#amalasuintha

[grayjoy15]

Day 13: Amalasuintha, queen of the Ostrogoths. She reigned in Italy on behalf of her son Athalaric until his death and then as queen regnant alongside her cousin Theodahad. Amalasuintha favored Roman learning and lifestyle, and insisted that she take on the masculine role in her partnership with Theodahad, both of which pushed the Ostrogoths to favor her cousin and depose her.

[venicepearl]

Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 535) was a ruler of Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. She ruled first as regent for her son Athalaric and thereafter as queen. Amalasuintha was highly educated and was praised by both Cassiodorus, and Procopius for her wisdom and her ability to speak three languages, (Greek, Gothic, Latin).

[byzantine-suggestions]

@suburbanbeatnik OK SO:

As far as the “mixing up different historical eras” problem goes, this actually happens in a lot of different novels. Theodora by Samuel Edwards is the most blatant example I can think of at the moment—near the end of the book, a horde of Huns, inexplicably led by Khosrow, starts marching on Constantinople while Justinian is in his plague coma, and Theodora sells the crown jewels (I don’t believe the narrative specifies the buyer) to fund Belisarius and his troops, who are the city’s last defense. Khosrow is similar to Mehmed II, Theodora takes on the role of Anna of Savoy, and the overall political situation is implied to be very bad for Byzantium, with Constantinople on the brink of total failure and most of the empire's territory gone. (Like, there’s discussion of Justinian and Theodora meeting the invaders at the gates so they can die together, because they think the whole empire is collapsing.) The story does end with the Byzantines winning (using Greek fire, another anachronism), and Theodora gets her jewels back (I do not remember how), but yeah, the author completely blended two very different periods together. Different variants of this exact plot appear in different novels—a *lot* of books treat the 540s as politically similar to the 1200s or 1300s, and a *lot* of books have Theodora sell her crown for some reason or another, usually to fund the defense of the City or one of Justinian’s schemes. (One book–maybe one of the ones by Marié Heese? I can’t think of the title, sorry)—had her sell her jewels to fund the building of the Hagia Sophia. (She gets them back in that book, too—I think Narses literally just discovers an enormous stockpile of gold somewhere, and that fixes the financial problems.) And a lot of different books put Belisarius in a Heraclius or Basil-like role, although I’m less well-versed in Belisarius books than I am in Theodora books. (The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay definitely did this—the character of Leontes is pretty much Heraclius and Belisarius combined, while Valerius and Aliana are straightforward Justinian and Theodora equivalents, except for the fact Aliana is the equivalent of an iconodule rather than a Monophysite. But that gets a pass, imo, because it’s not pretending to be totally accurate.)

Religious inaccuracies and mixups are also really common overall, especially in older books. One Victorian-era book called Blue and Green, or the Gift of God: A Novel of Old Constantinople was very bad with this, presumably because the author was a British Protestant who made no secret of his disdain for the “pagan heathenism” of the Byzantine Empire. (His descriptions of religious ceremonies are very funny, because he describes them as, like, Christian ceremonies, if Christian ceremonies had strippers and drugs. The inciting incident of Theodora’s spiral into prostitution is her doing an erotic dance at a respectable, aristocratic wedding—not a bachelor party, an actual wedding—and this is presented as normal.) Really, you can probably just check out any Byzantine book from before, say, the 1980s on archive.org, and there’ll be weird religious anachronisms all over the place. Lots of authors bring iconoclasm or the East-West Schism (the one that happened in 1054) into the sixth century, I guess because those are more recognizable and dramatic than the Monophysite thing. Authors tend to put Justinian and Theodora on the opposite sides of these conflicts, and Theodora is usually on whatever side they consider “wrong,” which differs significantly from book to book depending on the author’s religious leanings.

Regarding the Theodora/Macedonia thing—Ross Laidlaw’s Justinian: The Sleepless One definitely did this (there were a couple of cringe sex scenes in this book—he always referred to Macedonia as “the other one,” I guess to avoid saying her name a bunch of times? It’d be like “Theodora felt the other one’s lips...” and so on. It sounded so strange.) Macedonia was Theodora’s main love interest—Theodora does marry Justinian, and she likes him well enough as a person, but she’s pretty explicitly gay and uninterested in men, and she has an affair with Macedonia until Macedonia dies in an earthquake. I believe Stella Duffy’s Actress, Empress, Whore duology also had Theodora and Macedonia hook up, but Duffy’s sex scenes were less fetishistic and cringeworthy, and their relationship didn’t last for the entirety of the novel. Theodora having sex (or sexually charged interactions) with Antonina, Macedonia and her other female friends is reasonably common in shitty Theodora novels in general, but it’s never, like, a plot point. It’s just an excuse for the author to write about attractive young women getting it on in the Roman baths, or whatever other fetish-y nonsense piques his interest.

These points aren’t even the weirdest things about most of these books, though. I should just sit down one day and do a full post about all of the absurd things that happen in Justinian and Theodora stories, because shit gets real weird in most of them. Messy historical anachronisms and fetish-y male-gaze lesbian sex scenes are nowhere near the strangest aspects of some of these books—remind me, one day, to talk about all of the Penis Diseases these authors invent to explain away Justinian and Theodora's infertility.

[tensleepshrike]

what does your muse's name mean?

origin: german

meaning: gentle strength; strong in work

millie is derived from the german names millicent, melicent, and mildred. millie is an anglicized first name and nickname translating to “gentle strength” and “strong in work.” millie is also associated with the old german name amalasuintha. this medieval name can be broken down into two words—amal, meaning “work,” and swinth, meaning “strong.”

tagged by: @alonggoodbye tagging: you!

[smol-blue-bird]

@angelic-dangos this post is like a million years old now, but I just read another Very Cursed duology, so get ready for Cursed Narses Stuff (also readmore so my other followers don't have to see it lol)

The thing about Narses (and eunuchs in general) is that a lot of authors don't really know how to handle them because they don't fit neatly into the male/female gender binary—like, obviously, that's kind of the point of a eunuch, but tons of writers just cannot deal with the concept of a person who has male DNA, but a different hormonal situation and social role. Sometimes these writers handle their discomfort with eunuchs as a concept by making every main eunuch Just A Regular Guy--they'll be like "he's a eunuch, but he doesn't look like one, and he still has a sex drive, and women are still into him, and he's good in bed, and he still has kids" and so on, basically making these eunuch characters eunuchs in name only. A lot of books do this with Narses specifically, because he's usually a prominent character and they need him to seem "manly" enough to believably command troops. One book (The Female, which is an old 50s novel basically built on hilarious sexism) essentially said that all eunuchs are creepy and evil except Narses, who's "normal," and there are plenty of other books that portray Narses as the sole "good" eunuch in a sea of strange, sexless weirdos. Some of them even straight-up claim that he isn't actually a "real" eunuch for some reason or another because they're just that uncomfortable with the concept. If an author gets obsessive enough about this, all of their scenes with Narses start to come across as really odd because they perseverate so much on his "manliness." They'll be like "here comes Mr. Normal Genitals, who has a regular functioning penis and can still have sex!" It starts to give off very "she breasted boobily down the stairs" energy, y'know?

Other books, though, kind of take the opposite side and say "well, eunuchs are just, like, feminine men, right? So they must be into Stereotypically Girly Things, like dresses and gossip and being submissive in bed!" Many of these authors clearly don't know what being a eunuch actually entails or what castration does hormonally. And these authors end up getting weird ideas about what kind of sex eunuchs were capable of having and personally into, because they're viewing eunuchs as strange men who act like stereotypical depictions of women. A lot of Theodora novels are just kind of gross and sexual by default, especially the older ones, and several of them give Narses weird fetishes that they justify by saying "well, he's a eunuch" (one book in particular had Theodora "dominating" him constantly in a very sexually charged way that was really uncomfortable to read.) These authors also tend to write a lot of sex scenes set in places where you wouldn't expect a non-eunuch man to be allowed (women's baths, harems, those sorts of spaces) and they end up incorporating eunuchs into those scenes too. A surprising amount of books like to characterize Narses and Theodora as being romantically or sexually entangled somehow, I suspect because he's convenient and close by—sometimes it's one-sided, sometimes it's not, but it can lead also lead to weird sex stuff.

tl;dr I don't think it's Narses specifically, but a lot of writers don't really "get" eunuchs, so they either overcompensate by making their eunuch characters implausibly manly (complete with long penis descriptions), or fetishize eunuchs to an absurd degree. And Narses gets the brunt of it because he's usually the Main Eunuch.

i have read so many absurd books about Justinian and Theodora that I should probably make a compilation of the weirdest shit these authors have written

[drawnecromancy]

Finally back into artfight with Amalasuintha for @pizza-hats-of-the-world-1882 !!! :D

[pizza-hats-of-the-world-1882]

Drops in your inbox. Hey so those OC questions ! I want 11, 14 and 20 abt Amalasuintha. i am in love with her

in love w amahla? no wonder you got osric on the uquiz

11. What culture are they a part of?

she's originally Hetrian [an island a little north of Muragne], but has been living in Muragne for a while now and has pretty much adopted Muran culture thoroughly

14. What is their finance/class situation?

technically she's a noblewoman but its a precarious situation. originally she was from a mid level merchant family but had to escape, which led to her falling in w the criminal underground for a while, but when she finally moved to muragne she feigned being a hetrian noble displaced by the civil war so she could be a ladies maid, which is how she met her husband Osric! since their married she does share his title but if anyone found out ab her past [and various current crimes] she could be hanged so. precarious.

20. What kind of entertainment do they enjoy?

she's kinda a workaholic, so spends most of her time on useful stuff like reading political treatises, but i think she might enjoy some nasty pulpy penny dreadful type horror. and as much as she'd never admit it, she does like some of dea's music

[prompt list]

[emma-averno-ans]

DLH Cats: A Concept

So we all know how DLH is particularly bonded with the cats, so the cats follow us around, and we’re the only ones who can tell the difference between them.

Well, in order to be even more pretentious about it than we already are, we totally gave them all obnoxiously long medieval or mythology names

EXCEPT FOR ONE CAT, ~CLIO~

(which is technically both a medieval name and a name from Greek mythology)

Which allows for this interaction to take place:

a DUE kid, probably: There’s know way you know all of the cats names, even we aren’t that good

DLH kid, insulted: Of course we do!!! That’s Frethesuindis, and that’s Hruodpehrt and that’s Hegesistratos and that’s Vagdvaraestus and that’s Crispinianus and that’s Archestratidas and that’s Amalasuintha and that’s Cristemburga and that’s Cuphagoras and that’s Zephyrinus and that’s Murgindueta and that’s Ampinomene

DUE: Freth a swing us? Hruomus...ium??? Ok fine what about that one.

DLH: Oh that’s Clio

DUE: I..... what?

DDL kid in the corner who overheard the whole thing and gets it: *trying and failing to not laugh their ass off*

[catgirltoes]

[image description: a bust of Amalasuintha, Queen of the Ostrogoths. End description]

Guess again.

the only thing stopping me from going back in time to stop the romans from killing jesus, is that the "christ never gets crucified timeline" is devoid of goth chicks

[jennamoran]

On Excrucian Names (2)

Hi!

Tonight, I wanted to talk a bit more about Excrucian names!

The first post on this is here.

       The Next Step

So I looked for a long time at the list of Gothic names I’d put together, with its stuff like Amalasuntha (Amalasuentha, Amalaswintha, Amalasuintha, Amalswinthe, Amalasontha, Amalsenta) and Theoderic (Theoderid, Theoderich) and concluded that the only way to actually present that to the player usefully would be by breaking the names up into parts.

That is, it was weird and full of friction written that way, particularly since only some names had variants, but it could be cool if it was expressed more as, like:

Amala- + -suentha/-swintha/-suintha/-swinthe/-sontha/-senta

... on the vague premise that you could thereby construct, I dunno, Theoswinthe and Amalaeric too?

...

Though, really, “Amalaeric?”

... I pretty quickly concluded that for the names to sound good, you would want the option to fiddle a bit at the join, adding an interstitial vowel, deleting or adding doubled consonants or deleting doubled vowels ... that kind of thing. That way, the first root could at least be “Amal-,” and then, “Amaleric” is not, like, eye-bleedingly bad.

         Name Elements

Here I did kind of a game designer thing, which is that I jumped straight into assuming that the names would be dithematic without really looking into how Gothic naming actually worked.

It seems likely from what little I’ve put together that it mostly would be---well, monothematic or dithematic---but honestly I don’t know, and most of my sources come from later than the Goths. (It’s a lot easier to figure out Germanic names in general.)

But regardless, I should admit that I don’t know this is historically valid, like, last time I waved a hand in scholarship’s general direction, but this is just me thinking it would be cooler if that’s how it worked:

I figured, let’s say that the first part of the name has a meaning, and the second part of the name has a meaning, and you put them together and build your name, and that’s cool.

It’s not like Excrucian names had to be actually Gothic, anyway, that would even arguably be incredibly weird; just, you know, close enough to evoke the right feel.

        Gathering Roots and Meanings

It should be said that at first I tried to be accurate. I cut up the names I had. I did a lot of curation to try to make sure that as much as possible every name that came out of combining names “sounded” right, but there’d be a few more passes on that before it was the best I could do. And then, when I had a nice list of prefixes and a nice list of suffixes ...

... I tried to figure out what they actually meant.

There were two problems with this.

One, in a lot of cases, I couldn’t really find out. In some cases I could find people who legitimately were writing, yeah, we think, at least, that the name meant this. In others, I could spend a lot of time staring at wiktionary’s list of Gothic words and find something.

In others yet, I could not.

This was particularly true for names that weren’t Gothic at all, because, bear in mind, I had to be able at some point to say that Phasael and Iolithae and Tairté and the like were all Excrucian names, but sometimes it was true for straight-up attested Gothic names too.

Maybe I’d look at proto-Germanic words, then, instead?

But already that was on shaky ground, a lot of work just to be on shaky ground, with the only real benefit being a thin strand of connection to deeper structure and a bit less reliance on my own subconscious which might otherwise overmuch repeat themes.

That was one problem.

The other problem was ... not all of these things made sense as Excrucian names. Some of them were just nonsense, like ... Fret- was definitely “peace.” And I really couldn’t convince myself that “-la” or “-ela” was “hahaha just kidding.” So what the heck was up with the name “Fretela?” What kind of Excrucian name could that possibly be?

What this meant was that eventually I would drift from “doing my best to get something accurate” to “twisting the meaning to something that felt right in (the continuously evolving) context” ... but there’s only a little bit of that below; I think this version, with a few tweaks to situate things within the Excrucian culture, is mostly just me trying my best.

I mean, where I could, anyhow; reading through the below, it looks like I started riding my intuition pretty darn hard any time my sources just plain all came up blank.

          Prefixes and Suffixes (1)

Primary elements, that might start a name, include:

Ab-/Abh-, “worldly,” e.g. Abgild Morgan

Abr-, “huge/strong”, e.g., Abririth Elans

Ach-/Act-/Oct-Ag-/Agn-/Eg-/Agr-/Ei-, “fear/edge”, e.g. Agila Newark

Ad-/Had-/Hath-/Hadu-, “battle” (e.g., Haduberg Morden)

Aida-/Edi-, “watch,” e.g. Aidaric Walmer

Aithan(a)-/Athan(a)-/Atan(a)-/Tan(a)-, “oath/year/time,” (e.g. Aithanaric Blandian)

Ala-/Alla-/Alo-, “all/grow,” (e.g., Alared Kinsley)

Alb-/Av-, “faery” (e.g., Albigild Morgan)

Ald-, “ancient” (e.g., Aldifrid Ren)

Ali-, “other” (e.g., Aligern Marks)

Ao-/Au-, unclear, (e.g., Aodagis Lum)

Amal-/Amala-/Ammi-/Hemi-/Ata-/Athal-/Athala-, “brave” (e.g., Amalagern Hornswinth)

An-, “end/ancestor/ghost” (e.g., Antheus Lizeln)

Ans-/Os-/Osd-, “treasure” (e.g., Osdugild Morgan)

Aor-/Aur-/Oer-/Ur-, “sand” (e.g., Aordagis Lum)

Ard-/Aurd-/Aord-/Ord-, “hard/land” (e.g., Ardaviv Meeks)

Ari-/Argi-/Are-, “army” (e.g. Aririd Morgan)

Aria-, “noble” (e.g., Ariadus Leath)

As-, “sword” (e.g., Asgern Picard)

Atha-, “father” (e.g., Atharid Verne)

Auda-/Audi-/Audo-/Odo-/Odu-/Adhé-, “wealth” (e.g., Audagond Fisher)

Aun-/On-, “one” (e.g., Oniba Morgan)

Bad-/Ba-/Bat-/Pat-/Paid-, “battle” (e.g., Badus Erebrand)

Balt-/Balth-, “sword belt” (e.g., Baltravans Stone)

Baira-/Bere-/Beri-, “bear” (e.g., Beresontha Albreda)

Baug-, “ring” (e.g., Baugimir Morgan)

Bel-/Bil-/Pel-, “good/axe” (e.g., Pelafrid Jones)

Bess-/Bessa-, “the forests of Ninuan” (e.g., Bessadas Holmes)

Beu-, “beautiful” (e.g., Beugild Morgan)

Bi-, a harsh and cruel syllable (e.g., Bidagis Canbal)

Bran(a)-/Brands-/Gabr-, “burn” (e.g., Brandsberg Jordan)

Brun-, “armor” (e.g., Brungeis Arete)

Cad-, “harm” (e.g., Cadaberg Holmes)

Cam-/Gamal-, “of ancient times” (e.g., Camido Morgan)

Canna-/Canno-/Cni-, “bold/knowing” (e.g., Cannarid Jones)

Carl-/Cyril-, “Wyrdling” (e.g., Carlobad Burneis)

Cast-/Gast-, “guest/spirit” (e.g., Castigild Watson)

Cec-, “lostling” (e.g., Ceciberg Hawking)

Cel-, “kettle” (e.g., Celigild Meeks)

Chinda-, “regent” (e.g., Chindageis Gast)

Como-, “cosmos” (e.g., Comogild Grant)

Cixi-, (e.g., Cixibad Warrick)

Cor-, “wheat/burden” (e.g., Corfrid Meeks)

Cuni-, “kin/clan” (e.g., Cunigern Holmes)

Czon-, “Sphere/portion” (e.g., Czonigild Lum)

Tancr-, “thought” (e.g., Tancrido Waxworth)

Du-, “two” (e.g., Duswinthe Morgan)

Drog-, “drag” (e.g., Drogimir Hawke)

Drus-/Dres-/Drais-, “fall” (e.g., Drusbrand Holmes)

Dulci-/Dolci-/Ducli-/Dukli-, “enmity/law” (e.g., Dulcidag Wei)

Eber-/Ebr-, “boar,” (e.g., Eberbad Jordan)

Er-/Era-/Ere-/Eri-/Euse-/Her-, “sword” (e.g., (Erfrid Arwenna)

Erman(a)-/Herman(a)-/Hermin(a)-/Hermene-, “great” (e.g., Ermanamir Hawke)

Eo-/Eu-/Ev-/Iv-/Euth-, “horse/eternity” (e.g., Eugelis Holmes)

Fa-/Pha-, “few” (e.g., Faba Leland)

Farn(o)-/Fran(o)-, “journey” (e.g., Frandigern Wence)

Fasti-/Fravi-, “commander” (e.g., Fravitto Holmes)

Fel-/Fil-/Fili-, “many” (e.g., “Felgesus Jones”)

Folch-, “folk” (e.g., Folchido Watson)

Fret-/Freta-/Frete-/Freti-/Frid-/Fridi-/Frit-/Friti-, “peace/fair” (e.g., Fretgild Warwick)

Gaatha-/Gutth-, “yes, but,” (e.g., Gaathabas Wingold)

Gad-/Gat-/Gath-, “comrade” (e.g., Gadaris Morgan)

Gai-, “district” (e.g., Gaidela Jones)

Gail-/Gel-, “merry” (e.g., Gailsuntha Morgan)

Gais-/Gen-/Gens-/Ges-/Gis-/Giso-/Geis-, “spear/pledge” (e.g., Gensberg Picetti)

Gal-, “gallows” (e.g., Galbad Geronimo)

Galin-/Galind-, “of the people of the end”, (e.g., Galintta Reese)

Gan-, “lore-wise” (e.g., Ganigild Holmes)

Gaud-/Gaut-/Caud-/Gouth-, “of the people of the Not” (e.g., Gaudfortis Woolsworth)

Geb-/Gef-/Gaf-, “gift” (e.g., Gebdela Wentsworth)

Gild-, “tribute/worldly value” (e.g., Gildebrand Hawke)

Glad-, “bright” (e.g., Gladuba Morgan)

Glis-, “gleam” (e.g., Glisba Teller)

God-/Gud-/Godi-/Goi-/Go-, “good” (e.g., Goddas Leith)

Goma-, “Not-” (e.g., Gomaba Morgan)

Gonth-/Gund-/Gunt-/Gunth-, “fight” (e.g., Guntdag Bleibart)

Grat-/Grad-, “weep” (e.g., Gradibrand Holmes)

Grim-/Kriem-, “helmet/mask” (e.g., Grima Summers)

Hach-, “high” (e.g., Hachiba Morgan)

Haid-, “high-ranked” (e.g., Haidibrand Holmes)

Hed/Het-, “heathen” (e.g., Hedbur Ereon)

Heim-/Emme-, “home” (e.g., Heimaric Holmes)

Har-/Her-/Harja-, “army” (e.g., Harmud Jones)

Helc-, “hilt” (e.g., Helciarchos Law)

Helchen-/Ercan-/Erchen-/Eorcen-, “sublime” (e.g., “Ercanbald Millen”)

Helde-/Hilde-/Heldu-/Ilde-, “victory/war” (e.g., Heldebrand Lux)

Herem-/Harum-, “of/to/unto all the things” (e.g., Harumbrand Law)

Himne-/Hine-/Hinne-, “hymn/prisoner/heap” (e.g. Himnebrand Jones)

Hirz-, “deer” (e.g., Herziba Morgan)

Hleo-/Leo-, “guardian” (e.g., Leogild Watson)

Hlud-/Hloth-/Chlod-/Chloth-, “fame” (e.g., Hludvara Jones)

Hraid-/Hreid-, “famous” (e.g., Hraidefrid Holmes)

Hring-/Ring-, “ring” (e.g., Hringamir Morgan)

Eisarn-/Hisarn-, “iron” (e.g., Eisarnarius Hobbes)

Hun-, “a servant of famine,” (e.g., Hundela Trace)

Ib-, “river/follow” (e.g., Ibrith Brecht)

In-/Ind-, “hand/royalty” (e.g., Indaric Hawkins)

I-/Io-/Iu-, “eternal” (e.g., Ioba Hawke)

Kar-, “care” (e.g., Karigild Holmes)

Laga-/Lagu-, “water” (e.g., Lagaris Rindou)

Laid-/Laith-, “destroyer” (e.g., Laidarius Jones)

Lamp-, “land/heath/blaze” (e.g., Lamplec Ereon)

Le-, “renown/glory” (e.g., Leiba Jones)

Lec-/Leik-/Lic-/Lex-, “like” (e.g., Lexibrand Morgan)

Luc-, “light” (e.g., Lucibrand Brendou)

Leud-/Liut-, “people” (e.g., Leudagard Holmes)

Leov-/Liuv-/Leub-, “beloved” (e.g., Leuvigild Grace)

Mal-, “grinder” (e.g., Malagild Jones)

Mar-, “famed” (e.g., Mararius Hawkins)

Marco-, “border” (e.g., Marcogild Watson)

Mata-, “mighty” (e.g., Mataulf Jordan)

Merg-, “lightless” (e.g., Merggard Holmes)

Mun-/Mon-/Mund-/Mod-, “thought” (e.g., Munnas Alieron)

Namat-, “dinner” (e.g., Namatis Jones)

Ni-, “not” (e.g., Nigard Hansen)

Nida-, “nest” (e.g., Nidarius Attenses)

Ostro-/Astro-, “east” (e.g., Ostrovara Jones)

Pelen-, “flowing” (e.g., Pelenifrid Holmes)

Quinc-/Aquinc-, “royal” (e.g., Quincibald Hawke)

Hroth-/Hruoth-/Roth-/Rod-/Ruod-/Rud-, “fame” (e.g., Hrothamir Morgan)

(H)Rad-/Rat-/Ret-/Radis-/Roth-/Rothes-, “advice”  (e.g., Ratabrand Pelberg)

Ragi-/Ragn-/Ragna-/Rei-/Re-, also “advice” (e.g., Ragndas Benz)

Rana-/Rani-/Ra-, “run” (e.g., Radas Morgan)

Raus-/Rausi-/Res-, “deer” (e.g. Rausibrand Leath)

Recca-/Recce-/Rici-/Reki-/Reic-/Riq-, “mighty/noble” (e.g., Riqadas Dale)

Rhim-, “rest” (e.g., Rhimbald Pettigrew)

Sada-, “full” (e.g., Sadagild Holmes)

Sala-/Salla-/Sa-, “dwelling” (e.g., “Salamir Morgan”)

Scal-/Scel-/Scar-, “servant” (e.g., “Scalarius Hawke”)

Sel-, “good/kind” (e.g., “Selgisel Leath”)

Saph-/Saf-, “sapphire” (e.g., “Saphhild Holmes”)

Sar-/Ser-, “arm/armament” (e.g., “Sarbad Arpeggio”)

Sans-, “summer” (e.g., “Sansiba Leath”)

Sen-, “a group of six” (e.g, “Senbad Alexandros”)

Sidi-/Situ-, “custom” (e.g., Situnas Orbin)

Sig-/Sigis-/Seg-, “victor” (e.g., Sigada Jones)

Silf-/Silv-, “silver” (e.g., Silfifrid Lee)

Sind-/Sint-/Send-/Si-, “victory” (e.g., “Sindgild Morgan”)

Sis-/Ses-, “funerary song” (e.g., “Sessila Brannagh”)

Suat-, “strong” (e.g., Suatarius Holmes)

Sue-/Khe-/Ky-, “own” (e.g., Suvacar Hendricks)

Suni-/Sunni-, “truth” (e.g., Sunigisel Jones)

Sun-/Sunn-, “sun” (e.g., Sunaris Éclair)

Swinth-, “strength” (e.g., Swinthiba Holmes)

Tair-, “tear” (e.g., Tairbrand Elanie)

Tarbi-/Tharbi-/Tribi-, “deathwright,” (e.g., Tarbibuth Jones)

Te-/The-/Thi-, “kid” (e.g., Tegoto Winslet)

Teik-/Tex-, “touch” (e.g., Teikbrand Morgan)

Theod-/Thiud-/Theud-/Tot-, followed by a vowel, “nation/king” (e.g., Theodarius Wenceslas)

Thoris-/Thraus-/Thuris-/Thur-/Tur-/Turis-, “giant” (e.g., Turisimir Jones)

Thras-/Thrasa-, “move/fight” (e.g., Thrasabrand Hendricks)

Tri-, “a group of three” (e.g., Trigelis Jenkins)

Tuf-, “light, porous rock” (e.g., Tufca Anderly)

Tul-, “reinforce/conform” (e.g., Tulbrand Morgan)

Ulf-/Wulf-, “wolf” (e.g., Ulfbrand Hawke)

Un-, “cub” (e.g., Unimir Morgan)

Vada-, “fury/garment” (e.g., Vadagisel Walker)

Vandal-/Vandil-/Guandal-, “wanderer” (e.g., Vandalada Reed)

Val-/Wal-/Vala-/Guala-/Quala-, “the slain” (e.g., Valabas Lee)

Vald-/Valda-, “power/brightness” (e.g., Valdagern Holmes)

Valens-/Valent-, “rule/strength” (e.g., Valensigard Jones)

Vamb-/Wamb-/Vamba-/Wamba-, “belly” (e.g., “Vambrid Lee”)

Vet-/Ved-/Vid-/Vit-/Wit-, “forest” (e.g., Vetariman Helmsley)

Vin-/Vinid-/Vinith-/Guin-, “friend/joy” (e.g., Vinidagast Holmes)

Visi-, “good” (e.g., “Visiberg Arbens”)

Vid-, Vith-, “wood/forest” (e.g., Vidifrid Hawke)

Ving-/Wing-/Jung-, “young” (e.g., Vingariman Lee)

Vill-/Vil-/Wilg-, “will” (e.g. Vilibius Jordan)

Vult-, Vultu-, “splendor” (e.g., Vultarius Jones)

Wyrd?*

(* that last one was me figuring there should probably be a root like that.)

Secondary elements, that might end a name, include:

-an/-en/-enne/-ana/-agne/-ian/-iana/-ienne/-geniya/-gaya, “beginning” (e.g., Ostroan Jones)

-aris/-ares/-arius/-eiro/-airh/-harius/-ares, rarely -rius, “army/warrior” (e.g., Godarius Waxworth)

-ariman, rare, “destruction/chaos/nobility” (e.g., Helduariman Jones)

-ark/-arkus/-arkos/-archos, “ark” (e.g., Vidiarchos Jordan)

-avi, “greedy/ewe” (e.g. Viliavi Picard)

-bad/-baudes, “fight” (e.g., Guntabad Handuulf)

-ba/-bas/-bias/-bius, “plump/guest” (e.g., Branabas Picard)

-bald, “bold” (e.g., Tufibald Storn)

-berg/-berga/-verga, “shelter” (e.g, Beriberg Stone)

-bian, “bean” (e.g. Genibian Holmes)

-brand, “burn” (e.g., Sunibrand Attila)

-but/-bur/-buth/-bod, “house/booth” (e.g., Ostrobur Holmes)

-kun/-chun-/-cine/-chan, “kin/offspring/child” (e.g., Ulfchan Picard)

-cadican/-gadigan, “form(ed) from clay” (e.g., Glisgadigan Howell)

-co, “good” (e.g., Vilico Glimunjan)

-covefa, “boil” (e.g., Genicovefa Holmes)

-da/-do/-tta/-tto, unknown (e.g., Hunido Herat)

-dag/-dagis/-tag/-tach, “day” (e.g., Gendagis Worth)

-das/-thas, “death/deed,” (e.g., Andas Anderly)

-dau/-dav/-dava, “settlement/city/town” (e.g., Lagadau Warwick)

-dela/-dila, “valley,” (e.g., Eredela Lang)

-donia, “thunder” (e.g., Gendonia Holmes)

-drasteia, “enemy” (e.g., Andrasteia Morgan)

-elm, “helm” (e.g., Ulfielm Keenes)

-ester/-estre, “east” (e.g., Gildestre Holmes)

-fortis, “strong” (e.g., Lagafortis Wentworth)

-frid/-frida/-fredus/-frithila/-fidil/-fridia/-phrasia, from “peace/reconciliation” (e.g., Branfrida Tester)

-ges(us)/-geis(us)/-gais(us)/-gis(us)/-gaith(us)/-za, “spear/pledge” (e.g., Fretageis Spearward)

-gares, also “spear” (e.g., Ulfigares Holmes)

-gard, “house” (e.g., Fritigard Watson)

-gast/-gaster/-bastus, “guest” (e.g., Sunigast Warwick)

-gelis/-gelda, “tribute” (e.g., Atangelis Ren)

-gern/-digern, “desiring” (e.g., Cannagern Wentsley)

-gild/-gilda/-gildus, “tribute/worldly value” (e.g., Mundegild Brown)

-gisel, “people” (e.g., “Egigisel Morgan”)

-gisclus/-gisklos, “hostage” (e.g., “Matagisclus Picard”)

-goto/-gotho/-gotha/-gothus, “Excrucian” (e.g., Sunigotho Reyland)

-goia, “waylet” (e.g., Mungoia Lee)

-gud, “good” (e.g., Sunigud Hawke)

-gond/-gunde, “fight” (e.g., Matagond Morgan)

-had, “battle” (e.g., Lagahad Wentworth)

-hard/-hart, “brave” (e.g., Mundehart Morgan)

-hild/-hilt/-hilda/-ilda/-ildi/-illi, “victory/war” (e.g., Matilda Morgan)

-il/-ila/-uil/-uila/-iel/-iela, “ruler/mighty/nation/battle” (e.g. Branuil Cobbler)

-im, possessive (e.g., Urim Picard)

-is, nonspecific (e.g., Sunias Holmes)

-kai, “bud” (e.g., Glisikai Jones)

-lec/-leik, from “like” (e.g., Fridlec Seavers)

-leuva/-leova/-leuba/-liva/-live/-luva/-lieva/-bia, “beloved” (e.g., Sunileuva Wandergast)

-lind/, “soft” (e.g., Branilind Parker)

-hlid/-hlith/-hlida/-hlitha/-litha/-lithae, “lid/cover” (e.g., Atalitha Holmes)

-mad/-math/-maph, “good” (e.g., Harmamaph Ren)

-man, “mortal/world-bound” (e.g., Vadaman Bledrythe)

-merca/-marca/-marka, “mark/sign/boundary” (e.g., Ostromarca Abrams)

-mar/-mer/-mir/-maris/-meris/-miris/-mers/-maere, “famed” (e.g., Edimer Jones)

-mud/-mod/-mund/-munds, “ward” (e.g., Anmund Anderson)

-nand/-nant/-nanda/-nanta/-anda, “bold” (e.g., Laganand Ragnaschilde)

-nas, “salvation” (e.g., Athanas Picard)

-nnia/-nia/-nya, “not” (e.g., Gildinia Holmes)

-nault, “need” (e.g., Athanault Jones)

-pa/-pas, unclear (e.g., Vultupas Ornwell)

-ravans/-hrabans/-hrams/-ram, “raven” (e.g., Edihrams Lee)

-rax/-rago, “straight” (e.g., Ardrago Linten)

-ric/-rich/-aric/-eric/-ricus/-ry, “royal” (e.g., Lagaric Solfege)

-rid/-ridus/-rida/-rith/-rev/-red, “advice” (e.g., Ragnarith Johnson)

-rin/-ryna/-rina, “honor” (e.g., Guderin Holmes)

-rit, “Rider” (e.g., Serarit Jones)

-rung, “staff” (e.g., Lagarung Morgan)

-sar, “armament” (e.g., Beresar Landis)

-sila/-sula/-sael, “soul” (e.g. Matasula Leiks)

-sind/-sinda, “traveler” (e.g., Edisind Agila)

-sius, “sea” (e.g., Mundesias Jordans)

-sten/-stena, “stone” (e.g., Edistena Holmes)

-stria, “west/of the west” (e.g., Hunestria Morgan)

-suntha/-sontha/-senta/-swinth/-swintha/-svintha/-swinthe/-suentha/-suintha, “strength” (e.g., Valasenta Triest)

-theus/-teus/-té/-tius/-tis/-dia/-zia, or “servant” (e.g., Thauristheus Zernes)

-tric/-treik/-trix, “weep” (e.g., Vinatrix Holmes)

-trius/-terius, “three” (e.g., Glisitarius Burnside)

-trude, “strength” (e.g., Geisatrude Morgan)

-uin/-win, “friend/joy”  (e.g., Seruin Lee)

-ulf/-wulf/-olf, “wolf” (e.g., Berewulf Nistra)

-va, “fight” (e.g., Valiva Locke)

-vara/-vera/-vacar/-acer, “vigilance” (e.g., Berevara Jones)

-vid/-vida, “forest” (e.g., Herivid Jordan)

-viv/-vius, “wife” (e.g., Odovius Strahn)

-vig/-wig, “battle/war (e.g., Berewig Holmes)

-vult, “splendor” (e.g., “Matavult Lee”)

no secondary element (e.g., Aida Locksley)

 Plus

-ia/-ya/-ja/-ias/-ius, diminuitive/nickname

-ca/-ka/-ica/-ikas, diminuitive/nickname, (e.g., Herica Brandeis)

-la/-lla/-las/-lash/-lios/-llios/-ely, diminuitive/nickname (e.g. Nidala Grandulf)

-lona/-lin/-line/-llinus/-llino, diminuitive/nickname (e.g., Egilona Brax)

-tila, “goal,” also diminuitive/nickname for one-syllable prefixes (e.g., “Matatila Holmes”)

-us/-dus (e.g., Ranildus Terrestria)

-in, diminuitive/nickname

           Now, this is actually a pretty good general system for this kind of thing. It is in fact not even that far from what will probably appear in the book:

We’re going to go a lot farther, but the system I landed on ...

Well, I cut it down to its absolute bare bones and it was like 34 pages. I am assuming the full thing is like 80? I dunno.

It won’t get to appear in the book.

The main problem with it, I decided, was presentation format. Presentation format, and the fact that you couldn’t just like read off the prefix’s meaning and the suffix’s meaning and have it always make sense (”ah, it’s miss garment-deed!”), and, well, things like Fret- (&.c), meaning “peace.”

I decided I’d go all the way extra, a decision that was to have additional consequences, but for right now:

What’s a good word that fits that whole cluster of peace/fair-adjacent meanings but actually felt sort of Excrucian?

... and that’s how the Fret- root started meaning “aesthetic.”

         Next Time:

I try to make the meaning-pairs English-readable.

[bronzewool]

I’m nearly half way through NaNoWriMo and I still can’t remember any of the character names I’ve picked for my story. It got so bad I have to make a chart just to keep track of them all.

Seers

Lickety-Split - Lysistrata “lysis” (F)

Blackarachnia - Oracle Bladina (F)

Lightbright - Ligeia (F)

Wheelie - Williric (M)

Nightstick - Nicolaos “Niko” (M)

Dragonriders

Cyclonus - Kyriakos “Kyrios” (M)

Galvatron - Gautvin (M)

Scourge - Scolaighe (M)

Misfire - Miltiades (M)

Slugslinger - Sigmundr (M)

Triggerhappy - Tryphosa (F)

Brainstorm - Brennus (M)

Chromedome - Chrysanthe (F)

Hardhead - Hadriana (F)

Highbrow - Hildebrand (M)

& Their Dragons

Krunix - Kallisto (F)

Zarak - Zeno (M)

Fracas - Frida (F)

Aimless - Aemilius (M)

Caliburst - Camilla (F)

Blowpipe - Bertilo (M)

Arcana - Acacius (M)

Stylor - Stigr (M)

Duros - Drusa (F)

Gort - Goda (F)

Other Characters

Flareup - Flaviana “Flavia” (F)

Warpath - Warin (M)

Yoketron -  Father Yehoshua (M)

Maccadam - Maedoc (M)

Original Character - Livianus (M)

Deities

Primus - Priscus (Sun God & The Creator)

Unicron - Uhtric (Moon God of Death)

Prima - Priscilla (Goddess of War & Warriors)

Vector - Vercingetorix (God of Time and space)

Alpha - Aliprand (God of Writing and language)

Solus - Sostrate (Fire Goddess of Blacksmiths)

Micronus - Mithradatha (God of Justice)

Alchemist - Amalasuintha (Knowledge Goddess of philosophy)

Nexus - Nebuchadnezzar (Season God of agriculture & Farming)

Onyx - Onesiphoros (Nature God of Animals and the hunt)

Amalgamous - Amalasuintha (Night Goddess of Dreams)

Quintus - Quintilianus (Healing God of Science)

Liege Maximo - Maximiliana (Trickster Goddess of the Arts)

Places

Cybertron - Cynesige

Chaar - Chares

Helex - Helmfrid

Iacon - Iason

Kalis - Kallias

Praxus - Praxiteles

Polhex - Philon

Stanix - Saxa

Tetrahex -  Toutorix

Tarn - Tertia

Tyrest - Tryphon

[itsprobablyhubris]

For Nora and Alice: 1, 2, 8, 11, 21, 44!

Its Time for Many Answers! It has been a while since I’ve been in the Nora-zone, but there is some substantial overlap personality-wise.

01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded?

Alice: I picked Alice’s name as Amalasuintha Smith because the combination of Dead Ostrogothic Name and Extremely Common Last Name perfectly summed up Alice’s being out of time and space. 

Nora: I stole the name from Nora of Kelmendi, a semi-legendary 1600′s Albanian duelist with a dramatic story and an attachment to an Ancient Family Blade. It just worked really well for where I was going with Nora, and I couldn’t think of a better name.

02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness?

Alice: Alice has a feeling of isolation and distance from the world- her life is a unique experience, and she is not fully native to Earth or the Spirit World. She has a gnawing feeling that she will never be fully accepted, that she will always been alone in some way. She hides this weakness fairly well from strangers, but is extremely open about it with anyone she trusts.

Nora: Nora has so many insecurities. That she isn’t being taken seriously, that she isn’t good enough, that no one will really like her unless she acts with extreme bravado and aggression- she has a highly visible inferiority complex. 

08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

Alice: Alice does not assign a lot of worth to herself, and it leads to her acting recklessly- particularly when something important is threatened. Luckily, Jenny has made her aware of this, and is starting to push her towards healthier approaches.

Nora: Her need for validation. She is not aware of this, but everyone else is.

11. What is something that would make your character fly into a rage?

Alice: Threatening her friends, or showing callous disregard for another’s life- she has a particular issue with tyrants  

Nora: Insulting her, bullying her teammates, insulting her mission, insulting someone she thinks is cool, any sort of disrespect to anyone... it really isn’t hard to enrage Nora.

  21. What is one of your character’s biggest fears? How would they react when dealing with this fear?

Alice: Transforming into a monster/becoming a burden or danger on others. If confronted with this, she would probably freeze up and retreat- she has no way to punch or spellcast out of that, she simply lacks a response

Nora: Irrelevancy or powerlessness. She would react with the most rash, destructive, attention-grabbing behavior possible.

44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character?

Alice: Losing Jenny is the first to come to mind; though tbh losing any one of the inner circle permanently would be pretty devastating. 

Nora: Finding that her sister was dead, twisted into a monster, or worse would probably send Nora into a downward spiral. 

[yhwhrulz]

Today's selected anniversaries:

526:

Upon the death of her father Theodoric the Great, Amalasuintha of the Ostrogoths became the regent for her ten-year-old son Athalaric. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalasuintha

1914:

World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian 2nd Army by the German 8th Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tannenberg

1974:

An express train carrying foreign workers from Yugoslavia to West Germany derailed in Zagreb, killing 153 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagreb_train_disaster

2014:

Prime minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane fled to South Africa, claiming that the army had launched a coup d'état. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lesotho_political_crisis

[capn-cronch69-blog]

this is my oc Amalasuintha. she's a bitch and i hate her. but i also love her,

[ivebeentryingtodeletethisbl-blog]

maybe a faye/kliff child?? : 00

Fankid meme! (not accepting)

oops my otp has been revealed

Name:

Melisende (’Meli’) ; From the Germanic name Amalasuintha, composed of the elements amal "work, labour" and swinth "strong".

Gender:

Female

General Appearance:

Pale hair like her parents, an average stature and noticeably pretty lashes.

Personality:

She could be considered a whiner, but even though she whines, she’ll often actually do something about it.  Melisende has a generally pessimistic outlook when it comes to anything except loved ones, and feels quite alone in her day to day struggles and emotions.  She’s often the one to rain on others’ parades.  Gloomy as she is, though, she has a soft spot for those she cares about.  Oftentimes Meli will be a bit of a hypocrite, insisting on making her friends and family happy while remaining grumpy herself.

Special Talents:

She’s excellent at reading and analyzing text, and has always had a knack for learning.  Melisende dreams of being a tactician for Uncle Alm and Aunt Celica’s army one day.

Who they like better:

Melisende feels more at ease around her mother’s perpetually positive attitude, but that isn’t to say that she hates her father at all.  He’s one of the people she worries about most, in fact.

Who they take after more:

Kliff, by far.

Personal Head canon:

Her pessimism stems from abusive adults at grade school that she never dared to tell her parents about.  That may or may not be a story about myself.

Face Claim:

Kyouko Kirigiri - Dangan Ronpa

[mimivontease]

Here’s tonight’s woman crush, Amalasuntha. Nope, I too have never heard of her. 

Amalasuintha[1] (c. 495 – 30 April 534/535) ruled the Ostrogoths as regent during the minority of her son from 526 to 534 and then as queen regnant from 534 to 535. She was the youngest daughter of Theoderic the Great,[2] and firmly believed in the upholding of Roman virtues and values. She is best known for her diplomatic relationship with Justinian I, who invaded Italy in response to her assassination.[3]