I was supposed to be looking *at* ducks this morning but instead I am looking
up ducks, as it were. When I thought about it , it seemed odd that
dragons and ducks should be described with the same word. Info from
www.dictionary.com:
Drake as in "firedrake" is from draco -dragon. Drake as in ducks has a
different origin. Interestingly, there is a dictionary entry for firedrake, but
none for cold-drake. Did Tolkien coin the term ? Anybody have
access to the O.E.D. to find out when cold-drake was first used ?
\Drake\, n. [AS. draca dragon, L. draco. See Dragon.] 1. A dragon. [Obs.]
\Drake\, n. [Akin to LG. drake, OHG. antrache, anetrecho, G. enterich, Icel.
andriki, Dan. andrik, OSw. andrak, andrage, masc., and fr. AS. ened, fem.,
duck; akin to D. eend, G. ente, Icel. ["o]nd, Dan. and, Sw. and, Lith. antis,
L. anas, Gr. ? (for ?), and perh. Skr. [=a]ti a water fowl. ????. In English
the first part of the word was lost. The ending is akin to E. rich. Cf.
Gulaund.] 1. The male of the duck
kind.
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Field guides explain color,
vagrant range,
the vague translations of a song,
but nothing of the distance
that develops into absence.
-Walter Pavlich
