Dear John (and Willy, Aleks, Wolfgang, et al), I have greatly enjoyed the all the answers to your question about Owls and Sundials...
Willy Leenders tells us that the Dutch word zonnewijzer really means "wiser sun". How many of us knew that? Aleks has sent us a nice illustration of a sundial with a carved owl on the side with the caption "Greek Sundial". Wolfgang Dick referred us to the German trickster Till Eulenspiegel. I have been waiting for someone to remind us of the German translation of "carrying coals to Newcastle" which is "Eulen nach Athen tragen". This, literally, is "to bear owls to Athens". In recent times Germans have, instead, been shipping Euros to Athens (by the shed load). Maybe it would be wiser to send some Owls? For reasons I don't understand, Greece seems to have surprisingly few sundials given the plethora of sundials there in classical times. I suggest that the Greeks should be sent a bulk shipment of sundials Made in Germany to the same specification as Aleks's sundial. The locals can then ponder the owl, and wonder about their lost sundial heritage and even their lost Euros. All the best Frank --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
