Maggie's Farm

A Bird Dog pup took an oath today. He took a vow this past summer, so he is now up to his ears in oaths and vows.

I looked up the etymology of "oath," which I rightly suspected to be of Scandinavian origin:

OATH,  a solemn vow.  (E.)   M. E. ooth, oth; Chaucer, C. T. 120.—A. S. áð, Grein, i. 17; the change from á to oa being regular, as in ác, oak, ár, oar. + Du. eed. + Icel. eiðr. + Dan. and Swed. ed. + Goth. aiths. + G. eid; O. H. G. eit.   ?. The Teut. type is AITHA; Fick, iii. 4; allied to O. Irish oeth, oath (Rhys); cf. W. an-ud-on, a false oath, perjury.

Here's "vow:"

The word vow (oath, assure) comes from the Latin voveo (I vow), which derives from the Greek verb ?????? (to assure, to promise with certainty; veveo).

I wonder how much our culture takes oaths and vows seriously in modern times. I like to think that I take all of my promises with the greatest seriousness - but don't we all?

When I think about it, the person to whom I have broken the most promises is myself.