Nicknames and Endearments.

 

Nicknames and Endearments.

Nicknames can help readers identify with characters, give a small clue to their personalities or appearance. Or nicknames can be deliberately misleading and at the same time appropriate, say where “Generous Eddie” turns out to be a brutal miser, generous only in the beatings he administers, or “Big Meg” is a small and dainty creature, perhaps with a large heart. Nicknames can also be wrong, revealing perhaps a character labouring under the mistaken opinions of those around her/him, and something that the reader and main viewpoint characters in the story can gradually discover.

 In history, King Edward the First of England was nicknamed “Longshanks” for his height and “Hammer of the Scots” for his campaigns against Scotland. An example of a nickname giving a flattering impression that was not, in my opinion matched by reality is King Richard I, the “Lionheart.” Brave perhaps but also cruel, as shown by his killing of the Muslim captives of Acre – all 2700 of them. By contrast, Richard’s opponent on the crusades, Saladin, was a man whose epithet, “Salah ad-Din” means “Righteousness of the Faith”, a title he appears to have lived by.

A more endearing nickname is that of “Greedy-Guts” for the famous medieval champion and knight William Marshal, an epithet he acquired during his teenage years.

In my own fiction, I use nicknames to reveal character. So, in ‘The Master Cook and the Maiden,’ my hero Swain, is known to his brothers as “Ram,” because of his great size and battle habits.

Excerpt.

 

One more thing is needed... an entourage," said a new

t

voice, issuing from the out of the apple tree by the garden

wall. Even as Alfwen struggled to pick out the stranger in the

shadows and foliage, Swein was darting forward.

“Gideon, by all that’s holy! Well met, brother!”

He smacked into the newcomer, knocking the shorter man

to the ground while Mistress Glover scolded, “The tunic,

Swein, careful of the tunic!”

Somehow, the smaller man flung Swein off him, leapt to

his feet and enveloped his brother in a bear hug. “Well met,

Ram!

“After Battering-Ram, when he would charge into things

as a lad,” Gideon explained, nodding to Alfwen and the

widow. “Will you introduce me, Ram?”

Grinning, Swein detached himself from Gideon and

bowed. “May I present Mistress Glover and my wife, Alfwen.”

He beamed at Alfwen, a look of pride and love together.

“My bride, Alfwen.”

The shorter man stepped closer and Alfwen’s breath

stopped.

 

Endearments in fiction, especially romance fiction, can show a developing romantic interest and tension and suggest a growing closeness. Individual and apt endearments are particularly satisfying and can be used in banter between couples in both fiction and life. They can also show a regional flavour.

So, for Cornwall, “Lover” and “My handsome man,” can be used as pet names for both sexes. (I was called “My handsome man” by an elderly Cornish lady, straight after she commented on my looks to my mum, “It don’t look twenty-one, do it?”) Devon folk also use “Lover,” – I always smile when my husband, who comes from Exeter, uses it to me.

Scots can use “Hen” as a pet name for a young woman. Annwyl in Welsh means "dear, darling, beloved,” and anwylyd means dearest. For a boy: “fy ngwas bach I” (my little lad) or “fy 'mach del I” (my little pretty one). Hinny, Pet, Bonny lass/lad are all expressions I’ve heard in Northumbria.

‘”Sweeting,” has been popular since the Middle Ages, or “dear heart.”, though “piggesnie” (“Pig’s eye”) may not be well received today. How about the lovely, “My heart’s gleam” or “My best beloved,” that are also medieval?

Have you any favourite nicknames or endearments?

Lindsay

 

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