# Feminine Form of "Earl"



## Inglorion

I am using the title Earl for one of my fictional countries, instead of count.  Now, in England, Earl was masculine and Countess was feminine because the English dropped Count because it sounded too much like a certain profane word.   I was considering trying to create a feminine form for earl to use.   At first I was going to use Earless, but then I realized that it looked like someone was missing an ear.  Maybe Earlette or something?


----------



## Ireth

Earlette looks okay to me. Earline might also work. Though on second look, maybe not. "Ear line"?


----------



## HUnewearl Shiro

I like arless, but I can't seem to find any kind of source on it as a real word. I'm sure I've seen it used in fiction, however.


----------



## buyjupiter

Countess was used for women who held earldoms, at least in Scotland.


----------



## Ireth

buyjupiter said:


> Countess was used for women who held earldoms, at least in Scotland.



The OP mentioned that already. We're trying to come up with a fantasy alternative.


----------



## Inglorion

Say, "Earl" came from the Scandinavian "Jarl", does anyone know if there is a feminine form of that?


----------



## Ireth

Inglorion said:


> Say, "Earl" came from the Scandinavian "Jarl", does anyone know if there is a feminine form of that?



Hmm. Jarl is a word meaning chief, lord or nobleman, so the feminine equivalent could be a translation of "lady".

*pulls out Old Norse/English dictionary*

SnÃ³t? ...I think not.

Menn-skurÃ° (literally necklace-wearer)? Hmm...

Maybe more modern Scandinavian-descended languages would help. Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, possibly Swedish as well. I don't imagine there'd be too much difference between them.


----------



## buyjupiter

You could go back to the Middle English form: Erl for the man, Erless for the woman. It gets rid of the ear bit. However, it's really close to "Erlking" which is the Germanic king of the Fae...so, there's that.

If you like Jarl, and want to add the -ess ending to it, I might suggest changing the "j" to a "y" if you do. I don't know how many people, unless they're linguistic nerds/Germanic language speakers, would pick up on the "j" being closer to the English "y" sound.

Also, this: Female titles of nobility in Norse langauges - Absolute Write Water Cooler

And this: Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.


----------



## wordwalker

Of the ones we've heard, "Arless" has a good ring to it.

Possibly "Arla", "Jarla" (or Yarla), or "Jara."


----------



## Shreddies

Are you looking for simply a feminine version of Earl, or a title for an Earl's wife?

If it's the former, then a viable alternative to inventing a new title is to leave it in its masculine form, which might work depending on the culture you have set up in your world (namely the role of women in it)

For example, something along the lines of 'She Is the King'

If it's the later then you could change Earl to its old English form of Eorl and have Eorless. It may not roll off the tongue real well, but it also doesn't look like she's missing her ears.


----------



## Telcontar

Arl and Arlessa are high nobility titles within the Dragon Age RPG setting, so there's some precedent for something like "Arless."


----------



## HUnewearl Shiro

Telcontar said:


> Arl and Arlessa are high nobility titles within the Dragon Age RPG setting, so there's some precedent for something like "Arless."



Agh, I only finished an Origins run a few days ago, that explains why "arless" was in my head.


----------



## smaunder

The Gaelic name for Earl is Iarla...just a suggestion.


----------



## Hainted

The feminine of Earl is Joy. (I miss that show.)


----------



## Ophiucha

There may be rather crude etymological reasons that Earl-Countess was used in England which relate to how closely 'count' sounds to another word when one has a Northern accent. Just an anecdote.

My instinct for a feminine form of 'Earl' would be 'Earlen', since -ess is French. However, I admit that Arless sounds rather pretty.


----------



## Dragev

In norwegian, Earl is obviously Jarl, but Countess is "Grevinne". 

The "ess" ending is not necessarily french; In Welsh, there is "Iarlles" Royal and noble ranks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Which brings us back to Earless or Arless ( Dragon Age ftw! )


----------



## Ophiucha

I'm fairly certain that the -es ending in Welsh merely was adapted from French (or English, after _they_ adapted it from French), since more traditional Welsh feminine words don't use it.  But prettiness and a _Dragon Age_ reference can trump linguistics; it is just a fantasy story, not historical fiction.


----------



## stephenspower

Why does she have to have a different title? Why can't a woman be an earl too?


----------

