SR - About a philosophy of names

[tmcd at jump.net]

If I may maunder about my own personal opinions and notions concerning
names ...

There is often some tendancy in SCA branches or new SCA members to
want a name that *resonates*, that *sings*, that has *deep meaning*.
What I've often seen happen in such cases is that their attempt looks
just like a lot of other SCA names, and resembles nothing in period.
In personal names, you get things like "Rhiannon Dragonsword of the
Mystic Woods".  ("I'm not making this up, you know.")  Groups are a
little less stereotyped, but you tend to get "Dream", "Keep"
(registerable only because of one known period occurrence of the word
in English) or some other fortification, and justifications where the
word looks like one meaning but is documented as meaning another.
(E.g., I believe we don't know of any known places where the noun was
a plain atmospheric phenomena.  "Mist Hill", yes; "Mists" and
"Dragon's Mist", no.  "Desert Wyndes" was passed because those words
could mean "empty streets".  You wouldn't guess that, hearing it.
Also not plausible for where people live.)

Oh, did I mention that they're in English, a Celtic language, or Old
Norse?  "SCA means 'Scandinavians and Celts Anonymous'."  (There's
some reason for the English part, because of the many usable sources.)

Apparently the pagan community has much the same problem.
I recommend "Lady Pixie Moondrip's Guide to Craft Names", at
http://www.spots.ab.ca/~cogcoa/pixie_moondrip.html .  It's hilarious.

      On the other hand, if you are individualistic like everybody
      else, you may be looking for a name that expresses the
      uniqueness of your personality but still sounds like all the
      other craft names you've ever heard.  Fortunately, this isn't
      too hard.  Several years back, a gentleman of Lady Pixie's
      acquaintance told her that the best way to get laid at a pagan
      gathering was to have the PA system announce, "Will Morgan and
      Raven please come to the information booth?"  Since the
      resulting crowd would include at least a third of the female
      attendees, he went on, it wouldn't be too hard to meet someone
      interesting.

So I'm jaded.  I want to see German names, and Spanish (especially
here), and Italians.  Those were places where people lived.  I want to
see utterly standard names that a clerk for Domesday Book, or the HRE
chancery, or the king of Aragon wouldn't have blinked to have heard.
I'm sick of eating magic fairy cakes.  I want a good manchet with hot
cheese goo.

So I like the current Southern ballot.

I expect other experienced SCA people have similar feelings.  I once
read a Laurel writing about something that stopped her in her tracks
at Pennsic.  She saw a woman wearing wonderful *middle-class* Tudor.
Brown and white and no decoration, but all neat and well-sewn and
authentic.  Surely they get tired of the beaded and jeweled
Elizabethan, and want to see the hand-spun and -woven bog dress?
I hope fighters come to feel the same way.  Surely they get tired of
fighting the same double-elim that they've fought dozens of times
before?  Do they come to yearn to fight at the barrier, like God and
King Rene intended?

Unfortunately, due to the diligent work of the "Sucks To Be Me Dept.",
I doubt that most people agree.

Daniel de Lincolia, reclining languidly in ennui on his chaise longue
-- 
                   *** NEW HOME E-MAIL ADDRESS ***
Tim McDaniel (home); Reply-To: tmcd at jump.net; 
if that fail, my work addresses are  tmcd at austin.ibm.com and tmcd at us.ibm.com.
tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us is a lie; tmcd at crl.com is old and will go away.

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