ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2646
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2646
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07 Feb 2003
From: Ursula Whitcher 


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Noireguarde> or another name meaning "black fortress" is 
an appropriate placename for thirteenth- or fourteenth-century France. Here 
is what we have found.

We have not found <Noireguarde> in any spelling in any period.  Thus, we 
must decide whether it is plausible as a constructed placename.  We'll 
discuss each of the elements <noire-> "black" and <-guarde> "fortress" 
separately, and then discuss whether they could have been combined.

We found several examples of French places identified as "black".  In 
particular, we found <Noireval>, "black valley", in 1387.  Modern French 
placenames that include a term for "black" include <Noircourt>, 
<Noirefontaine>, <Noirlieu>, <Noirmoutier>, <Noirpalu>, and <Noirterre>.  [1]

We did not find the spelling <-guarde> in France during or after your 
period. However, we did find several instances of the form <-garde>, 
including <Bellegarde>, <Bonnegarde>, <Lugarde>, <Lunegarde>, and 
<Malgarde>. [2]

We found several modern French placenames which combine an adjective 
meaning "black" with a word for a building, including <Castelner> "black 
castle", <Noire/table> "black stable" and <Noirmoutier> "black 
monastery".  (Here the slash '/' represents an acute accent on the previous 
letter.) [3]  We also found several French places identified by a color and 
a building name during or before your period.  Most of these names were 
from documents written in Latin: they include <Alba Ecclesia> "white 
church" in 1314 and <Rubeus Monasterius> "red monastery" in the thirteenth 
century. [4]

Since we found both the elements <noire-> and <-garde>, and other 
placenames constructed of a color and a building name, we believe that 
<Noiregarde> is an appropriate placename for your period.

I hope this letter has been useful. Please write to 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, 
Adelaide de Beaumont, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael.

For the Academy,

Ursula Georges
7 February 2003

References:

[1] Albert Dauzat and Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de 
Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963) s.nn. <Noirval>, 
<Noircourt>, <Noirefontaine>, <Noirlieu>, <Noirmoutier>, <Noirpalu>, and 
<Noirterre>.

[2] GEONet, the Public NIMA GNS Database 
(http://164.214.2.59/gns/html/index.html) published by National Imagery and 
Mapping Agency (US Government agency), last updated 9/25/98.

[3]  Dauzat and Rostaing, s.nn. <Castelner>, <Noire/table>, and <Noirmoutier>.

[4]  Dauzat and Rostaing, s.nn. <Blancfosse/>, <Rouge> has <Alba Ecclesia> 
and <Rubeo Monasterio>, for modern <Blanche-Eglise> and <Rougemontiers>, 
respectively.