Is it Gantlet or Gauntlet?

Hi folks! I’m going to interrupt my normal, history-based blogs to bring some clarification to my choice in titles. The books are copyrighted, registered with the Library of Congress and published so there’s no going back now!

Let me begin by saying that I came up with Dash’s story title after doing a fair amount of research and thoughtful contemplation on what I wanted to convey. His is a trial, an ordeal, a test of courage and survival. I searched for a way to convey those characteristics and found this amazing word, Gantlet! Yes, that word describes it best! Simple.

Alas, it is unfamiliar and many worried that I have used the word incorrectly. So, I went full research geek, and this is what I found: Gantlet and Gauntlet can be used interchangeably in the 21st century.

Here are some resources:

Vocabulary.com has both as synonyms for each other.

Google has “gantlet” as a form of punishment or challenging experience and states the term can be used interchangeably with “gauntlet.”

Grammarly has this to say, “While gantlet and gauntlet share similarities in pronunciation and have overlapping meanings in the context of the punitive ordeal, they are distinguished by their wider usages. Gantlet is primarily historical and metaphorical, describing a form of corporal punishment or a series of challenges. Gauntlet, meanwhile, has a broader scope including a heavily armored glove and the idea of “throwing down” as a physical or metaphorical challenge. Understanding the nuances between gantlet and gauntlet can help ensure accurate and effective communication.”

Merriam Webster states that gantlet is a variant used less commonly for all the definitions they have for gauntlet including protective gloves, open challenges (as in combat), the double file of men facing each other with clubs or other weapons with which to strike at an individual who is made to run between them, a line, series or assemblage, and finally, a

severe trial (ordeal).

Dictionary.com prefers “gauntlet” over “gantlet” in the same definition which it notes was first recorded in 1670-1680. Dictionary.com also shows a definition for “gantlet” that refers to a kind of railroad track construction used in narrow places, in which two parallel tracks converge so that their inner rails cross, run parallel, and diverge again, thus allowing the train to always remain on its track. This usage is first recorded in 1900 and is out of my story’s timeframe.

Then there’s the glove, gauntlet. A medieval term first recorded in 1375-1425 in late Middle English gauntelet, from Old French gantelet, a diminutive of gant, “glove.”

I appreciate that we have common spellings for words and that it would be easy to go with what is familiar. But there are oodles of examples where my choice of spelling is used commonly, recently and correctly for the way I intended in my title. And it is super easy to discount or criticize an author’s choice of spelling when its unfamiliar. So here is

where I hope to end the debate:

“Once upon a time, you ran the gantlet, but you threw down the gauntlet.” Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner.

The Gantlet, a western historical fiction novel, out now.