Re: an answer...

Posted by Anejo Joe from mlknfrw1.milliken.com on August 18, 1999 at 12:43:10:

In Reply to: Re: an answer... posted by Mikal C Johnson (KtE Cym SOCAE) on August 18, 1999 at 06:40:36:

You are right. The first Crusade was mainly composed of Norman French, French, Flemish, and Provencial soldiers. Even the term Knight was not applicable at this time. He would probably have spoken either an archaic French, or Provencial Languedoc, and since he was involved with the grail, the latter is a safe bet. It's not likely that anyone other than a cleric or a monk would have been fluent in latin. Indy would probably have been familiar with at least the basics of Medieval languages, and Henry Sr. most certainly would.

: For starters, this is not an Arthurian era knight. He's from the Crusades, a good 600 years later.
: Second, and this part I don't remember for sure, but wasn't he French?
: Whatever language he spoke at home in his youth, a Medieval knight of his standing would have to be fluent in Latin. It's hinted that Indy knows classical Latin. Ergo, they had a method of communication.

: : At the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" when Indy meets the Grail warrior how would they have communicated? Shouldn't the warrior speak only in olde English? Even though he and Indy both essentially speak the same language, the difference between twentieth century American-English and the English spoken by a soldier of Arthurian times would be considerable. Indy, being a professor of archeology, would have little trouble understanding the old man but the old soldier should have been baffled by Indy's speech. Shouldn't Indy have been forced to change the way he speaks in order to communicate with the Grail warrior?

Follow Ups:

Re: an answer... Nick Kismet 14:04:48 8/18/99 (1)
- Re: an answer... Anejo Joe 10:22:46 8/20/99 (0)

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: You are right.  The first Crusade was mainly composed of Norman French, French, Flemish, and Provencial soldiers.  Even the term Knight was not applicable at this time.  He would probably have spoken either an archaic French, or Provencial Languedoc, and since he was involved with the grail, the latter is a safe bet.  It's not likely that anyone other than a cleric or a monk would have been fluent in latin.  Indy would probably have been familiar with at least the basics of Medieval languages, and Henry Sr. most certainly would.

: : For starters, this is not an Arthurian era knight. He's from the Crusades, a good 600 years later.
: : Second, and this part I don't remember for sure, but wasn't he French?
: : Whatever language he spoke at home in his youth, a Medieval knight of his standing would have to be fluent in Latin. It's hinted that Indy knows classical Latin. Ergo, they had a method of communication.

: : : At the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" when Indy meets the Grail warrior how would they have communicated? Shouldn't the warrior speak only in olde English? Even though he and Indy both essentially speak the same language, the difference between twentieth century American-English and the English spoken by a soldier of Arthurian times would be considerable. Indy, being a professor of archeology, would have little trouble understanding the old man but the old soldier should have been baffled by Indy's speech. Shouldn't Indy have been forced to change the way he speaks in order to communicate with the Grail warrior?

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