Joyce saw the word "giorgios" in a December 1922 newspaper article about gypsies (their term for non-gypsy/gentile/goy) but wrote "gorgios" in his notes-- maybe a typo or maybe he'd run across it elsewhere, as an alternate spelling? (he named his son Giorgio, which echoes Georgia much better)
while they went
"...arrived... went"?
doublin their mumper
exaggerated themselves... doubling their number (geometric progression)
Dublin, Georgia
"mumper" was in the same 1922 article, as a derogatory gypsy term for homeless gypsies
all the time:
(Joyce usually pairs time-references with space-references: fweet-47)
FDV: "Sir Tristram had not encore arrived {on a merry isthmus} from North Armorica"
Sir Tristram,
Tristan and Isolde are the primary incarnations of the theme of love, based on Bedier's version crossed with Joyce and Nora Barnacle [1923 reconstruction]
the 'sigla' for Tristan and Isolde were at first "T" and "⊥" (mirror reflections), but Tristan was later reconceived as a combination of the brother-sigla (Ʌ and [)
violer d'amores,
Isolde was engaged to Tristan's uncle, King Mark, when a potion caused them to fall in love
Healy says dahMOARays (the Italian pronunciation), i say dahMOARS
he kept the title secret until it was guessed in 1938, using the substitute "Work in Progress" instead. starting in March 1924 he called it "◻" in his notes, referring variously to buildings, letters in envelopes, mailboxes, coffins, etc. By 1923 he was already mentioning wakes in his notes.
rivers run eternally to the sea, where they evaporate into clouds that rain down and start the cycle over again. Joyce equated the river with Anna Livia Plurabelle, ALP = △
there's a secondary theme of the widowed Mrs Finnegan writing a letter to a 'Revered Majesty' and the opening word 'Revered' or 'Reverend' is blurred here
615.12 "Dear. And we go on to Dirtdump. Reverend."
and this first word is a continuation from the last sentence of the book (sometimes indented to midpage)
chapter one wasn't begun until November 1926, while other sections were underway in 1923.
past Eve and Adam's,
the cycle began before the first human couple
the river is all rivers, but especially the Liffey that runs through Dublin, past Adam and Eve's Church, founded in a tavern in 1618
'commode' implies it's an odious/odorous sewer, too
Vico's theory of cyclical history was one of Joyce's inspirations
'vicus' is Latin for street (Healy says VICKuss, i say VIGHcuss. other possibilities: VEEcus, WIHcus or WEEcus. "Vico" is always VEEco, I think.)
the course of the Liffey river
back to Howth Castle & Environs.
'back' = we've been there/here before (an infinity of times)
Howth Head juts out into Dublin Bay. it has a castle dating back 700 years.
Howth rhymes with oath.
the initials HCE are a shorthand for the fallen Finnegan (via Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, aka "E") that's echoed on almost every page (474 out of 626)
Healy says ENNvihruns (rhymes w/riverrun?), i say enVIGHruns
fdv1: "Howth Castle & Environs!"
fw1 spells out "and"
