ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1338
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1338
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From: "Brian M. Scott" 
30 Oct 1998

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for information about the name <Colgrin>, which you thought 
was an Old English (Anglo-Saxon) name from about 450 CE.

The earliest examples of <Colgrin> that we have found are in Domesday
Book, which was compiled about 1086.  The name, which appears more
frequently as <Colgrim> or <Colegrim>, is derived from the Old Norse
name <Kolgri/mr>.  (The slash stands for an acute accent over the
preceding letter.)  The substitution of <n> for <m> after a vowel is
an Anglo-Norman phenomenon that can also be observed in other names
in Domesday Book. [1]  Because <Colgrin> is an Anglo-Norman spelling, 
it cannot be any earlier than the 11th century.

The other examples that we found are examples of the same
Anglo-Norman phenomenon.  They are from Geoffrey of Monmouth's
'History of the Kings of Britain', which was composed during the
first half of the 12th century.  In this work, which is a fascinating
mixture of traditional history, legend, and pure invention, Geoffrey
makes Colgrin the leader of the invading Saxons after the death of
Uther Pendragon. [2]  This is probably the source of the idea that
<Colgrin> is an Old English name from c.450, since that is the
traditional date for the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in England. [3]

To sum up, <Colgrin> is an Anglo-Norman variant of <Colgrim>.  This,
though not an Old English name, is an Old English spelling of
<Kolgri/mr>, a name brought to England by the Scandinavians in the
9th and 10th centuries.  Unaware of its actual origin, Geoffrey of
Monmouth used the name for a fictional 5th century Saxon.  However,
12th century records of real people consistently give the name as
<Colgrim>, <Colegrim>, <Collegrim>, and similar forms with final <m>.
 For this reason we think that <Colgrin> may have been purely a
written form representing a spoken <Colgrim>.  At any rate, apart
from Geoffrey's work it doesn't seem to have survived beyond the
middle of the 12th century.  Indeed, the name <Colgrim> in any form
seems to have gone out of use in England during the course of the
13th century. [4]

Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter.  We hope that we've
answered your question; if anything remains unclear, or if you have
further questions, please don't hesitate to write again.

For the Academy,

Talan Gwynek

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References:

[1] von Feilitzen, O.  The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday
Book (Uppsala: 1937); s.n. Kolgri/mr; p. 84.

[2] Geoffrey of Monmouth.  History of the Kings of Britain.  Trans. 
by Sebastian Evans, rev. by Charles W. Dunn (New York: E.P. Dutton & 
Co., Inc., 1958); pp. xvi-xvii; Bk. IX, Ch. 1, 4.

[3] Robinson, Orrin W.  Old English and Its Closest Relatives
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992); p. 136.  Archaeological
evidence indicates that although there were some Germanic settlers
in England in the late 4th century, the big influx did indeed come in
the middle of the 5th century.

[4] Fellows Jensen, Gillian.  Scandinavian Personal Names in
Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: 1968); s.n. Kolgrri/mr.