Field

There's a British actor that's been appearing in some high profile films lately who has an unusual name.  J. J. Feild (left) has come a long way from a small role in Heartbeat to a supporting role in this year's Captain America. 

What struck me about his name was the spelling.  His name is spelt the way we pronounce the commonly used word for an area of open land surrounded by hedges - a field.  The earliest recorded use of field is in 1155, it appeared in Gower's Confessio Amantis c.1393.  The word developed from the Old English folde meaning earth, land.  This is the same as the Old Saxon folda, also meaning earth.  This spelling with 'ie' was most likely introduced to English by Anglo-French scribes during the late 1400s, who represented the long 'e' sound with the grapheme 'ie'.

However, in the Cursor Mundi (written c.1325), we find the spelling of feild.  Which brings me neatly back to the actor's name.  I wonder if it's derived from this fourteenth century word in the Cursor Mundi? 
Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers
J. J. Feild (2008) [online] http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/the_bridge/features/move-over-mr-darcy/ (Accessed 12 September 2011)


Juliana