Christmas Connections: Part 5 of 12
Five gold rings, most mysterious. One would observe that five rings are uncommon, even on the hands of wealthy people. The Olympic flag may have five rings, but those stand for the world and its peoples, and are not gold.
The phrase 'gold rings' really refers to ring-necked pheasants, delicious and beautiful birds, some of which are indeed golden, and many of which are valued for their rich flavour. Gold indeed!
I note that Tolkien avoids the number 5 in his ring-lore entirely: in decreasing order, there are nine rings for mortal men doomed to die, seven rings for dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, three rings for elven-kings under the sky, and the One Ring of Sauron. Perhaps he wanted to avoid it being made into a Christmas song.
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"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me five gold rings."
The phrase 'gold rings' really refers to ring-necked pheasants, delicious and beautiful birds, some of which are indeed golden, and many of which are valued for their rich flavour. Gold indeed!
I note that Tolkien avoids the number 5 in his ring-lore entirely: in decreasing order, there are nine rings for mortal men doomed to die, seven rings for dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, three rings for elven-kings under the sky, and the One Ring of Sauron. Perhaps he wanted to avoid it being made into a Christmas song.
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"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me five gold rings."
etched with acid at 3:01:00 pm
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