ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1542 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1542 ************************************ 14 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a correct Old Norse masculine name. This letter is a brief answer to your question. As you discovered, is listed by Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. We also found the name elsewhere, recorded in the 10th century [1, 2]. You may be interested to know that it derives from an Irish name, perhaps , that was adopted into Norse. The slash in the names represents an accent on the preceding letter. is a Norse word for "wolf". We found several examples of this word used as a personal epithet; it is recorded as in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the cases we found, it was used without the definite article "the" [3]. The article is generally used only in those Norse epithets that are based on an adjective (e.g. "the Fat" rather than "the Wolf"). We recommend that you use it this way: seems to be a fine Viking-age name for the western parts of the viking world, Iceland, Orkney, the Hebridies, etc. It is pronounced \KU:L-ahn VARGr\. \U:\ represents the sound of u-umlaut in German words like . The final is unvoiced, almost silent. Note that it is not a separate syllable. The Laurel Queen of Arms has ruled that our letters are acceptable documentation for submissions (although she cannot guarantee, of course, that the College will always agree with our interpretations of the data). Simply print out this letter in its entirety, including all headers and footers, and include it with your submission. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Hartmann Rogge. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 14 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Fleck, G. (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), _The Old Norse Name_, Studia Marklandica (series) (Olney, Maryland: Yggsalr Press, 1977). [2] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931). [3] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21).