My kingdom for a word!

[clarentine]

I need a title for a person whose job it is to guard a royal personage with the intent of scaring away anyone who might want to do harm to said royal personage. Guardian is not scary enough. Protector has other specific meanings with regard to royal personages that I am not interested in invoking. Paladin, suggested by Bartleby.com, is associated in my mind with people of shiny good character (thanks so much, Gary Gygax), which need not apply here.

So: what might you suggest for this person encouraged to be a bully, a Doberman (reputation, smarts, capability), a dispenser of warning glares?

(Gosh, it would be nice to be able to just call him a Doberman, but I think he might object.)

Words of foreign derivation are fine if I can make the connotation work. The society in question is not-French, if that helps jog anything loose.

Comments

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

And I'm still at it:

Mameluke, hoplite, fedayeen (a bit controversial, that one) ,carabineer (doesn't necessarily have to have a gun, does he? Well, maybe he does), Myrmidon, housecarl...

And that's before I even start on predators and suchlike. I think I'd better stop now *g*

[clarentine]

predators and suchlike

::snerk::

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

You're a bad influence. It's not like I don't have enough procrastination techniques of my own!

But it's in a good cause. Any hot favourites yet?

[clarentine]

Mastiff, actually. He'll probably have some sort of real boring title and end up being called the King's Mastiff. I like that.

And research counts...but only it it's for your own book!

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

I had a feeling that might be the case.....

I shall just have to conjure up a Praetorian in Ancient Greece, or faery.