ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1617 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1617 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 3 Jun 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You were interested in Old English, Welsh, or Celtic surnames used between 500 and 1200 that refered to dragons. Here is what we have found. Throughout your period, the languages spoken in Britain changed a great deal. Old Welsh came into existence in the 5th century, but it was very different from medieval or modern Welsh. Similarly, Old English can be said to have begun to evolve in the 5th century when the first Germanic tribes invaded England, but it changed in major ways over the next 500 years and then again after the Normans arrived. It is therefore impossible to suggest a name in any language that would be appropriate for the entire period. To choose an authentic name, you will need to narrow your period down to perhaps a one hundred year span. While we did find a number of surnames based on the Old English word , meaning "snake, dragon," we found no evidence for a surname such as . We did find, however, the following surnames from derived from and the Old English "dragon": [1] Drache 1066 Drake 1185 le Drake 1205 Dragun 1166 Dragon 1221 le Dragon 1275 Wormes 1275 le Werm 1296 le Wurm 1296 Any of these is a fine choice for an Englishman's surname; however, if you would like to keep your persona set before 1200, we recommend you go with a form of , as the spellings of that we found are about a hundred years later than your desired period. In Welsh, the word "dragon" was sometimes used as a poetic term for a leader or a warrior, but we did not find any specific examples of this used as a byname. If you want a byname referring to dragons, we recommend that you choose an English persona and consider one of the forms of listed above. The word "Celtic" describes a group of languages or cultures, including the Irish and Scottish Gaels, but also including the Welsh, Cornish, Manx, and Bretons. All these nations considered themselves quite separate in our period; no one thought of himself as a Celt. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Celt" first appeared in the English language in 1607, "Celtic" in 1656 [2]. If you wish a "Celtic" surname, than we suggest that you consider one of the branches of the language group listed above. If you have any questions on a specific culture, please write us again and we'll be happy to help. If you need help choosing a first name to go with your surname, we have a few articles on English names available on the web : http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/#england 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Juliana de Luna, Caelin on Andrede, Blaise de Cormeilles, and Mari nic Bryan. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael June 3, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Worm, Drake, Dragon [2] _The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973)