Aethelred the Unready anlamı

Æthelred is known as the “the Unready”. This is a mistranslation. It comes from his contemporary nickname Unræd. It was a pun on his name. Æthel meant ‘noble’ and ræd meant ‘council’, but seeing how his reign turned out, Unræd -‘ill advised council’- seemed more appropriate. Unræd became ‘unready’, a completely different but seemingly apt meaning. Throughout his reign hew as certainly ill-advised and ill-served.