As many readers will be aware, the Barony recently ran a poll, which closed on January 17, 2024, with respect to changing the Barony’s name. There were 53 respondents voting, nearly 80% of which were in favour of a name change.
Concurrently, there has been much discussion about what the
new name should be. The Honourable Lady
Morag, the Baronial Seneschal, complied a list of suggestions from various
discussion forums and sent the preliminary list to the Ealdormere College of Heralds
to help eliminate any unregisterable options.
The following names have been reviewed by a team of Heralds
and are held to be potentially registerable options for our deliberations. This
list is presented alphabetically, with no implication of merit associated with
position on the list. Any supporting information provided below was supplied by
the submitter or the Heralds.
Alþingishóll
Originally submitted as “Althinghaugr”, Old Norse for “Althing Hill”. The original name of Skraeling Althing has
always said to have been a playful reference to Parliament Hill. This name
would keep the reference without the sly humour.
Alþingis-straumr
Originally submitted as “Straumr Althing”, Old Norse for “River/Stream
Althing”. This name was suggested because all of the Strongholds and Cantons in
the Barony are along rivers and because three rivers converge in Ottawa.
Aquae Aureliae
Originally submitted as Aurellia Surleau, Roman for “Aurelia’s waters”. The
original submission was intended to be “Aurelia on the Water”, another
reference to the river, and to our first Baroness Enid Aurelia of the Tin
Isles.
Caerdydd Newydd
Welsh for “New Cardiff”
Eldinga Alþingi
Originally submitted as “Elding Althing”, Old Norse for “Lightning Althing” or
“Old Age of the Night Althing”. The original submission was offered as Elding
meaning dawn (a reasonable English translation of “old age of the night”) and
thus the translation would be Dawn Parliament, or Parliament of the dawn. This
was explained as a reference to Baroness Enid (since many a song and poem refer
to the Dawn as golden), and because, as the first Baroness, she represents the
figurative dawn of the Barony. Benefits of this name were listed as being the
same syllable pattern so it would work in the existing songs and poems.
Gasteiz Beria
Basque for “New Gasteiz”. Gasteiz is a city in the Basque area of Spain.
Gullin Alþingi and Gilden Alþingi
Originally submitted as “Gullen Althing” and “Gilden Althing” respectively,
both are Old Norse for “Golden Althing”. These are both a reference to Baroness
Enid, as Aurelia is derived from the Latin word for golden.
Héragarðr
Originally submitted as “Heragaard”, Old Norse for “Hare’s Guard”. Offered
by the submitter as “place/city of hares”, benefits were named to be easy to
spell and pronounce, keeps it Old Norse, and is “Hare-y”. Since the intent was a name in Old Norse, the
Heralds altered it to be the Héragarðr, as “gaard” is in fact Dutch and would
translate more to “Hare’s garden” or “Hare’s gate”.
Nafarroa Berria
Basque for “New Navarre”. Nafarroa is the Basque name for the area we know
as Navarre.
Nieuw Brussels
Dutch for “New Brussels”
Terra Aureliae
Originally submitted as Terra Aurelia Choreas, Latin for “Aurelia’s Land”. The
original submission included the Greek word for dances and was offered as “The
golden earth dances” or “land where Aurelia dances”. The Ealdormere College of
Heralds did not weigh in on the registrability of including Choreas, simply
that “Terra Aureliae” could be an option.
Wabozwaaling
Originally submitted as “Wabozwaaning”, Anishinaabemowin, meaning, “cave of
the rabbit”. This name has the benefit of being in the language of the original
inhabitants and caretakers of these lands, and speaks to a defining element of
our Barony’s identity.
Submissions are still open, and shall be accepted until March
11, 2024. Anyone is welcome to offer a name for consideration. Submissions can
be made to the Seneschal via email, DM, or through the Baronial
website. All suggestions will be
sent to the Ealdormere College of Heralds for a “first pass” evaluation, to
ensure that the populace doesn’t get their hearts set on a name that isn’t
registerable.
Some general rules to think about when crafting your
suggestion:
·
There needs to be some precedence or
justification for combining languages,
For example, none of the previous suggestions of Althing paired with a
local Anishinaabe word are registerable.
However, there might be an argument to be made for Althing with a
Inuktut or Kalaallisut word given Norse contact with these peoples in what is
now known as Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland.
·
The name should include some location or place
name element.
There
are some exceptions to this, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind.
