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gwynhefarIt is rare for a book to tick me off in the very first sentence, but I've found one that manages it. If it hadn't been from an author I'd read before and enjoyed I might even have not continued.
The very first sentence begins: "Branwen ap Griffith sat on the grassy hillside with her back to an oak tree . . ."
Ok, first off, if you plan on writing historical fiction set in early Medieval Wales, for goodness sake, do your research!!
Branwen is a young woman, as such she would not use the patronymic 'ap' which means 'son of'. She would use 'ferch' or 'daughter of'. Secondly, 'Griffith' is a later Anglicization of the Welsh 'Gruffudd'.
So if she'd done her homework, the sentence should correctly read "Branwen ferch Gruffudd sat on the grassy hillside . . ."
Hmmph.
The very first sentence begins: "Branwen ap Griffith sat on the grassy hillside with her back to an oak tree . . ."
Ok, first off, if you plan on writing historical fiction set in early Medieval Wales, for goodness sake, do your research!!
Branwen is a young woman, as such she would not use the patronymic 'ap' which means 'son of'. She would use 'ferch' or 'daughter of'. Secondly, 'Griffith' is a later Anglicization of the Welsh 'Gruffudd'.
So if she'd done her homework, the sentence should correctly read "Branwen ferch Gruffudd sat on the grassy hillside . . ."
Hmmph.
