Named Avatars 5

I am very pleases to introduce you today to Sjöfn Stoneshield in my series on how we decided on the names for our avatars-

"My cousin, Vanadis Falconer, lured me into Second Life because she thought I needed a little break now and then from the work on my dissertation in psychology.

When I joined I needed a good first name. "Vanadis" was already taken by Vanadis. Since we are almost the same age and cousins, we have grown up with the folklore about the Norse gods Thor, Odin, Frigg and Freya. Now I had to think a little extra. 

We have an old tradition in Scandinavia; If you pick seven kinds of wild flowers from seven different fields in absolute silence on a midsummer night and then put the flowers under your pillow you will dream about your future husband or wife. In the pre-Christian era there was also a goddess named Sjöfn, sister of the goddess Freya, who was worshiped if you had love troubles. The goddess was revered by both men and women.

There was only one small problem with that first name. It was not possible to use the Swedish letters Å, Ä and Ö in Second Life at that time (A´s and O´s with circles or two dots above). The Swedish Ö (O with two dots) is pronounced as "I" in "bird". Should I spell my name "Sjifn"? Nah, it made no sense to other Scandinavians. Should I use the German "OE"? Nah, only Germans would understand that. So I just gave up and called myself Sjofn. 

Then it was time to choose the surname. One name sounded more ridiculous than the other, eventually I came to the "S" and Stoneshield. Sjofn Stoneshield that´s good, I thought. A shield of stone for a strong and independent woman - perfect!

One of the first things I did after joining Second Life was to write to Philip Linden and tell the boy that he should ensure that Swedish Å, Ä and Ö could be used in Second Life names. And because Philip is obviously a well-mannered and obedient boy, Second Life introduced Å, Ä and Ö in the next update. So now I have my dots over the o and Sjofn is now and for eternal time called "Sjöfn Stoneshield".

Ars go Fridars ("prosperity and good harvest" in Old Norse)
Sjöfn"

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If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of your avatar.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).

Named Avatars 4

My friend Vanadis Falconer has graciously decided to take part in the fun.

Many of you may know Vanadis mainly for her blog, "Vanadis ser på saken" ("Vanadis takes a look at matters"). I have had a few feuds with Vanadis, but I have always respected her for her ability to stand her ground and for her strong will.

Vanadis Falconer

"I was born curious. When I was a child there was a lot of talk about Norse mythology in my neighborhood, very exciting tales of Thor, Odin, Frigg and Freya and the wicked Loki. The cow that never ran dry and the pig that was slaughtered every night and was back just as happy every morning. Modern research then started to go back to originals before the christian and punch-drunk influences.

It was found that women were the major gods! No one did anything without consulting with their clever wives. 


Freya, the Vaner dis - Goddess of the Vaner, became the greatest goddess among them all.

Growing up with the strong belief that the woman is the superior gender while the man is disposable, "save the women and children first", because of the woman's ability to create life. For the survival of the human race - as for any other mammal only one male is needed for every ten females in order to avoid inbreeding. Although it is nice to have your own "little boy" to play with. All this made it natural for me to take the name "Vanadis" in honour of Freya.

But the strange thing was that when I had to choose a surname the rare name "Falconer" was available. One of Freya's attributes is the Falcon. It was a strange coincidence that I started in Second Life that day, because the next day you could no longer choose that last name. It would take another eighteen months for the next time that it was possible to choose it. It was as if there was a higher power that caused me to log in for the first time that day. The Norns weaving the web of fate perhaps?"

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If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of yourself.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).

Named Avatars 3

Today it is my great pleasure to let my buddy Apmel tell us about how he named his avatar - and his host of co-avatars.

As you perhaps already know Apmel is a prominent figure in the virtual art world of SecondLife. His blog "Min avatar heter Apmel" ("My Avatar´s Name is Apmel") is also the oldest existing Swedish SecondLife blog and the distinguished recipient of the prestigious lifetime achievement award from The Bock McMillan Art Foundation (a part of theBMcM Corporation).

The Apmel Trinity - from the left Meerson, Ibbetson and Goosson

"When I registered my first ava I first looked up a surname that ended with “-son”... it just happened to be Ibbetson and Apmel as first name, which was simply a reversal of one of my nicknames at work - "Lempa" instead of Lennart.

Later, I wanted to have a name ending in “-sson”, two s´s, and more Swedish I thought .. while I kept the first name. Apmel Goosson plain and simple with everything that it has come to mean...

When I created the next avatar, that was first conceived as a pure backup, the choice for a surname happened to fall on Meerson.

Eventually these alternate versions of Apmel developed, as several of you already know. 

Apmel Ibbetson was modeled using pictures of myself taken just before my sixtieth birthday in real life and hey presto, he became Uncle IB. The "last name" IB comes from the fact that my primatar initially was determined to promote his RL-activity, "Indexkompaniet Bokförlag" (The Index Company Publishers) and started an Index Company book café in-world where the group´s members were called IB-agents (Yes, I did have the (for Swedes) well known IB-affair in memory, and liked the ambiguity).

Apmel Meerson quickly turned into “Kludden” (the daub). An inexperienced young cousin to Apmel who is finding his way around in Second Life. Daub rapidly strengthened my interest in the virtual arts.

At long last Apmelina Slingshot came along and proved to be the sister of Apmel that Apmel´s dad never had. Apmelina rapidly extended my old-fashioned (albeit narrow) musical taste in a more contemporary direction - with a little help from Milli, I readily admit. :))

 

And the last (latest?) avatar that I have acquired is a banker who originally was of the same indeterminate sex and age as the name I gave it, "Apmelsprivatabankman" (Apmel´s-private-banker). I refuse to use the ugly surname Resident that automatically and not so amusingly came with it. This avatar later developed into a beautiful woman in her fifties. I am hoping she will bring order to the Apmellian finances :))"

Named Avatars 2

This is the second installment in my new series about the intriguing names of avatars in SecondLife.

After I posted the first one I have gotten absolutely no more volunteers, which has made me realize that I would have to do two things. 

1. I would have to do a post on how I myself chose the name for my avatar.

2. I would also have to start nagging, coercing and threatening family, friends, acquaintances and even total strangers with dire punishments and consequences if they did not voluntarily submit their information and pictures. 

So here is my own contribution to the series.

"Bock" by Ika Cioc (spring 2008)

I was Bock long before I came to SecondLife in the early spring of 2007. The only thing that was added when I joined SecondLife was the surname and I chose it with great care. I will remain Bock even if SecondLife should one day cease to exist.

The word "bock" in Swedish means many things. Google translates it to the following words in English; buck, goat, trestle, stud, duck, tick, cross, billy-goat, fault and howler. The word holds even more meanings, although they are rarer.

Swedes - or most other speakers of a Germanic language - who first see it and do not know me often at first interpret it in the meaning "horny man".

I will not lie, the double entendre did not escape me when I once chose it, but the name was originally derived from the Swedish word "Stenbock" which is the Swedish form of the astrological sign of Capricorn.(No, I do not believe in astrology!)

The surname was a bit harder to chose, but as soon as I saw the list of 250-something surnames that Linden Lab supplied in those days I knew it would be something Gaelic (Scottish or Irish) because I have always had a weakness for tartans and for their charming pronunciation. After considering the choices offered for two days I finally arrived at the conclusion that I was of course a McMillan.

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If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of yourself.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).

Named Avatars 1

This is the first installment in my new series about the intriguing names of avatars in SecondLife. 

This excellent idea was suggested to me by my dear friend and personal eye-shopper Kandinsky Beaumont. It is of course therefor only fitting that she is the first.

Here are Kandinsky´s reasons for choosing the names for her avatar in SecondLife

Kandi in Kandinsky

My first name came to me for two reasons.

It is the family name of the great Russian painter, Wassily Kandinsky, dead 1944, whom I like very much. The second reason I took it as my first name was the belief that I would be the only one in sl with that name. 

That I later should get the nickname Kandi was absolutely nothing I thought of.

My last name, Beaumont, is chosen among the names given by sl at that time. It suited me fine as it is part of a by me beloved address in rl.

One of my first friends in SL came to be an avatar with a great sense of humor and a lot of energy with the same family name as mine, Bafana Beaumont. He is now very active in the group Africa live, doing a lot of good things. Nowadays his name is Osagyefo Kwame N'krumah.

P.S. to Bock: Wassily Kandinsky was a lawyer before he turned to painting and made art history... : ))
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Kandi, you took me by surprise with your fast response so I used the only picture I of you I was certain I had on my computer. If you would like me to use another picture please send me some at the mailing address below.

If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of yourself.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).