[ANSTHRLD] RE: Sable Nova
C. L. Ward
gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com
Wed Feb 2 18:49:29 PST 2005
Clare suggested:
> What about something like Sable Nova?
The Online Etymology Dictionary
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=nova&searchmode=none)
says:
<nova>
1877, from L. <nova>, fem. sing. adj. of <novus> "new" (see new),
used with <stella> "star" (a fem. noun in L.) to describe a new
star not previously known. Plural is <novae>.
So <nova> as a noun is very recent. While the Latin adjective
<novus> or <nova> would have been reasonable words in the Middle
Ages, I'm betting that we won't be able to find a pattern of order
names that is <adjective> <adjective>. I don't see anything like
this at either http://www.nwlink.com/~badger/sca/ordernames.html or
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/order/
There's probably ways to get to the concept, but it would take some
thinking about. The Latin might be <Ordo Novae Stellae> (which
puts <Nova Stella> in the genitive case, since it's "order of...")
But I can hear it now.... "Hey, Mistress Stella just got a Stella!"
Probably not as funny as "boar" jokes, lol.
I did find the 1381 Order of the Ermine and the Ear of Corn that
someone alluded to earlier. I guess the badge is an ear of wheat
or barley on an ermine field?
::GUNNVOR::
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