ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2148
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2148
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15 Nov 2000
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Evensong Forest> is an appropriate name for a place in
medieval Europe.  You explained that your shire chose this name because
they held fighting practice in a woods near a church, where they could hear
Vespers being sung.  Here is what we have found.

Unfortunately, the name <Evensong Forest> doesn't appear to work as a
medieval English place name.  We didn't find a place name that incorporates
<evensong> or <vespers> or the name of any liturgical service, nor any
example of a place name that includes the word <song> or <evening>.  We
also didn't find much evidence that the word <forest> was used in medieval
English place names, and almost none that it was used in naming places
where people lived.  Modern place names like <Ashdown Forest> and <Sherwood
Forest> appear in period sources simply as <Essendon> 1207 and <Sherewode>
1325 [1].

Constructing plausibly-authentic place names is tricky, because modern
place naming practices are quite different from medieval ones, and the
modern names of places that existed in the Middle Ages have often changed
significantly from their original forms.  There are several approaches we
can take to try to construct a name.  If the goal is to convey a meaning,
we can examine how the same ideas were expressed in medieval place names.
If the goal is to match a desired pronunciation, then we can look for
period place names containing similar-sounding elements and see if we can
use them to create a plausible name.  The answers to these questions will
generally vary from one culture to another: The same ideas weren't used in
place names in all languages.  A place name that's correct for 12th century
England might not work in 12th century Italy, even if it were translated
element-by-element into Italian.

How would a medieval person have named a place to convey that it was a
woods or stand of trees near a church?  The first step is to identify place
name elements that mean "woods, forest, stand of trees".  We've found
several (some of which have other meanings in some placenames) [5]:

  <-frith> "woodland" 
  <-grove> or <-grave>
  <-holt> "a copse"
  <-hurst> "a copse" (and other meanings)
  <-shaw> "a woods"
  <-wood>, often spelled <-wude> in medieval English
  <-wald> or <-wold> "wood, forest" (and other meanings)
  <-with> "wood, forest"

So how would our medieval man express the idea of being close to a church?
We can be guided by real examples like <Chapel en le Frith> [5].  If that
approach appeals to you and your shire, you might consider <Chapelhurst>
[6] or <Abbotyswode> "Abbot's Wood".  We can put together some more
suggestions along this line.

We found a few place names that appear to convey some parts of your shire's
original idea, although they actually had quite different original
meanings.  The modern English place name <Songhurst> appears in the name
<William de Sunghurst> 1332 [2].  The first element of this name has
nothing to do with the modern word <song>; the resemblance is
coincidental.  However, the name <Songhurst> or <Songwood> might appeal to
your shire members.  If you like, we can suggest some likely medieval
spellings. 

You could play a similar trick with the name <Evenwood>, recorded as
<Efenwuda> c.1050, 1104-07, and <Efenwda> 1131.  The first element here has
nothing to do with "evening"; it means "level, smooth" [3].  However,
<Evenshaw> or <Evenhurst> would be a nice Middle English place name.

You told us that your shire probably would be willing to consider
non-English place names, as long as their original intent were preserved in
some way; so we looked at some French sources.  We didn't have any better
luck justifying a name that means "evensong forest", but we did find
another cute possibility.  There's a modern place in France called <La
Vespie\re>.  The backslash represents an accent grave on the preceding
letter.  The name derives from the Latin <vespa> "wasp" and it originally
meant "the place with wasps".  It's recorded in 1195 as <Wasperia>, but a
form like <Vesperia> or <Vespiere> probably existed in the later Middle
Ages [4].  The Old French word for "vespers" was <vespres> [7], so the
resemblance might have been apparent to the medieval ear, too.

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 Ysfael ap Briafael, Antonio Miguel
Santos de Borja, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Matrygg, Hartmann
Rogge, Adelaide de Beaumont, Juliana de Luna, Tangwystyl verch Morgant
Glasvryn, and Dietmar von Straubing.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  15 Nov 2000


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References

[1] Mills, A. D., _A Dictionary of English Place-Names_ (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1991), s.nn. Sherwood Forest, Ashdown Forest.  Field,
John, _Place-Names of Great Britain and Ireland_, David & Charles, London,
1990, s.n. Sherwood.  The earliest examples we found of <forest> used in
place names are the Latin <Nova Foresta> "New Forest" 1086, from Field;
<Foreste de Dena> 1160-1 and <Foreste de Galtris> 1179-80, from Johnston,
James B., _Place-Names of Scotland_, 3rd ed. (London: John Murray, 1934),
s.nn. Forest of Dean, Galtres forest.  The earliest example we have of
<forest> in a habitation name is <Forstrowe> 1467, from Mills, s.n. Forest
Row.

[2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Songhurst.

[3] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_,
4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. Evenwood.

[4] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de
Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963), s.n. La Vespie\re.

[5] Ekwall, s.n. Wychwood has <Wicchewude> 1204 "Hwicce's forest".  
  For <-hurst>, see [2].  Also Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_
(Cambridge: At the University Press, 1956), s.v. hyrst.
  The generic <-frith> was often used as a first element
in a name, e.g. <Frithebank> c.1240, <Frithesdene> 1293 in Ekwall
s.nn. Firbank and Frithsden.  However, it was also used as a second
element, as in <Perifrith> 1166 "pear-tree wood" (Ekwall s.n. Pirbright).
Ekwall, s.n. Chapel en le Frith notes <capella del Frith> 1332.
  The element <-grove> or <-grave> is discussed by Smith s.v. gra:f (where
the colon represents a horizontal bar over the 'a').  Examples where it is
used as a second element include <Covesgrave> 12th century, <Hougraue>
1196, <Nategrave> 1349 (Ekwall s.nn. Cosgrove, Howgrave, Notgrove).
  Modern examples of <-holt> include <Berghholt>, which is <Bercolt> in one
period source, and <Chittlehamholt> (Johnston).
  Modern <Gentleshaw> appeared as <Gentylshawe> in 1505, meaning "woods
belonging a man surnamed <Gentyl> (Johnston).
  Examples of <-wold> and <-wald> include <Cotsewold> 1231, <Coteswalde>
1300 (Johnston s.n. Cotswold Hills).
  The element <-with> derives from Old Norse and appears in names like
<Ascwith> 1201 (Johnston s.n. Askwith).

[6] We note <Chapelthorp> 1316, in Ekwall s.n. Chapelthorpe.  <Chapelhurst>
is an analogous construction.

[7] Greimas, Algirdas Julien, _Dictionnaire de l'ancien franc,ais_ (Paris:
Larousse, 1997), s.n. vespre.