Monikers for Mutable Fay

Monikers for Mutable Fay: Names and Naming Post 9 

When I started writing the Fairy in the Bed series, I dealt with just one kind of fay. As

the series expanded, I brought in more. To justify having them different (they're all fay or fairies, but many of them categorise themselves beyond that) I came up with naming systems to suit each group.

Part of the fun, if not making up the names from scratch, lies in adapting existing names and finding enough that fit recognisably into a culture.

Mutable Fay, who sometimes term themselves muties, differ a bit from the other classes I've looked at so far in this mini-series of posts. The mutables are really just fay of various kinds who have particularly strong manifestations; that is, secondary selves that look unlike the original and which may be utterly different in personality. 
Braefolk and the the courtfolk known as summermen and midsummer knights are one type of mutable fay, but they generally look somewhat like their original selves. For example, a fair-haired summerman will probably have much longer and more golden hair in his knight form, and he will certainly think, speak and move differently.  Braefolk men similarly change. They retain their original height and most of their features, but usually look more "braw" and may sport luxuriant beards and thicker dialect. The midsummer knight Piers le Fay has a typical courtfolk name, and summer men Gavin and Gervais St Clair do also.
The braefolk men Hamish, Lachlan, Alister, and Glengarry McTavish have typical braefolk names. Hamish's second self simply styles himself McTavish. His youngest brother Sean has a leprechaun manifestation, which calls himself Shamus.
Niall le Fay is a mutable courtfolk/elf man who has two manifestations, one a young man who calls himself Egbert and the other a manic miniature version who never gives his name because he's far too busy chatting up Frances, whose wish brought him to the fore. 
The second type of mutable fay are different again. They're not so common and although the mutability runs in families it doesn't appear in every member, or even in every generation.
Rory Inkersoll, the priest who appears in several titles, is the patriarch of the Inkersoll family. His other self is a "stealthcat" or "stealthy" called, simply, the red cat. Although Rory is the dominant self, the red cat likes to have his moments in the sun. When Rory's wife Emer was alive, the red cat functioned as her pet and enjoyed life immensely. Now she's gone, the red cat depends on Rory's great-grandchildren and some of his acquaintances for attention. He has a liking for women, but Rory always makes it very clear that he and the red cat are different entities. 
Rory's grandson Duffy is another stealthy, who can manifest several different cats. He does this specifically to attract the attention of Pen Swan, the widow he wants to court in human form. His main stealthcat form is a monumental black tom named Ink; not a cat to be trifled with. Ink is thoroughly mutable and, like many stealthies, he can never be confined because he can simply schrodinger himself through walls. That's Ink on the cover of the book that bears his name.
The third and to date only other stealthcat we've met is the enchanting little queen named Calico, the second self of Calypso Lindon. Calypso is a leprechaun colleen, and a rare case indeed. Very few leprechauns are mutable, and Calypso spends possibly more time as Calico than in her colleen form. 
The fourth mutable of this type we've met is Diarmuid "Derry" Warrender, whose other self is an auburn rabbit. As Derry is at great pains to point out to his girlfriend Mab he is not a rabbit himself. He has a faint cleft in his upper lip and can manifest the rabbit at any time by clicking his tongue. However, it is most likely to happen (sometimes accidentally) around Easter. Derry really has no idea why this happens, but he quite enjoys teasing Mab.   
There are two more mutables in the series so far; the pisky man Merryn Pendennis whose mani-self is a cheerful black whippet-like dog his nephews dubbed Unka. Unka likes children, and will curl protectively around babies or toddlers left in his care. His halfling son Jory Pendennis has a mercurial fluffy white dog self his wife calls the fluffy dog or Dog-Jory. Dog-Jory is territorial, jealous and inclined to be restless. Since Jory had no idea he was half pisky, let alone mutable fay, until he was in his twenties, the sudden appearance of Dog-Jory startled him immensely. Merryn summons Unka by raising his hand, but Dog-Jory manifests when Jory rubs his calf with the opposite foot.
Mutable fay generally have names that suit their other lineage, whatever that is.  Jory's original first name was George, but he chose to use the Cornish form of that name in his teens, because his surname is Cornish. Jory has a much-younger sister named Richenda. So far, we don't know if she's mutable or not.

The Fairy in the Bed series is showcased at Larksinger while the books can be purchased from the publisher.

About the Blog

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. You can find you way into her maze of websites and blogs via the portal here.(Sally is me, by the way.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. 2017 is well behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of June 2018 I STILL hadn't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books in the pipeline, and I'm certainly showcasing those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, places and objects. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far!