ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1419
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1419
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5 Jan 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for help with the pronunciation and grammar of several Old Norse
women's names.  Here is what we have found.

The names you chose are all fine, though we do have a couple of spelling
corrections.  Here are the given names with their pronunciations [1].

  Ka{dh}li/n  \KAHDH-leen\, \DH\ like <th> in <this>
  Oddny/      \OHD-nu:\, \u:\ like <u> in French <dur> or <u:> in German
			 <Mu:hle> 
  Signy/      \SIG-nu:\
  Rafo,rta    \RAH-fawr-tah\

A slash represents an accent over the preceding letter.  {dh} represents
the letter edh, written like a backward '6' with a bar across the upper
limb, and pronounced like the <th> in <this>.  It is often anglicized as
<dh>, so <Kadhli/n> would be a reasonable spelling in the modern English
alphabet. <o,> represents an 'o' with a backward comma hanging from the
bottom, pronounced like the <ou> in <bought>.

In runes, these names are written:

  Ka{dh}li/n   kathlin
  Oddny/       utnu
  Signy/       siknu
  Rafo,rta     rafarta

Each rune is named by a single Roman letter or combination of letters:
a-rune, r-rune, th-rune, etc.  Note that this naming does _not_ reflect
pronunciation; the runic spelling is pronounced the same as the Roman
spelling.  You can find pictures of the runes, with their names, on the
web:

  The Futhark
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/1568/futhark.html
  
For your period, we suggest you use the runes in any of the three Younger
Futharks.  

The names you chose for your father are also fine.  Here they are with
pronunciations, in the form you should use in your name, and in runes as it
should be in your name.  For example, if you choose to be <Oddny/> daughter
of <O,zurr>, you would be called <Oddny/ O,zursdo/ttir>, <utnu asurstutir>
in runes.  The suffix <-do/ttir> is pronounced <DOH-tir>, so this name
would be \OHD-nu: AWZ-urs-doh-tir\.

  O,zurr     /AWZ-ur/, /u/ as in <put>   O,zursdo/ttir    asurstutir
  Ha/kon     /HAW-cohn/                  Ha/konardo/ttir  hakunartutir
  Konall     /KOHN-ahl/                  Konalsdo/ttir    kunalstutir
  Ka{dh}all  /KAHDH-AHL/                 Kadhalsdo/ttir   kathalstutir
  Ky/lan     /KU:L-ahn/                  Ky/lansdo/ttir   kulanstutir

We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Lindorm Eriksson and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  5 Jan 1999


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References

[1] Fleck, G. (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), _The Old Norse Name_, Studia
Marklandica (series) (Olney, Maryland: Yggsalr Press, 1977).