Mynyd Mawr

Good news! A few days ago I talked with the department chair of Special Collections and snagged an internship there for this summer, going through all the valuable books and reassessing their fair market value (which means talking with curators and rare book dealers and such). Yes, I’m drooling. :) And not only that, but today the HR manager called and offered me a second internship (which’ll bring me to full-time this summer, all at the library), this one having to do with training materials to get librarians familiar with the latest technology. I start both internships in about two weeks, and I’m very excited.

In the meantime, my daily pilgrimage to the library has resulted in The Lost Literature of Medieval England (which I read about in Tom Shippey’s The Road to Middle-Earth over dinner), A Grammar of Middle Welsh, and David Smyth’s Thai: An Essential Grammar. Yes, I’m in a language mood. :) This time it’s come about almost entirely because of reading about Tolkien. Can’t help myself. While some of my interests are merely momentary, languages keep coming back over and over again. Philology is in my blood. And it seems like most of my language interests (the most intense ones, at least) center in on northern Europe — Old English, Old Norse, Gothic, Welsh and the other Gaelic languages, and so on. (No, I haven’t studied all of those — just Old English at this point — but I very, very much want to. And will.)

Have I mentioned that I’m now transcribing articles for the next volume of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley? It’s a lot of fun. I’m also thinking about extending Project Gutenberg’s collections of texts in Old English, Old Norse, Welsh, and so on. And I’m also planning to tag some existing texts in PGTEI. I live for texts. Particularly old ones. Mmm. :)

But now I’m off to memorize some Middle Welsh forms before heading to bed. :) (And the title of this post means “Big Mountain,” by the way.)

Congratulations on the two internships! It looks like you are going to have an amazing summer.

Ben,
You are hardcore. I wish I was as cool as you. When are you going to give me cool lessons? I think you need to teach me how to love the library, because right now it is a place of suffering for me.

Ben,
That’s wonderful news, congratulations! But, don’t drool on the books…stop it I say. And here I thought that you only dooled while sleeping in the library. You ought to take up snoring instead - it’s far less destructive. You want to know a funny thing? The only time I ever had to call the police on my daughter is when she was sleeping in the library. Thank heavens she was snoring or they would have never found her. Just kidding about the snoring part:)

Actually my cousin owned a used book store in SLC and dealt in antique books for several years. This could be the start to a new career.

I wasn’t sleeping, I just got caught up in the reading.

Congratulations, Ben! Sounds like a great way to spend the summer. I discovered the library’s Welsh collection as I was familiarizing myself with the library my freshman year. I soon after discovered the Welsh language class. My favorite sentence I still remember from my Welsh class: Rydw i eisiau mynd i’r llyfrgell. :) Let me know if/when you submit any Welsh books to Project Gutenberg so I can help proof.

Whoot Whoot! Way to go Ben! You are very driven.

Julia: Thanks! :)

Jared: LOL, if studying medieval Welsh grammar is “cool,” then apparently we’ve got a meaning change going on here. ;) A word to the wise: since you most certainly do not want to associate suffering with the library, I hereby recommend studying elsewhere, thus leaving la biblioteca pristine and unspotted from the taints and blots of school stress. Make the library your safe haven, your sanctuary, your summer home. Then you will love the library. :)

J: Thanks! I’ll try not to drool on the books and manuscripts… ;) Well, I bet you were very much relieved when the police found her in the library instead of elsewhere. I can’t think of a place I’d rather find my own lost children — other than the temple, I suppose. Used and rare bookstores are mmm delicious. Speaking of which, I’m going to give myself a trip to Pioneer Book as a graduation present. I’m so looking forward to it. :)

Heather: That’s what they all say. :)

Ann: Thanks! The Welsh collection is gloriously large, considering how few people study it. Are you planning to afford us with a translation of the phrase, or is that an assignment for me? ;) I’ll keep you posted on any Welsh texts I work on — it’ll be good to have someone with experience. :)

Bethany: Insane, rather. ;)

Ben,
Llongyfarchiadau!

Heather,
This sounds like a great story…. ;)

Ben:

I thought I’d at least give you a chance to try and figure it out. Translation: I want to go to the library. The word for library is my favorite Welsh word–not only because I love libraries, but because it has two double l’s. Gotta love those voiceless alveolar lateral (usually) fricatives! They’re just so fun to say.

Holly: Thanks. :) (She said, “Congratulations!”)

Ann: Oh, darn, you really did translate it. I shouldn’t have been so lazy. :) And yes, I agree on the voiceless alveolar lateral fricatives. They’re probably my favorite consonant ever. I still find myself saying “Llanelli” to myself out of the blue, just so I can make that delightfully wet hissing sound. (And now I think I’ll start learning how to say “I want to go to the library” in every major language of the world. :))