Continuing along in the vein of the naming of names, which I seem to have struck in the last three vintage tales, I'm going to comment on the propensity of most SCA members to name favorite objects. This is of course, a very period thing to do; possessions were few in the medieval period, so a favorite possession might well warrant a name.
Early in my SCA career, I asked Isolde to make me a cloak. Eastrealm winters could be quite cold and I keenly felt the need of some period outer protection. I was still in my "Darking" phase at that time, so I asked that the cloak's color be black. The first Star Wars movie had come out a few months earlier, so I took to calling my cloak "Darth".
I soon noticed that my ankle length cloak did a better job of keeping me warm then my knee length winter coat did, so I started wearing my cloak around campus. One wintry morning as I entered the Geology building, I chanced to meet my thesis professor. "Darth Vader," he said, "what are you doing here?"
I took the bait, dropped into my best basso voice, and said, "At last, we meet again Steven Warshauer. When I left you I was but a learner. Now, I am the master."
Darth also served me well in Meridies. At an Axemoor Yule Feast and Revel when the weather was rather chilly, I stationed myself in the hall and declared myself, "The Barony Lady Warmer." I would sweep up a passing lady into the folds of my cloak and hug her until she warmed up. As all of the ladies in the hall had been complaining about how cold they were, I felt that I was providing a valuable service.
I have also had occasion to name some of Isolde's headgear. The first time Isode tried to make a hennon, she was disappointed in the results. "This is abysmal!" she declared.
"Is that what it is," I said, "All this time I thought you were working on a hennon."
Later, the hennon known as Bysmal was joined by a crespin, which I named, "The Amazing Crespin."
While I do not know if favorite items of clothing were given names during the medieval period, I do know that weapons were frequently named. This practice has continued in the Current Middle Ages. A gentleman named Wulff von Ravensway once told me the following story of how his blade was named:
It seems that Wulff was riding on the New York City subway one evening when several youths entered the car. Wulff was alone in the car and the youths proceeded to start hassling him. They evidently did not consider the long thin package he was carrying.
Wulff, being an ex-military man, proceeded to hassle the youths back. Things continued to escalate for several minutes until one of the youths pulled out his switchblade and asked, "You know what this is?" At this point, Wulff pulled his steel and answered, "Yes. It's inadequate." The youths quickly exited the car and from that moment forward, Wulff's blade was named Adequate.
When I had been in the Society for about a year, I purchased at a flea market a pot metal sword. The sword was about the length of a short sword, so I named it Scorpion (the name Sting had already been used by Bilbo Baggins).
Several years later, after I have moved to Meridies, I purchased a Museum Replicas Viking sword, which I named Nadrson. I had read that a favorite Viking name for a sword was Nadr, meaning serpent. I decided that my father had named his blade Nadr and when it came to me, I renamed it Nadrson, i.e. son of the serpent.
One summer several years later,our house was broken into and among the things stolen were Scorpion, Nadrson and several other blades I had accumulated. I was particularly upset about loosing Nadrson, but that Christmas Isolde gave me a new Museum Replicas Viking sword.
This new blade I named Nemesis after the mythological bringers of justice. Should I ever spot Nadrson again, the bearer had better have a pretty good story as to how it came into his possession or he will learn why I have named my new sword so.