<Incite_conservative_sentiment>
Sartar *and* the Far Place? Splitter! *raises fyrd and begins anti-
Harvar rioting in streets of Alda-Chur*...
</Incite_conservative_sentiment>
> Being patrilineal (though with
> strong cognitive descent tendencies) their 'surname' is usually based on the
> name of their father - for example Broddison, or Broddidotter, Arkison or
> Arkidotter. In the case of a prominent or powerful mother, the appellation
> may come from her - Theyadotter, Theyason. This 'never' happens i.e. around
> 15% of the time. Personal epithets are very common, but are unlikely to
> remain constant, [...]
I agree with this, though I think it actually somewhat downplays the informality of the 'surname' or 'epithet'. A 'surname' is after all just a 'patrinymic[*] epithet', and which epithet is applied to one, or one applies to oneself doesn't just vary, as John rightly says, over one's life, but also by the social context in which the name-uttering is provoked. But you're correct to say that the 'surname' in this sense is somewhat distinguished, if only in the respect that every Orlanthi can be readily induced (by say, pressing him on the left shoulder, or on a good day, looking sidelong at him) to recite his lineage, which of course, Always[*] starts with one's father's name.
But at the risk of being terribly boring, I'd say that the epithet one employs to someone is determined by such high-flatutin' considerations as whether you're being rude or flattery about them, from what social unit are the listeners, and so, how best to disambiguate the Arson in question from every other Arson from Bagnot to Durengard. (We can only pray it's not too many, for all the obvious reasons.) I agree that bloodline and clan names aren't usually particularly significant in this regard, though: one of our ring members has a 'usual epithet' based on the name of his bloodline, but largely because it's a rather obscure one, enough so to be fairly identifying, if not moderatedly remarkable. One of our PCs did decide her 'surname' must be Inarsson, after their collective (and relatively large and significant) bloodline, but I think was persuaded that was a century or so before its time as a plan... (The Western Isles notwithstanding, it's not much use if 6/7 people you meet on a daily basis have the same surname...)
> Prosaically, BoldHome may be referred to in Sartarite as something like
> 'Bealdenbold' - home of the bold ones.
As you've experienced to some degree already, this is almost guaranteed to offend equally the 'Naff RetCon!' brigade, and the 'Silly real world reference names!' corps. Being a fan of neither Papal Infallibility, nor of total mystic detachment from the world, and thereby not able be an perfect disciple of either camp, I shall refrain from such pillorying. Mind you, I might be tempted to keep calling it 'Boldhome', so maybe that's an expression of sympathy that might be construed as wandering off the strictly Middle Way.
Cheers,
Alex.
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