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62 3/2/05 6:18 AM Page 62ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTIANE BEAURÉGARD/ILLUSIONPuzzleAnagrams,Mythsand LegendsBy Marcel DanesiThe ancients took anagrams –words or phrases made by rearrangingthe letters of otherwords or phrases – quite seriously.Legend has it that Alexander the Greatbelieved in their prophetic power.During the siege of the city of Tyre,Alexander was particularly troubled bya dream in which a satyr appeared. Thenext morning he summoned his soothsayersto interpret the dream. Theypointed out that the word satyr containedthe answer, because in Greek satyrwas an anagram of “Tyre is thine.”Reassured, Alexander went on to conquerthe city.Anagrams are found throughoutancient cultures, where they were typicallyintertwined with myth and legend.After the Renaissance, the widely heldview that anagrams were secret messagesfrom the gods started to fade. But thefeeling that anagrams, particularly ofnames, cast light on a person’s characterpersisted. Louis XIII of France appointedhis own “anagrammist” to entertain theCourt with anagrams of famous people’snames. In the 19 th century, writer LewisCarroll proposed a fitting eulogy forBritish humanitarian Florence Nightingalewith the letters in her name: “Flit on,cheering angel.” He also found evidenceof a firebrand personality in the name ofBritish political agitator William EwartGladstone: “Wild agitator! Means well!”Anagrams fall into four categories:1. A single word that yields another singleword (riptides → spirited);62 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MAGAZINE2. A single word thatyields a phrase or expression(earnestness → a sternsense);3. A phrase or expressionthat yields a single word(Is pity love? → Positively!);4. A phrase or expressionthat yields another phraseor expression (the goldendays → they gladden so).The most appealingtype of anagram is onethat provides an apt commentaryon the meaningof the original word or phrase, as withthe examples above. Into what legitimateEnglish words or expressions canthe following words be changed? (Thecategory of anagram is indicated.)• Elvis (1) • Presbyterian (2)• helicopters (2) • dormitory (2)• desperation (2) • voices rant on (3)• life’s aim (3) • old masters (4)• the summer vacation (4)• the countryside (4)Anagrams that turn a word or phraseinto one with the opposite meaning arecalled antigrams: e.g. evil’s agents →evangelists. Try the following antigrams:• united • ill-fed • more tiny • restfulAnagrams have been constructedretrospectively to explain a person’s fatein life. For example, Mary Queen ofScots, who died in 1587 by execution,was posthumously memorialized withaction; Alec Guinness → genuine classhated for ill;Tom Cruise → so, I’m cuter; Clint Eastwood → Old WestEngland’s Queen Victoria → governs a nice, quiet land; Adolf Hitler →Henry Wadsworth Longfellow → won half the New World’s glory;united → untied; ill-fed → filled; more tiny → enormity; restful → fluster;the Latin expression Trusavi regnis morteamara cada (“Thrust by force from mykingdom I fall by a foul death”), whichis an anagram (if one treats the lettersu and v as interchangeable) of MariaSteuarda Scotarum Regina (“Mary StewartQueen of Scots”). Shortly after HenryIV of France was assassinated in 1610 byan unscrupulous man named Ravillac,it was pointed out that Henricus IVGalliarum rex (“Henry IV, King of theGauls”), when rearranged, became Inherum exurgis Ravillac (“From theseRavillac rises up”). Is a person’s name aportent of destiny and character, asmany have believed? Test this hypothesis(in English) by making anagrams ofthe names of these historical and contemporaryfigures:• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow• England’s Queen Victoria• Adolf Hitler • Tom Cruise• Clint Eastwood • Alec Guinness ■vacation → a time to charm Venus; the countryside → no city dust here;conversation;life’s aim → families;old masters → art’s models;the summerdormitory → dirty room;desperation → a rope ends it;voices rant on →Elvis → lives; Presbyterian → best in prayer; helicopters → pilots cheer;ANSWERS Note: Answers other than the ones given are possible.