GRGR(4): Episode 12

[David Morris]

Jeremy Osner:
>> p. 73 "Bert"
>> Why not Poseidon, say?

s~Z:
>Weisenburger says it's from Grimm's
>_Teutonic Mythology_ in which he refers to
>the goddess Bertha and the god Berchtold who
>were promoters of navigation among men. I can't
>find Berchtold at all online, and Bertha is said
>to be the goddess of spinning. Weisenburger says
>that the Grimm text was one of TRP's main resources.

Not to discount Weisenburger, but, at the simplest level, "Bert" is simply a
ridiculous suggestion for a name offered to a nutcase in a attempt to "talk
him down."  It was a very patronizing suggestion, which was calmly accepted:
"Bert is fine,"  and then the step into the void.  ANY name would be fine.
The name is meaningless.  The plunge into the void makes such questions only
so much baby-talk.