tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri May 23 14:39:47 2003
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Re: Klingon WOTD: QI'tu' (n)
>Klingon word: QI'tu'
>Part of Speech: noun
>Definition: Paradise
>
>Additional Notes:
>TKD Addendum. KCD: In Klingon mythology, this was the source of all creation.
>STE defines it as the source of all creation in Klingon
>mythology. However, the TKD addendum adds the additional meaning of
>"paradise." {QI'tu'} would appear to have the same place in Klingon
>mythology as the Judeo-Christian concepts of Eden and Heaven. The
>difference between {QI'tu'} and Sto-Vo-Kor (the Klingon mythological
>afterlife where Kahless waits for the honored dead) is still not fully
>understood (ST5, "Rightful Heir" [TNG]).
As used in canon:
ngo'; QI'tu' rur
old as Qui'Tu (KGT)
The word {ngo'} in the phrase above means "old" as opposed to "new." Thus,
it would be applied to objects or ideas, but not to animals or people. To
say that a person is extremely old, the phrase would be {qan; QI'tu' rur}
("He/she is as old as Qui'Tu"). (KGT 130)
QI'tu' tangqa'
the Bull of Heaven (GILGAMESH)
In the epic, Gilgamesh and Enkidu battle the Bull of Heaven. The Klingon
translation (allegedly found on a barren planetoid) contains the phrase:
{QI'tu' tangqa'}. Although {QI'tu'} "heaven" is a familiar enough term,
{tangqa'} is clearly something new. Maltz graciously provided the following
brief explanation: There's this Klingon animal, you see, which is kind of
bull-like. It's called a {tangqa'}. Both male and female ones are called
{tangqa'}. So it doesn't really mean "bull". But it certainly looks like
one. Or more like a bull than anything else. (HolQeD 9.4)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons