ANST - AOA/GOA etc courts - Brand new, help!

[Tim McDaniel]

On Thu, 15 Jan 1998, Bors / Baronman <Baronman at aol.com> wrote:
> >I don't know whether or not Rowan was used by real people
> >as a name in the SCA time period -- my little information
> >leans toward "not", but I can't be at *all* definitive.
> 
> UH- OH
> Daniel- I think Her Grace- Duchess Rowan reads this news group

Your point?

I still don't know whether or not Rowan was used by real
people as a name within the SCA time period.  That someone
active in the SCA uses the name doesn't imply that.  There
are lots of people who simply don't care about authentic
period names who have entirely invented names.  There are
Rhiannons, Ceridwens, and Brianas running about -- some even
registered -- and the first two names were given only to
goddesses in period and there's no evidence at all for the
third.

If Her Grace or anyone else has evidence about Rowan, I'd
love to see it.  Withycombe says Rowena "seems to originate
with Geoffrey of Monmouth, who gives it to the daughter of
Hengist, with whom Vortigern fell in love.  Some MSS give
the name as Renwein or Ronwen.  It may be Old English
Hr{o_}{dh}wyn, a compound of hreod 'fame' and wine 'friend'.
[Sir Walter] Scott used it for the Saxon heroine of
_Ivanhoe_, and Rowena (like Cedric (q.v.)) came into use as
a result of the popularity of that novel."

Some names were taken from romances (Bevis -- yes, Bevis
Butthead is a justifiable period name).  Many or most
romance-names were not used by actual people.  G of M was
not really a romance.  The only evidence she (Withycombe)
gives is for use in the 19th Century, and it's for Rowena,
not Rowen.  So it doesn't look good, documentation-wise, but
I wouldn't be unduly surprised by evidence of period use.

-- 
Daniel de Lindocollino
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work address.  tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us is wrong tool.  Never use this.
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