Eyda

A primary POV character. Widow of Enok and the teller of Enok saga. The old Deina. Commonly called Old Maa. The aging and reclusive erstwhile matriarch of the Gihon everglades.
 
The discarded childhood cognomen, Eyda, is a diminutive of her birth name of Eydanah, meaning “She who hails from Ha-Edeni”. The name has spiritual overtones, and to be an Eyda came to mean a girl devoted to religious performance, such as dancing and/or singing.
 
Deina was a nickname from childhood, where her name means “sickle”. So named for her sharp tongue. But it can also mean “striver”, that is striving for perfection or truth, to the point of being a intolerant or judgemental. For most of her formative years, Deina was her preferred name. Eyda was re-adopted in adulthood after a near-death crisis.
 
Daughter of Narad the Seer and Madilah the Healer, though her biological father was Yael, Narad’s youngest brother — something that was long withheld from all. Therefore the child born to Madilah resembled her adoptive father as well as her mother. Like them, she was lithe and with wild billowing ebony hair barely a shade darker than her complexion.
 
MONIKERS : as Eyda in her early and latter years; as Deina in her “warrior period”; nicknamed as Old Maa in her twilight years.
PHONETIC: ˈdeɪnʌ (Deina) — ˈeɪdʌ (Eyda)