How we go from actual Scythian warriors to Greek myth is even better. Maybe I’m biased because I trained as a linguist, but I think it’s objectively cool. OK, so the Greeks travel and they meet a bunch of people they don’t know. They find out the names of these people and they go back home and tell everyone. A good chunk of what we can read about the Amazons comes from Greek historians. Now, the Greeks back then have some problems, but a small ego isn’t one of them. They think their language is awesome. So, some Greek fellow gets back to Greece and says he met some women warriors and they were called the Amazons. There are many possible etymologies for the word. The one I picked is reconstructed from Old Persian: hama-zan, which would mean “all women.” Another option is from Iranian ha-mazan. It could mean something as simple as “warrior.” There are many that make sense. But one Greek historian, Hellanikos, doesn’t speak Old Persian. It’s all Greek to him. He sees the Greek a-(ἀ-) “without” and mazos (μαζός) “breast.” BOOM! Without breast. That’s how we end up with women who cut their breasts out because, contrary to the millions of women who have used bows throughout history, these ones can’t do it without hurting themselves.
The same goes for the Arimaspi (that’s what the caravan members called the first tribe Varkida meets). In Early Iranian, the word would probably be a combination of ariama (“love”) and aspa (“horses”), and it would sort of make sense for people to refer to a horse-riding tribe this way. But Herodotus, another Greek historian, thinks it’s from the roots for “one” and “eye,” and all of a sudden we have a whole tribe of one-eyed people spreading terror up north. In both cases, we have completely absurd myths started not because anyone actually saw anything, but because the guy doing the linguistic analysis was an idiot.
That was my “linguistics is cool” moment. Oh, and the final battle takes place on the banks of the Volga River.
Three generations later, in 825 BC, the Ten settles in the kingdom of Quwê. The Kibsu is still great at breeding horses, of course, and the Ten sells some to the king of Israel. Those of you who studied the Bible would recognize the kingdom from the first book of Kings as the place King Solomon got his horses from: “Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans” (1 Kings 10:28–29).
The Kibsu loses all the knowledge in Quwê when the Ten kills herself. The Eleven, and all of those who follow, will spend their lives trying to get it back.
There are a million more historical references in the book, some more subtle than others. I’ll let you discover them for yourself.
I really hope you enjoyed this one. I can tell you I had an absolute blast writing it.
PLAYLIST
| Chapter | Song |
|---|---|
| 1. | Sentimental Journey, Les Brown and His Orchestra (with Doris Day) (1945) |
| 2. | The Honeydripper, Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers (1945) |
| 3. | Begin the Beguine, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (1938) |
| 4. | I Wonder, Cecil Grant (1944) |
| 5. | Crawlin’ King Snake, Big Joe Williams (1941) |
| 6. | Lili Marlene, Marlene Dietrich (1938) |
| 7. | God Bless the Child, Billie Holiday (1941) |
| 8. | Hot Time in the Town of Berlin, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (1944) |
| 9. | Death Valley Blues, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1941) |
| 10. | This Land Is Your Land, Woody Guthrie (1944) |
| 11. | Y’a pas de printemps, Edith Piaf (1944) |
| 12. | Stormy Weather, Lena Horne (1941) |
| 13. | Trouble So Hard, Vera Hall (1937) |
| 14. | Dream, the Pied Pipers (1945) |
| 15. | L’âme au diable, Léo Marjane (1943) |
| 16. | Down, Down, Down, the Mills Brothers (1941) |
| 17. | Going Home, Paul Robeson (1958) |
| 18. | Twilight Time, Les Brown and His Orchestra (1945) |
| 19. | Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (1945) |
| 20. | My Mama Don’t Allow Me, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1944) |
| 21. | Che puro ciel, Kathleen Ferrier (1946) |
| 22. | I’m on My Last Go-Round, Lead Belly (1942) |
| 23. | Gloomy Sunday, Billie Holiday (1941) |
| 24. | “Murder,” He Says, Dinah Shore (1943) |
| 25. | Songs My Mother Taught Me, Nellie Melba (1916) |
| 26. | You Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone, Tampa Red (1944) |
| 27. | La vie en rose, Edith Piaf (1946) |
| 28. | It’s a Good Day, Peggy Lee (1946) |
| 29. | As Time Goes By, Dooley Wilson (1946) |
| 30. | Nature Boy, King Cole Trio (1948) |
| 31. | Still a Fool, Muddy Waters (1951) |
| 32. | East of the Sun (and West of the Moon), Sarah Vaughan (1949) |
| 33. | I’m Gonna Dig Myself a Hole, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1951) |
| 34. | Unforgettable, Nat “King” Cole (1951) |
| 35. | Pink Champagne, Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers (1950) |
| 36. | How High the Moon, Les Paul and Mary Ford (1951) |
| 37. | Moanin’ at Midnight, Howlin’ Wolf (1951) |
| 38. | Hey, Good Lookin’, Hank Williams (1951) |
| 39. | Hymne à l’amour, Edith Piaf (1950) |
| 40. | You Belong to Me, Jo Stafford (1952) |
| 41. | Night Train, Jimmy Forrest (1952) |
| 42. | Thinking and Drinking, Amos Milburn (1952) |
| 43. | Blue Moon, Billie Holiday (1952) |
| 44. | Hound Dog, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton (1953) |
| 45. | All Night Long, Muddy Waters (1952) |
| 46. | Songs and Dances of Death: Lullaby, Jennie Tourel and Leonard Bernstein (1950) |
| 47. | Jock-A-Mo, Sugar Boy Crawford and His Cane Cutters (1953) |
| 48. | Earth Angel, the Penguins (1954) |
| 49. | Mr. Sandman, the Chordettes (1954) |
| 50. | The Great Pretender, the Platters (1955) |
| 51. | Death of an Angel, Donald Woods and the Vel-Aires (1955) |
| 52. | Little Bitty Pretty One, Thurston Harris (1957) |
| 53. | Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis (1957) |
| 54. | Milord, Edith Piaf (1959) |
| 55. | Come On, Let’s Go, Ritchie Valens (1958) |
| 56. | Wonderful World, Sam Cooke (1960) |
| 57. | Will You Love Me Tomorrow, the Shirelles (1960) |
| 58. | Walk—Don’t Run, the Ventures (1960) |
| 59. | At Last, Etta James (1960) |
| 60. | Stand by Me, Ben E. King (1961) |