Re: [Fwd: why do we....?

[Robert J Welenc <rjwelenc@erols.com>]

Poster: Robert J Welenc <rjwelenc@erols.com>

At 08:58 AM 7/23/98, Terry Buyers wrote:

>R(>We don't register persona stories, only plausible period names.  
>R(>In
>R(>period, mixed culture names were almost unkown, except for those
>R(>instances where two different cultures were in almost daily 
>R(>contact
>R(>-- Welsh/English, or Scandinavian/Anglo-Saxon, for instance.  

>Which gripes the heck out of those of us with personas from an area
where such
>practices were common, and the locals a tad more literate than your
average
>Irish peasant priest. 
>
<useful examples snipped>

>We in the SCA are supposed to be of nobility, else why would we have
arms and
>names of honor? Why do the heralds insist on limiting to the
practices of
>peasants?
>
>						Taras Stephan Karanczay

We don't, m'lord.  Laurel's rule is and always has been "Non
scriptum, non est."   (If it isn't written down, it doesn't exist.)  

But the converse is true also.  If you can document such mixed
culture names, you can register them.  For instance, in our standard
reference work on Norse names, Geirr-Bassi Haraldsson's _The Old
Norse Name_, we find  Irish names such as Brian, and  Christian
imports such as Benedikt and Margrete.  Were you to attempt to
register 'Ragnarr Benediktsson', or 'Margrete Ragnarsdottir', Laurel
would pass them without batting an eye.  Such documentation would
also support something like 'Ragnarr Seamusson' even though Seamus
itself is not documented in Geirr-Bassi, because the pattern of
name-borrowing is there.  

Seamus, however, might have a change to the spelling, as such mixed
culture names have to conform to one system , even as  Golden Dolphin
indicated in an earlier letter.  If you submitted 'Ragnarr Benedict's
son', it would be changed to the attested form (with your permission)
or returned (if you did not give permission.)  

Alanna
Partan Herald
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