Subject: Wasn't Methuselah...
Author:
Posted on: 2008-09-06 23:32:00 UTC
...the oldest man to ever live, biblically speaking? I mean, of course, the man who lived to the oldest age in the bible. In the Old Testament... I think he's one of the begats... Adam's many-times-great-grandchild or some such...
*shrugs*
I think it's fine, though.
--Mystia
There I was, happily settled on a horse for a character of mine. Firefoot, a white mare with a reddish ring above her front left hoof. Then I read The Two Towers and discover that damn Horse Lord already had a Firefoot.
Does it matter that mine's based on a friend's horse (well, pony), or will I still have to rename Firefoot? Eomer's also hasn't got a description (to my knowledge).
The fact that it's named after Eomer's (*swoon*) horse only makes the name more awesome. Go ahead!
I have a horse owned by another character. It's called Methusel (no description yet). I keep thinking that it sounds familiar, like I've pulled a Paolini and transposed letters or added/deleted some. I've already ruled out Methredel from Oblivion (Thieves' Guild person), but there's still a nagging doubt in my head.
...the oldest man to ever live, biblically speaking? I mean, of course, the man who lived to the oldest age in the bible. In the Old Testament... I think he's one of the begats... Adam's many-times-great-grandchild or some such...
*shrugs*
I think it's fine, though.
--Mystia
Technically, we're all Adam's many-time-great-grandchildren if you use that creation myth. Therefore, incest should not be banned under Christianity because we're all doing it. Our gene pool was lessened even further by the Great Flood. :P Just saying.
And it wasn't him because I've never heard of him before. Thanks anyway though.
Ah, but that's where miracles come in. Or, if you prefer, miracles masquerading as microevolution.
I'd tend to suspect that the horse was based on Methuselah's name anyway, if only because of the excessive similarity between them. And, after all, living 969 years is an impressive enough accomplishment that the name's crept out into our culture. The Wikipedia article has the following under "see also:"
# Back to Methuselah, a set of plays by George Bernard Shaw
# Methuselah Mouse Prize
# Methuselah (tree)
# "Requiem for Methuselah", an episode of Star Trek
# 2000 Year Old Man, a recurring Methuselah comedy routine by Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.
# Methuselah's Children, a work of fiction by Robert A. Heinlein about long lived humans as a result of genetic selection.
# The Methuselah Factor, a book by Vernon Eric Bridges, a far-fetched story of longevity.
Might you be familiar with any of those?
"Requiem for Methuselah" stuck in my head. I've got TOS on DVD, but haven't been too impressed with the episodes I've seen. *cough*Picard can beat up Kirk any day*cough*
I suppose that it might have randomly stuck in my subconsious and came out as Methusel, but Methusel is hardly the longest living horse in the world. I think he's about five when he runs into a pike.
"And, after all, living 969 years is an impressive enough accomplishment that the name's crept out into our culture."
Yeah, I find that age hard to believe though. What with modern humans being very lucky if they hit 110 even with all our medical advances.
But there are like three separate creation myths in that one bit of Genesis all going one into the other. It makes for a fun theological discussion, but isn't very useful.
Ah well. It's a nice name for a horse regardless of where it came from.
--Mystia
but I decided that it probably wasn't. Admittedly, this guy didn't even have a horse until after I'd finished Book III, but I don't think it was Meduseld. I might rename it just to make sure though.
Woo! I'll probably have to say in an author note that Firefoot was around before I discovered Eomer's horse, just in case someone has a go at me.