Snow in July (45 page)

All other details are fictional, including the treasure cavern, although I made every effort to integrate them with historic facts as seamlessly as possible. As for some of the more exotic language choices, such as
Cristes mæsse
and
ma demoiselle
, I have either adapted or invented them to lend an ancient flavor to my story without going through the exercise of inventing a new language, as I have done with The Dragon’s Dove Chronicles (
Dawnflight
, et al)!

Thank you for your interest in my work, and I hope you enjoyed my first foray into the realm of paranormal historical romance.

People

E
NTRY FORMAT:

Full Name (Pronunciation).
Brief description, which may include rank, occupation, country, shield description in non-heraldic terms, nickname(s), name’s origin, and meaning. Place-names and other affiliations are given in the person’s native language.

Viewpoint characters are listed first, followed by everyone else mentioned in the text, fictional or otherwise. Approximate pronunciation guidelines are supplied for the less obvious names, especially for those of French origin. For Saxon names containing
w
(e.g., Waldron, Delwin), I use the phonetic designation
v
, though in practice it is sounded somewhere between a hard
f
and a soft
v
. Norman names containing
w
(e.g., William) are pronounced as they are today. When in doubt, pronounce the name however it makes sense to you. Or stay tuned for the audiobook edition!

Alain (ah-LEN).
Name preferred by Sir Robert Alain de Bellencombre for informal address by family and friends. He chooses the name Alain Bellefleur for his squire persona. Sarcastically called Sir Robert the Pious and Squire Bellefleur by Ruaud, and Saint Pretty Boy by their captors. Scene glyph: rose with three leaves.

Delwin (DEL-vin) Waldronson.
Son of Waldron Edgarson, older brother of Kendra. Saxon knight of England in the service of Harold Godwinson. His name means “friend of he who lives in the valley.” Shield: bent dark blue arm with fist on gray. Nickname: Del. Scene glyph: bent arm & fist.

Eosa (AYO-sah) Thorgudson.
Son of Thorgud. Saxon knight of England in the service of Harold Godwinson; Ulfric’s second-in-command. His name means “war horse.” Nickname: Dragon. Scene glyph: dragon head.

Kendra Waldronsdotter.
Daughter of Waldron, younger sister of Delwin. Saxon heiress of the estate of Edgarburh. Her name is the female form of Kendrick, meaning “keen power.” Chapter glyph: long-stem rose. Scene glyph: rose blossom.

Odo de Bayeux.
Younger half brother (via his mother Herleva) of William the Conqueror. Served as a soldier, Bishop of Bayeux, and regent of southern England in King William’s absence; depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry (created in England circa the 1070s) as riding a black horse. His name means “wealthy,” and he certainly was. Chapter and scene glyphs: French cross.

Robert
(hro-BEAR, with a silent
t
unless followed by a word beginning with a vowel)
Alain de Bellencombre.
Second son of Hugh FitzWalter and Margaret, younger half brother of Philippe FitzHugh, older brother of Étienne de Bellencombre. Knight of Normandy in the service of William the Conqueror. Shield: white rose nestled in tangle of greenery, on saffron yellow. Nickname: Alain. Chapter glyph: rose surrounded by leaves & thorny cane.

Ruaud (hroo-OWD) d’Auvay (dow-VAY).
Knight of Normandy in William’s service, and Alain’s best friend. Married, with sons, and estates deeded him by William in England as well as Normandy. Name meaning unknown; selected from list of knights accompanying Duke William during the Norman invasion of England. Chapter glyph: rearing bear. Scene glyph: bear head.

Ulfric.
Thane of Thornhill. Kendra’s second cousin and onetime suitor. Saxon knight of England in the service of King Harold. His name means “wolf-king.” Shield: rearing gray wolf on crimson. Chapter glyph: rearing wolf. Scene glyph: wolf head.

Waldron (VAHL-drun) Edgarson.
Saxon nobleman; thane of Edgarburh. Oldest son of Edgar, for whom the estate of Edgarburh is named; father of Delwin and Kendra. His name means “powerful one.” Shield: upward-bent dark blue chevron on gray. Chapter and scene glyphs: gray shield with dark, upward-bent chevron.

Non-viewpoint characters and others mentioned in the text:

Æthelward.
Saxon priest at Edgarburh; his name means “noble guardian.”

Alexander.
Pope Alexander II (born Anselmo de Baggio), who in 1066 granted papal favor to Duke William’s envoy for proceeding with preparations for the Norman conquest of England. This written edict, accompanied by a papal ring and the Standard of St. Peter, became instrumental in the submission of the English clergy to William’s rule.

Arthur of the Britons, King Arthur.
Enemy of the Saxon people whose reputation had already gained five centuries of embellishment by the time of the Norman conquest of England; therefore, his legend was terrifying to Kendra. Rumored to have been buried near Glastonbury or under Glastonbury Tor, though the abbey’s monks would not milk this claim via the discovery of “Arthur’s grave” for another 125 years.

Bassa.
Saxon physician at Edgarburh; his name is the Old English form of the Old French basse (“short”).

Bertred.
Saxon warrior in Ulfric’s army; Eosa’s scribe. His name means “bright counsel.” Nickname: Nib.

Cæwlin (KAY-vlin).
Saxon soldier serving in Edgarburh’s fyrd; Waldron’s longtime friend. His name means “cave lake.”

Cynewulf (KINE-vulf).
Saxon thane; his name translates to “king wolf.”

Dirk.
Camp name of Ursa Oescson, a Saxon knight in Ulfric’s army; Eosa’s second-in-command. His birth name of Ursa is derived from the Latin
ursum
(“the bear”).

Dunstan, Saint.
Tenth-century abbot of Glastonbury; later appointed Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury; and adviser to Saxon kings Edmund, Eadred, Edgar, Edward (II) the Martyr, and to a limited extent Æthelred the Unready. The legend of how Dunstan defeated the Devil by shoeing his hoof is the origin of the practice of nailing a horseshoe ends pointed upward above a door for good luck. Canonized in 1029; feast day May 19. Considered one of the patron saints of England, alongside Edward the Confessor, until the 14th century, when St. George was given the job by King Edward III.

Ecgfrith.
Saxon man hired by Alain and Ruaud in Sarum to guide them to Edgarburh; his name means “the edge of peace.”

Edgert.
Saxon thane, but not one of the thanes in Ulfric’s alliance. His name is a variant of Eadgard, meaning “keeper of his oath.”

Edith of Wessex.
Widow of Edward the Confessor, sister of Harold Godwinson, and the fourth wealthiest individual in England at the time. She did reside in Winchester until her death on December 18th, 1075.

Edward the Confessor.
Brother-in-law of Harold Godwinson; King of England from 8 June 1042 until his death on 5 January 1066. Called “the Confessor” for having lived a reportedly saintly life but having died of natural causes, he was canonized a century after his death. His sarcophagus may be viewed in Westminster Abbey.

Edwina (ed-VEE-nah).
Late Saxon noblewoman; wife of Waldron; mother of Delwin and Kendra; cousin of Ulfric. Her name is the female form of Edwin, meaning “rich friend.”

Eric.
A Saxon monk serving as bodyguard to the convalescing King Harold; his name means “always mighty.”

Ethel.
Saxon servant at Thornhill; Ulfric’s former nursemaid; her name means “noble.”

Étienne (AY-tee-en-eh; “crown”) de Bellencombre.

1. Youngest son of Hugh FitzWalter and Margaret, younger brother of Alain, younger half brother of Philippe FitzHugh. Knight of Normandy in the service of William. Shield: prowling dark saffron leopard on green.
   
2. Oldest son of Alain and Kendra.
   

Garth.
Saxon soldier and scout in Edgarburh’s fyrd; his name means “enclosure.”

Guinevere.
King Arthur’s queen, who selected Lancelot as her champion—and the rumors of their alleged illicit relationship began to fly from that point on. Whether a Saxon noblewoman of Kendra’s era would have known that version of the story is a matter of debate…but this is why poetic license was invented.

Harold Godwinson.
Son of Godwin, who was one of the most influential Saxons in 11th-century England, and brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor, alleged to have been Edward’s deathbed choice as successor. An early scene in the Bayeux Tapestry depicts Harold as having met with William to swear fealty to him prior to Edward’s death, which is an unsubstantiated but fascinating snippet of Norman propaganda.

Hedda.
A Saxon maidservant at Edgarburh; her name is the diminutive form of the Old High German name Haduwig, meaning “contending battle.”

Hugh FitzWalter.
Late Norman nobleman bearing the title Comte; husband of Margaret, his second wife; father of Philippe, Alain, and Étienne.

Jesu (YAY-soo).
A medieval variant of Jesus.

Joseph of Arimathea.
Jewish merchant of Jesus’ day reputed to have traded with sources in Britain that exported tin throughout the Roman world. The supposition that the young Jesus had accompanied Joseph of Arimathea on at least one of these buying trips remains a source of English national pride to this day.

Lancelot.
Although some scholars argue that this famous knight and infamous lover was inserted into the Arthurian Legends by French troubadour Chrétien de Troyes a century after the events depicted in
Snow in July
, I believe he is based on a much earlier personage, King Auguselus of Scotland, mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s quasi-factual
History of the Kings of Britain
as being one of Arthur’s staunchest supporters.

Lofwin (LOFF-vin) Octhason.
Saxon soldier and chief scout of Edgarburh’s fyrd; son of Octha. His name means “little friend.”

Margaret.
Late Saxon noblewoman, second wife of Hugh FitzWalter (at which time she was conferred the title Comtesse), mother of Alain and Étienne; her name means “pearl.”

Marie.
French noblewoman betrothed to Alain until she decided that his half brother Philippe—titled and standing in possession of their father’s estates—was the better catch.

Matilda of Flanders.
Wife of William the Conqueror. Historically, Matilda was not crowned queen consort of England until 1068, and she probably stayed in Normandy until then, governing the duchy in William’s stead, and later as regent for their oldest son, Robert Curthose. In preparation for the invasion of England, Matilda outfitted a ship, the Mora, out of her own funds and gave it to William. Over the course of their marriage she bore William at least nine children (including two kings, William I of England, and Henry I of England), the first seven of whom were already born by the time of the invasion, though I elected not to mention any of them in this text.

Oesc (ESK).
Saxon thane who actively supports Ulfric; his name means “divine.”

Oswald (OZ-vald).
A Saxon monk serving as bodyguard to the convalescing King Harold; his name means “divine power.”

Oswy (OZ-vee).
Saxon soldier and one of the younger members of Edgarburh’s fyrd; his name is a diminutive form of Oswin (“friend of God”).

Philippe FitzHugh.
Oldest son of Hugh FitzWalter; half brother (by their father) of Alain and Étienne. Sole heir to their father’s estates and title in Normandy.

Pit.
Scottish outlaw and one of Alain’s captors; the name is a corruption of the ethnic term “Pict” and was chosen to reflect his Highland heritage.

Rat.
Saxon outlaw and one of Kendra’s captors.

Raven.
Saxon outlaw and one of Alain’s captors.

Robert the Magnificent.
Robert I or Robert II, depending on the source. Late Duke of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror.

Rowena.
Saxon maidservant at Edgarburh; her name is the English form of the Celtic name Rhonwen, meaning “white skirt.”