Why Lady Steed?
Many of you have been asking the question “Why Lady Steed?” In fact it has been asked incessantly, by Master FOB and then others. I suppose I answered his “Why Lady Steed?” question in a rather secretive way, but I never intended for it to become a campaign. I have explained the Lady part (Thmazing used it first when referring to me on his blog) but I have not yet explained the Steed part. Only Tolkien Boy has made a guess and those of you who know why have politely remained silent.
First a warning: this is bound to be a most anti-climatic reveal. I don’t even really want to reveal why I am Lady Steed; I kind of like keeping the secret to myself and the few who know. But Thmazing pointed out that many of you will know why I am Lady Steed once you get your Last Day of the First Month of the New Year letters, so he thought I should do the reveal before then.
When Lady Steed was born one fine Monday morning in June she was given a first name a middle name and a last name. Her first name was chosen because her dad liked an actress by the same name, though her mother found the unique spelling in the credits of a movie. (Lady Steed always stays through the credits just to see the interesting names and spellings) Her last name was the same as her parents. And her middle name was given as a remembrance to her mother’s heritage. That name was Steed. (See I told you it was anti-climatic--it’s not even that hard to guess. I don’t particularly care for horses and I have read exactly zero of the Work and the Glory books.) Steed was Lady Steed’s mother’s maiden name and is the middle name given to Lady and her two brothers. Her mother’s father’s last name was Steed and they were one of the families to settle Farmington, Utah by way of Nauvoo, Illinois. You could say that Mr. Lund named the family in his books after me.
For a long time, Steed was a slightly embarrassing part of my life. As a child I always feared the stage of a new friendship, or the period of time at a slumber party, when middle names would be revealed. I knew my middle name of Steed would get a strange look and a comment of “Gosh, that’s weird” or “Isn’t that another name for a horse?” The explanation that it was my mother’s maiden name never seemed to take the edge off the weirdness. I often wished I had a ‘normal’ middle name like Lee, Mae, Rose, or Ann. I didn’t like sharing Steed it with others. It was my secret.
When I was born, my mother’s best friend wrote a poem as a birthday gift to me. The first lines went like this
Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady]
Fair [Lady] Steed
Looks at the world with a twinkle of glee
Scottish smiles and little girl sleeves
She’ll always be
Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady]
Fair [Lady] Steed
(note: the poem did not use Lady but my first name, which does start with an L)
Yes, cheesy I know, but still a sweet thing to write for your best friend’s firstborn. This poem always slightly embarrassed me. When I was a teenager my friends would come over and read it out loud to each other (because it was hanging on the wall in my room right where anyone could read it). They would laugh and josh me about it, I knew they weren’t trying to hurt my feelings, but always felt like they were making fun of my middle name, and me. But I’m sure they just found the poem a little bit silly and maybe they were just a little bit jealous that no one had ever written a cheesy poem about them.
Eventually my friends took to calling me [Lady] Steed, or if they were trying to find me out in the school quad they’d call out “Oh Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady] Steed!” I hated it at first but after some time I got used to it, and then grew to like it. It was a term of endearment. At college I really missed being called [Lady] Steed--for a short while I even considered dropping my last name and just being [Lady] Steed. (Instead I switched to Thmazing’s dorky name.)
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. They’ll be easy to recognize—they’ll be the cute little girls with Scottish smiles and little girl sleeves and a massive insecurity complex that only appears when you ask what the S stands for.
You're so clever! And so are we. Here are the alternate endings to this post Thmazing and I came up with. Do you think we chose the right one?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. After all, what’s girlhood without a couple embarrassing slumber parties?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. After all, what’s one more thing to feel insecure about during a girl’s developing years?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Because hey--I lived through it and now I’m a Lady!
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. May they suffer every bit as much as I suffered.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Hey--if my mom can do it to me, I ought to be able to do it to them.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Maybe they’ll even luck out and like horses.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Just remember the books are named after them.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Lund.
I mean Steed!
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Deal with it.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. That’s right, Steed. Deal with it.
First a warning: this is bound to be a most anti-climatic reveal. I don’t even really want to reveal why I am Lady Steed; I kind of like keeping the secret to myself and the few who know. But Thmazing pointed out that many of you will know why I am Lady Steed once you get your Last Day of the First Month of the New Year letters, so he thought I should do the reveal before then.
When Lady Steed was born one fine Monday morning in June she was given a first name a middle name and a last name. Her first name was chosen because her dad liked an actress by the same name, though her mother found the unique spelling in the credits of a movie. (Lady Steed always stays through the credits just to see the interesting names and spellings) Her last name was the same as her parents. And her middle name was given as a remembrance to her mother’s heritage. That name was Steed. (See I told you it was anti-climatic--it’s not even that hard to guess. I don’t particularly care for horses and I have read exactly zero of the Work and the Glory books.) Steed was Lady Steed’s mother’s maiden name and is the middle name given to Lady and her two brothers. Her mother’s father’s last name was Steed and they were one of the families to settle Farmington, Utah by way of Nauvoo, Illinois. You could say that Mr. Lund named the family in his books after me.
For a long time, Steed was a slightly embarrassing part of my life. As a child I always feared the stage of a new friendship, or the period of time at a slumber party, when middle names would be revealed. I knew my middle name of Steed would get a strange look and a comment of “Gosh, that’s weird” or “Isn’t that another name for a horse?” The explanation that it was my mother’s maiden name never seemed to take the edge off the weirdness. I often wished I had a ‘normal’ middle name like Lee, Mae, Rose, or Ann. I didn’t like sharing Steed it with others. It was my secret.
When I was born, my mother’s best friend wrote a poem as a birthday gift to me. The first lines went like this
Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady]
Fair [Lady] Steed
Looks at the world with a twinkle of glee
Scottish smiles and little girl sleeves
She’ll always be
Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady]
Fair [Lady] Steed
(note: the poem did not use Lady but my first name, which does start with an L)
Yes, cheesy I know, but still a sweet thing to write for your best friend’s firstborn. This poem always slightly embarrassed me. When I was a teenager my friends would come over and read it out loud to each other (because it was hanging on the wall in my room right where anyone could read it). They would laugh and josh me about it, I knew they weren’t trying to hurt my feelings, but always felt like they were making fun of my middle name, and me. But I’m sure they just found the poem a little bit silly and maybe they were just a little bit jealous that no one had ever written a cheesy poem about them.
Eventually my friends took to calling me [Lady] Steed, or if they were trying to find me out in the school quad they’d call out “Oh Fair [Lady] Fair [Lady] Steed!” I hated it at first but after some time I got used to it, and then grew to like it. It was a term of endearment. At college I really missed being called [Lady] Steed--for a short while I even considered dropping my last name and just being [Lady] Steed. (Instead I switched to Thmazing’s dorky name.)
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. They’ll be easy to recognize—they’ll be the cute little girls with Scottish smiles and little girl sleeves and a massive insecurity complex that only appears when you ask what the S stands for.
You're so clever! And so are we. Here are the alternate endings to this post Thmazing and I came up with. Do you think we chose the right one?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. After all, what’s girlhood without a couple embarrassing slumber parties?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. After all, what’s one more thing to feel insecure about during a girl’s developing years?
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Because hey--I lived through it and now I’m a Lady!
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. May they suffer every bit as much as I suffered.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Hey--if my mom can do it to me, I ought to be able to do it to them.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Maybe they’ll even luck out and like horses.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Just remember the books are named after them.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Lund.
I mean Steed!
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. Deal with it.
*****
As there are no male heirs to carry on Steed as a last name, I have decided to continue on with the tradition my mother started and will be giving my daughters the middle name of Steed. That’s right, Steed. Deal with it.
posted by Lady Steed at 11:14 AM
6 Comments:
I must say, I didn't find that anticlimactic at all. I had no idea Steed was your real middle name. Though now that you've revealed it, you've blown your anonymity. If I ever run into a lady on the street whose middle name is Steed, I'll know it's you.
And your mom's friend has inspired me to write an ode to the Big O.
So sad, Lady Steed.
I had all sorts of reasons why you would choose to refer to the anonymous version of yourself as steed, but they were all wrong. You can't take it back, can you?
...
Yeah! We can stop asking now!! Thank you for closing up that hole, now I switch my energies to getting Th to tell why us (me) why "th"!
Haha. Yes, I think you chose the best one. But I also liked the one where you mixed it up with Lund a lot.
Weed
.
MFob--We are very excited.
Stupid--Maybe it's all just a big ploy to make you feel, well, stupid.
Mandi--n/c
Weed--I'll let her know.
ATTN: As implied by what I said to Weed, Lady Stted is still not quite online. Our computer problem is fixed (but for how long?), but Adelphia hasn't come to hook us up with the cable internet yet. Lady Steed will be replying soon, though. (Assuming nothing else goes wrong.... Which I daren't assume.)
i knew. ;) bwahahahahaha!
however, i never teased you my dear lady... even though i did know you as a teenager.
we do the whole your middle name is the name of your parent or whatever. like my middle name is my mom's first, and my mom's middle name is her mom's first etc...
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