Sunday, January 31, 2010

Where Am I in FWake?

I was having trouble finding any Wakean version of my name throughout Finnegans Wake until I glanced at the chapter index (this book has chapters?) and found one titled, "The Tale of Kersse the Tailor and the Norwegian Captain." Here I found a lot of good traditional Scandinavian names such as Sven, Oscar, and (surprise) a few Eriks sprinkled in as well. One that stood out to me is in regards to the "erikness" that one of Scandinavian descent exudes. In this passage Kersse proliferates on, "this most unmentionablest of men (mundering eeriesk, if he didn't scald him all the shimps names in his gitter!)" (Joyce 320). Being as erriesk as anyone with the name Erik can be I know that normally it is not a very "erieskian" thing to, "scald him all the shimps names in his gitter" however after having spent a lot of time in the frigid waters off the coast of the "land of the midnight sun" it's understandable that even super chill vikings from Norway can lose their cool and yell at punks who have, "hissed his bungle oar his shourter and cut the pinter off his pourer and lay off for Fellagulphia in the farning" (Joyce 320).

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