Most of us have heard the song "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" (written in 1739). But have you ever wondered who these "herald angels" are? Is it just as simple as "the angels who herald", meaning "the angels who proclaim news"?
Well, yes. :) Huh, that's pretty anticlimactic, isn't it.
I suppose the only interesting thing I can say about this is that "herald" is not an adjective (as defined by Merriam-Webster at least!), so the phrase is difficult to justify grammatically. "Herald" is either a verb or a noun, so the song either says "Hark! The One That Conveys News Angels Sing!" or "Hark! The Give Notice Of Angels Sing!"
But songs break those kinds of rules all the time. And it's still one of my favorite Christmas songs regardless!
That's all I got. I'll see what else I can dig up this week!
No comments:
Post a Comment