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My Beowulf facsimile came in the mail! So excited to study this epic poem some more. I've been thinking about the implications of Grendel's mother: how she is a keeper of the giant's hall suggesting her rule is law along with her enacting wergild (the man price) on the Danes. Even the admiration Beowulf shows her in her defeat highlights respect of her leadership. Could this possibly be a nod to the old world matriarchy? Does Beowulf's victory embody the dawn of the patriarchy similar to Athena's establishment of law in Aeschylus' Eumenides? I wanna know what others think.

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Source studies for the world of elfame and beyond

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This Friday the 13th

Looking at the full moon under a tree and drinking mead. Just wanted to share a bit of the magic

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The Folk of The Air Name Meanings #2

I would like to focus on Jude’s line for this origin and meaning of names.

Madoc: A prince from Welsh folklore who sails to America and marries into a Native American tribe. The name means “charitable” and “benevolent” in Welsh. This makes somewhat sense as Elfhame’s Madoc travels to the mortal realm and marries Jude’s mother. He also raises Jude and Taryn as his own- in a sense showing he has the capacity for some charitableness and benevolence.

Jude: from Hebrew’s Judas (biblical) meaning “praise”. It makes sense once you know the meaning of Jude’s last name.

Duarte: A Portuguese surname meaning “he who watches over the land”. Jude is the embodiment of both these names.

Taryn: Welsh/English meaning “thunder” but more closely, “from a high rocky cliff”. Could also be an Irish name that combines Tara (meaning “where the kings met”) and Erin (a spelling of the Irish name for Ireland meaning “west”, “green” and “water”). I can see both as Taryn in a sense as she creates a mass amount of trouble for Jude and in the end of The Cruel Prince, Taryn is mistakenly thrown the crown therefore for an instant she had the power to make a king. 

Vivienne:Old French for “alive”. This is Vivienne’s personality to the core.

Eva: The Latin form of Eve meaning “life”/ “living one” or even “mother of life”. From Madoc’s description of Eva, we learn that she is very lively and the life of the party and of course, we know she is the mother of Jude, Taryn, and Vivienne. 

Justin: Latin for “just”, “fair”, and “righteous”. Maybe we will know more in the third installment of his characteristics.  

[leocadiapualani]

The Folk of The Air Name Meanings #1

Hello, fellow Elfhame fans. I am an English major with a focus on medieval works. It comes with no surprise that names mean everything in a tale about the Folk. So here is my first list of name meanings taken from my studies and a quick search online. I will start with the Greenbriar line.

Balekin: from Old English (bale) bealu “evil considered as a destructive force” and (-kin) cynn “family”. This one is obvious enough.

Elowyn: I had to do some hypothesizing here using my Old English knowledge. Elo- possibly comes from the O.E. word eala meaning “all” and -wyn most definitely comes from the O.E. word for “joy” as it is spelled exactly the same. Interestingly, wyn is also found in its runic form which you can look up. This makes sense since Elowyn leads the Circle of Larks which prizes the arts.

Rhyia: Greek for “free flowing stream” or Sanskrit for “singer”. The only link here that I see is that Rhyia is Vivienne’s only friend in Elfhame which possibly shows that Rhyia likes to be free from courtly duties like Vivienne. She is linked to nature as she is a huntress.

Caelia: Latin for “heavenly”. Derived from caelum meaning “sculptor’s chisel”. Although we don’t get to see her much before she dies, she seems to embody femininity and beauty. 

Cardan: from Old English cairn meaning “rock structure”. A possible nickname for one who is stubborn. (amusing) 

Dain: This one was the most interesting. In Middle English, “worthy” or “honorable” (survives through the word ‘deigns’). There are two instances of this name in Norse Mythology as well. 1) Norse name meaning “dead” given to a dwarf that is murdered. 2) one of the four stags of Yggdrasil (Tree of Life). Elfhame’s Dain seems to embody all of these characteristics as he is murdered, he has stag’s legs and hooves, and he portrays himself as worthy and honorable to woo those around him. 

Eldred: Eld- either from Old English’s eald (old) or ealdor (life- survives as alder as in alderman). -red, as in Alfred, derives from the Old English word rœd meaning “council”.

Mab: from Gaelic and Welsh meaning “joy”, “hilarity” or “baby”. She has long been the mythic monarch of the fairies in oral literature. The most well-known author who writes about her is Shakespeare but we all know Shakespeare borrowed and used other source materials.

Elfhame: Just a side note. Elf in Old English (œlf) means practically the same thing it does today. ham is the O.E. word for “home”. You can easily look into an Old English dictionary and create your own fairy tale names