Introduction to common Tænian

I once ventured to Tæn and were struck by the dark-haired girl bustling around the nettles retting on the field. So the next day, I had mustered some strength and thought I gave it a shot. When I had said, her ebony hair reminded me of a starless sky and fair eyes shined like two moons, she slapped me in the face. Never got the chance to know why?

— Sávenian journeys: Tæn, An-nÍd Tešar

Tænian folklore

Folklore

Probably the most common feature one will notice when visiting Tæn is how the folklore, especially songs and myths influence the daily lives of all inhabitants, independent of age or status. To name some popular ones are connected to Silly Hithy - a folk song, a merry song about a tragic death of young boy, who broke the taboo of going near the Gáláwá Lake Caves on a full moon's night.

While there are many versions of this legend, it is that song in particular, that became a generous source of idioms and proverbs:

• to play Hithy - about a person; to play dumb
• to hithy - about a person; to behave irresponsibly
• hithy - adj. folly, a dangerous endeavour; noun poor, silly child
• to be moonstruck - about a person; to be blind on sth
• to have moon-like eyes - vulgar; about a person; to be blind
• to go sleep in Ithrós halls - vulgar; to wish someone ill (comparable to Aškarian "go to hell")

Interestingly, the moon appears also in a positive context, when being referred to as the Eye within the night or the night's eye. This idiom has much older roots, reaching back at least several hundred years, being related to a ritual chant (The thread of Tanitris) of the Bloom. The eye within the night has meanings easily lost in translation to Aškarian.

When used to describe someone, they convey respect for ones ability to notice non-trivial relations, such that would typically be omitted. One must take into account that in culture such as Tænian, the pursuit for yet undiscovered ideas is engraved deep into tradition. Thus, perceptiveness is a highly valued trait. In the same time this is not necessarily equivalent to respect for the individual per se.