Tuck
Joined: Sep 02, 2006
Posts: 3166
Denver, CO
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Posted on Feb 17 2011 01:53 AM
This is the kind of thing that will interest somebody at some point, but probably nobody right now. Still, I'd like to put it on record and this seems like a good place.
The Sandals Wild as the Sea, Complete Sandals 1964-1969 (which is by no means complete!) contains one song, No. 21, Agunus Night, with a rather puzzling name. Nice organ bits; puzzling name.
It occurred to me recently that agunus is supposed to be pronounced ag-uh-nuss (not ah-goo-noos) (using English spellings), and that Agunus Night is a misspelling of Agnus Night. That in turn is a play on words with Agnus Dei, Latin for "Lamb of God," a metaphor for Christ. It turns out that agunus as a misspelling of agnus is actually fairly common on the Internet, though there are no relevant references to this song that I could discover. It's just an odd enough word when it comes up in English contexts that people have trouble spelling it. The Agnus Dei is a piece of the liturgy in formal Christian services. In Lutheran services when I was a child it began "Oh, come thou lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, ..."
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bigtikidude
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 25683
Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.
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Posted on Feb 17 2011 10:03 PM
Tuck,
the 2 brothers in the Sandals were from somewhere in Europe,
Denmark or Belgium, I think, but not positive.
figure out where they are from,
and its probably something in their native language.
Jeff(btd)
— Jeff(bigtikidude)
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Tuck
Joined: Sep 02, 2006
Posts: 3166
Denver, CO
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Posted on Feb 18 2011 10:57 AM
John and Max Georgis. (Pronounced Zhor-ee?) (Yes, I have to look their names up every time.) They were from Belgium, so presumably they were at least nominally Catholic, which fits with (Latin) Agnus Dei. However, I'm not sure the song is actually by one of the brothers. Belgium is the Catholic southern part of the Netherlands, the part the Hapsburgs held onto when the Protestant north broke free. The history is complicated, but it's Belgium now. Belgians speak either Dutch or French, but the Catholic service was (until a few years back) in Latin. The Lutherans (what I was raised as) are kind of shirt tail Catholics which is why I had encountered the Latin expression. I saw it every Sunday following along in the hymnal. Singing the liturgy was the the main thing I dug about the service. I felt bad about sleeping during the sermon, but happened every time. Anyway, this little sung bit was still called the Agnus Dei "lamb of God" in the Lutheran hymnal even though we sang it in English. The tradition in religious music is to call things after the first few words, and this one starts "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis." in Latin, or "Lamb od God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.".
Now the traditional English pronunciation of Agnus Dei is like "agnes de-aye" but the Continental pronunciation and what most people say nowdays sounds like "agnes day." That's what I always called it as a kid. Hence Ag(u)nus Night. The spelling agunus reflects the little vowel between g and n that some people have. (Sort of like "agony." Which a lot of people say "agny" even though they know to restore the o in spelling.)
It's all speculation and guesswork, but I think it holds water. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for "agunus" before wondering if Agunus Night implied an Agunus Day and then slapping my forehead and thinking, "John, you are a bit slow!"
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Tuck
Joined: Sep 02, 2006
Posts: 3166
Denver, CO
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Posted on Feb 18 2011 11:10 AM
Admittedly it might be more fun and a lot simpler just to say it was Belgian for "Night of the Iguana." I think a Belgian would see the humor in that.
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