ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3250 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3250 ************************************ 21 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help developing an Old English feminine name with a given name that sounds similar to your modern name , (perhaps or ) as well as a middle name and a couple of surnames. (In this letter we're using <{ae}> to represent the a-e ligature.) For one of the surnames, you wanted to use something meaning 'sparrow'. Additionally, you asked about the arms "Per pale Or and purpure, two Manx cats combattant counterchanged", and when and where quatrefoils were used. Here is what we have found. We have found only two examples of the Old English feminine name , once in c. 670 and once in 1231. Both of our examples come from Latin records, where the name is spelled . [1,5] thus appears to be a very rare name, but it's a possible choice for your given name. We have found no evidence that either men or women used two given names in Old English, and so strongly recommend that you use just one given name yourself. Most of our references to women in the Anglo-Saxon era identify them just by their given name, with no byname. However, there are enough examples of women recorded with bynames that we have no problem endorsing the use of a single byname in an Old English name. We found a handful of examples of Anglo-Saxon men and women using more than one byname, which we list below. In this list, a date of the form 983x985 indicates that the record comes from between 983 and 985, but we cannot give a more precise date. We use <{dh}> to represent the letter edh, which looks like a backwards '6' with a cross-bar, and <{th}> to represent the letter thorn, which looks like a superimposed over a

. Cytel Clacces sune {ae}t Wermingtune, 983x985 [2] 'Cytel, Clac's son of Warmington' Leofsie Alhstanes sune {ae}t Hyslepe, 983x985 [2] 'Leofsige, Ealhstan's son of Islip' {AE}thelno{dh} {AE}t{th}elfer{dh}es sune greatan, 983x985 [2] '{AE}{dh}elno{dh}, {AE}{dh}elfer{dh} (the) stout's son' Wynemannes lafe {ae}t Randan, 983x985 [2] 'Winemann of Raunds's widow' Byrhtwara {AE}lfrices laf, 975x987 [3] 'Beorhtwaru, {AE}lfric's widow' Cyne{dh}ry{dh}e, E{dh}elmodes lafe aldormonnes, 867x870 [4] 'Cyne{th}ry{th}, ealdormann {AE}{dh}elmod's widow' Frer{th} preost on Folcestane, 1016x1020 [12] 'Frer{th}, priest at Folkestone' Leofwine Godwines sunu {ae}t Hortune, 1016x1020 [12] 'Leofwine, Godwine's son at Horton' of Doferan Leofwine preost, 1016x1020 [12] 'Leofwine, priest at Dover' Ealdred Lifinges sunu {th}{ae}s {dh}egnes, c. 990x1005 [13] 'Ealdred, son of Lifing the thegn' Burhulfes dohtor {ae}t C[in]unc, 10th or 11th c. [14] 'Burhulf's daughter at Chinnock' In many of these examples, it's hard to say which parts can be considered bynames, strictly speaking, and what is just an ad hoc description of the person. You'll note that all but one of our examples of women listed above do not include their given names. These examples are clearly more in the nature of descriptions of the women, rather than records of their names. We therefore cannot recommend the use of more than one byname for a woman based on this data. We recommend that for best re-creation, you use just a single byname, or none at all. For that single byname, we can recommend your choice of one which refers to swallows. While we did not find any examples of the Old English word 'swallow' used as a byname, we did find examples of bird and animal words used as bynames in Old English, including 'Godric finch' recorded in a charter dating sometime between 1046 and 1053 [9] and 'Godwig the he-goat'. [10] Additionally, both and 'sparrow' gave rise to bynames in Middle English. [11] The word is a feminine word, so if the article 'the' was used it would be . We believe that either or is a plausible byname for an Old English woman. Additionally, we found a place called Swallowcliff in Wiltshire. This name comes from the Old English 'swallow's cliff'. We find mention of this Old English form in a charter dating to 940. [17] A byname based on this place name, such as <{ae}t Swealwanclife>, is also a fine choice. (The change from to is a result of requirements of Old English grammar and the use of the preposition <{ae}t> 'at'.) Heraldic arms were not invented until after the Old English period had ended, and so an Anglo-Saxon woman would obviously not have born arms herself. We've research your armorial design in the context of the other name we researched for you, that is, Italy between 1300 and 1550. [5] Unfortunately, we cannot recommend your design as good re-creation for this culture and period, for a couple of reasons. Until the beginning of the 15th century the tincture called in Old French and in Latin seems to have been an indistinct color somewhere between grey and brown. It was only in the 15th century that it began to be painted as what we would call purple, and it remained rare in heraldry right through the 16th century. [6] We recommend that you use azure instead of purpure, as azure was far more common in Italian armory. Specific breeds of animals were in general not used in medieval heraldry. In particular, domestic cats of any kind are very rare. We have, however, found examples of lions used in Italian armory. [7,8] We can therefore recommend "Per pale azure and Or, two lions combattant counterchanged" as suitable armory for later-period Italy. Cinquefoils were quite common in early armory, and are found throughout the SCA's period. We also find examples of the sexfoil in 16th century Flanders, but we have not found any medieval examples of quatrefoils. They are hence not a good choice for authentic re-creation of medieval armory. [15,16] 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 Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 21 March 2007 -- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [2] Miller, Sean, "Anglo-Saxon Charters" (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net, no date), S 1448a http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=show&page=Charters [3] ibid., S 1511 [4] ibid., S 1200 [5] Boehler, p. 112 [6] Pastoureau, Michel, _Heraldry: An Introduction to a Noble Tradition_ (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997), pp. 101-2. [7] Borgia, L., et. al., eds., _Le Biccherne: tavole dipinte delle magistrature senesi (secoli XIII-XVIII)_ (Roma: Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1984), pl.98, 1539, and pl.96, 1553 [8] Narkiss, Bezalel, _The Golden Haggadah_ (London: The British Library, 1997), p. 14. [9] Miller, op. cit., S 1406 [10] Clark, Cecily, "Onomastics" in Hogg, Richard M., ed., _The Cambridge History of the English Language_, Volume I: The Beginnings to 1066 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 470 [11] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Sparrow, Swallow. [12] Miller, op. cit., S 1461 [13] ibid, S 1455 [14] ibid, S 1539 [15] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982), s.v. quatrefoil [16] Bergmans, Paul, _Armorial de Flandre du XVIme Sie\cle_ (Bruxelles et Paris: Commission des Monuments de la Ville de Gand, Librairie Nationale d'Art et d'Histoire, 1919). [17] Miller, op. cit., S 468