Leighton Edmund Blair, Faded Laurels (1889)
A while back I speculated on what Narnian female names might have been like, drawing from names that were given to Victorian-era English girls. Since there’s a paucity of names for human Narnian commoners I came up with another list, shown below.
(This is a sore point with me. I don’t like to be reading fiction set in a made-up fantasy world and come across an Amy, Madison, or Steven. It completely ruins whatever immersive effect the writer has going. There’s actually a passage in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader where the crew, on entering the murky cloud of Dark Island, start talking about their dreams come true: “I reckoned I’d find I was married to Nancy if we landed here.” “And I’d find Tom alive again.” Even as an 11-year-old Tom and Nancy didn’t sound right to me, given that there was a Rhince and Drinian… and Puttincream… on the ship.)
Narnian Commoner’s Names
| Female
Auda Ernetina Espory Genyliss Hanaflor Helwyn Herdra Ithiline Limarice Lothilda Lunda Maebuelle Marella Marowyn Meliset Seranda Urla |
Male
Antoris Bertmond Bornil Druvil Egurid Florsk Frydolf Handwin Hyldo Indwin Morbrech Orfbet Petran Rillund Stefin Ushar Winfil |
A word about the painting’s artist, Leighton Edmund Blair. He was a Romanticist, related in spirit to the pre-Raphaelites, who as part of his repertoire painted idealized depictions of the past, as in the scene above which is set in Arthurian times. It’s a comment on the fleeting nature of fame as the older bard, on the bottom, finds his audience more enraptured by his younger rival. I picture Narnia as having such costumes and scenes.
