2nd
me: Hey, do you know what the etymology of your home state is? Sabed que a la diestra mano de las Indias existe una isla llamada California muy cerca de un costado del Paraíso Terrenal; y estaba poblada por mujeres negras, sin que existiera allí un hombre, pues vivían a la manera de las amazonas. Eran de bellos y robustos cuerpos, fogoso valor y gran fuerza. Su isla era la más fuerte de todo el mundo, con sus escarpados farallones y sus pétreas costas. Sus armas eran todas de oro y del mismo metal eran los arneses de las bestias salvajes que ellas acostumbraban domar para montarlas, porque en toda la isla no había otro metal que el oro. Not directly relevant to the state of California but clearly of interest is this: Queen Califa has a flock of 500 trained griffins and a Moslem soldier convinces her to sail to Turkey (with griffins) and retake Constaninople from a Christian army. This ultimately is unsuccessful because the griffins cannot tell the difference between Moslem and Christian; they are just trained to kill men…Califa calls back the griffins and after much bloodshed duels the Christian knight, King Amadis to decide the battle. She is beaten and ends up embracing Christianity, marrying King Amadis’ nephew and returning to California to establish a new Christian state (boys inc.). You may remember the character of Amadis from Don Quixote, who was of course, desperate to imitate Amadis!
Tragos: Beautiful California from the Greek kalos, καλός?
me: Nice try, but apparently that’s unlikely. Somewhat circuitously it comes from caliph or خليفة / ḫalīfa / khalīfa, the arabic word for the head of state in a Caliphate…
Tragos: Circuitously…
me: Well, Queen Califa/Calafia ruled the island of California in Las Sergas de Esplandián the romance novel published by García Ordóñez de Montalvo, in 1510 (see wiki):
Know that on the right hand from the Indies exists an island called California very close to a side of the Earthly Paradise; and it was populated by black women, without any man existing there, because they lived in the way of the Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies, and were brave and very strong. Their island was the strongest of the World, with its cliffs and rocky shores. Their weapons were golden and so were the harnesses of the wild beasts that they were accustomed to domesticate and ride, because there was no other metal in the island than gold.
Anyway, in the first year of the 21st century, Whoopi Goldberg played Queen Califa in the movie and multimedia experience of “Golden Dreams” watched by millions of visitors to Disneyland, Anaheim…Unfortunately Tragos, the exhibit is now replaced by The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure…
Tragos: !?! We should tell ragbag.
It should be noted that while most of the info above is from wiki, I first heard about this from an interview with Jonathan Curiel, the author of Al’ America: Travels Through America’s Arab and Islamic Roots. I like his agenda, which is to disabuse people of the notion that Muslims don’t belong in America while explaining fascinating connections like the muezzin’s influence on the Blues and unearthing little gems of info about Arab and Islamic influences on people like Frank Lloyd Wright, Elvis, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dick Dale (if you feel like twisting about to his 1963 version of Misirlou, pre Pulp Fiction, pre Black Eyed Peas etc., enjoy this!)
