Salt Routes

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Salt Routes. As the original trade route, I look at why it existed and why these routes are still used today. While our distant ancestors were largely self-sufficient, for most one vital commodity meant having to trade. Bringing salt to the user produced a network of trails which can still be followed. Yet this is not just a travel history, salt has found its way into our culture, our language, our folklore and the talk brings all these factors to the fore. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Salt has long been the most valuable of necessary commodities – gold, saffron, diamonds might all be more valuable, but you can live without them, unlike salt – and retained its value until the spice trade brought other items to the table. Ironically, salt was knocked off the top by pepper.

Place names which reflect salt production include Hallein and Hallstat.

Words which have come to reflect a ‘salty’ origin include ‘soldier’ and ‘salary’; and we still speak of someone being ‘worth his salt’ or ‘sitting below the salt’.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.