ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2072 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2072 ************************************ 12 Jun 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a name as similar as possible to , ideally suitable for an early medieval Saxon woman. You also asked our opinion of your arms. Here is what we have found. Unfortunately, our results on your name are mostly negative. We're offering a couple suggestions; if they don't appeal to you, feel free to write again to discuss your name further. We have not found the name in any of our references. It might be a modern English derivative of some Irish surname. If that guess is correct, then it is a purely modern name. We found one Old English name that may be similar enough to please you: , pronounced \CHILL-@\ or \KILL-@\. \@\ represents a schwa, the sound of the in . This name was recorded c.672, apparently as a pet name for [3]. (In that name, the symbol {dh} represents the letter edh, which was written like a backward '6' with a crossbar on the upper limb and pronounced here like the in .) If this name interests you and you'd like our help constructing a complete Old English name, please write us again. Another possibility is the early medieval Irish Gaelic name , pronounced roughly \KEYL-yin\, with the \EY\ as in , and shifting to \KELL-yin\ around the 12th century. After 1200 or so, the name was spelled and pronounced \KAYL-yin\ [1]. The slash in represents an acute accent mark on the 'a'. If you'd like to build yourself a medieval Gaelic name, you can find some help in the article: Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ We have also been unable to find the name or any other name that was pronounced like \AL-ee-win\. You might be interested in the late medieval Gaelic masculine name , pronounced \AHL-yeen~\ [2]. A woman named Caoilfhionn whose father was called Aili/n would have been known as , pronounced \KAYL-yin EEN-y@n AHL-yeen~\. This name is suitable for Ireland after 1200 or so. The arms you've designed, which we would describe as "Sable, three crescents in pale Or", are lovely. They would be suitable for almost any time and place where heraldry was used. Heraldic arms were invented in northwestern France in the mid-12th century. Their use spread to England almost immediately, and was carried to Ireland by Anglo-Norman settlers. Thus, a woman in pre-Norman Britain obviously would not have used heraldry. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use arms in the Society: Many Societyfolk use arms even though their personas would not have done so. Whether you use arms or not depends on how you think about authenticity and your persona. You can find a few thoughts on this issue in an article we've posted on the web: What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms? http://www.s-gabriel.org/faq/nonheraldic.html 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Mari neyn Bryan, Adelaide de Beaumont, Rouland Carre, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 12 Jun 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Ca/elfind. [2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. Aili/n. [3] Boehler, Maria, _Die altenglischen Frauenamen_ (Nendlem, Liechtenstein: Krauss Reprint, 1967 [1930]), pp.215, 251.