Editing Athame (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Ritual implements.gif|thumb|300px|Extract from a 17th&nbsp;century version of the ''[[Key of Solomon]]''. Note the ''bolino'' ([[boline]]) top left, ''artavo'' (athame) below it.]]
The term athame derives, via a series of corruptions, from the late Latin ''artavus'' ("quill knife"), which is well attested in the oldest manuscripts of the ''Key of Solomon''.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} It means "a small knife used for sharpening the pens of scribes" (''"Cultellus acuendis calamis scriptorii"''). ''Artavus'' is well-attested in medieval Latin, although it is not a common word. This explains why it was left untranslated in some French and Italian manuscripts, and ultimately became garbled<ref>
{{cite web
 |title=The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian
 |id=Sloane&nbsp;3847
 |url=http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/sl3847.htm
 |website=esotericarchives.com
}}
</ref>
in various manuscripts as ''artavo'', ''artavus'', ''arthana'', ''artanus'', ''arthany'', or ''arthame''.<ref name=duCanage-1954>
{{cite book
 |last=du&nbsp;Cange  |first=Gall
 |year=1954
 |title=Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis |language=la
 |trans-title=Glossary of Middle and Low Latin 
 |volume=Band&nbsp;I
 |place=Graz, Austria
 |page=410
}}
: compare
{{cite book
 |first1=J.F. |last1=Niermeyer
 |first2=C.   |last2={{nobr|van de Kieft}}
 |year=2002   |edition=revised
 |editor-first=J.W.J. |editor-last=Burgers
 |title=Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus |language=la
 |trans-title=Middle Latin Lexicon, Abridged
 |place=Leiden, NL
 |publisher=Brill
 |page=82
}}
</ref><ref name=Latham-1965-1975>
{{cite book
 |last=Latham |first=R.E. |author-link=R. E. Latham
 |year=1965
 |title=Revised Medieval Latin Word-List from British and Irish Sources
 |place=London, UK
 |page=32
}}
:
{{cite book
 |last=Latham |first=R.E. |author-link=R. E. Latham
 |year=1975
 |title=Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources
 |place=London, UK
}}
</ref>
[[R. E. Latham|Latham]]<ref name=Latham-1965-1975/> described the etymology of ''artavus'' as being dubious, but Johannes Balbus de&nbsp;Janua<ref>
{{cite book
 |first= Johannes Balbus |last=de&nbsp;Janua
 |year=1497
 |title=Catholicon |language=la
 |trans-title=
}}
</ref>
derives it from ''arto'', ''artas'', etc. ("to narrow").<ref name=duCanage-1954/>

An alternate etymology is given by de&nbsp;Garlande, ({{circa|1225}}):<ref name=deGarlande-c1225>
{{cite book
 |last=de&nbsp;Garlande |first=John
 |date=c. 1225
 |title=Dictionarius |language=la
 |trans-title=Dictionary
}}
</ref>
: ''Artavus dicitur Gallice ''<nowiki/>‘kenivet’<nowiki/>'', scilicet cultellus qui tendit in altum; vel dicitur ab arte, quia eo artifices utuntur.''<ref name=deGarlande-c1225/>

: "Artavus, called ''kenivet'' in French, namely a small knife which stretches in length, is named after ''ars'' (art or craft), because it is used by artisans."
(As distinguished either from a weapon, or from a table knife ''cultellos ad mensam'', ''mensaculos''.)

[[Idries Shah]], who was personal secretary and close friend of [[Gerald Gardner]], provides yet another etymology from an alleged Arabic ''al-dhammé'' ("blood-letter"), which was supposed to be the ritual knife of a medieval magical cult of [[Morocco]] and [[Andalusia]]. This etymology is controversial, however: It appears in his book ''The Sufis'' as a quotation from ''A History of Secret Societies'' by [[Arkon Daraul|Daraul]] – a probable pseudonym of Shah. [[Robert Graves|Graves]] (an acquaintance of Shah) suggests an Arabic derivation from ''al&nbsp;thame'' (or ''adh-dhame''), which he translates as "the arrow".<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Bramshaw |first=Vikki
 |year=2009
 |title=Craft of the Wise: A practical guide to paganism and witchcraft
 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing
 |isbn=9781846942327
 |page=71
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K42r6blWAdEC&pg=PA71
 |via=Google books
}}
</ref>

A Latin manuscript version of the ''Key of Solomon'' has a drawing that looks like a [[sickle]], labeled ''artavo''. Gerald Gardner's use of 'athame' probably came from modern French versions of the ''Key of Solomon'', probably via [[Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry|de&nbsp;Givry]] (1931),<ref name=deGivry-1931/> who misinterpreted the term as applying to the main ritual knife, as shown by his index entries ''arthane'', ''arthame'', and ''athane''.{{refn|{{cite book
 |last=Grillot de&nbsp;Givry |first=É.-J. |author-link=Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry
 |year=1929 |edition=1st
 |title=Musée des sorciers, mages, et alchimistes |language=fr
 |trans-title=Museum of Sorcerers, Mages, and Alchemists
 |place=Compiègne, FR |publisher=Librairie de France
}}
: English trans.:
{{cite book
 |author-last=Grillot de&nbsp;Givry |author-first=É.-J.
 |author-link=Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry 
 |translator-last=Locke  |translator-first=J. Courtenay
 |year=1973
 |title=Illustrated Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy
 |place=New York, NY |publisher=Causeway Books
 |ISBN=0-88356-018-6
}}
: ''See also'' [[Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry|de Givry]] (1931).<ref name=deGivry-1931/>
}}<ref name=deGivry-1931>
{{cite book
 |last=Grillot de&nbsp;Givry  |first=É.-J.
 |author-link=Émile-Jules Grillot de Givry
 |year=1931  |edition=reprint
 |title=Witchcraft, Magic, and Alchemy
 |publisher=Dover Press
 |ISBN=0-486-22493-7
}}
</ref><ref name=TriumphoftheMoon>
{{cite book
 |last=Hutton  |first=R.   |author-link=Ronald Hutton
 |year=1999
 |title=The Triumph of the Moon: A history of modern pagan witchcraft
 |place=New York, NY  |publisher=Oxford University Press
 |isbn=0-19-820744-1
 |url=https://archive.org/details/triumphofmoonhis00hutt
 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] (archive.org) 
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 232}}