In The Gemel Ring, Charity Dawson has an unhealthy fascination with the van Tijlen Gemel Ring. She wants to touch it, know where it is, know if the doctor has given it away....it's a bit creepy. Maybe it's more than a simple love token. Maybe it is The One Gemel Ring. I wondered what a gemel ring was. Evidently there are many spellings of the word "gemel" - none of which are the same as La Neels. After I tried some variations (starting with jimmals - from the poem Charity quoted) I was able to find a few explanations.Rings showing a true-love-knot and those showing a heart held by clasped hands have long been favoured as love tokens, as has the gimbal ring, also spelled ‘gimmal’ or ‘jimmal’ ring, which is one that can be split in two (the name derives ultimately from Latin geminus, ‘twin’), and joined up again at will. It is possible that the many traditional songs of the 18th and 19th centuries in which a sailor breaks a ring in two and leaves half with his sweetheart are referring to gimbal rings, as it would be quite difficult to break an ordinary ring. answers.com
Charity quotes these lines from Herrick, (in his "Hesperides):
"Thou sent'st to me a true-love knot; but I
Return'd a ring of jimmals, to imply
Thy love had one knot, mine a triple-tye."
Charity quotes these lines from Herrick, (in his "Hesperides):
"Thou sent'st to me a true-love knot; but IReturn'd a ring of jimmals, to imply
Thy love had one knot, mine a triple-tye."
Martin Luther wed Catherine Bora in 1525 with a gimmal ring enscribed "Whom God has joined together, Let no man put asunder".
I have one, I think. A gift from my brother & sister-in-law, and I don't wear it. (It doesn't have quite the same connotation when it's from you brother!)
ReplyDeleteI get why it matters to Charity, and it's a nice symbol of Everard's regard (which even rhymes) but am I the only one who thinks it's a swiz that she gets a gemel ring while all the other heroines get a Princess Di ring, or a half-circle of 1-carat diamonds?
I think the idea of a gemel ring is sweet - but is it just me, or does that sound more like something that a teenager would find appealing? More on par with a "promise ring", which again, is more of a young love kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteEffectively they were used as promise rings or betrothal rings. The couple wore half of the ring each until they married and the ring was made while again. Some were made with three rings where each part of the couple wore one half and a witness to their betrothal promise kept the third part until they married.
DeleteFive points for Betty Magdalen's use of 'swiz'.
ReplyDeleteAfter Betty Debbie's post, I looked at some antique ones on the internet and decided that now I want one (not as fond of the "fede" ones with hands--but I still think they are waaaay cool). Of course, perhaps it's because I never got a promise ring in my youth . . . . (In my defense, my mom would have had a cow and made me give it back anyway--she didn't even let us "go steady"--"Play the field! Play the field!"-- "What field?!?")
ReplyDeleteAfter Dr. van der Stevejinck cut my rings off last year, my hands went "naked" for several months. I am not a person to have lots of rings that I change out - just the wedding ring - and a Mother's Day ring that my kids gave me about 20 years ago (I wear it for about 4 hours on Mother's Day...any longer and my finger would turn green). Anyway, it was tough to find one that I liked well enough to wear for the rest of my life. I finally found one that I liked, but it was a little spendy (not crown jewels spendy, but considerably more than the $80 gold band that was all that we poor starving college kids could afford). The one I chose has two bands - one crossing over the other...not exactly a gemel ring, but it is perhaps more of a "love token" than a traditional wedding ring.
ReplyDeleteOkay, back up the truck. Cut your rings off last year? Sounds a bit "Piano"-ish to me.
ReplyDeleteDr. van der Stevejinck had to cut my rings off because the nurses (real ones) couldn't get the cutter thingy to work. I had just broken my wrist and they had to come off because of swelling. You'd think they would give you some pain killer or something before they do that...but no. Hurt like the dickens.
ReplyDeleteI've been ring-naked this year too. This darn patch of eczema won't clear up! Most distressing to swank about town with a nursing baby and assorted others sans ring.
ReplyDeleteYou could put a red dot on your forehead--the same thing. . . .
ReplyDeleteThat's the ticket, Betty JoDee! Many of my neighbors in Oregon are Indian though. They'd get it but I wonder what they'd think. ;0)
ReplyDeleteTrue. On the other hand, you could have fun playing the otherwise alien role of the fallen woman for a while (it may call for bright red lipstick--I'm a bit fuzzy on the details).
ReplyDeleteBeing mistaken for a fallen woman is one thing. (I agree, possibly fun on occasion.) Being mistaken for a fallen woman who has three unruly children and a recently born infant just looks faintly irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to swot up some red lipstick...
Oh, I think being is a fallen woman is faintly irresponsible by its very nature so you might as well go for it.
ReplyDeleteI think you've launched me on my double life...
ReplyDeleteI like the red paint in the part of the hair more than the red dot myself.
ReplyDelete