Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 075

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 075

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/075

This is one of the Academy's earliest reports. We are not confident that these early reports are accurate. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here is the information we were able to find on the name "Costas Mac Maelchon."

There are no written records from the culture of the 1st-century Picts. This makes it difficult to make any statements about Pictish naming practices--all we have are some lists of kings which give a few personal names, such as the ones you found. These names were written down by Gaelic-speaking people hundreds of years after the names were used, so it's difficult to find any information about the Picts.

Lists of Pictish names sometimes include Gaelic terms like "mac," but these were added by the Irish who recorded the lists and are not a reflection of the Pictish language. Any guesses we make as to the form of Pictish names are purely speculation. We have no idea whether the Picts described themselves with the names of their fathers, whether they named themselves after their place of origin, or whether they used some other form of naming practice. All we can say for sure is that the Irish form "Mac X," and other Gaelic constructions, were not used by the Picts in the 1st century.

Some Pictish names were taken from the Celtic languages that were spoken in Britain during the 1st century. It would be possible to take one of these names and make an educated guess as to its 1st-century form. If this name were written, it would most likely have been written in a Latin context since the Picts did not have a written language. If you decide to use the name, it may be appropriate to use it in a Latinized form.

Although it's impossible to make absolute statements in historical research, it is virtually certain that there were no Greek names used by the Picts. We have no record of contact between Greeks and Picts in the 1st century and no reason to think that the Picts adopted Greek names. Since we aren't even sure that the name "Costas" was used in Greece in the 1st century, we don't see any reason to think it would be a historical name.

Tangwstyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Llywellyn MacLamont, Arval D'Espas Nord, and Lindorm Eriksson assisted in researching this name.

There's so little information about 1st century Pictish culture that we recommend you consider a persona either from a later period or from a less obscure culture. There is so little information about the 1st-century Picts that it will be impossible to even guess about most aspects of the culture as you design a persona.

Whatever you decide, we will be happy to continue assisting you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel


Greetings,

You wrote:

> The 'Pictish obscurity' is part of the appeal to me. In addition, certain
> aspects of the Picts (small stature, extensive tattooing, etc.) approximate
> my own appearance and personality enough to draw me heavily to this culture.
> I'd really like to continue this search and hope that you'll be willing to
> offer me a little more guidance.

"Pictish obscurity" is easily accessible even if you were to take a Pictish persona from a later, but still early, period. In the 6th century, the Picts were still at the fringes of European civilization-- we know them mainly through their sporadic contact with the Irish, who were themselves at the fringes of Western culture. Our earliest record of the term "Pict" dates only to the 3rd century. All we can do is extrapolate back to figure out which 1st century references are to people later called Picts. We have no Roman records of the Picts except for some names on Roman maps. What people "know" about the Picts _is_ largely taken from much later sources, also from false pseudohistories, and ethnographic data interpreted at 6th hand. Even the "fact" that the Picts tattooed themselves with woad tends to evaporate when you actually look at the sources on which the conclusion is based.

One of our members has prepared a document about Pictish names and we're in the process of putting it on the Web. Once it's up, we can direct you to it for more information about Pictish names.

It will not take you a year of work to register a name. Once you submit your name to the College of Arms, it will take about a year for you to get a final approval. However, most of this time is spent waiting for comments--each name goes through seperate rounds of commenting at the kingdom and world level. Once you send in your paperwork, your part of the work in the submission process is finished.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

Ed note: The available information on Pictish names is summarized in A Consideration of Pictish Names.