ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1976 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1976 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 29 Feb 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help constructing a period Irish feminine name meaning "Etain daughter of Ruaidri" with a byname meaning "frog" or "of the frogs". This letter is a brief answer to your question. (with acute accent marks on the 'E' and 'i') wasn't a common name in medieval Ireland, but it was used. It is most familiar from Irish legend, but it was also used by real women from the 13th to the 15th centuries and probably earlier [1, 2]. By this period, the name was typically spelled ; is appropriate before 1200 [6]. In either spelling, it was pronounced \AY-deen~\. The symbol \n~\ represents the sound of in the French or of n-tilde in Spanish words like . was a popular name in medieval Ireland and we have found examples in the same period as [1, 2, 4]. It was pronounced \ROO-@dh-ree\ during this period. \@\ stands for the schwa should of the in and \dh\ stands for the sound of the in . The combination "E/tai/n daughter of Ruaidri/" is probably appropriate from the 9th century to the 15th. That name would most often have been written until 1200 or so, later; and pronounced roughly \AY-deen IN-yen ROO-@dh-ree\. The genitive form of is the same as the nominative. The medieval Gaelic word for "frog, toad, tadpole" was or [3]. In the 9th-12th centuries, the phrase "the frog" might have been written , , or ; later in period, it would likely have been . However, we have very little evidence of animal nicknames in medieval Gaelic. There is a modern surname ; means "the fox" [3, 5]. One could argue that this justifies any animal byname; but frogs and foxes are very different beasties, and we don't think the analogy can be stretched that far. We recommend you consider another byname. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Talan Gwynek, and Amant le Marinier. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 29 Feb 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. E/tai/n, Ruaidri/. [2] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Women's Names in the Annals of Connacht: 1224-1544" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mari/AnnalsConnacht/ [3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983) s.v. loscann. [4] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 [5] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). s.n. Mac an tSionnaigh [6] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 28 Mar 2004: Added the discussion of the later period spelling of .