Words: Crestfallen and ring rusty...

A brilliant depiction of 'Crestfallen' by Brutalion on Deviant Art...

I’ve always loved the word “crestfallen”. It paints such a picture of abject despair. When we are watching a rugby game and one team just gives in, we always say “they’ve dropped their heads.” “Crestfallen” conjures up a similar sort of image…

Well, as I often find, I have spent most of my life getting it wrong when it comes to a word’s etymology. However, as I think I prefer my version, I will start off by saying where I always thought “crestfallen” came from.

A replica Greek helmet with crest - shiny!

I used to have a fascination with arms and armour. I particularly liked those Greek helmets with the big crests. I believed a Greek warrior defeated in battle would have his helmet’s crest cut off. Hence crestfallen, yes?

Interestingly (or maybe not), I came across these two versions of a Greek statue, one of which seems to have had a crest added to the helmet…

A statue of Laomedon from the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina in Greece, taken away by archaeologists in 1811 and now to be found in Munich...

This copy of the Laomedon statue, in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, has added a crest to his helmet...

Laomedon was a king of Troy who was killed by Heracles for his treachery. His death was depicted on the pediment of the temple of Aphaia, pictured here. Whether his helmet was supposed to have a crest or not, he certainly looks a bit “crestfallen”…

Then I thought maybe “crestfallen” referred to birds. So many have crests on top of their heads, and perhaps they look cheerful when their crests are raised and glum when they are not?

Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) in Auckland Zoo...

A yellow-crested cockatoo at a Tropical Birdland in Leicestershire. It has had its wings clipped and I can't help wondering if that's why it is a bit 'crestfallen'...

I expect in Britain we would be more used to a cockerel with a drooping crest than a cockatoo, though…

OK, and then there was a thought about the word crest used in heraldry. I imagined a great family brought low and having their coat of arms torn down from the stone walls of their ruined castle.

I’m afraid you will have to use your imagination on this one. Think of this shield made into a full coat of arms with crest on top…

Fragment of a stone shield from Poland, pictured by JDavid...

…and then combine it with thoughts of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (although I know that was to do with narcolepsy rather than defeat or disgrace)…

Fall of the House of Usher by Greg Hildebrandt...

I hope you grasp my train of thought. Crest – fallen – get it?

Finally, we come to what seems to be the official explanation of “crestfallen”, at least on the world wide web. It’s all about horses.

Apparently the word “crestfallen” is first found in the 1580s but the verb “crestfall” is recorded only from the 1610s, in reference to diseased horses, and is rare even then.

Wiktionary suggests crestfallen is from from the appearance of a horse with its head on its crest (chest) after defeat in a battle.

What? Chest? Surely not. My old Chambers dictionary quite happily gives crest as a word for a horse’s mane, so I don’t think we need to bring its chest into it.

Love this picture of a defeated warhorse, but still prefer the fallen warrior idea…

Defeated (and crestfallen) warhorse by Atsaki on Deviant Art...

While we are on the subject of arms and armour, I am always hearing the term “ring rusty”. In fact I heard it again when watching a rugby match on TV yesterday, referring to a player who had been out injured for months and had only just returned to action.

I always thought “ring rusty” referred to chain-mail armour.

Chain-mail or ring-mail...

One imagines an out-of-practice knight getting a bit rusty. In searching for an image, I came across some amusing pictures by Bruce Linn, about a rusty knight. Here’s one of them – click on the picture to see more…

A rather rusty knight reading in bed, by Bruce Linn...

However, again all over the world wide web, if I search for “ring rusty” I usually find references to boxing, and the idea that it means out of practice in the boxing ring.

I wouldn't say this 'anthro' boxer is 'ring-rusty', but I love the image of a sci-fi boxing ring. It's by Liu Dongzi (East Monkey) on Deviant Art

Any other terms that may (or may not) be from arms and armour? Oh, I’ve just thought of another one – parting (Parthian) shot – but don’t get me started…

Look, no hands - the Parthians' four-horned saddle enabled them to turn around and shoot their bows as they retreated...

Any other thoughts?

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