Sorceror/sorceress - why is there a female version of this name?

ladymythos · May 2014

This has puzzled me for some time. But when you think about it, why is there a female version of the name Sorceror? Why is there no wizardess, barbaress, roguess and stuff like that? True, you could say a female monk is a nun, but I think that's more a religious thing, and we certainly won't see "nun" listed as a class any time soon. We could also say a female wizard is a witch, but that's not quite accurate either. Some say a female wizard is a witch, others say a male witch is a warlock. Others say they are entirely different things. Divinity: Origial Sin, for instance, has Witch as a class no matter if your character is male or female.

So... why is Sorceress even a word, when no other classes (as far sa I know) have a female version of the name?

jintortle · May 2014

Wizard = Witch
Barbarian = Anyone who cannot speak greek - a Roman thing (is an actual word), Females are just called Female Barbarian, just as you would make a distinction between female and male slave.
A rogue means Bandit, and is a title like thief and I do not think has a distinction between sexes. Sort of like a Female Murderer is just a Murderer and maybe female murdered by the press.

All in all I think it has to do with actual history and usages of the word.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=sorceress&searchmode=none It is a very old word

Origins of the words are cool and change throughout history,

IE. Barbarians were anyone that the Romans encountered and could not speak Greek/Roman. Thus when the non greek peeps invaded Rome they were invaded by barbarians (dumb idiots)

valwryn · May 2014

ladymythos wrote: »

So... why is Sorceress even a word, when no other classes (as far sa I know) have a female version of the name?

They are the Supreme Being that rivals the gods.

varetmarkush · May 2014

Actually a wizard is not witch.. there is a female varation of the word 'wizard' it's 'wizardess'.
Wizard/wizardess is a mage who studies the art of magic for the sake of knowledge... they were seen as benevolent wise sages (in pre christian times- after christians invaded the pagan peoples they demonised every form of spirituality that was not christian in origin).

Witches (it's that same word for both male and female) were mostly perceived as evil or at least egoistic mages who studied the art of witchcraft (traditional form of secret rituals) for the sake of power.

A sorcerror/sorceress is mostly perveived as a mage who studies magic for power however are not necessarily evil.

A warlock is a mage who uses offencive magic to do harm to others (war-lock).

So the way i see it is that only those who used witchcraft (which is mostly perceived evil) and those who wielded harming magic had no variation between male-female.. it is because in most societies women were perceived as unclean and mostly ascociated with 'evil'.
For example, in old norse traditions it was believed that male ppl could not use magic.. even when the 'All-god' Odin visited a crone in order to learn the secrets of magic, Loki mockingly told him that he (Odin) went to do what women do.

There is no female variation for the word 'monk' as in most traditions/religions women could not be monks due to the whole phalocratic perception of women being unclean.

ladymythos · May 2014

varetmarkush wrote: »

Witches (it's that same word for both male and female) were mostly perceived as evil or at least egoistic mages who studied the art of witchcraft (traditional form of secret rituals) for the sake of power.

I take it you're not from Europe, or interested in ancient European history?

Witches in pre-Christian times were common enough, and few of them were considered evil. Far from it, they were more like healers (spirituall and physical, with herbs, potions etc). A witch could be called upon to help secure a good harvest, and all sorts of stuff like that. The "evil" bit, Brides of Satan, dancing naked under the full moon etc didn't come until Chrisitanity showed up and said that pretty much anything that didn't belong in Christianity or they couldn't steal was evil. If you study religious history, there are disturbingly many things from Christianity (including Jesus himself) that's more or less directly stolen from other, older religions.

But this is getting very off-topic. I didn't know Wizardess was a word, so thanks for that.

That still leaves us with Sorceress and Wizardess, yet few, if any, female forms of any other classes. Female Barbarian doesn't quite count. You could simply place Female in front of any class, but it wouldn't make it a female form of the class name. You could even say Female Sorceror, and it would technically be correct.

Anyway, what I was wondering about is the classes in D&D mostly. I find it strange that sorcs have a female form, when no other classes do. Even Wizards, even if Wizardess is a word.

varetmarkush · May 2014

ladymythos wrote: »

and few of them were considered evil

Well, to the ignorant villagers of the time every person involved in the magical craft was a 'witch'.
Just as everything non christian is 'satanic' for the christians..
However i did not say that witches were all (like 'everyone of them') 'evil', but they were egoistic in nature.. meaning they studied the magic art not for knowledge nor for the good of their peoples but for the power it granted them.. yes they would eventyally give advices or cure people, or perfom rites for the sake of a good harvest but they were payed for this, either with money or with respect/and fear- giving them political influence.
BTW i am from europe actually and am interested in old spiritual traditions.
Anyway, about the barbarian.. as 'jintortle' stated above, 'barbarian' actually means 'he/she who do not speak greek'..
and it's an rather an adjective than a noun.. and very few adjectives (that i know of) have male-female versions (as handsome-pretty) you cannot say he-large or she-large for example, it would make little to no sense.

Sorceror/sorceress - why is there a female version of this name?

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