks like "Juno" and would be pronounced "hyuno" and sound a little like "honey." But...no. hjunott means "in hiding" and referred to spending time alone and away from others, celebrating your newly wedded bliss. 

The Demon Titivillus

This post mentioned Titivillus, a demon blamed for causing errors in the writings of Caesarius of Heisterbach. (Here he is in a Book of Hours from 1510, taunting St. Bernard.) More has been written about Titivillus—and he appears in more artist renditions—than some saints!

At a time when fear of demons was common, they were "seen" everywhere: causing children to be ill, folk to go mad, cows to dry up, crops to fail, wells to go bad, etc.—they were constantly interfering with human life. One of them was considered the "patron demon of scribes" because he was blamed for errors in manuscripts. His name was Titivillus, sometimes Tutivillus, but in some of the earliest manuscript mentions, their middle letter is unclear and could be n or u/v, so it is written sometimes as Titinillus.

Despite the connection to Caesarius, and a reference in the writings of John of Wales, who died c.1285, as a demon who existed to introduce errors into scribal work, the Oxford English Dictionary's entry attributes the first reference to Peter Paludanus (c.1275 - 1342), who became Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The OED suggests the name of the demon might come from Latin titivillitium, a "mere trifle." Titivillus must have been looking over James Murray's shoulder, because Titivillus is clearly found in John of Wales' work long before Peter Paludanus would have been writing. In the Tractatus de Penitentia ("Tract on Sin"), we find

Fragmina verborum titivillus colligit horum
Quibus die mille vicibus se sarcinat ille.

Titivillus gathers up the fragments of these words
with which he fills his sack a thousand times a day.

He gets mentioned in a lot of medieval sermons as a reminder to be ever on guard against error and sloth. Titivillus became a character in medieval Mystery Plays. In the 15th century morality play Mankind, Titivillus is summoned by Mischief and other distractions to make Mankind's life difficult, but only after the audience is asked to pay extra money to make him appear (presumably his costume was suitably fabulous to charge extra). Titivillus' standing as a literary figure fades after that, and Shakespeare uses "Tilly-vally" a couple times when a character brushes off a complaint worthy of Titivillus' sack.

Concerning the phrase "fills his sack." This is not about inducing errors into manuscripts, but something else. Titivillus' career gets conflated with that of other popular medieval figures to watch out for: a "recording demon" and a "sack demon." That's an entirely different post.

Titivillus' presence can still be detected, such as in the fact that the OED (and I cannot believe I have never mentioned it and its mentor James Murray before) misses the earliest reference (but then, I am reading from the first edition; it has been updated). He influences my own work: although I proofread my post hours after writing it and being away, I still miss errors, which are found and shared by a very good friend; I know he is a good friend because he reads daily! (Come to think of it, that friend's name is Nick, and isn't "Old Nick" a name for the devil? Maybe he's trying to undo Titivillus' history of work?)

Well, more demons tomorrow.