Message: "Queen Mab" - Behind the Name

Queen Mab

by Castle (guest)

10/2/2005, 7:38 PM

I know (or think I know, correct me if I'm wrong) that the Queen Mab referred to in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is based on Méabh of Irish Mythology. Could someone tell me if R&J is the first record of "Mab" spelled this way? Are there additional meanings of "Mab" unrelated to Méabh/Maeve?

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- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans) +2

10/3/2005, 10:53 AM

According to Francis Griffin Stokes's Who's Who in Shakespeare, originally published in 1924, the Romeo and Juliet reference is "the first mention in literature" of Queen Mab.

- Castle (guest) +1

10/8/2005, 9:50 AM

Thank you! So am I right about the origin of it? That it's just an alternate spelling of Maeve?

- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)

10/8/2005, 5:13 PM

As I understand it, that is one theory of how Shakespeare derived the name, but one really can't be sure where he got it from.

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