Word of the Week: Freelance

Robert de Normandie

at the Siege of Antioch 1097–1098

by J.J. Dassy, 1850

I was watching a documentary on the lance, the medieval weapon of choice for mounted knights. In the last segment, the host mentions that knights who became mercenaries during lulls in the Hundred Years' War were known as free-lances. The lance was their principal weapon and they were serving someone freely. The free part refers to the absence of a feudal obligation, not the absence of payment. Wow, I thought, what a fascinating word history.

Unfortunately, the story isn't true, at least not in the realm of historical reality. No one in the middle ages used the term free-lance to designate mercenaries. The term was an invention of Sir Walter Scott, who used it twice in the text of Ivanhoe (1820).

I?—I offered Richard the service of my Free Lances, and he refused them—I will lead them to Hull, seize on shipping, and embark for Flanders; thanks to the bustling times, a man of action will always find employment.

—from Chapter XXXIV

Trust me, Estoteville alone has strength enough to drive all thy Free Lances into the Humber.

—from Chapter XXXIV

Freelance combines a word of Old English origin with a word of French origin. Free derives from Old English freo, which meant exempt from or not in bondage as well as noble or joyful. Freo comes from Proto-Germanic *frijaz, which derives from PIE *prijos, meaning beloved or dear. The transition from beloved to the sense of freedom from bondage may have occured when the term was applied to members of a clan as opposed to slaves who served members of the clan. The sense of not costing anything developed in the 1580s from the idea “free of cost.” Lance entered English usage during the later half of the thirteenth century as Middle English launce, which derives from Old French lance and Latin lancea.

With the success of Ivanhoe, freelance took on a life of its own, sweeping into English usage with the force of a medieval cavalry charge. By the 1860s, freelance was being used figuratively. By the early twentieth century, it had morphed into an adjective, verb, and adverb. All thanks to Scott's historical inaccuracy.

Celebrate The Small Things - 21 November #CTST

It's Friday and time to Celebrate The Small Things (or big things) that happened this week.

Still awfully quiet around here. I promise to do something about that next week. And I'm still going over comments and corrections from my editor for a thriller novella coming out in the spring. Can't wait to get back to green field writing. We received an enormous amount of snow this week. The snow stopped being considerate and stuck to the pavement. It looks like January or February out there. I'm thankful the sun finally came out this morning. Blinding white outside.

The big writerly news is that Last Request the audio book is finally available everywhere (Amazon, Audible, and iTunes).

And there's still time to enter my contest for Last Request (details here). A $20 Amazon gift card is up for grabs.

Keep writing and keep hoping. What are you celebrating this week?

Want to join in the fun that is Celebrate The Small Things, sign up here.

Celebrate The Small Things - 14 November #CTST

It's Friday and time to Celebrate The Small Things (or big things) that happened this week.

Been awfully quiet here at the blog lately. I've been busy going over the comments and corrections from my editor for a thriller novella coming out in the spring. Lots of other projects to work on too. I've been playing with yWriter (a free alternative to Scrivner) and imported several projects into it. As the length of my stories grows, management becomes more of an issue. I have lots of ideas for blog posts. Even have notes for some, but it's a lot easier to think about them than to actually write them.

Lots of writerly items to celebrate over the past few weeks. Coffin Hop was fun and a great success. Give Me Your Teeth: A Fae Tale has been launched and I'm very thankful for all my writer friends who have offered reviews. You can't succeed in any endeavor without good friends. Readers seem to like the story, so I'm planning a sequel. (You'll find out why the Tooth Fairies need sharp teeth.) I also finished proofing the audio version of Last Request, which should be available on audible soon. It snowed here on Thursday and it was a very considerate snow, neatly sticking to the yards but not the pavement, as it should be.

And there's still time to enter my contest for Last Request (details here). A $20 Amazon gift card is up for grabs.

Keep writing and keep hoping. What are you celebrating this week?

Want to join in the fun that is Celebrate The Small Things, sign up here.

Insecure Writer’s Support Group: Post #8

It's the first Wednesday of the month again. Time for another IWSG post.

Yikes! I forgot all about IWSG until I saw the notice for Lexa's post. I've been busy launching a new story (Give Me Your Teeth: A Fae Tale) and a contest (go here).

Am I feeling insecure? Absolutely!! With a very capital A. Too early to tell if either of these endeavors is going to be successful. What if they both fail? I guess I can either scale back my definition of success or just lump it and move on, hopefully having learned something. So what do you do when it's not clear if the ship you're on is sinking?

Until next month, keep writing.