Inter-Connectedness of All Things: January 2024

1. Tannenbaum is the German word for a fir tree. Knowing that, what is the title of the well-known English translation of the song "O Tannenbaum", written in 1824 by organist, teacher and composer Ernst Anschütz?

2. And, during World War 2, Operation Tannenbaum was the planned but never carried-out invasion of which country by Nazi Germany?

3. As part of its marketing strategy, Amar Chitra Katha has been selling collections of its comics as thematic packs, such as the five Elements of Nature packs shown in the visual below, each with its own theme. Apart from titles related to Fire, Water, Wind and Earth, what is the name of the 5th pack, which is an anagram of one of the other packs? [Clue: it's not strictly speaking an 'Element of Nature'.]

4. In Persian, 'hamazakaran' is a term that means 'to make war'. The related Persian word for 'warriors' is cited as one of the possible origins for an English word that has traversed a long route from Greek mythology through geography to commerce. The folk etymology that links it to an amputation story is specious, as there is no indication in Greek art of such a practice. What's the English word?

5. Talking about warriors, by what 2-word term do we better know the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, a religious military order that existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.

6. Forged by the dwarven brothers Sindri and Brokkr, its characteristically short handle was due to a mishap during its manufacture. What object whose name is usually interpreted as meaning "that which smashes" was this? It's become widely known over the past 15 years because of a popular Hollywood film franchise.

7. This is a historical novel about Rani Jindan, one of the minor wives of an influential 19th-century Indian ruler, who gained prominence after his death in 1839, largely through her efforts to sustain a princely legacy for her son Duleep Singh. Which Maharaja was she the 'last queen' of?

8. This 4-letter adjective, defined by Merriam-Webster as "very eccentric or absurd, often in an amusing way", came into English as a noun word for a theatrical buffoon. That was rooted in a stock servant character in the Italian commedia dell’arte. The Italian name for the character – from which the English word arose – was a colloquial shortening of the Italian form of the name John. What's the English word?

9. Hugely popular in the US after their path-breaking feats in the late 1920s and '30s, this couple had a spectacular fall from grace in the lead-up to the Second World War. Invited to inspect the rising power of Nazi Germany's Air Force, the husband was full of praise and admiration, and strongly campaigned against the US getting involved in the war. The wife wrote a booklet titled 'The Wave of the Future', arguing that something resembling fascism was inevitable. The Roosevelt administration attacked 'The Wave of the Future' as "the bible of every American Nazi, Fascist, Bundist and Appeaser", and the booklet became one of the most despised writings of the period. She had also written in a letter, of Hitler, that he was "a very great man, like an inspired religious leader – and as such rather fanatical – but not scheming, not selfish, not greedy for power." Who were the couple? Just the shared surname will do.

10. Fill in the blanks in this verse from 'Paradise Lost: The Fourth Book' by John Milton, which contains a dialogue between Gabriel and Satan. This is the origin of a certain common 4-word phrase in English.

"So judge thou still, presumptuous, till the wrauth,
Which thou incurr’st by flying, meet thy flight
Sevenfold, and scourge that wisdom back to ____,
Which taught thee yet no better that no pain
Can equal anger infinite provoked.
But wherefore thou alone? Wherefore with thee
Came not ___ ____ _____ ____? Is pain to them
Less pain, less to be fled? or thou than they
Less hardy to endure? Courageous chief,
The first in flight from pain, hadst thou alleged
To thy deserted host this cause of flight,
Thou surely hadst not come sole fugitive.”

The blank at the end of the 3rd line is the second word in the missing phrase.

Answers

1. "O Christmas Tree": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLdqnICsS8
Here's the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xww_oaafCBA
2. Switzerland
3. Heart

4. Amazon, from 'ha-mazan'
5. Knights Templar
6. Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor
7. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab
8. Zany, from 'zanni', short for Giovanni
9. Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
10. All Hell broke loose

1. Shown below are a satellite image of Guanabara Bay and an early 20th-century picture of a city on its banks. The bay was first encountered by Europeans on January 1, 1502, when the Portuguese explorers Gaspar de Lemos and Gonçalo Coelho arrived on its shores. The name given by the exploration team to the bay originally used the Portuguese word for lagoon as part of the name of the bay, but some confusion in spelling led to it being called a river instead. The resulting name of the bay was later also given to the city on its shore. What is it called?

2. Watch this title sequence of a children's TV series very popular in the 1990s, and name the singer.

3. Formerly part of Hyderabad Division in the province of Sindh, the division in red below was renamed Shaheed _______abad District in 2008, on the demand of most of the Members of the Provincial Assembly. Whose first name fills the blank?

4. In Greek, 'ateleia' is a word used for, among other things, 'tax exemption'. In the 1860s, Frenchman George Herpin combined this with a Greek prefix to come up with what word for something he loved doing?

5. This is a plaque outside a building called Blavatsky House in Mumbai. Which organisation's 'Three Objects' are listed on it?

6. Which toy brand's mascot Murph is this?

7. In medieval Japan, a Tessen was a disguised weapon that samurai could take into places where swords or other overt weapons were not allowed. Apart from as a weapon of offence, it was also used for fending off arrows and darts, as a throwing weapon, and as an aid in swimming. What everyday object was the Tessen a variation of?

In the following 2 questions, use the letters (a), (b), (c) to identify your answers

8. (a) What word has been blanked out in the Amul Topical shown below? (b) What popular TV show is the subject of this ad?

9. Three parts to this question.
Who (a: with the red headdress) is shown guiding whom (b: in the brown robes) through Hell in this 1822 painting by the French painter (c)?