tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jun 09 08:23:25 1996
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Re: TLHINGAN-HOL digest 538
nyuD writes:
> And for sure, they wouldn't use ordinary
> ink, they would use blood!
>
> Maybe they cut a small line in their arms
> (using the blade-formed thumbnail) and
> then write with their own blood?
I'm not sure that I would agree that Kligons would use their own blood to write
with. It is feasable that some type of blood may have been used as ink,
probably in the earlier stages of Klingon history. If this were the case, I
would guess that animal blood would be used rather than Klingon blood.
While Klingons certainly demonstrate propensity to spill blood (their own as
well as that of others), the blood of a Klingon figures much too prominently in
their belief system to be used for trivial matters. To quote Okrand in TKW:
"For Klingons, blood is more than just one of a number of red-pink bodily
fluids. It represents the animating force of life itself, ..." To use one's
blood for routine correspondence, note taking, grocery lists, etc. would seem
to diminish the profound significance of the blood oath. Perhaps a Klingon
would use his own blood to write or sign a document or contract of great
importance (taking an oath of office or signing a treaty, for example), but I
doubt if it would be used for day to day writing.
'IwlIj jachjaj!
Brian D. Murphy
[email protected]