tarry -
to delay or be late in going, coming, or doing, dally, delay, drag, dwell, goof around,
hang around, lag, linger, lose time, monkey around, pause, procrastinate, put
off, stall, stay, stick around, stop over, waitActivities
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Vocabulary
tarry -
to delay or be late in going, coming, or doing, dally, delay, drag, dwell, goof around,
hang around, lag, linger, lose time, monkey around, pause, procrastinate, put
off, stall, stay, stick around, stop over, wait
tarry - Page 28 - "Best not tarry, little mistress," Bertha said.
edict -
A formal pronouncement or command, announcement, law, decree, statute, order, declaration,
ruling
edict - Chapter 4 - Page 36 - Just days before my father died, he issued various edicts through Alastor.
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Vocabulary - Soldiers' Weapons
| lance | spear carried by knights on horseback |
| long bow and arrow | weapon used by foot soldiers |
| mace | a club made of a ball with spikes attached to a wooden handle and carried by foot soldiers |
| dagger | a short, double-edged knife |
| battle axe | a long handled axe |
| crossbow and arrow | a compact bow and arrow carried by foot soldiers |
| sword | a heavy, double-edged steel long, knife-like weapon |
| scabbard | a cover or shield for a sword |
| halberd | a combination battle axe and lance |
| bludgeon | a club with the ball attached to the club by a chain |
| hawk's beak | a short halberd used to pierce mail |
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Necklaces
Both stories have necklaces which you will discover will be an important part of the story:
From the Castle in the Attic
"Around his neck, the wizard wore a length of woven ribbon from which dangled three medals or tokens. Once, early on in our acquaintance, when he still trusted me, he pulled that necklace out of his robe and showed it to me. The middle hung a small, flat disk made of lead. At the time, I did not find it particularly interesting. I know better now. Hanging from the ribbon, on either side of the disk, there were two halves of one medal that showed the two faces of Janus. They had hinges, and Alastor told me that they could be fitted together when necessary, but he preferred to use them separately."
""The word January comes from Janus, doesn't it?" William asked.
"Precisely," Sir Simon said. " I see your education has not been entirely neglected. Janus guards the gates of heaven and looks both ways in time. But the image of Janus on Alastor's necklace had an evil, magical power. One half of the token made things small, and the other restored them to their normal size. The symbols beside Janus' head on each surface were different. The side that made things small showed two staffs, the instruments of punishment. The other side showed two keys.
"I saw him work this magic on a rat. When he pointed the staff side, the rat shrank to the size of a toy. When he used the side with the keys, the rat returned to normal. I'm convinced that most of Alastor's magic lay in that necklace, but I never learned much more about it because after a while he grew secretive around me.
......Alastor pulled the necklace from under his robes, pointed the lead disc at me, and mumbled the word. I reached up and snatched at the necklace which fell off his neck. One half of the Janus medal came into my hand. He lunged at me and tried to get it back, but I curled by fingers around it and held on.
Janus - Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Online Article http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=393749
About Janus http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/about.xml
From Ella Enchanted (Page 38)
It was Mother's necklace. Threads of silver ended almost at my waist in a woven pattern of silver studded with tiny pearls.
"You'll grow into it, sweet, and look as lovely wearing it as your mother did."
"I'll wear it always."
"You'd be wise to keep it under your gown when you go out. It's valuable. Gnomes made it."
We had a terrific making beaded necklaces, on Valentine's Day no less.
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Book Summaries
The Castle in the Attic - The castle has a silver knight that comes alive for William. While taking care of the Silver Knight William learns of the spell that was cast on him by Alastor.
Ella Enchanted - Ella learns that the cook is her fairy godmother. Ella's father decides to send Ella to finishing school. Ella spend a wonderful day with Prince Char looking at the animals.