Lacuna Rambles/Thoughts/Gif Reacts #1: Surnames
Added 2023-01-07 13:30:00 +0000 UTC
[Alternate Text: A GIF of a lone raven sitting on a post in a snowy field; it looks pensive, and there are other ravens flying in the background.]
It's only been a few days since the release, but I think many of you have experienced how nothing is what it seems in Fernweh. There are secrets embedded in all aspects of the small town, which got me thinking about the last names of the Fernweh Gang. Could there be more to them?
Warrick means leader who defends; buildings near the weir. (A weir is a fence or enclosure that acts like a dam to control the flow of a river, so a barrier, hmm.)
Dorran means strange or exile; it comes from a Gaelic word relating to one's banishment, but it can also sometimes mean gift.
Verner means protector; I personally think there's a difference between defense and protection.
Corvin means raven, which fits with J's hair, but there is more to the story of that name.
It's something to ponder as you continue your visit…
Comments
So I know this is an old post but I found something interesting the other day while I was looking up Roman naming conventions so I thought I would share: (Hopefully it’s okay that I’m sharing, I’m unsure if maybe Aelsa knew about this and was keeping it hush hush for a reason). So, the surname Corvin seems to have had an interesting origin story. The name comes from Corvus (Raven) in Latin which would eventually evolve into Corvinus and from there I assume Corvin (just as Octavius can become Octavian). Corvus→Corvinus→Corvin. So the name Corvus seems to have started out as a Roman cognomen, which is an extra name the (male) Romans commonly had that came after the family name, this was sometimes something like a nickname or to help narrow a particular branch of a large family or sometimes to note where the person came from (Germanicus etc.). However there were also what was known as cognomen ex virtute which were “awarded” for bravery, winning battles, or in the case of Corvus, random acts of (a) god. Cognomens would sometimes eventually become family names, or the surname instead. So the story is the name was awarded to Roman military commander Marcus Valerius, for a military campaign he participated in against the Gauls. Legend is a very large Gaul warrior challenged for anyone in the Roman armor to fight him in single combat and Valerius got permission from his superiors to fight the Gaul. As the two men faced each other a raven flew down from the sky and landed on Valerius’ helmet and then proceeded to fly at the Gaulish man, distracting him and allowing Valerius to win the fight. The Roman army then also quickly won the following battle and Valerius was supposedly awarded various things among the cognomen Corvus for his bravery, now making his name Marcus Valerius Corvus. Some of his descendants eventually started using Corvinus as their surname to denote their branch of the family separately from the other branches of the Valerius family. There is of course lots of speculation on if the story is actually true or not, but I thought it would be interesting to share the legend behind the name of our Darling Detective (and family). I found the story pretty cool after all. (Sorry for the essay.)
chellyense
2024-03-19 00:33:36 +0000 UTC👀 (Yessss, so many implications! I love giving tiny things meanings, but also possibly misdirections or red herrings as well, hehe.)
Aelsa Trevelyan
2023-01-11 14:38:21 +0000 UTCOhhhh, I love the implications of 'Dorran'! More reason to dig into S's route :')
The stinky cheese man
2023-01-09 21:32:36 +0000 UTC
