What I appreciate most about the textile stuff is that Griffith put on the brakes at a certain point: there isn't also nålbinding, e.g., because though it may have been around, Hild and Begu probably wouldn't have been doing it.
Fair! And OED2 (1898) agree(d) with you, more or less, now that I think to look. The earliest citations are ca. 1325 (garnet = gold) in the Harley Lyrics, and ca. 1400 as red, spelled "grenaz" in the version of Mandeville's Travels cited). One more thing, however: according to MED, the mid/late medieval spelling encompasses "grenat, grenaz," from Old French grenate, granate. On one hand, this supports your sense that "garnet" is the wrong term, since clear OFr influences upon English predating ca. 1070 are rare and since the link with "pomegranate" definitely implies red. On the other, one can see how gre- would cause confusion with "grene," the most oft-seen spelling for the verdant hue in later medieval England. If nothing else, we can unravel how Griffith got there, even while we conclude that she's wrong. :) (The full headword variant set at MED is "gernet (n.) Also gernad, garnet, garnad, garnard, granat. Pl. garnetes, etc. & grenaz, grenas.")
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Date: 2014-03-26 06:10 am (UTC)Fair! And OED2 (1898) agree(d) with you, more or less, now that I think to look. The earliest citations are ca. 1325 (garnet = gold) in the Harley Lyrics, and ca. 1400 as red, spelled "grenaz" in the version of Mandeville's Travels cited). One more thing, however: according to MED, the mid/late medieval spelling encompasses "grenat, grenaz," from Old French grenate, granate. On one hand, this supports your sense that "garnet" is the wrong term, since clear OFr influences upon English predating ca. 1070 are rare and since the link with "pomegranate" definitely implies red. On the other, one can see how gre- would cause confusion with "grene," the most oft-seen spelling for the verdant hue in later medieval England. If nothing else, we can unravel how Griffith got there, even while we conclude that she's wrong. :) (The full headword variant set at MED is "gernet (n.) Also gernad, garnet, garnad, garnard, granat. Pl. garnetes, etc. & grenaz, grenas.")