Proposed Name: Barony of Suthwelde

Variants - Suthwald, Suthwolde, Southwold, Southweald

Intro/Background

While the proposed barony is a new entity, we wanted to think of a name that had some roots in the three shires that it will cover. Something in the geography perhaps. Somehow, we kept coming up was the word Wold/Weald...

This is something that occurs in all three areas - the Cotswolds in Mynydd Gwyn, The Weald, which covers a large part of West Dragoningshire, Weald occurs in various place names in Thamesreach.

Of course, the idea is not unheard of in the Kingdom. The name Drachen"wald". The "wald" part is related to both "wold" and "weald". The latter two are Anglo-Saxon variants of the "wald" in our kingdom's name. Therefore, a baronial name with "wold" or "weald" in it would give us an automatic connection to the kingdom. And, it would be different enough to pass Laurel.

On its own, it seemed lacking - Barony of the Wold/Weald? Even in the plural, it lacked something, besides The Weald being a well-known area in the south of England. Adding a descriptive - the Three Wealds? Still not right. In discussion, we have used the term "the southern barony", so how about something using "south"?

Well, we could try "Southwold". Now, there is a Southwold today (name found in the Domesday book, town charter granted by Henry VII) on the Suffolk coast. It's a bit of a resort and has tourist-orientated websites. However, I've done some checking with Mistress Jaelle, who doesn't think that's an issue as it's not a relatively well-known place. It's not like we're going for the Barony of Oxford.

However, there are alternatives. Mistress Jaelle, checked with Master Talan, one of the SCA's best name researchers. Here are his results.

Talan's commentary and suggestions

By far the most common Old English place-name element meaning 'south' or 'southern' is <sûð> (where the circumflex denotes a long vowel).  
There was an OE <sûðerne>, but it seems to have been much less common. 
To judge by the examples in Smith s.v. <sûðerne>, it generally lost the <n> anyway (as in <Sotherton> and <Southerham>, for instance). 
Thus, I'd go with some form of <Southwold>.  As it happens, there are at least two place to which this name is or has been applied.
In Suffolk there is a <Southwold>; 
Watts s.n. <Southwold> has the forms 
<Sudwolda> 1086, 
<Sudholda> 1086, 
<Sudwald> 1227, 
<Suthwaud(e)> 1259-86, 
<Suthwald(e)> 1275, 1286, 
and <Suthwold(')> 1275-1568.
In Essex there is a <South Weald>; 
Watts s.n. <Weald> has 
<S(o)uthweld> 1262-1347 with variants 
<-walde> 1281, 
<-wealde> 1316, 
<-wold> 1347, 
and <Southwell> 1447-1551. 
It's part of a pair with North Weald Basset, for which Watts offers 
<Welde Basset> 1291, 
<Northwell Basset> 1555; 
<Northwolde> 1244, 
<Northwelde> 1299; 
and earlier forms without a 'north' element.  (<Basset> is for a 13th century owner.)
Unless they specifically want a late-period spelling, I recommend <Suth-> as being by far the most typical Middle English spelling of the 'south' element.
The second element is a little more complicated. 
There were two OE forms, Anglian <wald> and Kentish and West Saxon <weald>.  
Kentish and West Saxon were spoken in the South; in the Midlands and the North we ind Anglian dialects. 
Anglian <wald> became early Middle English <w�ld>; 
this became later ME <w�ld> except in the North Country, where it became <wald>. 
(The vowel length markings are editorial, of course.)
Kentish and West Saxon <weald>, on the other hand, became ME <w�ld> (pronounced roughly like <wailed>). 
There was a lot of dialect mixing, but according to Smith s.v. <wald>, the normal modern outcomes are North Country <wald>, Southern <weald>, and standard <wold> in between. 
(Had the word survived in ordinary use as a common noun, <wold> is the probable form.)
For a bog standard late 13th or 14th century form, then, I'd go for <Suthwald> in the North, <Suthwelde> in the South, and <Suthwold(e)> for most of England.
(The Southern dialects kept the old inflectional endings longest, which is why I kept the old dative inflection <-e> in the Southern form.)
For a very late period form there'd be nothing wrong with <Southwald> (North), <Southweald> in the South, and <Southwold> in most of England.

Summary

In other words, it's a name that would pass as a baronial name. We have options, depending on which spellings we want -- Southweald, for example, versus Suthwelde. It's a name that definitely could have existed; variants indeed did exist and it's quite period.

The Barony of Suthwald/Suthwelde/Suthwold(e) or Southweald or Southwold (or whichever spelling) brings across the idea of a great expanse, a grand wold or weald -- a woods in which not only many trees are present, but also clearings with farms, villages and towns, cities -- such as this barony would encompass.