next to nothing - hardly anything
caeli (l) - heavens + escalating.
Himalaya + Himmel (ger) - sky.
toploftical - very superior in air or in attitude
burning bush - an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb; according to the narrative, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Yahweh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.
abob - to astonish, confound + atop - on the top of, above + bob - a knot or bunch of hair; a small roundish or knob-like body + (light at top of the Great Pyramid).
bauble - a child's plaything or toy, something foolish + Genesis, Chapter 11 of the Bible: the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. God, observing the unity of humanity in the construction, resolves to destroy the tower and confuse the previously uniform language of humanity, thereby preventing any such future efforts; therefore the city was called Babel (babal, Heb. "confound").
larrom - a tumultuous noise, a hubbub, uproar + larron (French) - a thief (Jacob, the thief of Esau’s birthright) + "Sts. Thomas Becket and Lawrence O'Toole, the antagonistic clergy who experienced different treatment during the reign of King Henry (Becket being murdered in Canterbury while O'Toole was being made Bishop of Dublin by the conquering Anglo-Normans). Their careers make them prototypes of the antagonistic brothers in the Wake" (Benstock, Bernard / Joyce-again's wake: an analysis of Finnegans wake)
tooler - a broad chisel used by stone-masons for random tooling + A bucket to carry building material and a tool to work with it - these are the first necessities of the mason + Thom's Directory of Ireland/Dublin (1905): lists Richard Toole, James Beckett and William Beckett as Dublin builders.
clitter - to make frictional or rattling sound + clittering (Anglo-Irish) - the noise of hurrying feet (from Irish: cliotar) + clit - a female sexual organ homologous to the penis.
tomble = tumble - an act of tumbling, a fall, downfall + il en tombe à seaux (French phrase) - it's raining in buckets + FDV: and larrons of toolers o' toolers clittering up on it & tumblers a' buckets clottering down.
clotter - to run together in clots, to coagulate
FDV: The first was he to bare arms and the name. His creast [in vert with ancillars:] a hegoat, horrid, horned. His shield, fessed, helio [with archers strung,] of the second. Haitch is for Husbandman planting handling his hoe. Hohohoho Mister Finn you're going to be Mr Mister Finn again. Comeday morning morn when and your you're feelin ho oh, you're Vine! senday end evening eve you' re foulin, and, ah, Vinegar. Hahahaha Mister Finn Fine Funn you're going to be fined again.
arms = heraldic arms - heraldic insignia or devices, borne originally on the shields of fully armed knights or barons, to distinguish them in battle (hence properly called armorial bearings), which subsequently became hereditary, and are the property of their families.
wassail - a carousal; riotous festivity, revelling; a salutation used when drinking to someone's health, the liquor thus drunk + uasal (Irish) - Mr, gentleman + veseli (Serbian) - merry, frolicsome.
boose, laugh + boos (Dutch) - angry, evil, malicious + Buslaev, Vasilii - hero of the Novgorod epic cycle, Russian buslai, a "fallen man" or "drunkard", Vasily derives from Greek basileus: "king" + buadth (bue) (gael) - victory + laoch (leokh) (gael) - warrior.
reisen - obs. of raise + Riesen (ger) - giant + Riesengebirge - the Sudetic Mountains (lit. "Giants' Mountains") which divide Bohemia and Moravia from Saxony.
crest - a figure or device (originally borne by a knight on his helmet) placed on a wreath, coronet or chapeau and borne above the shield and helmet in a coat of arms; the apex or ''cone'' of a helmet; hence a helmet or head piece + COAT OF ARMS
heraldry - heraldic title or rank, a collection of heraldic devices + Hure (ger) - whore + cuckoldry.
vert - green
ancillary - serving to aid of assist + ancilla (l) - maid servant, female slave → ancillae (l) - handmaidens, maidservants (two female supporters on the Dublin coat of arms) + antlers (cuckoldry).
troublance - the action of troubling, disturbance, sorrow, pain + troublant (fr) - perturbing, disturbing.
argent - the silver of a coat of arms; the silver or white colour in armorial bearings + urgent.
hegoat - male goat + heoak - an Australian tree + oak tree (on the O'Reilly of East Breffny coat of arms [100.11]).
poursuivant - a follower, a junior heraldic officer attendant on the heralds
horrid - terrible + horrid horn (Anglo-Irish) - fool.
horned - having, bearing, or wearing an appendage, ornament, etc., called a horn; having horn-like projections or excrescenses; cuckolded (obs).
scutcheon = escutcheon - the shield or shield-shaped surface on which a coat of arms is depicted; also in wider sense, the shield with the armorial bearings.
fesse - an ordinary (conventional figure used on shields) formed by two horizontal lines drawn across the middle of the field, and usually containing between them one third of the escutcheon.
archer - one who shoots with bow and arrows, a bowman
strung - in a state of tension
helio - heliotrope; a shade of purple like that of the flowers of the heliotrope + hêlios (gr) - the sun.
hootch = hooch - alcoholic liquor esp. when inferior or obtained illicitly (from Hoochinoo, an Alaskan Indian village who produced such spirits) [Joyce's note: 'hootch'] + In most dialects of English, the name for the letter "H" is spelt 'aitch'. Spelling 'haitch' is usually considered to be h-adding and hence nonstandard. However it is standard in Hiberno-English.
husbandman - one that plows or cultivates land, farmer
hoe - an agricultural and gardening tool, consisting of a thin iron blade fixed transversely at the end of a long handle + FDV: Haitch is for Husbandman planting handling his hoe.
Finn - the name used by the Teut. nations for an individual of a people in North-Eastern Europe and Scandinavia + fionn (Irish) - fair, white + FDV: Hohohoho Mister Finn you're going to be Mr Mister Finn again.
someday - at some time in future + comedy + Monday morn + FDV: Comeday morning morn when and your you're feelin ho oh, you're Vine!
Sunday + FDV: senday end evening eve you' re foulin, and, ah, Vinegar.
fine - to purify from extraneous or impure matter, to clarify, refine + FDV: Hahahaha Mister Finn Fine Funn you're going to be fined again.
agent - a deputy, emissary, any natural force acting upon matter; one who acts for another + agent (Dutch) - policeman + Was denn eigentlich (ger) - What then really.
bring about - to cause to take place, effect, accomplish
tragôdia (gr) - tragedy (from Greek tragos: he-goat)
Donnerstag (ger) - Thursday (literally 'Thunder's day')
municipal - relating or belonging to or characteristic of a municipality
cubby house - a little house built by children in play + Joyce's note: 'cubehouse' → Mohammed consecrated the Kaaba (named for its resemblance to a die or cube), former a heathen temple. The chief sanctuary of Islam, aka the "Ancient House," it contains the sacred Black Stone which was white when it fell from heaven, but turmed black from the sins of those who have touched it. [Holland: The Story of Mohammed 22: (of Meccah) 'In the midst of the city stands a very ancient temple... The Kaabah, or Cube House, as this temple is called, is regarded by the Mohammedans as the most sacred place on earth'.]
earwitness - a person who can testify to something heard by himself
ARAFAT - Granite hill 15 miles South-East of Mecca, Saudi Arabia + Joyce's note: 'Mt Arafat thunderous' → Holland 52 (REFERENCE): 'In his early days as a shepherd Mohammed had lived much with nature; he had seen the pale dawn touch the grim summits of Mount Hira and Mount Arafat, had heard the thunder roll through the sounding passes of the hills.'
shabby - discreditably inferior in quality, making a poor appearance + Joyce's note: 'Sheb (rock)' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 58: 'The mountains on the eastern side of Meccah rise very steeply, like cliffs, quite close to the town, and between their spurs are long narrow ravines called Shebs. The word Sheb means, in Arabic, a rock.'
chorus + Gerausch (ger) - noise + Joyce's note: 'Choraysh' (the entry is preceded by a cancelled 'K') → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 91: 'There were many exiles from Meccah, who had fled from the persecutions of the Kuraysh' (the ruling tribe at Meccah, to which Mohammed also belonged).
unqualified + calif - the title given in Muslim countries to the chief civil and religious ruler, as successor of Muhammad + Kali - Hindu goddess of death and destruction + Joyce's note: 'Khalif (successor)' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 57: 'Like Abu Bakr, Omar became one of the Prophet's chief advisers; in after years they both succeeded him as head of Islam, or Khalif, a word which means Successor'.
Muslim muezzins + muezzin - in Muslim countries, a public crier who proclaims the regular hours of prayer from the minaret or the roof of a mosque.
blackguardize - to reduce to the condition of a blackguard
whitestone - memorial of a fortunate event (among the ancients) + Joyce's note: 'inblack stone' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 22: (of the Kaabah in Meccah) 'At the southeast corner of the building, near the only door, is inserted a mysterious Black Stone, which has been held in reverence by countless generations. A legend tells that it once fell from heaven, and was originally white, until the sins of the world changed it to its present colour'.
hurtle - to propel violently, catapult + turtle - to turn over.
stay - to remain in order to wait, to prop, sustain
wherefore - on account of or because of which; in consequence or as a result of which
righteousness - justice, uprightness, rectitude + Joyce's note: 'Islam (strife for righteousness)' → Holland 45: He did not pretend that the religion he taught was something new, but called it the faith of Abraham, and the particular name he gave it was Islam, which signifies "striving after righteousness."
sustainer - one who or that which upholds, supports, or keeps in being; one who provides another with the necessaries of life + Joyce's note: 'O Sustainer' → Holland 99: (addressing Allah, in a parable about the strength of charity) ''O our Sustainer,' said the angels, 'is there anything in Thy creation stronger than wind?''
toothpick [Mohammed used toothpicks (Ayesha handed him one as he lay dying)] + Joyce's note: 'what time thou risest and in the night and at the fading of the stars' → Holland 93: 'Mohammed enjoined his followers to pray five times a day. 1. Before sunrise. 2. When the sun has begun to decline. 3. In the afternoon. 4. A little after sunset. 5. At night fall... but many... pray at other time as well. For it is written, "Celebrate the praises of thy Lord what time thou risest, and in the night, and at the fading of the stars".'
lump - to sit down heavily
upon.
featherbed - a bed stuffed with feathers + Koran, Sura 8: 'ownership of leather beds'.
nod is as good as a wink - sign is all that is necessary + a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse - a fanciful assertion, often abbreviated (a nod is as good as a wink) that the slightest hint is enough to convey one's meaning in the case.
nadir - point directly opposite the zenith + Joyce's note: 'Prayer is better than sleep' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed (of Bilal, the first muezzin) Before the early morning prayer he added, "Prayer is better than sleep" + nabi (Arabic) - prophet + neighbour.
otherways - otherwise
weswas (Arabic) - whisperer (an epithet of the devil)
provost - the head of certain university colleges and public schools
scoff - to speak derisively, mock, jeer + prophet's coffin (that of Mohammed is ever-suspended) + Joyce's note: 'coffin between M & S' ('M & S' not clear).
Bedouin - an Arab of the desert + Joyce's note: 'bedouin' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 31: 'It was the custom in Meccah to give young children into the care of Bedouin women, thus sending them away from the hot and dusty city into the pure air of the desert'.
jebel - a hill in northern Africa, a hill or mountain + jebel (Arabic) - mount + between the devil and the deep sea - between two comparable evils.
crop - to cut off or remove the 'crop' or head of (a plant ,tree,etc.) + Joyce's note: 'al Kaswa (the cropeared camel)' → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 84: 'Mohammed and the guide rode a camel called "Al-Kaswa," or the Crop-eared'.
crunch - an act, or the action, of crunching; to crush or grind under foot, wheels, etc., with the accompanying noise
bracken - a fern + "That Joyce intends to take advantage of the multiplicity of destinations is signalled as early as 5.23, as the bird Isis ("Cropherb the crunchbracken") with a gift of "seek on site" (5.25) seeks the site "bedoueen the jebel and the jpysian sea" (5.23). Looking "Otherways wesways" (5.22) to the west, it may be Jebel she is seeking, which Budge writes is "near the site" of ancient Phoenician Byblos (Osiris, I, 4). At this level Isis was searching in an eastwest direction until she passed the western jebel, the mountains, finally recovering Osiris' body, across the sea. However, "Otherways wesways" can also signal another Wes-way, a move from Bahr-el-Jebel, the "mountain river" as the upper Nile is known, down to Wes or Wesi, the ancient name of Thebes ("Thebes", EB, XXVI, 739). In this case, Isis searches the length of the Nile, from the upper reaches of the stream down to the Delta and the sea." (Mark L. Troy)
camel shall decide (Joyce's note) → Holland 90: As Mohammed entered Medinah, he was beset on all sides by the invitations of the Faithful, pressing him to alight and enter their houses… But Mohammed, perhaps fearing to create jealousies by favouring one more than another, said: "The camel shall decide…"
Friday mosque (Joyce's note) → Holland: The Story of Mohammed 90: 'the procession halted, and Mohammed led the prayers and preached to the assembled people. On the spot where this happened in now a mosque, which is known as the "Friday Mosque." Friday was chosen, later on, as the day specially set apart for the service of God, like the Christian Sunday'.
on site - on a particular site
occasionally + Holland 84: Mohammed and the guide rode a camel called "Al-Kaswa," or the Crop-eared… Al-Kaswa came to be famous in the history of Islam, and carried the prophet in several of his battles.
helper - one who helps or assists; spec. a groom's assistant in a stable + Joyce's note: 'ansar helper' → Holland 91: There were many exiles from Meccah, who had fled from the persecutions of the Kuraysh; they were known as the Muhajirin or Refugees, while the citizen of Medinah, who were converts, were called Ansars, or Helpers.
dreamy - given to dreaming or fantasy; delightful, beautiful (colloq.) + dromedary camel.
heed - to have a care, pay attention, take notice
have.
missfire - to make a mistake, to fail; Of a gun or its charge: To fail to be discharged or exploded.
mought - might
collapse + collosus + collapsus (l) - fallen in.
extend - to widen the range, scope, area of application of (a law, operation, dominion, state of things, etc.) + extant - (esp. of a document) Still in existence; surviving.
'The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'
sore - painful, grievous + sure
abe - be + FDV: And, as sure as Eve Abe ate little bit Ivvy's red apples, wan warning Finn felt tippling full.
Walhalla = Valhalla - In Old Northern mythology, the hall assigned to those who have died in battle, in which they feast with Odin.
Rolls-Royce - a Rolls-Royce motor car, any product considered to be of the highest quality + ROLLRIGHT STONES - Ancient stone circle on the border of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, England.
CARHAIX - town in Brittany (Joyce was there in summer 1924). In Bedier's Tristan and Isolde, Tristan dies there after raising the siege of the castle and marrying Iseult of the White Hands. The region to the West abounds in standing stones (menhirs), like Stonehenge + carraig (korig) (gael) - rock, stone + hack - hackney coach, taxi cab.
Engen (ger) - narrow + Stonehenge
(notebook 1924): 'kistvaen' → kistvaen - tomb or burial chamber formed from flat stone slabs in a box-like shape. If set completely underground, it may be covered by a tumulus. The word is derived from the Welsh cist (chest) and maen (stone).
Tristram Tree - Mr Senn found in The Castles of Ireland, by C. L. Adams (London, 1904): "Near the garden stands the old elm known as 'The Tristram Tree' which has been carefully propped and preserved... on account of the tradition as long as this tree lives there will be an heir to the noble house which was founded by Sir Armoricus Tristram." Joyce said: "...the oldest tree in the island is the elm tree in the demesne of Howth Castle and Environs" (Letters, III, 309) + Tristram used the name Tramtris when in Ireland.
Fargo, William (1818-81) - American pioneer expressman, as in Wells Fargo + fag a'bealach (fago byalokh) (gael) - clear the way (name for a useless person; motto of the Dublin Fusiliers).
autokineton (gr) - self moving + autokinêton (Modern Greek) - self-moving (thing), automobile.
hippos (gr) - horse + hobby-horses
fleet of motorcars (notebook 1922-23)
THURN AND TAXIS - Former German state; the counts of Thurn and Taxis had a monopoly as German Imperial postmasters from 16th into the 19th centuries [(notebook 1924): 'Turn & Taxis' → Gallois: La Poste et les Moyens de Communication 91: 'the transition of the German postal organisation under the control of the princes of the famous family of Thurn und Taxis')].
megapod + Phogg, Phineas - hero of Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days.
wardmote - a meeting of the citizens of a ward; esp. in the City of London, a meeting of the liverymen of a ward under the presidency of the alderman + moat - trench.
basilica - an early christian church [Joyce's note: 'basilica'] + basilikos (gr) - royal + kerk (Dutch) - church.
Areopagus (gr, "hill of Ares") - seat of the highest judicial tribunal of ancient Athens and the spot where St Paul preached + pagoda - an far eastern temple.
hoyse (obs) - hose + hoys (Slang) - shoplifter + house
brool (Archaic) - a murmur
peeler - a nickname given to members of the Irish constabulary; a strip-tease artist, a stripper + The Peeler and the Goat (song) - a satirical ballad by Darby Ryan; it was written in 1830 to ridicule over-officious officers of the Royal Irish Constabulary (nicknamed "Peelers" after Robert Peel, who had created the Metropolitan Police the previous year) who had "arrested" a goat for roistering in the main street of Bansha, County Tipperary, and butting an officer.
Mecklenburg - region in northern Germany + Mecklenburg Street, Dublin (in Nighttown).
bite one's ear (Slang) - to borrow money
Marlborough - provincial district in New Zealand + merlin - a European species of falcon + MARLBOROUGH BARRACKS - Between Blackhouse Avenue and the Phoenix Park Zoo + Merlin was supposedly entombed alive.
burrock - an aparatus made of wickerwork for catching fish
pore - to gaze, study or think long or earnestly + forecourt - the court or enclosed space in front of a building, the first or outer court + The Four Courts, Dublin.
bore - a hole made by boring, a perforation; an aperture (irrespective of shape), a chink, crevice, or cranny; a fit of ennui or sulks, a dull time.
the more = the rather, the more so (because, etc.) + bothar mor (boher mor) (gael) - highway, main road.