View Message

Novaly and Minnaloushe
Does anyone know the meaning of these names? Novaly is the main character of the movie "Where the heart is" (which I haven't seen). Minnaloushe was the name of William Butler Yeats' cat. Maybe a variant of Menelaus?
vote up1vote down

Replies

As far as I recall, Minnaloushe was a cat belonging to the Gregory family, who were friends of Yeats, and he then wrote what must have been a nonce poem, though it's so powerful it's hard to imagine that he just saw a playful kitty through a window ...Anyway, it's possible that a scholarly edition of Yeats's writings might gloss it. Worth a try! Please let us know if you come up with anything.
vote up1vote down
I doubt Menelaus and Minnaloushe would be related - Menelaus is pronounced men-eh-LAY-us, whereas I imagine Minnaloushe would be pronounced min-uh-LOWSH - quite different at the end.Novaly appears to be a place in Russia, and possibly also a Russian surname.
vote up1vote down