February 2023
Author's Note: In Betty Radice's introduction to her translation of The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, special mention is made of the name Heloise gave to her son, Astrolabe. In our world, Radice adds, it would be like calling a child, "Computer". Mechanical comparisons aside, the word Astrolabe has a rather poetic history arising from Greek, "Star-taking". And it has that 'liquid L' noted by critics in the works of Dylan Thomas, that offers the suggestion of the libidinal, the liminal, what is lucid, or even labial. Astrolabe, although an instrument, must have offered some lovely euphonic associations for Heloise, and even today, it is not nearly as stilted as "Computer". This put me into the mode of name-calling and as dogs have always had a place in my life, I thought I'd think up a list of admirable, and not-so-admirable, names we might call our fellow companions, loveable and whimsical as they are. Fittingly, the poem begins with Abelard, a neutered male, like the Abelard of history, castrated for his relationship with Heloise and the illegitimate son they shared.
I hope dog lovers will see the human similarities immediately--the capricious, the heroes, the cowardly (at times,) the dignified, the lowly, the jesters, the loyal companions, and all the other aspects of our own human personalities the names suggest.
I hope dog lovers will see the human similarities immediately--the capricious, the heroes, the cowardly (at times,) the dignified, the lowly, the jesters, the loyal companions, and all the other aspects of our own human personalities the names suggest.
Adoptive Names Given
to the Residents
of the Local Canine Shelter
Abelard, Ajax, Aaron
Bernard, Benedict, Basil,
Chloe, Catherine, Chastity,
David, Dionysus, Dormant,
Everyman, Elijah, Enoch,
Fuego, Frida, Flip,
Gabriel, Grace, Googlegums,
Horace, Heloise, Hellbent,
Isidore, Isaac, Irish,
Jerome, Juliette, Jillycups,
Kingsley, Koby, Kismet,
Leonardo, Lily, Limpus,
Maurice, Madonna, Mixup,
Nova, Norman, Nonsuch,
Olaf, Offenbach, Orestes,
Pullman, Pablo, Pug,
Quintilian, Quimby, Quirksome,
Roxanne, Ruby, Rambo,
Simon, Similitude, Sigmund,
Telemachus, Titan, Torpid,
Uriel, Ulysses, Upton,
Volt, Venus, Venture,
Winsome, Winter, Wunderwolf,
Xenophon, Xena, X-ray,
Yeller, Yasmine, Yolo,
Zephyr, Zippity, Zion.
©2023 Michael Gessner
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