ANSTHRLD - Household Question
GeekGrrl
geekgrrl at geekgrrl.org
Wed Feb 7 14:56:25 PST 2001
On Wed, 7 Feb 2001, Timothy A. McDaniel wrote:
<chomped>
> > It could also have been the name of an inn
>
> Cite? Which is to say, do you have any lists of inn names to be able
> to say? As with any other human naming, they didn't just string
> together arbitrary lists of words.
>
<chomped>
What I have is:
"Households, as they are generally known in the Society, don't appear to have
historical equivalents; they seem to be unique to the SCA. My best definition
would be: "A household is a non-official group of people who like to do things
together in a Society context, to the point where they can be treated as a
single unit." That definition covers groups of friends, small families,
professional guilds (entertainment, brewing, waterbearers, &c), fighting units,
and even businesses.
"While there were no exact parallels in period to SCA households, there were
historical groups that shared one or more functions with the latter. These
include the Scots clans (Clan Stewart); ruling dynasties (House of Anjou);
professional guilds (Baker's Guild of Augsburg, Worshipful Company of Coopers);
military units, including mercenaries (The White Company); and inns (House of
the White Hart). Such names as these groups took, then, should be the pattern
on which SCA household names are built.
"Some house names were taken from the place of origin: House of York, House of
Lorraine, House of Valois. Some were taken from a personal epithet of the
founder, shared by neither his father nor siblings: House Capet. Some were
taken from the founders' surnames -- which, in turn, might be derived
originally from a patronymic (Clan MacGregor), a toponymic (Clan Kerr), or an
occupation (Clan Stewart). Guild names were straightforward descriptions of
their crafts. Mercenary units might be more fanciful, and inn names most
fanciful of all; but these still referred to livery or signboards -- in short,
to a badge, which was a tangible thing."
Being the first three paragraphs of the precedent of Bruce Draconarius of
Mistholme on the topic of Names - Household. House of the White Shark fulfills
one of the patterns stated above and is not pure fantasy such as 'Crystal
Scroll' cited as being rejected for that in another precedent. However, can
this name ride on the strength of the precedent alone? Are there any
sources out there that anyone can recommend I look in for better support?
Sunnifa
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