之前讀了冰與火之歌的小說的時候整理了一些奇幻小說會出現的用詞。這篇整理一下與馬有關的。
中古世紀的馬通常是以功用來區分,而不是品種。
courser 和charger都是指戰馬,destrier的話是戰馬中常常被用來騎去長矛比賽用的。palfrey是一般供騎乘的馬,婦女也可以騎乘的。garron是拿來做工的馬,體型比較小但是比較穩健。
以性別區分的話,stallion是指公馬,沒有被閹過 (gelded) 的。母馬是mare,被閹過的公馬是gelding。
另外還可以見到的是piebald,雜色的馬。
單字表
courser, charger, destrier 戰馬
palfrey 一般供騎乘的馬
garron 工作的小型馬
stallion 公馬
mare 母馬
gelding 閹過的公馬
piebald 雜色馬
以下是一些冰與火裡面用到這些字的句子 :
Prince Joffrey's mount was a blood bay courser, swift as the wind, and he rode it with reckless abandon, so fast that Sansa was hard-pressed to keep up on her mare. (A Game of Thrones)
The horse. She had seen the stallion, had heard it kicking, but she had not understood. Destriers were trained to kick and bite. In war they were a weapon, like the men who rode them. Like the Hound. (A Feast for Crows)
His palfrey was a blood bay, his destrier a magnificent grey stallion. It had been long years since Jaime had named any of his horses; he had seen too many die in battle, and that was harder when you named them. (A Feast for Crows)
A great jumble of fallen rock blocked their way partway up, where a section of the cliff face had fallen, but the surefooted little garrons were able to pick their way through. (A Clash of Kings)
King Joffrey followed on a tall grey palfrey, a golden crown set upon his golden curls. Sansa Stark rode a chesnut mare at his side, looking neither right nor left, her thick auburn hair flowing to her shoulders beneath a net of moonstones. (A Clash of Kings)
Robb came back to her on a different horse, riding a piebald gelding in the place of the grey stallion he had taken down into the valley. (A Game of Thrones)
參考資料 :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_the_Middle_Ages