smth about Astolfo, Otto/Offa & Charlemagne
heyaaa so i mentioned to a couple of friends that i probably could guestimate Astolfo's (before his travels that sent him all across the world) British accent!
Introduction - Who is Astolfo's Father?
To start with, we need to pinpoint where (and when, but that is the easy part) Astolfo was born or from where his family originated and that begins with a little explanation of Anglo-Saxon Britain.
Anglo-Saxon Britain was not unified like Britain today but a collection of kingdoms that would only be unified later in part by King Alfred when he rallied against the Vikings in 878 but later fully by his grandson Æthelstan in 927; the map above shows an estimation of England by the death of King Offa of Mercia (796)!
Why have we chosen the height of Mercia under Offa? Well, Astolfo's father was said to be King Otto of England leaving us with the task of tracking down who this character might have been inspired by...
Otto of England most likely refers to King Offa who had on-and-off positive and negative relations with the King of Franks including one of the first major trade agreements in English history between mainland Europe and also complete correspondence cut-offs (angst for the angst lovers) (it was about giving their children off for marriage) (eeyikes medieval independence wasn't all too strong).
Offa was believed to have been born around the year 730 whereas Charlemagne was believed to have been born around 747 to 748 granting Offa 17 years at the minimum over him - the likelihood of him, therefore, having been able to have a kid around the same age or younger than Charlemagne is highly probable (I would reckon Astolfo to be a little younger than Charlemagne).
The dates of birth for Offa's actual kids is pretty much unknown but Astolfo is fictional so all we need is basic chronological possibility!
Continuation - What was the Mercian dialect and what is it now?
The differences of Anglo-Saxon (or Old English) and Modern English at large are simultaneously vast and really not too large depending where you look - gendered variations (masculine, feminine and neuter) existed alongside far more inflections but the basic syntax of the English language (subject, verb, object) remained the same! Accents and dialects are much the same, some things persist and others don't.
Furthermore, the sound of the language will have been a little different than what we hear today due to progressive changes in pronunciation overtime.
That is not to say that there are no surviving vestiges of Old English and the Mercian dialect in modern day England that we can pin onto Astolfo. The Mercian linguistic survivors can be partnered to existing dialect in the 21st century right in Offa's favoured stomping grounds (the West Midlands, once Mercia!)
What remains of Mercia is, well, nothing because England is unified buuut right above Birmingham you'll find Staffordshire in which Tamworth (the ancient capital of Mercia) rests! This town held a great deal of importance to Offa with him staging Christmas and Easter celebrations there, erecting a palace once deemed a wonder of the age on the land and signing numerous charters from this royal seat of influence.
Tamworth lies very close to the Black Country & sits within what is recognised as the Brummie part of the West Midlands - the accents and dialect here are a total blend of everything around thanks to simultaneous growth and resistance to change, rich history in all ages of England pulling either which way!
Let's cross some similarities with the dialect surrounding the heart of Mercia nowadays with the dialect of Old Mercia! The primary similarities you'll find between the Mercian dialect and a modern dialect are within the Black Country where Mercian-derived vowel sounds (an /o/ in place of an /a/) survive.
Across the West Midlands (albeit concentrated most in the Black Country as a region that has resisted phonological change more than the surrounding Brummie areas) are where we can find some trace of what British Astolfo might have sounded like in what survives of his most probable Anglo-Saxon dialect.
Continuation - Astolfo's sound
While there is no true surviving Mercian speaking Englishman (nor a recording of such a figure) for us to point at for what a 'real' Astolfo, be that him in even greater youth or throughout his life if he retained an English twinge to his voice, would sound like, we can look at how people who've inherited that sound speak!
Here's an excerpt of the Black Country dialect where Mercian features most prominently emerge!
Here's a ton of data for the current dialects in Tamworth where a more modern touch has broken past the Mercian wall without totally eroding its presence.
Conclusion - Did ya expect this?
There you have it! Astolfo would have, most likely, spoken via the Mercian dialect (if all my little guesses about Otto being a fictional spin on Offa and Astolfo preserving any sense of the Mercian tongue) which is nowadays found in the hodgepodge of the West Midlands!
Of course, Astolfo wouldn't sound 1:1 with neither of the examples above! The Mercian dialect is long gone and those are far older folk who certainly do not portray themselves with near enough a hint of the gender fluidity.
But did you expect this sort of sound? Probably not...
Thank you for reading! This is all just the fun of an aspiring linguist who loves their local Mercian history and Astolfo, duh, so please do NOT take any of this as total gospel... I do my study and none of this comes without a proper source, I love what I read but I am by no means a total expert. Happy birthday Astolfo!
