"Ralph" Pronunciation Question (Well at the World's End)

[Extollager]

Recently I asked about the pronunciation of "Higham" in Morris's romance. Now I ask about how to say his hero's name. Here in the US Midwest Ralph would be pronounced like "alpha," with the first a in alpha and the a in "Ralph" being like the a in "flag." And the L in his name would be pronounced too. But I'm wondering if I should hear his name as "rafe," like with Ralph Vaughan Williams.

 

[Pyan]

As Well at the World's End was written in 1896, by William Morris, a leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement, polymath, textile designer, etc, scion of an extremely well-off middle-class Victorian family, I hear Rafe rather than Ralph...

Incidently, it's available free at the Kindle Store on Amazon.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Ahh, is that a whole cultural thing, then? I've always assumed it was just Ralph Fiennes being pretentious.

 

[Pyan]

Ahh, is that a whole cultural thing, then? I've always assumed it was just Ralph Fiennes being pretentious.

More of a class thing, I suspect. It's a very old name, however you pronounce it - comes from the Old Norse Hrolfr, wolf.

 

[hitmouse]

Rafe, as in Ralph Vaughan Williams.

 

[Extollager]

Thanks for the help!

 

[dask]

Found this a while back when trying to figure out if people were really pronouncing Ralph Vaughan Williams's name as Raif or if I was just not hearing it correctly: "Ralph" > Ralph Wedgwood, USC Philosophy > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

 

[Extollager]

That’s a nifty paper, Dask!

Pyan, Morris worked on a number of saga translations. I’m not sure Hrolf Kraki’s Saga was one of them. It is possible that Morris was aware of the Hrolf>Ralph connection, and that that influenced the way he heard the name of his protagonist (who isn’t “wolfish”). But, yes, I’m betting he heard it as Rafe, unless I find out something more.

 

[Danny McG]

Ralph Malph (Ralf Malf)

 

[Foxbat]

It’s definitely ralf in Scotland (and in up in smoke)