|
|
In resopnse to repeated queries on the meaning and origin of the word 'vorpal,' please enjoy the following poem which is its origin:  Jabberwocky "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought -- So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. -- Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872 Although he invented the word 'vorpal' in the above poem, Lewis Carol refused to define it, writing later to an inquisitive friend that: "I am afraid that I can't explain 'vorpal blade' for you -- nor yet 'tulgey wood.'" Thus, vorpal is that rare English word which has strong connotations but no precise meaning. Based on its initial and subsequent usage, vorpal connotes preternatural sharpness, a flavor of edginess which we feel appropriately reflects our aesthetic.
|
||
|
Original content copyright (c) 2006-2007 Vorpal Space, All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from Vorpal Space. All artwork featured on this website is copyrighted (c) the artist in question. However, the copyrights to Lewis Carroll's poems and accompanying illustrations expired about 100 years ago, so copy and distribute Jabberwocky with impunity. |