A patch of alpine squill

[seasonoftowers]

They aren't very alpine in Romania, and mostly grow in shadowy areas such as forests. These I found hidden under a hedge on my daily walk.

Funny little difference: you know all the 19th century romantic poetry using violets as a motif associated to pale, wan, beloved women? In Romanian, the translations use alpine squill instead, because violets are gendered masculine in Romanian - hard to be wan and romantic about a flower called little-axe or three-spotted-brother.

I feel like this works better than the original, however. Alpine squill really is a pale, wan flower that needs specific conditions to bloom, whereas violets are cheerful, hardy weeds that take over entire lawns if you're not paying attention.

Comments

[caprices]

That is the BEST botanical/literary tidbit, thank you!

Although I now have an image in my mind of a dwarf pining for their beloved little-axe.

[jjhunter]

+1

This made me smile; thank you both.

[seasonoftowers]

It's just the perfect dwarven translation for snookums, isn't it?