tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 11 11:53:49 2008

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Re: Klingon WOTD: nargh (verb)

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) 

> >  narghbe'chugh SuvwI' qa' taH may'
> >  If the warrior's spirit has not escaped, the battle is still going on. TKW
> >
> >  HeghDI' SuvwI' nargh SuvwI' qa'
> >  When a warrior dies, his spirit escapes. TKW
> >
> > Discussed by Okrand:
> >
> > TKW 145:  The verb {nargh} ... means "escape", but the same word, or a
> > phonetically identical one, means "appear". Thus, perhaps the Klingons are
> > saying that when a warrior dies, his spirit appears, whereas prior to death
> > it was hidden or disguised by the body. Another interpretation is that the
> > spirit was held prisoner by the body. Worf told Jeremy, whose mother had
> > been killed, "In my tradition, we do not grieve the loss of the body. We
> > celebrate the releasing of the spirit."

Parker Glynn-Adey:
>How very Platonic of Klingons! Do they consider the soul 'trapped' in the
>same way as Socrates would?

Here's the relevant scene from a transcript of TNG "Heart of Glory" 
(http://www.chakoteya.net/NextGen/120.htm):

   CRUSHER: He's dying.

   (Korris, Konmel and Worf stand over the bed. As the young man breaths 
his last, Korris holds his eyelids
   open.  Then they all start a deep throaty growl, which becomes a roar as 
they are sure he is dead.
   Konmel removes a hook from the boot.)

   CRUSHER: Is there any special arrangement you would like for the body?

   KORRIS: It is only an empty shell now. Please treat it as such.

   [Corridor]

   KONMEL: The opponent that killed Kunivas should have been an enemy, then 
his death would have
   been even more glorious.

And here's a bit the Memory Alpha article on the Klingon Death Ritual:

   The Ritual involved opening and staring into the eyes of the dying
   individual, then howling loudly at the sky. The latter served as a
   warning to the dead (presumably in Sto-vo-kor): "Beware, a Klingon
   warrior is about to arrive".

   Once the Ritual was completed, the body was unceremoniously discarded.
   It was considered to be "only an empty shell" which should be treated
   as such. (TNG "Heart of Glory")

There's more at  http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Klingon_death_ritual




--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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