May L.
Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:38 am
Post subject: "up to the hilts" |
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Ladies and gentlemen,
If an outsider is allowed to ask a question at this forum...
In Shakespear's King Henri the Fifth there are these words:
he that strikes the first stroke,
I’ll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier.
Why the plural? Is it some special kind of sword with two hilts, or is it a special kind of expression? Maybe some archaic usage?
I tried to search in Google, but found only another example in the Saga of the Volsungs and Niblungs, Of the Slaying of the Worm Fafnir: "So whenas the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts, then up leapt Sigurd from the pit and drew the sword back again unto him..."
Thank you!
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