ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1403 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1403 ************************************ From: "Brian M. Scott" 6 Jan 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! On behalf of one of your clients you asked what changes, if any, would be needed to make the name suitable for a Swedish woman living in the 14th or 15th century. The name needs no changes whatsoever. Although we don't have Swedish citations of , two authoritative sources say that it is an Old Swedish name, and we have Norwegian citations for it from 1316, c.1370, and 1502. The term 'Old Swedish' isn't precisely defined; however, its customary meaning [5] covers your client's period in Sweden and Norway. (We did not find it in Denmark, however). [1, 2] The patronymic is also fine as it stands. In Swedish records we found such forms as 1431, 1460; 1454; and 1474, among others. Other forms of the word for 'daughter' also occur, notably , but is one of the most frequent throughout your client's period. [3] In that period the possessive is not unusual, being attested not only in Sweden but also in Norway and Denmark. [1, 4] In short, is a fine 14th or 15th century Swedish feminine name. Lindorm Eriksson, Arval Benicoeur, and Margaret Makafee also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been useful and that you will write again if anything remains unclear. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek ===== References: [1] Lind, E.H. Norsk-Isla"ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, suppl. Oslo, Uppsala and Copenhagen: 1931); s.nn. Katla, O/la/fr. [The is an a-umlaut; the is an with a small circle directly above it; and a slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding letter.] [2] Janzen, Assar. 'De fornsvenska personnamnen' in _Personnamn_ (Nordisk kultur VII) (Stockholm, Oslo, Ko|benhavn: 1947); p.295. [Here stands for an with a slash through it.] [3] Sveriges medeltida personnamn, Band 1, Ha"fte 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1974), ISBN: 91-7192-133-8; s.n. Birgitta. [4] Knudsen, G., M. Kristiansen, & R. Hornby. Danmarks Gamle Personnavne, Vol. I: Fornavne (Ko|benhavn: 1936-48); s.n. Olaf. [5] The Old Swedish period is customarily taken to run from about 1225, the date of the oldest known Swedish laws, to 1526, when the New Testament was first translated into Swedish.