Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 193

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 193

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/193

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's the information we found on the name "Tchaia" with a byname of either "wanderer" or "dragon-slayer."

We have very little information on Rom naming practices. From what we do know, it appears that most Rom used a Romany name for private use within their tribe and a public name in the language of the area in which they travelled. Your registered SCA name would be the equivalent of your public name. Thus, before researching a name for you we would need to know what area your persona lived in.

We can say that in any language, the bynames "wanderer" or "dragon-slayer" are not particularly likely. "Wanderer" is used so commonly in the SCA that it's a cliche, but it's very rare in medieval languages. Wanderers needed to eat like other people, and those who travelled from place to place without any means of support were known by a number of uncomplimentary names, just as they are today. Since you're interested in a Romany persona, you may want to use "the Gypsy" in whatever language your persona would use.

"Dragon-slayer" is also an unlikely name, since people were generally given names based on their literal meaning--you wouldn't be called "dragon-slayer" unless you had actually slain a dragon.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to work with you to find a name.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel