Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 22

Line 22: "Woden that expain a Lot, now, about Morma and her Gorgo?"

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Wouldn't that explain a lot, now, about Momma and her Giorgio?"

"Woden"
Why bring up Odin? Perhaps because he had many children by different wives thus mirroring the possibility that Nora had children by different men. Or perhaps this is a hint at an intimate relationship between mother and son as well, as Odin married at least one of his own daughters.

"expain"
The entire thing caused a lot of pain.

"Lot"
Lot slept with his daughters. So I think maybe I know why Odin was mentioned! Although Lot was drunk so I guess The Bible says it's not too big a deal if you get drunk and allow your daughters to seduce you because they've just seen two cities destroyed and surely no other men survived those two cities being destroyed so they kind of had to fuck their dad, right?

"Morma"
According to Wikipedia, "The original Mormo was a woman of Corinth, who ate her children then flew out; according to an account only attested in a single source." I respect Alan Moore's esoteric knowledge enough to believe he probably read that single source first hand. Anyway, "Morma" is probably a combination of "Mormo" and "ma" (but maybe not?!). Mormo could also equate to being a bugbear or a bogeyman used to frighten children.

"Gorgo"
Giorgio but perhaps with a reference to Gorgons? If this is meant to reference Gorgons, is it meant simply to refer back to Nora as the Mormo does, meaning she's a frightening monster? "Gorgos" is also an Ancient Greek word that means "grim or dreadful," thus it invokes the same idea as "Gorgon" but in a less gendered way. To Lucia, Giorgio was probably grim and dreadful because of the acts he performed on her. Another possibility: "Gorgos" was a British Thoroughbred racehorse in the Edwardian Era. Initially successful, he was quickly retired and became a successful breeding stud for many years. His mother (mare) was named The Gorgon which works well here in that it fixes all the problems I had with transferring the idea of "Gorgon" to Nora.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 21

Line 21: "The mater had been left unseddled."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "The matter had been left unsettled."

"mater"
German for "mother". But also simply "a person who mates." So both Nora was left unsettled by the encounter and the identity of the person who fathered Giorgio was left undetermined.

"unseddled"
"Unsettled" with the hint of something being "unsaid." Also Nora was referenced as a "mare" in the last sentence so probably also the idea of "unsaddled," as in "the mare/mother was left unsaddled," suggestive of Nora not being tamed or monogamous. Nora also refuses to say ("unsaid") whom the father is or whether she even knows for sure.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 20

Line 20: "Is Dis Nod my sun, her darkglassed da had cried in his tormental angruish, to witch the briny mare durst not deply."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "'Is this not my son?', her regardless dad had cried in his torment and anguish, to which the briny mare dared not reply."

"Dis"
Capitalized so probably in reference to the Roman god of the underworld who was originally associated with fertile agricultural land. So Lucia associates Giorgio with both fertility and Hell.

"Nod"
The land where Cain was forced to wander, reinforcing the idea of Giorgio as a metaphorical Cain.

"sun"
Giorgio was the light of James Joyce's life so finding out that he might not actually be his biological child would darken his world.

"darkglassed"
I've interpreted "darkglassed" as "regardless" simply because it sounds the most like this formation and James could be seen as being regardless in the way he treated his family, thus it would be years before he might even question Giorgio's actual parentage. "Darkglassed" would also seem to be a synonym for "regardless" in that it would make it hard for a person to see what is around them, thus not paying much attention to the situation around them. As in not being able to see that his son was fucking his daughter. He wore "dark glasses" both because his vision was obscured to what was right in front of him and also possibly to dampen the light of love he had for his son.

"tormental"
Torment as in haunted or suffering. Mental as in, well, the same, I guess! But also with the hint of madness or insanity. Perhaps his mental torment was nothing more than a crazy notion built up after hearing some terrible gossip from his wife's former lover.

"angruish"
"Anguish" and, I suppose, "angry" or "anger," possibly even "argue." This gossip has put James in a state of mental anguish and made him so angry that he's arguing with his wife.

"witch"
Nora Barnacle whom James currently considers to be a huge jerk. Although what did he expect? Her not to fuck a guy around the same time she began fucking him?!

"briny mare"
I didn't translate this into anything new in the Non-Lucy-Lips Version because it seems to stand on its own as is. "Mare" is close enough to "ma" that it possibly could be that although what "briny" would imply in that case, I'm not sure. Anyway, Nora has been thought of as a farm animal earlier so equating her with a female horse is right up every member of the Joyce family's alley, it seems. "Briny mare" also evokes a sea horse which, if you can manage to squint your brain just right, brings back the mermaid motif which I completely don't understand. "Briny" can mean "salty" which is what Nora probably was at this moment even though she doesn't speak in Lucia's memory. I'm sure she was angry, possibly "spiny" which "briny" might also suggest.

"durst"
Archaic form of "dared," possibly to remind everybody of all the Biblical nonsense going on? Definitely not a Limp Bizkit reference.

"deply"
"Reply" but with the hint of "dared not deny." Perhaps she dared not deny because it was the truth but also because denying it would have simply made James angrier.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 19

Line 19: "He'd met with Cowsgrope the Invincible who had confleshed to scraping the odd barnacle in nineteen nundread-for, the year that Orgy-porgy-puttin-pie was farst consceptered."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Her father James had met with Cowsgrope the Invincible who had confessed to 'scraping the odd barnacle' in 1904, the year that Giorgio was conceived."

"Cowsgrope the Invincible"
No clue who this might be but assuredly a past lover of Nora's and my next Dungeons and Dragons character. The "Cowsgrope" because Nora has been compared numerous times to a cow by Lucia and the "grope" to show that this person shared some sexual liaison with Nora. But why Invincible?!

"confleshed"
Confessed merged with fleshed, as in the confession was one of a sexual nature.

"scraping the odd barnacle"
Nora's last name was Barnacle so this is a confession of having been intimate with Nora.

"nineteen nundread-for"
The incident took place in 1904. But it is unknown when James met with Cowsgrope or when the letter was sent to Nora. So the letter probably arrived sometime when the children where old enough to understand the consternation it caused Nora, being an accusation of infidelity from her husband. "Nundread-for"? I guess because nuns dread coitus?

"Orgy-porgy-puttin-pie"
Giorgio with acknowledgment that his conception is unclear, being that Nora had a whole orgy of lovers at the time (two being an orgy in 1904). Georgie-peorgie-pudding-and-pie is a kid's rhyme but done dirty in this case by adding "orgy" and "puttin-pie" which is a slang term for doing it. You know, putting the penis inside the vagina.

"farst consceptered."
This is a fart joke followed by a dick joke, isn't it?! "Farst" probably means something like Giorgio was conceived far away and also first and maybe it was essentially a farce because look at what he's been doing to his ten year old sister. And "consceptered" is a dick joke because it has "scepter" shoved into conceived. At least it's probably meant to be conceived even if "scepter" doesn't really fit too well in that word. Maybe like how James' scepter might not have fit into the odd barnacle in the way he thought because Cowsgrope's scepter was all up in there.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 18

Line 18: "Hidn't there once been a scarlet letter, a dismissive from their Further in the Land of Ire?"

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Hadn't there once been a letter, a missive from their father while in Ireland?"

"Hidn't"
Lucia continues her speculation that Giorgio may not be her brother by thinking about family secrets, things hidden from the children.

"a scarlet letter"
A hint of infidelity contained in a letter from James to Nora while he was in Ireland. The Scarlet Letter of course being a reference to adultery.

"dismissive"
The letter, whatever was in it, was meant more to tear apart the family than to bring them together. Perhaps James "dismissing" Nora for some another.

"Further"
James was both far away in Ireland while they were in France and far away emotionally, wrapped up in his writing, drinking, and travels.

"Land of Ire?"
The letter was cause for anger, argument, and resentment. This is a question in Lucia's mind because it was something which happened before the children were born (as it possibly pertains to Giorgio's parentage) and subsequently "hidden" from the children. But it obviously caused much emotional turmoil in the household over the years or Lucia wouldn't even have this vague inkling of it.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 17

Line 17: "Setting in the die-room now she chews over her toast, raised two old tines, and wanders if he ova reilly and tooralee was her brooder."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Sitting in the dining room now, she eats her toast, raises her fork, and wonders if he ever really and truly was her brother."

"Setting"
Lucia is sat in the dining room but sitting becomes setting, as in stage dressing with the actor doctors running about. None of this is real.

"die-room"
The asylum is where Lucia will live out the rest of her life. If she doesn't die in this room, it will be one of the few she is able to visit.

"chews over her toast"
Chews is the act of eating but also of thinking deeply about something. Here, Lucia is involved in a deep dive, a real wander of old times, over breakfast.

"raised two old tines"
Hints at "to old times." Lucia is sat thinking about the past in the room she'll probably die in.

"wanders"
Lost in memory.

"ova"
Along with "brooder" later, and following on the Fertile Crescent reference of the last sentence, we have hints that perhaps a pregnancy happened from this union. She never had a child so this is major speculation. The imagery can simply be more suggestions of copulation.

"reilly and tooralee"
Sounds like names but being that I'm unfamiliar with James Joyce's works (making me an idiot for even bothering with this project. Maybe I should dive into Joyce first? No, no. No time! No time!), it's unlikely I'll make too many connections if they don't stand out in the wikis I'm willing to read. It's only going to get worse as I get further in. At least I've previously read and thought about the first few pages of this chapter. But the rest? I've never read them at all!

"brooder"
Suggests both "breeder" and "brooding." This could indicate her brother was a brooding figure but also suggestive of Lucia involved in brooding right at this moment, wrapped up in unhappy memories (no matter how she tries to paint them to herself; the truth comes out in the strange language) while chewing over her toast.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 16

Line 16: "Not that she hoydent wellcomed his hardvances, penfull at forst, back then when she still beliffied that he loved her, back there in their papadise when she was tigrish in the milibloom of her youth-ray tease."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Not that she hadn't welcomed his advances, painful at first, back then when she still believed that he loved her, back there in their paradise when she was grist in the mill/tigerish in the bloom of her youth."

"Not that she hoydent"
A "hoyden" is a bold, boisterous girl or tomboy. A bit of an opposite of the earlier descriptive of Lucia as "shy" when first facing Giorgio's advances. Here, she seems filled more with a spirit of exuberant participation in the acts.

"wellcomed"
Lucia both welcomed her brother's advances and was, eventually (minus the painful at first bit), sexually satisfied by him (well comed).

"hardvances"
Insert Beavis and Butthead laughing. Yeah! Yeah! He said "hard."

"penfull at forst"
A pen is like a phallus and Giorgio's is full or engorged. Also a reminder of her father's occupation as a writer, or a metaphor for writing and sex, or words trying to grasp the memory of the sexual experience. Painful "at forst" seems to suggest the act was both physically painful and "forced," whether or not Lucia wants to remember being a willing participant. In her Lucy Lips description of the memory, she knows Giorgio was committing a violent act.

"still beliffied"
Once again a reference to the River Liffey in Dublin, an important location in Finnegans Wake and a reminder that Lucia is not just light as her name suggests but water in motion.

"back there in their papadise"
It was paradise living as a family, and with father especially. Paradise also brings back the Garden of Eden imagery.

"she was tigrish in the milibloom of her youth-ray tease."
Apparently "milibloom" is a reference to Molly Bloom, a character in Ulysses. But since I have yet to read that, I really wouldn't know. But I feel like "tigrish in the mili" sounds much like "grist in the mill," something Lucia had become for Giorgio and his sexual desires. But she was also at this time in the bloom of her youth. So all those get mixed up together. She's tigrish in that she's at her most ferocious, I guess? Plus the reader would have Blake in mind while reading Jerusalem and so think of his poem. "Youth-ray tease" is a weird ending but probably suggests that Lucia was seen, by Giorgio and possibly other adults (as people are really pretty sexist and gross for the most part) as somehow teasing Giorgio simply because she turns him on. Also "ray" suggests "light" which is the meaning of Lucia's name.

"tigrish . . . youth-ray tease."
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the Garden of Eden was presumed to have been located. So another reminder of paradise and the Book of Genesis. Plus the Tigris and Euphrates was known as the Fertile Crescent which has sexual connatation if you know what words mean.