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The Hero’s Journey

English, via Old French, from Latin

peregrīnus

Pilgrimage

pilgrimage

A traveler from abroad, then a traveler to a sacred place. The word itself has a road.

Etymology

Latin peregrīnus, foreign, from abroad (peregrē, abroad + -īnus). Late Latin pelegrinus by dissimilation. Old French pelerin / peligrin / pellegrin. Middle English pilegrim, pilgrim (MED). English pilgrimage is the practice named after the person. Do not jump from modern English straight to classical Latin as if nothing stood between.

Historical usage

Christian peregrinatio, Hajj in Islam, Hindu tīrtha-yātrā, Buddhist circuits, and many other practices are not one thing. This plate names the English word and refuses to make it a universal template.

Later development

Turner and Turner treated pilgrimage as social process. Useful, limited. Not a license to call every long walk a pilgrimage.

Why it matters here

Pilgrimage, as a journey shape here, means a road whose destination is a sacred or traditionally charged place, and whose return carries a different office than the going.

English PILGRIM, Reverse Reduction 42. CAMINO misses. PILGRIMAGE misses. Noticed, not plated. The type of walker is not a third plate on the road. Peregrīnus first meant the person from abroad.

Living traditions are not specimens. Hajj, in particular, is a pillar of Islam with its own sources and communities. It is not filed under Campbell.

Stories that hold this word

Relationship type is not optional

A word present in a source text is not the same as a later critical term applied to that story.

  • Historical context

    The Camino

    The English word’s history names this road. Medieval walkers used peregrinus and pilgrim.

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