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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 4, 2013 11:27:47 GMT
As few of you know, I've long aspired to some day create a historical comic taking place in Anglo-Saxon England.
Now I am working on it - kind of, sort of. I'm having a course that is basically an independent project - my project is to create a sample of this comic. Just one cover picture and a few spreads to give a rough idea of what I'm going for; sadly the span of the course doesn't give me time for much else.
And here's the thing - I need a name to put on that aforementioned cover. I'm all out of ideas myself, and pretty stressed out to boot (which doesn't exactly turn my creativity switch on) so I turn to you.
To summarize the general idea: The plot revolves around the life of Penda of Mercia, Britain's last pagan ruler, whom I find an incredibly fascinating figure based on the fragments of information we have on him. I'm naturally aiming for realistic depiction of historical events, without much needless dramatization or embellishment. The story will be told from the point of a mercenary leader who manages to become one of Penda's lieutenants (obviously, he's a fictional character).
I'm open to all suggestions on a fitting title for such a work. Both modern English and OE are acceptable (with the latter having the advantage of sounding super-fancy to untrained ears, to boot!). If my assesment feels too scant, feel free to ask any questions, I'll answer to the best of my ability.
Thank you in advance. ^^
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Post by Éadríc on Nov 4, 2013 15:44:43 GMT
Glad to see you're still working on this project, Rǽdmund.
Before I start thinking of a name, can you tell us of any theme or motif you'll be wielding?
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 4, 2013 16:26:22 GMT
That is a good question; certainly something I've asked myself many times, yet still need to give more thought. The qualities of a good ruler will be discussed, though I'm not sure am I willing to take it far enough to make a central theme of it. Gray morality; everyone acts out of self-interest, however noble or wicked they may outwardly seem, and even whether they realize it or not. The idea of selfishness being human nature, and therefore unavoidable. Personal ambitions of powerful inviduals, and the effect they have on common folk. That's about all I can think of right now. Pretty heavy stuff, but I'm hoping to keep the themes fairly subtle - I don't want my work to be classed as preachy, after all! As for recurring motifs, Penda, being the very image of a Germanic fighting king, will obviously draw comparisons to Woden. Whether those comparisons will be spelled out I've yet to decide. Hope that helps!
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Post by Hróðbeorht on Nov 4, 2013 18:12:08 GMT
Sounds great! I'll try to come up with something. In case of OE, would you prefer if any words were recognizable for a modern English-speaking audience, or would that not be a factor as long as the title is catchy and easy to remember? Also, should we attempt to use 7th century OE as opposed to standard 10th-11th century OE?
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 4, 2013 18:21:43 GMT
I think a little mystery won't do harm, as long as the title works. ^^ As I'm going for historical accuracy, authentic 7th century OE is a bonus. However, as only a small minority would ever be able to tell the difference, it's not really an iron standard to adhere to. I'll leave the final judgment to you.
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Post by Éadríc on Nov 4, 2013 23:22:47 GMT
I'm thinking of a little wordplay.
Mercia is a latinisation of Old English Mirce/Mierce/Myrce, which basically means 'mark-folk', derived from mearc 'mark, borderland'. Compare how Rohan in Tolkien's Middle-earth is also called the Riddermark or simply the Mark.
But in Old English there was also the unrelated word mirce, both an adjective meaning 'murky, dark' and a noun meaning 'darkness'. Compare Mirkwood in Middle-earth.
I'm not sure though, where to go from here...
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 5, 2013 14:12:54 GMT
Well, I can't think of any way to link those two. It doesn't have to be terribly complex, as long as it grabs the audience's attention. I've been pondering Angel-cyning as a possibility myself, though it's not terribly interesting... [Edit] Here's the cover picture, largely finished minus pasting the title on: The lack of background does give it a slight unfinished vibe, but I'm short on time and I don't want to detract from the main character's profile.
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Post by Hróðbeorht on Nov 5, 2013 16:05:31 GMT
Looks great!
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Post by Éadríc on Nov 5, 2013 20:18:32 GMT
Lovely indeed, Rǽda! That nose drip is a nice detail. ;D
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 5, 2013 22:24:41 GMT
Thanks guys! ;D Anyway, Angel-cyning is starting to grow on me. Simple yet quite powerful. But is it correct? The intended meaning would of course be "Angle-king". I need to check this stuff before I do anything drastic.
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Post by Hróðbeorht on Nov 6, 2013 10:59:33 GMT
Aye, Angelcyning would be correct. I haven't managed to come up with anything else so far. I looked at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to see if there was anything particularly catchy said about Penda, but no luck. Do you have a deadline for the title? Although even if you do I figure the bigger issue would be that you'll grow more and more attached to Angelcyning every day, so it'll be harder to change it later on.
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 6, 2013 13:04:17 GMT
I need to have the title by next monday. Regarding Angelcyning (with or without hyphen?), I still regard it strictly average as titles go. I don't think I'd have much trouble swapping it for a better one.
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Post by Rǽdwulf on Nov 6, 2013 19:22:06 GMT
Beda talks about the pagan Penda as "Penda uiro strenuissimo de regio genere Merciorum", that is "Penda, a most energetic man of the royal house of the Mercians". So "vir strenuissimus" would be an somewhat historical epithet for Penda. However, I'm not to sure if this would make for an okay name of a comic... More important: Great artwork, Rǽda! Really catching an atmosphere there. Edit: While I think about it, stenuissimus could also be taken as "hotheaded" or "warlike", so you could also go for "A warlike man" or somesuch. Oh, and that could be re-translated into OE
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Post by Rǽdmund on Nov 7, 2013 1:08:10 GMT
I'd rather not have the title in latin, but OE translation of a "warlike man" or "warlike king" could work! I like the idea, but I have absolutely no clue what it'd be like in the aforementioned tongue.
*Pleads for help*
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Post by Éadríc on Nov 7, 2013 11:26:14 GMT
Basically, if you make a compound with any of the following words you may get a more general meaning of ‘warlike’:
beadu ‘battle, war’ gár ‘spear’ gúþ ‘war, battle’ heaðu ‘war’ heoru ‘sword’ here ‘host, army’ hilde ‘battle’ wíg ‘fight, battle’
For the second element you can go with:
cyning ‘king’ fréa ‘lord’ fruma ‘chief’ wealda/walda ‘ruler’ wísa ‘leader’
And so, one such compound which was attested is gúþcyning ‘war-king, warlike king’.
You could also go with something totally different, and use a word like beorn, which means ‘man’ and ‘nobleman, chief’, and may have a connotation of ‘strong, warlike man’ as it is related to Old Norse björn ‘bear’, to get something like Mearca beorn 'chief of the mark'. After all, as you may remember, the Mercians were in Old English the Mirce, that is ‘mark-dwellers’, derived from mearc ‘mark, borderland’.
Note that some of the forms above would have to be adjusted to pass for 7th century Mercian.
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