ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1031 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1031 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 30 Jun 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked about the feminine name , which is a variant of the name of Merlin's love in Arthurian tales, and said you were looking for a name that reflected the fact that you are an herbalist, horticulturalist, and a single parent. You also asked for information on the names of female mystics and healers. Here is the information we have found. The name of Merlin's lover appears in an astonishing variety of forms in medieval sources. These include , , , , , , , , , , , . [4] Much of the variation is evidently the result of 'minim confusion', i.e., improperly dividing a string of minims (short vertical strokes) in a manuscript. For example, in many manuscripts and are virtually indistinguishable, each consisting simply of two minim strokes. Similarly, can be very easily confused with or . Thus, easily becomes (i.e., ), and either of these can also be read as . In the face of this diversity it is difficult to determine the original source of the name, but the most likely theory seems to be that it comes from , the name of a 5th century British saint. [2, 6] If this is so, then the forms with internal or are generally the result of misreading or miscopying. The one probable exception is . The name was used by both men and women in the Middle Ages. [5, 6] When recorded as a woman's name in Latin, it was written , and the corresponding Old French forms were and . [3] In setting down , therefore, some scribe was probably substituting a known name for the unfamiliar , , etc. in his source. Both the extreme variety of attested forms and the occasional substitution of a more familiar name strongly suggest that (or whatever the original name may have been) was unfamiliar to the scribes who produced the extant manuscripts. This in turn makes it unlikely that the name was in actual (i.e., non-literary) use. Further doubt is cast by the nature of the character herself. It's true that the French and Anglo-Normans did name children after major characters in the medieval romances, but they seem to have used the names of positive characters, like Lancelot, rather than those of more villainous (or at least ambiguous) characters. Moreover, it was human characters whose names passed into everyday use, not clearly superhuman or magical characters like Merlin's lover. We therefore doubt that or any of its variants were used historically; it seems to be a scribal creation. You may want to browse the articles in our library for ideas for a different given name for your persona. If you want a name with a horticultural ring to it, you might consider or , recorded in England in 1207 and 1193 respectively. [1] The URL for the Academy Library is http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/ You might be interested to know that according to one analysis of 16th century English records, less than 1/2 of children who reached adulthood did so while both parents were alive. We suspect that the same would have been true earlier. [7] Because of the high mortality rate, a single mother with children would have been unsurprising. As such, pointing out in your name that you were a single mother would not be something that a period woman would do; it was a common setting. If you'd like to know more on female mystics and healers, you might be interested in reading about Hildegarde of Bingen, Teresa d'Avila, Claire of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Marjory Kempe. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Alan Fairfax, Alison MacDermot, Arval Benicoeur, Evan da Collaureo, Juliana de Luna, Margaret Makafee, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Teceangl Bach, Thorfinn Hrolfsson, and Walraven van Nijmege. For the Academy, --Arianui poetissa filia Catmaili June 30, 1998 -------------------------------------------- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1989). [3] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des noms de familles et des pre/noms de France_ (Paris: Larousse, 1987). (The slash denotes an acute accent over the preceding vowel.) [4] Flutre, Louis-Fernane, _Table des noms propres avec toutes leurs variantes, figurant dans les romans du Moyen Age e/crits en franc,ais ou en provenc,al et actuellement publie/s ou analyse/s_ (Poitiers: Centre d'e/tudes supe/rieures de civilisation me/die/vale, 1962). (Here denotes a c-cedilla.) [5] Morlet, Marie-There\se, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Sie\cle_, Vol. II (Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1968). (The backslash denotes an accent grave over the prededing vowel.) [6] Withycombe, E. G. _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984). [7] Stone, Lawrence. _Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800_. Harper 1979.