By Any Other Name...

I've been reading a lot as of late (so much that I haven't yet started to write for my April Fool's Challenge!) and I got thinking... What's in a name?

Alareiks is ala(kjo) reiks, all's king (in modern English, well, kind of), which is the name of my starring, and which, as names go, looks suspiciously a title as well.

I mean, when he was acclaimed and raised on the shield by the chief warriors of the tervingi, vesi, greutungi, and other tribes that were hanging around in Illyricum, was he named King-of-All, or was that his name ever since he was a child/man?

Because it sounds like a title-name, one you adopt when you are raised to the rank (like, for example, nowaday Catholic popes, or kings and queens in the Western monarchies)... I have found no information at all, but then sources are usually elusive, and in those times one enters into History when the Roman source mentions you, usually because you become king or a famous warrior or politician.

My hypothesis is that Alaricus was named so when he was raised as king of all the Goths in Romania, and that before that, he had a different name, one he was given (or chose, do we know how naming conventions for the Goths/Germans worked out by then?) when he was born, passed into manhood, or whatever...

Following the 'tamdem-like' costume of having kings with complementing names, and considering Athaulfus was the next king and obviously a wolf, I am thinking a name of the kind of 'Wolf's Fang', which must sound cool...

Any Germanic-speaking/knowledgeable takers? My guess, based on Gothic language (as shown in dictionary www.oe.eclipse.co.uk) and Old Icelandic words for wolf (got. wulfs, o.ice. vargr), claw (got. etymologically reconstructed as rampa, o.ic. kló), paw (got. et.recons. pauta, o.ic. lámr) and tooth (got. tunþus, o.ic. tönn), I'd suggest: Wulfis (strong masculine name, genitive case) tunþus > Wulfunþus.

Ok, it doesn't sound really cool (Wulfispautos? The Paws of the Wolf?; Wulfiskló? grrr...)

What about Brother-Wolf (like his brother-in-law Attawulfs, Father-Wolf)? That would be Broþarwulfs, a bit too ugly, really.

What about a bear? A strong animal for the Goths, undoubtedly... Baira (weak masc.) sounds really nice... (where 'ai' was probably the diphtong [ai], but could be [ɛː]). So what about Swarts Baira, Swartbéra => Black Bear... sure it sounds powerful enough to me!!!

I'll thank your advice...

Kallisti!

PS- old icelandic paw (lámr) is very similar to irish hand, 'lámh', and Gothic has 'atta' as father, the same wat Irish has 'athair', both lost the initial p-/f-, interesting...

Stanisław Lem (September 12, 1921 - March 27, 2006)

Stanislaw Lem (Wikipedia).

I can only say that one of the Biggests has departed us. The world will miss him.

When I returned from my ERASMUS year in the UK, I helped to organize the first Science-Fiction congress of my University in Spain, and after much debate, I convinced the others so they were made honoring Stanislaw Lem , and the short-tale award was the 'Stanislaw Lem' Short Tale Award I Edition. The next year we followed suit, and Philip K. Dick, one of his favourite American writers, was the next, and then so on...

I have read his SF books many times over, but one of my favorite ones are Fiasko, and The Invincible. He was such an intelligent writer, thought provocking, filled with fine irony and a savoir-faire, he managed the black and the white of Humanity, and really Knew Better.

salue, magister! desideraueris et reminisceris

What to read next... Help?

While I keep working on the novels (not a lot of progress to report on the wordcount front, but I have advanced in both the Battle of Memphis and the development for The Goth, and I keep raising my knowledge of all the cultures involved), I am faced with some strange elections to make about which next novel to read.

I am reading lots of non-fiction books, of course, about Roma, Goths, History, Archaeology, Linguistics, etc... Documentation, documentation, documentation!

However my mind needs some relax and fun, as well as good example to learn from. So, I'll talk only about the novels I am currently reading or about to read.

I am now reading and (close to the end) Baudolino, by Humberto Eco. Very funny, indeed!

I have also started to read El triunfo de los bárbaros (Triumph of the Barbarians), written by a Spanish writer, Luis de la Luna Valero, which I don't think has been translated or published in anglosaxon lands. It starts in 414 and goes up to 430s, which is basically what happened next to my novel... :-) It looks promising, I'll let you know.

Now, what do read when this is finished? I will finish Baudolino, but I have these books I want to tackle, but which ones first?

• Graves, Robert, Count Belisarius, 1938 in a 2002 Spanish edition
• Merezhkovski, Dmitri, Death of the Gods, 1896 in a Spanish edition of 1998
• Vidal, Gore, Julian, 1963 in a 2005 Spanish re-edition of 1983

Now, Graves's is interesting and I will read it, but two books of Julian may be too much, even when I am sure they will be very different... Nevertheless, if any of you can let me know about any of these three books, specially about Julian's ones, I'll be very grateful.

Thanks and kallisti!

April Fool's Challenge

It's coming, gang:

http://www.aprilfoolsnovels.com/

The goal: you set how many words you'll be able to write in April, then, you write them!

It's not exactly Nanowrimo, but it has a good feeling... Therefore, I'm already in... :-)

I'm thinking about a reasonable initial goal: 30,000 words. They will serve me well, I can work into the final part of The Libyan (probably not all of it, but a good chunk) and a good start for The Goth, enough to get a good start into the story (which, I hope, will be already on its way in two weeks, anyway).

Additionally, I can also count words written in articles, and technical fora, words written at work, et... but not in blogs... This means I will surely reach 30,000 words pretty well, and I'll be able to celebrate that goal and raise it for more... *grin*

Now, do you have what it takes to be a (April) Fool?

I dare you, who reads me. ;-)

I'll see you on the AF fora!

Kallisti!

Fall of the Roman Empire

While I'm getting through a strong cold, or flu, or whatever, I keep trying to learn more and more, and to plan my writing...

(To make myself more clear: I am already writing, but I have second thoughts about some of it, and I'm following a parallel line of thought to see where it takes me)

I am reading, and enjoying, Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire. It reads easily, has tons of info, so far, and it's being an inspiring source of ideas as well... The Spanish edition, by Crítica, is excellent, and 700+ pages by €28.03 are really a good buy...

Just to let you know what I'm into...

now time for bed!

Kallisti!

Starring and His Father

Well, The Goth is on the run... It has a theme, it has an argument, it has lots of stories and History and so on...

Please meet the starring, Alarīkz (Visigothic language, usually transcripted Alareiks; Alaricus in Latin). Despite bad propaganda by the Romans, an overall decent kind of guy. You don't believe me? Follow me through the book, and I'll show you... :-)

Now that we are introducing characters, please meet the Narrator, Presbyter Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. He will be telling Alaric's story. Voices will be him, and Alaric's through yours truly, the Suffering Writer.

The novel is divided into Days. Days are, conversely, divided into IONs (Items Of Narration, explained before in this blog, please search the archives).

"Day I" recollection starts by accounting the crossing of the Danube ca. 376CE.

Now I have a problem. I know Alaric, I know his linneage (Balti) but I don't know his father's name! How can I go on without Alaric's father's name?

Searches have proven, so far, unfructuous. I'll dig my books, but if any of you know, just let me know... :-)

Travelling weekend as well, I'll let you know when I'm back...

Kallisti!

PS- virtual no-award to the knowledgeable one who can tell me without using search engines or wikipedia and similar resources, why my narrator's name sounds familiar, if it does, of course... One week! I'll tell you next week if nobody does first... :-)

"Una de romanos..."

One (movie) about Romans...

The wall of Lucus Augusti was declared Cultural Patrimony of Humankind by the UNESCO. It's 17 centuries old, and a really astounding view. Awesome. And it's the capital of my province. :-)

This picture was taken last August, in a visit I did after a long, long time... I thought I had taken more of them, but not many more... (silly me)

Thus, I'll let you a link to one of the best webs (multilingual) about it, with lots of pistures, etc: http://www.muralladelugo.info/

Kallisti!


PS- click on the pic to watch the 800x600 pixels version...

Scientists Riot!

Saw this comic through reddit and thought it was really funny.

(click to navigate to the full size image)


I find all this mater with the (in)famous cartoons and the violence that's been raised very disturbing and all too familiar. Historical novelling has this effect: you find the same patterns over and over.

Maybe we are in need of a new Mahattma Ghandi, or a new brain surgery... Surely the last is easier.

Kallisti!

Imbolg

As the Light slowly returns, and the Mother recovers from the birth of the God and prepares Herself for the return of Father Nature's power, preparations for the big Love in a quarter of the year from now will display before our eyes...

Blessed Imbolg to all!

Kallisti!