[ANSTHRLD] Name documentation (for Sarait)

[ld_tadhg at sbcglobal.net]

Greetings, Mari.
 
Is the test for "legendary and therefore unregisterable unless they were a saint" based upon number of citations in the Annals or upon time period, e.g., nothing before 600 A.D. can be trusted?

I'm concerned with the relative paucity of feminine names in early Irish literature, which was substantially a transcription at a somewhat later date...but portions are accepted while others are not. 
 
Is there a distinct cutoff date for what is trusted and what is not in the Annals? And does the Book of Leinster count as a second source outside the Annals?

Regards,
Tadhg
...brick by brick

--- On Fri, 11/14/08, Kathleen O'Brien <kobrien at texas.net> wrote:

From: Kathleen O'Brien <kobrien at texas.net>
Subject: Re: [ANSTHRLD] Name documentation (for Sarait)
To: "Heralds List, Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <heralds at lists.ansteorra.org>
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008, 12:45 AM

We have consistent examples of names documented only as legendary in Irish
being returned.  Here are some precedents:


No documentation was submitted and none found to suggest that Cúlann is a
period name used by humans. The submitter documented the name from an
article at http://www.libraryireland.com which references St. Culann as an
Irish saint for whom a bell was named. However, this is a modern English
spelling of a saint's name about whom we have no information; the site only
says that Culann is a saint, but gives no dates. We have been unable to
date this saint's name to period. The only examples of the name Culann
found by the submitter's were in the "Táin Bó Cúalnge" from
the Book of
Leinster (online at the CELT site, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T301035/).
Here is it the name of a wholly legendary character from whom the hero Cú
Chulainn derives his name. Barring documentation that the name Culann in
non-legendary contexts in period, it is not registerable. [Culann mac
Cianain, 09/2007 LoAR, R-East]

While the given name appears in Ó Corráin and Maguire's Irish Names, they
say that The only bearer of this name was Caireen Chasdubh ('of the dark
curly hair'), daughter of the king of the Britons, and mother of Niall of
the Nine Hostages, legendary ancestress of the high-kings of Ireland.
Because of this, the name has already been ruled unregisterable in August
1991. [Cairenn inghean Dubhthaigh, 07/01, R-Calontir]

This name is returned for lack of documentation of Dáirine as a given name
used by humans in period. Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 69 s.n. Dáirine) says
of
this name that it was the name of a daughter of "the legendary king of
Tara, Túathal Techtmar. The foster-mother of St Colmán of Daire Mór was
also called Dáirine." The first example is legendary and so is not
support
for the registerability of this name. In the second example, Dáirine is the
name of a foster-mother of a saint and is not noted as being a saint
herself. Names of saints are registerable, regardless of whether they are
apocryphal or not. This policy is due to the practice in many cultures
(though not in Gaelic) of naming children for saints. (For more details,
see the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR.) As Dáirine was not
herself a saint and the name has not been documented as having been
otherwise used in period, it falls into the category of a legendary name
and is not registerable. [Dáirine ingen Chiaragain, 06/2002, R-Atlantia]

Éile was documented as a secondary header form listed in Ó Corráin &
Maguire (p. 84 s.n. Éle). However, no documentation was presented and none
could be found that the name Éile was used outside of legend. Lacking such
evidence, this name is not registerable. [Éile Keldeleth, 11/2002, R-Outlands]

[Returning Emer ni Maeve.] Émer appears to be a unique name, that of
Cúchulainn's lady. It does not seem to have been borne by any other human.
Ó Corráin & Maguire doesn't give a modern form, lending support to
this
belief. Coghlan, p. 19, gives the modern form as Eimhear, noting that the
name has had a "modern revival". [3/94, p.20]

No documentation was provided, and none could be found, that the feminine
given name Eórann was used outside of legend. The only documentation found
for this name was in Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 88 s.n. Eórann), which
says: 
In Irish story Eórann is the wife of Suibne, king of Dál nAriaide and hero
of Buile Shuibhne, which tells how Suibne was cursed by a saint, went mad
of terror at the battle of Moira, and spent the rest of his life as a wild
birdman wandering through the woods of Ireland.
... barring documentation that Eórann was used by non-legendary humans in
period, it is not registerable under our current rules. [Eórann inghean
Fhaoláin, 10/01, R-Atlantia]


Mari

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