A rose by any other name...

Sarah Dorrance-Minch · 30 Jun 2005, 21:03 · from 2005-June.txt.gz

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From: isobelwren at yahoo.com (Sarah Dorrance-Minch)
Date: Thu Jun 30 21:03:58 2005
Subject: (urth) A rose by any other name...
In-Reply-To: <97fae70a9880dd35ac2526b868a0d3ff at ou.edu>
Message-ID: <20050701040350.39903.qmail at web31909.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

--- Kieran Mullen <kieran at ou.edu> wrote:

>      Second, Severian's name was chosen 13 years
> before Silk was 
> created.   Do you think that when Wolfe set out to
> create a character 
> that people whose wardrobe fans would emulate at
> sci-fi cons, he 
> intended to write a pro-Gnostic work over a decade
> later?

Just to diverge from this interesting discussion onto
a tangent...

The name Severian (or Severus, or Severin) crops up
from time to time in other works. I have no idea if
Wolfe ever read either of them, but if he is anything
like me (if it's in print, I'm interested, if it has a
reputation, I'm very interested!) he probably has.

The name of one of the villains in _Justine_ (the
libertine who deflowers Justine) is named Severin.

The name of the hero in _Venus in Furs_, if I remember
correctly (it's been a long while) was named Severin.

One of the key supporting musicians of Siouxsie and
the Banshees, and her boyfriend before she broke up
with him and settled down with Budgie, used the stage
name Severin. Not that this would have been a factor
in the writing of Wolfe's novels, but I thought it
amusing.

Oh, and Severus (and its feminine form, Severina) were
not uncommon names in ancient Rome. A child named such
was meant to reflect upon the quality/virtue of
"severity," which today would probably best be thought
of as "seriousness," "dignity," or "having a strong
moral backbone." Severine is, I am given to
understand, still occasionally used as aname for girls
in France, although I've never met anyone with that
name (then again, I didn't socialize much when I was
studying for my M.Phil a few years ago, so maybe I'm
not the best person to say). 

Personally I think Severian might simply have been
given his name because whatever guildmaster who named
him wanted him to embody the quality of sternness. But
then again, maybe not. 

And now back to the regularly scheduled programming.
(Dare I call it the Clone Wars?)

Sarah Dorrance-Minch
(in SCA, THL Isobel Wren, called "Midori")

Mother to Sophie and Liesl and militant lactivist cult member

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