ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1440 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1440 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "Brian M. Scott" 14 Feb 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked whether the name is suitable for an Irishwoman living sometime between 900 and 1300. You mentioned that although you'd seen a claim that it was first used in an Elizabethan poem, a friend thought that she'd found an earlier reference. Finally, you said that was a distant second choice if turned out not to be suitable. So far as we can discover, the name was indeed invented by Fulke Greville (1554-1628), who used it as a poetic pseudonym for a lady to whom he wrote love poems. No one is certain what he had in mind when he invented it. [1, 2, 3] It seems not to have come into general use until the 1830s. [2] Even if did go back to the 13th century or earlier, it could not be an Irish name: there is no letter in the Irish alphabet. At most it could be an attempt to represent an Irish name in some other language, but we've found absolutely no support for such a possibility. is an Anglicization of , the Irish form of . Unfortunately, this Anglicization appears to have been invented after the SCA period. We've found no evidence that it was used in period, and itself was extremely rare as a personal name in Ireland until the 17th century: there are a few examples from the 15th and 16th centuries, and the earliest known instance is an isolated 14th century example. The Irish considered the name too sacred for ordinary use; instead they used 'devotee of Mary'. [4] (The slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding vowel.) This was pronounced roughly \MAL VOOR-(y)eh\, where the in parentheses stands for a very, very lightly pronounced \y\ as in . [5] Another name that you might want to consider is , pronounced like the word . It was by far the most popular name in later medieval Ireland and retained its great popularity right through the end of the SCA period. Indeed, it was still quite popular in the 19th century, when it was invariably Anglicized as the completely unrelated name . (It is this practice that accounts for the great popularity of in Ireland in modern times, a popularity that dates only to the 19th century.) [4] There is also an Irish feminine name , pronounced roughly \MOOR-(y)en\, that was very popular in early Ireland. It appears in the Icelandic Landna/mabo/k (Book of Settlements) in the form as the name of an Irish princess. [4, 6] This name is the closest we found to that has any connection with Ireland. If you want a name suitable for an early medieval Irishwoman who found herself living in Iceland for some reason, would be a fine choice. However, you should be aware that it's very likely that such a woman would only have got to Iceland as a slave. An Irishwoman in your period was usually known as her father's daughter. For example, a woman named who was the daughter of 'Domnall son of Murchad' would have been known as 'Mo/r daughter of Domnal'. ( and are the possessive forms of the names and , just as is the possessive form of .) If you'd like to choose a given name for your father, you'll find a list of possibilities on the web: [8] 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ If you find any that appeal to you, we'll be happy to give you their approximate pronunciations (which in many cases are not at all obvious) and make sure that the spelling and grammar are correct. Arval Benicoeur and AElfwyn aet Gyrwum also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been useful and that you will write us again if you have any further questions. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek ===== References and Notes: [1] Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); s.n. Myra. [2] Dunkling, Leslie, and William Gosling. The New American Dictionary of First Names (New York: Signet Books, 1983); s.n. Myra. [3] Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990); s.n. Myra. [4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names (Dublin: The Lilliput Press Limited, 1990); s.nn. Ma/ire, Mo/r, Muirenn. [5] Irish spelling changed considerably between 900 and 1300, the major change occurring around 1200. is the earlier spelling; for the last century or so of your period it was generally spelled . The pronunciation was also changing during this period; our best guess is that by 1300 it was roughly \MELL VUR-eh\. All of these pronunciations are very approximate, however. [6] Landna/mabo/k is a compilation of information about the colonizers of Iceland and their lands and families; it was begun in the early 12th century. The initial colonization itself occurred in the period from about 870 to about 930. [7] [7] Foote, P.G., and D.M. Wilson. The Viking Achievement (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1984); pp. xxiii, 52. [8] Note that some of the possessive forms (given in the column headed 'Genitive') need to be changed when they follow 'daughter' instead of 'son'. In particular, initial and become and , respectively. Note also that different spellings are needed for the last century of so of your period. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like , the letters 'D' and 'T' do not lenite.