ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2799 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2799 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 29 Nov 2003 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if "Rhodri the Seer" is an appropriate name for a Welshman living between 1150 and 1350. If was not appropriate, you asked if we could recommend other bynames for a learned man or councillor. Here is what we have found. Wales in your period was home to both Welsh and English speakers. The two languages used different spelling systems, so the same name was often spelled in very different ways depending on the native language of the scribe, the language of the document, and many other factors. The fact that many documents were written in Latin, which had its own spelling conventions and standard forms of names, adds to the complexity. We will therefore suggest more than one spelling for each element of your name, depending on the linguistic context in which you are using it. The Welsh form doubles as the normal spoken form of your name. is a modern Welsh form of this name. Outside of the princes and kings that you mentioned, the name was quite rare in the Middle Ages. We find it recorded once as in 1292-1293 in a document written in Latin by an English speaker; this fits your period well. [3] We also find a Welsh man recorded in a French document as the grandson of in the 14th century; this would place the use of into the 13th century. [4] While some of the names in this document clearly show a French influence in their spellings, many of the names were written by the Welshmen themselves, in Welsh. In the _Brut y Tywyssogion_, a collecton of Welsh historic annals from the 13th-14th century, the name is consistently spelled . Thus or is a fine name for a Welsh man from your period; in English, his name might have been recorded as . As we noted in our previous letter to you, the word first appears in the late 16th century, in a Welsh translation of the Bible, where it is used for a term that is translated into English as 'prophet'. Even up through the 17th century, the only examples we found are these biblical usages. [1] Without evidence that any Welsh person was actually known as a gweledydd, we cannot recommend this as an appropriate choice. We can, however, recommend an alternative. The byname means 'scholar'; it is derived from 'school'. In your period, we find the following people recorded with this byname: [2] David ap Wion Scolheyk, 1292-93 Ieuan Scoleyk, 1292-93 Yoruerth Scolheig, 1292 Griffino Scolhayke, 13th C Neest Scolayke, 13th C dd. ap Eign Scolhaic, 1406 Dd Scolaik, 13th-14th C Ieuan ap Philip Scoleye, 1328-1561 Philip ap David Scoleyk, 1328-1561 Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Scoleig, 1277-1538 Gruffydd ap Ieuan alias "Yscolaig Duy", 1541-1588 These examples are a mixture of English- and Welsh-influenced spellings. Looking at Welsh examples of the word in regular writing (not in names), the word seems to have changed in spelling over the years as follows: [1] yscolheic 13th c. ysgolheig 14th c. ysgolhaig 15th c. In general, English forms tended to drop the initial vowel and use a final (instead of or ). The internal that is found in the Welsh examples reflects the pronunciation of the Welsh froms, which was roughly \ys-gol-HA-ig\. The last two syllables tended to be blended into one in English, and so lack of the internal is another feature of forms that were influenced by English. As you'll notice, most of the examples above tend to show many of the English features. We've grouped various forms together below, going from "more Welsh" to "more English": Scolheig / Scolhaic / Ysgolaig Scolheyk / Scoleig Scoleyk / Scolhayke / Scolaik Scolayke And the example of is likely a misreading or a miscopying of . You'll notice that none of the examples above include any word that means "the"; this is typical of Welsh naming customs. In Welsh descriptive and occupational bynames, the definite article is implicit. Based on these examples, is a fine Welsh language name for your period. In English, it might have been recorded as . We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, and Eirik Halfdanarson. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael -- References: [1] _Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Dictionary)_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, several dates). s.v. gweledydd [2] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985). s.n. Ysgolhaig [3] Williams-Jones, Keith, _The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1976). [4] Siddons, Michael, "Welshmen in the Service of France" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 36:161-184, 1989. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 15 Mar 2004: Typo, for .