ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1928
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1928
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11 Feb 2000
From: (Josh Mittleman)
Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked our help choosing your name. You told us you were interested
either in a Gothic feminine name appropriate after 500 AD, or in a
later-period name in which you could use a surname meaning "the Goth".
Specifically, you asked our opinion of the name <Marsepia>, which you found
in Jordanus' history of the Goths, an Amazon who was the wife of a Goth.
You also asked whether using a historical name would violate the Society's
rule against taking the name of an important historical figure. Here is
what we have found.
Society custom frowns on duplicating the full name of an important
historical figure, but that only applies to the full name, not to the given
name alone. You're right that this standard is a little difficult to apply
when you're dealing with a culture like the Goths in which people only had
one name. In our opinion, using the name of a famous Gothic noblewoman
like <Amalasuentha> does not violate Society custom; but we hope we've
provided enough possibilities in this letter to give you an alternative
with which you are comfortable. The SCA College of Arms does not protect
the given names of famous individuals who had only a single given name, but
it requires submitted names to consist of at least two elements. If you
want to register your name, you'll have to choose a surname even though a
Goth would usually not have used one.
Without reviewing your source in detail, we can't comment on whether
<Marsepia> is an appropriate name for an early medieval Gothic woman. We
have to say that it doesn't look like a Gothic name. At best it is a
Latinized form, and we can't even guess what the underlying name might have
been. The fact that this name is mentioned in a period history doesn't
imply that it was used by real people: Medieval chroniclers often blurred
the line between history and legend, and often gave their characters
deliberately outlandish names; and the fact that this woman is described as
an Amazon suggests that this particular story might be more legend than
history. As a general rule, it is better re-creation to use a name that
can be proven to have been used by a real person in your period.
As we wrote earlier, the Goths in Europe in your period were divided into
two distinct peoples: the Visigoths ("western Goths") and Ostrogoths
("eastern Goths"). The Visigoths lived in a kingdom that encompassed most
of the Iberian peninsula and the Mediterranean coastline eastward to the
Rhone river. This kingdom survived until the early 8th century when it was
destroyed by the Muslims. The Ostrogoths had recently conquered the
Italian peninsula and overthrown the western Roman empire. Their kingdom
in Italy and Illyria fell to the Lombards in the late 6th century [1]. For
more information about Gothic history, we recommend Wolfram Herwig, History
of the Goths (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988). There are
also medieval histories of the Goths other than the one you mentioned:
There are several early Spanish chronicles of the history of the Goths in
Spain. These include the chronicles of Saint Isidore (Isidro) and the
Chronicle of 754. Some of them are available in a book by Kenneth Baxter
Wolf (translator and editor), Conquerors and chroniclers of early-medieval
Spain (Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 1990).
Names used by the Goths varied over time and geography, so a name
appropriate for 6th century Italy will not necessarily be appropriate for
8th century Spain. In our previous letter, we offered a short list of 5th
and 6th century Gothic women's names: <Amalasuentha>, <Amalafrida>,
<Vadamerca>, <Ostrogotha>, <Erelieva>, <Mathesuentha>, <Amalaberga>,
<Evermud>, <Thiudigoto>, <Gunthswinth>, <Galswinth>, <Brunhild>,
<Ermenberga> [2]. These are probably appropriate in either European branch
of the Gothic world (though <Ostrogotha> would be an odd name for a
Visigothic woman!). As we noted in our earlier letter, the <-a> ending on
some of these names may be a Latinization: In Gothic, <-a> is a masculine
ending, with <-o> being the feminine ending.
We've appended a list of some Visigothic feminine names recorded in Iberia
in the 6th to 10th centuries. If you are interested in any particular name
from the list, we'll be happy to try to provide an appropriate
pronunciation.
In almost all records, Goths are identified by single given names alone,
without any surname [2]. That would probably be the most typical way for a
woman of that culture to identify herself, especially before the Muslim
invasion. After 900 or so, some women were identified in formal records as
"wife of" or "daughter of" a man. At this point in history, this
description wasn't really part of her name; over the next couple hundred
years, these descriptions developed into standard bynames. We also found
some examples of Gothic bynames recorded in contemporary Latin records. A
typical example in a woman's name is <Isilo cognomento Sisina>, recorded in
Iberia in 803 [3]. This name means "Isilo nicknamed Sisina". Here are a
few similar examples.
Masculine
Comasio cognomento Gomazi 800
Filo cognomento Brito 816
Davit cognomento Amorellus 861
Romaricus quen in cognomento Cervan apellant 883
(whom they call by the nickname Cervan)
Walamirus cognomeno Annagia 889
Feminine
Gundefredo cognometo Feta 905
Gaudiosa cognomento Goya 908
Guiduildi cognomento Numina 902
Sol Petriz cognomento Goto 1082
In some of these cases, the nickname is apparently a pet form of the full
name, e.g. <Feta> from the second element of <Gundefredo>, <Goya> for
<Gaudiosa>. In others, we can see no logic in the choice of nickname.
<Sol Petriz> is not a Gothic name: It's a typical early Castilian name.
This woman was apparently also known by the Gothic <Goto>, a fairly common
feminine name in early medieval Spain [6], probably originally a pet form
of some Gothic name like <Leovigoto>.
Given such a small sample of nicknames, it isn't going to be easy to come
up with a new one that is reliably authentic. We may be able to construct
an appropriate pet form of one of the given names we documented here; if
you choose one or two that interest you, we'll be happy to try to suggest
something.
As we wrote in our previous letter, we think it is unlikely that a Goth
would have been identified by other members of her culture as "the Goth".
For one thing, it wouldn't have been a very useful way to identify one
member of the culture when everyone around her was also a Goth! Since
Goths generally did not use any kind of byname or surname, this usage is
particularly unlikely within the culture [2].
On the other hand, a foreign writer might have referred to a Goth as "the
Goth". We have found strong evidence that in Iberia after the fall of the
Gothic kingdom, bynames with this meaning were used. We found a 9th or
10th century Arabic name, <Hafs ibn Albar al-Quti>, which means "Hafs son
of Alvar the Goth" [4]. We noted earlier that we'd found a couple 10th and
11th century names that included surnames that might have meant "the Goth"
(but might also have meant "son of Gotus"): <Ara Goti> 1080 and <Fredulfus
Gotici> 940 [5]. At least in Iberia, we think it is plausible that, at
least in some circumstances, a man might have been known as "the Goth".
Whether this sort of name would have been used for a woman is another
question; we don't have enough data to say one way or the other. If you're
interested in a name from Iberia in this period, write us again and we'll
be happy to help.
We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja,
Lindorm Eriksson, Alan Fairfax, Raquel Buenaventura, Talan Gwynek, Amant le
Marinier, Adelaide de Beaumont, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Salvador Paolo de
Barcelona, Juliana de Luna, and Walraven van Nijmegen.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
11 Feb 2000
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Sixth to Tenth Century Hispano-Gothic Feminine Names [3]
In this list, the names marked with a pound sign, <#>, were recorded before
the Visigothic kingdom fell to the Muslim invasion. Names marked <%> were
found in other grammatical forms, and we have deduced their nominative
forms.
Adosinda 757(?), 842, 887, 897
Aeliuba 867
Ailo 856, 887
Alabera 869
Alatrudia 887
Alduara 759
Aliverta 871
Anilo 842
Andeleova 790
Agnitruedia 900
Ansobrida 860
Ansoi 887
Aragunti 870
# Aruildi pre-Islamic, 803
Argilo 818
Astragundia 842, 870
Astroildi 887
Badosinda 889
Barili 816
Berildi 871
Cenabrida 860
Cenosinda 861
Cenusinda 861
Genusinda 861
Zenecida 861
#% Cixilo 687
Daildi 861, 877
Egilo 803, 827, 887
# Eilo 759, 883
# Eillo 759: Name of the wife of Roderich, the last Gothic king;
after his death she was wife of the Arab ruler. The
name is found as <Ailo> in Arabic sources.
Elo 780
Emilo 900
# Ermenberga 606
# Ermosinda 746
Ermesenda 887
Ermesinda 897
# Hermesendis 740
Ermoygia 818
Fakilo 803
Fachilo 863
Faquilo 875
Fredenanda 863
Fredesinda 897
Frogildi 878
Froili 883
# Froiliuba 737
Froilo 897
Fruilo 889
Giluira 898
Geloyrae 862
Giloira 886
Gisclauara 864: undated variants <Gisclaura>, <Gissilauara>,
<Siclauara> apparently referring to the same person at
about the same time.
Gogildi 812
# Goisuintha 6th c.
Gogina 820, 900
Goina 867
Gomesinda 790
Gundigeua 887
Guntildi 900
Gunderona 867-912
Gonza 887
Gondilo 870
Guncina 887
Goncina 895
Gudigeva 803, 867
Guduigia 811, 816
% Gudoegia 887
# Icka 745
Eldontia 887
# Hildoara c.610
Heldoara 864
Eldoara 864
Elduara 864, 867
Illoigia 790
Ildoie 867-912
Isilo 803, 853(?)
Leudesinda 868
#% Leovigoto 693
Leouildi 842
Leuvina 890
Liuilo 867-912
Modildi 889
Nunilo 887, 897
Nunilu 877
Ninilo 877
Nunnilo 897
Honosinda 898
Penetrudia 803
Ragesenda 835
Regesenda 838
Ranilo 842
# Recciberga died before 657
Reciberga
Recesinda 790
Recosinda 870
Reccesuinda 812
Recoire 857
Roilo 790
Sigesgundia 887
Simildi 887
Senetrudia 879
Sindiuerga 842
Sindeleoba 900
Senderiga 871
# Siseguntia 6th c.
# Sisiguntis 584
Sisegundie 867-912
Sisildi 867-912
Sesoira 857
Sunildi 865
# Ispasanda 6th or 7th c.
Spasanda 842
Subildi 811, 820
# Suinthiliuba 666
Soniefrada 868
Teodogoncia 895
Teodilli 832
Teodoriga 883
Theudesinda 812
Teodosinda 887
Tota 759
#% Thuresmuda 634
# Trasildi 745
Trudildi 889, 898
Trudilli 879
Uadauara 867-912
Vilocia 860
Guinildi 874
Guinilli 870
Quinilli 874
# Quinigia 662
Uisflauara 860
Uistrilo 878
# Ubitilde 462
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References
[1] "Goth", Britannica.com, accessed 11 Jan 2000
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,38238+1,00.html
[2] Woolf, Henry Bosley, _The Old Germanic Principles of Name-Giving_
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. 1939), ch. 14.
[3] Piel, Joseph M., and Kremer, Dieter, _Hispano-gotisches Namenbuch_
(Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universita:tsverlag, 1976).
[4] Research by Juliana de Luna, based on an article by Thomas Berman.
[5] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos
IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), pp.48, 162.
[6] Sopena, Pascual Marti/nez, ed., _Antroponimia y Sociedad_: Sistemas de
identificacio/n hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII_, Historie y
Sociedad no. 46 (Valladolid, Spain: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
and Universidad de Valladolid, 1995). Several articles in this book list
<Goto> as a common feminine name.
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Correction, 22 Apr, Arval: fixed some typos in the list of feminine
bynames: <cognomento> was mis-spelled <congomento>.
Correction, 25 Jan 2007, Aryanhwy: The report used to have the example
of <Isilo cognomento Sesila>, which is incorrect. The correct form
is <Isilo cognomento Sisina>.