That thirty

[bruce sublett]

>284.27 "before he was 30" - there's that number thirty again (cf 283.23) -
a
>textual instance of a double?

Ol' Tyrone's boppin' through Northern Europe, the early literature of which
is studded with the number 30.  As in Beowulf with the strength of 30 in his
grasp, or his "swim" across the North Sea with 30 sets of armor.  Turns out
that it's just a convenient number to write in Roman numerals (XXX), and to
a culture that counts "1, 2, 3, a bunch," 30 is as good as any other
unfathomable number.

BS