Rocinante
Encyclopedia
Rocinante is the name of Don Quixote's horse, in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
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(roussin; rosse), Portuguese
(rocim) and Italian
(ronzino). The etymology is uncertain. The name is, however, a pun. On the first order, the Spanish
ante means "before" or "previously". On the second order, it also translates as 'in front of'. On the third order, the suffix -ante in Spanish is adverbial; rocinante refers to functioning as, or being, a rocín reflexively. As such, Cervantes establishes a pattern of ambiguous interpretations present in many words in the novel. Another further explanation comes from the text itself: nombre a su parecer alto, sonoro y significativo de lo que había sido cuando fue rocín, antes de lo que ahora era, que era antes y primero de todos los rocines del mundo. - "a name, to his thinking, lofty, sonorous, and significant of his condition as a hack before he became what he now was, the first and foremost of all the hacks in the world."
As the narration describes in chapter 1 about the naming of Don Quixote's steed, "Four days were spent in thinking what name to give him, because (as he said to himself) it was not right that a horse belonging to a knight so famous, and one with such merits of his own, should be without some distinctive name, and he strove to adapt it so as to indicate what he had been before belonging to a knight-errant, and what he then was."
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
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Etymology
in Spanish means work-horse or low-quality horse ("nag"), but also illiterate or rough man. There are similar words in FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(roussin; rosse), Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(rocim) and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
(ronzino). The etymology is uncertain. The name is, however, a pun. On the first order, the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
ante means "before" or "previously". On the second order, it also translates as 'in front of'. On the third order, the suffix -ante in Spanish is adverbial; rocinante refers to functioning as, or being, a rocín reflexively. As such, Cervantes establishes a pattern of ambiguous interpretations present in many words in the novel. Another further explanation comes from the text itself: nombre a su parecer alto, sonoro y significativo de lo que había sido cuando fue rocín, antes de lo que ahora era, que era antes y primero de todos los rocines del mundo. - "a name, to his thinking, lofty, sonorous, and significant of his condition as a hack before he became what he now was, the first and foremost of all the hacks in the world."
As the narration describes in chapter 1 about the naming of Don Quixote's steed, "Four days were spent in thinking what name to give him, because (as he said to himself) it was not right that a horse belonging to a knight so famous, and one with such merits of his own, should be without some distinctive name, and he strove to adapt it so as to indicate what he had been before belonging to a knight-errant, and what he then was."
Other uses in arts and literature
Elsewhere in literature, Rocinante refers to:- The name John SteinbeckJohn SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
gives to the modified camper truck in which he travelled the country in his book Travels With Charley. - Julia de BurgosJulia de BurgosJulia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
's description of herself in her 1938 poem 'A Julia de Burgos': "que yo soy Rocinante corriendo desbocado" (trans. by Grace Schulman: "I am Rocinante, bolting free, wildly"). - Giannina BraschiGiannina BraschiGiannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
's horses are named Rocinante and Clarin in the bilingual novel Yo-Yo Boing! - The ship flown by Cervantes Quinn, a colorful freelance trader, in Harbinger, the first volume of the Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
Vanguard novel series. - Rocinante is the name of a space ship in the songs of the Cygnus X-1 duology from the albums 'A Farewell to KingsA Farewell to KingsA Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1977. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and mixed at Advision Studios in London....
' and 'HemispheresHemispheres (Rush album)Hemispheres is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1978. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Trident Studios in London....
' by CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
progressive rockProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
. - Rocinante is the name given to a captured alien ship in the computer game Marathon 2: DurandalMarathon 2: DurandalMarathon 2: Durandal is the first sequel in the Marathon series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software. It was released on November 24, 1995. The game is mostly set on the fictional planet of Lh'owon, homeworld of the S'pht, and once again the player takes the...
and its fan-made sequel, Marathon: Rubicon. - Rocinante is the name of a horse in the Inside Track Betting in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasGrand Theft Auto: San AndreasGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
. - The name given to the "salvaged" MCRN space ship in James S.S. Corey's SF novel "Leviathan Wakes" (c)2011, Orbit:Hatchette Book Group, 227 Park Ave., New York,NY 10017
- Rocinante is the name of a defunct publication from ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. - Rocinante is the name given to a car in the novel Briar Rose by Jane YolenJane YolenJane Hyatt Yolen is an American author and editor of almost 300 books. These include folklore, fantasy, science fiction, and children's books...
. - An airplane that crashed while smuggling diamonds in the television series PsychPsychPsych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
on the USA NetworkUSA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
. - In Alexis Gilliland's Rosinante trilogy, Rosinante is a man-made, inhabited satellite located in the asteroid belt. Its partner satellite is called Don Quixote.
- Rocinante is the name of a fictional cafe in C. J. SansomC. J. SansomChristopher John "C.J." Sansom is a British writer of crime novels. He was born in 1952 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was educated at the University of Birmingham, where he took a BA and then a PhD in history. After working in a variety of jobs, he decided to retrain as a solicitor...
's Winter in MadridWinter in MadridWinter in Madrid is a spy novel written by C. J. Sansom. The setting is just after the Spanish Civil War in 1940. The main character is a wounded veteran, Harry Brett. He received his wounds during the Dunkirk withdrawal....
. - Rocinante is the name of the airplane that carried Mark Gravengood and Jackie Archer on their cross-country adventure in Wes Boyd's first novel in the Spearfish Lake Tales series.
- Rocinante is the name of a tulip created by a Dutch bulbgrower named C. van der Vlugt.
- Rosinante is the name of the vehicle driven by the namesake of the song An Animated Description of Mr. Maps by The BooksThe BooksThe Books are an American duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech...
. - Rosinante is the title of a song by Southern California band Model EngineModel EngineModel Engine was an alternative rock band based in Santa Barbara, California. Prior to 1997 the trio, consisting of Jeremy Post, Brad McCarter and Brent Nims were known as Black Eyed Sceva. Confusion over the meaning of the name and its constant mispronunciation led the band to change its moniker...
, from their CD The Lean Years Tradition. - Rocinante is the name of the mare ridden by the protagonist David A. Reed in the 1973 novel So Far From Heaven by Richard BradfordRichard BradfordRichard Bradford was a novelist, best known for his 1968 novel Red Sky at Morning, a film version of which was released in 1971. He also wrote So Far from Heaven, a novel about the adventures of a disillusioned executive who flees his life in the city for a New Mexico cattle ranch. Mr...
. - Rocinante(로시난테) is the title of a song by the Korean musical duo, PanicPanicPanic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction...
(members: Juck Lee, Jin-pyo Kim). - Rocinante is the name given to his Seat 600 car by the eponymous hero of Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's novel Monsignor QuixoteMonsignor QuixoteMonsignor Quixote is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. The book is a pastiche of the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes with many moments of hilarious comedy, but also offers reflection on matters such as life after a dictatorship, Communism, and the Catholic...
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