Ansteopality Revisited (fwd)

[Heidi J Torres]

Greetings to all from Mari!

On Tue, 22 Oct 1996, Tim McDaniel wrote:

> Master Talan has replied to me with his usual efficiency; I forward
> his reply.  I rather like "Sonnenmark", or perhaps "Scireland".

I too like these.

> I'll leave such matters to the seneschals and the Board; as you can
> probably guess, I'd register 'Principality of Hell' if a convincing
> case could be made for it as a period name.  Jaelle, of course,
> probably wouldn't.
> [He was until recently Pelican King of Arms, which was then
> responsible for registering names.  He is rather "loose" on the
> subject of possible offensiveness.  

Ah, a kindred soul!

> place-name elements.  A hypothetical 'Scireland', 'Shireland',
> 'Shirland', and probably even 'Sherland' as a late form, could be from
> an original OE name meaning 'bright land', though in the real world
> it's more likely to be from an OE name meaning 'land belonging to the
> shire'.  A hypothetical 'Warmland' is reasonable enough, I think.  The
> element 'sumor' usually refers to something - a road, a ford, etc. -
> that was usable only in summer, but regardless of likely period
> meaning, 'Sumerland' or 'Somerland' is a reasonable Middle English
> place-name.
> 
These are "cool" names for a hot place!  I like Sumerland/Somerland but 
didn't the early Britons often refer to the Underworld/Afterlife as "The 
Summerland"?

Thanks for the info!

Mari