tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 16 19:35:43 2001

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Re: New Klingon farewell



ja' [email protected]:
>I have come up with this new farewell between Allies
>'etlhlIj Devjaj qeylIS ghop
>May the hand of Kahless guide your blade.

chaq qech DaneHbe'bogh 'oS qeylIS ghop.
'etlh Devbe'.  HeghlI'bogh Duj Dev.

"Kahless's hand" is an idiom which predates tlhIngan Hol.  It refers not to
an effectively-handled weapon, but to a captain's staying with his ship
even as the ship is destroyed.

       "We have one who is not forgotten," Krenn said.
    "His name was Kahless.  When his ship was dying, he
    had his hand bound to his Chair, that no one could say
    he left it, or that another had been in the Chair at the
    ship's death.  Then all his crew could escape without
    suspicition, because Kahless had taken on all the ship's
    destiny.
       "Kahlesste kaase, we say.  Kahless's Hand."

    [from _The Final Reflection_ by John M. Ford]

This piece of pseudolegend is extremely contradicted by Paramount's later
development of Klingon society, but still there are many Klingon fans who
recognize Ford's contributions to the Klingon mythos.

-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh




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