So, you know a little bit about why I'm here. Now, here's who I am (sorta)...
I am Aine inghean Fhearghuis. Don't ask me to pronounce it, I honestly have no idea how (other than Aine=Anya or Awnya. There's also a funny little symbol on there that I'm too lazy to insert.) I'm not even sure I have the spelling correct. I've changed it about three times now. This time, I at least saved the websites I found them on so if I get yelled at for being completely wrong, I can say I'm not completely insane. It took me about nine months since I discovered the SCA to decide on it (well, the first part anyway). Apparently, I was lucky. I don't know about other groups, but my local shire has an unofficial rule that if you don't have an SCA name within three events, much like a lawyer, one will be provided for you. I went unnoticed for four events and five months of weekly rapier practices.
I had been looking at various names for a while and Aine had been near the top for a while. I had unofficially chosen it but, as this was possibly the only time I'd ever get to choose my own name, I wanted to be sure it was "the one". So I'd really only wanted to give it a test run. However, the first event after I started going by this name, a friend from the college group I was a part of came running up to me. Gallus had apparently been talking to a friend of his and they decided they hadn't nicknamed anyone in a while. Apparently, he suddenly realized I'd been going by my mundane name for almost a year and was....incredibly eager. Needless to say, he was incredibly disappointed when I gave him the name I had chosen. Then I made the mistake of asking what the potential nickname was.
Then I thought, "Hey, nicknames aren't so bad. His is Badger. That's kinda cool." So I asked him what the nickname was going to be.
Poop shovel.
I was almost the future-to-be Lady Poop Shovel. Or future-to-be Queen Poop Shovel. (Queen by Right of Arms, but that's a different article...)
Also, regarding the title, Roisin (pronounced Row-sheen, also with funny symbols), is a name I had almost chosen. However, Irish names terrify me and I was more confident that Aine would be an "easier" name to handle than Roisin. This turned out for the best because there's already a Roisin in the shire and, besides creating unecessary confusion, apparently it would have been a tough act to follow.
I would have had more fun explaining why I chose Roisin though. If my name had been Roisin inghean Fhearghuis, it would have translated to English roughly as Rose, daughter of Fergus. The closest modern, Anglicized version as far as I can tell would be Rose Ferguson. Rose for Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, Ferguson from Craig Ferguson, one of my favorite talk show hosts, comedians, and also a Whovian.
I chose Aine/Anya because I think it's kinda pretty. And I wasn't completely sure I had the pronunciation of Roisin right, and I tried to keep other people's pronunciation struggles in mind. That being said, I sign pretty much everything as "Aine (Anya)". Just to be nice.
I had meant to make this about my persona in it's entirety but this is good enough for now.
