The Once and Future King

Chapter III

^* Abbreviation for suspendatur, ‘let him be hanged.’

^† ‘Something comes of nothing.’ This is a parody or adaption of ex nihilo nihil fit, that is, ‘nothing comes of nothing,’ familiar (though not in that exact form) from both Lucretius and Persius.

^* Literally, ‘now you send away’ or ‘now you let depart,’ from the Canticle of Simeon, Luke 2:29. This has come to be used in a general sense, signifying, ‘I’ve seen it all now; I can die happy.’