ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1733 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1733 ************************************ From: "Brian M. Scott" 21 May 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked whether was an authentic tenth century Old Norse masculine name. Since you mentioned that you had used reference [1] in constructing your name, we're guessing that you formed as a compound of 'sea' and 'wind'. (The slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding vowel.) As you probably know, many Old Norse names are compounds; unfortunately, this one is both grammatically incorrect and historically incompatible with your period. First, it doesn't follow the Old Norse rules for compounding. In what are called proper compounds, the first element is the uninflected root of the word; this is the kind used in forming compound Old Norse names. The final <-r> of is an inflectional ending marking the nominative case of the noun, so in forming a proper compound it would be dropped to leave the root . Examples using this particular root include 'seaman', 'sea-fog', and 'seasick'. [2] (Here {dh} stands for the letter edh.) Only certain roots were used to form Old Norse names. By good fortune one of them is closely related to the noun 'sea'. However, is a later form of the noun; the older form is (where {ae} stands for the ae-ligature), and it is as that the root appears as the first element of a number of Old Norse names. [2, 3, 4] The situation with <-vindr> is even more complicated. A first element that may be related to the word for 'wind' does appear in a few Old Norse names, but these names appear to be associated exclusively with mythological figures. [7] The standard catalogue of Old Norse names shows only one, , with a second element <-vindr>, though this name is quite common from the 9th century on. [8] The origin of this element is in dispute, but recent scholarship suggests that it derives from a Primitive Scandinavian <*winduR> 'winner, victor' and is related to Old Norse 'to win, to gain'. [9] It has also been suggested that the element <-undr> in the names fairly common Old Norse names and is a variant of the second element <-vindr>. [10, 11] (Here stands for the Old Norse letter that looks like an with a reversed comma hanging from its lower edge.) This is of interest because the name is used in one version of 'O,rvar-Odds saga'. This saga is almost wholly fictitious, but the name appears to be a normal Old Norse name. [12, 13] A historically attested name would be better re-creation, but it seems likely that is a possible Old Norse name whose first element is related to 'sea' and whose second element is probably related to a name element <-vindr> of uncertain origin. If you prefer to use a historically attested name, you might consider or , both of which were used in your period and on through the Middle Ages. [14] , on the other hand, is fine. The masculine name on which it is based is known from your period, and this is the standard scholarly form of the patronymic. [15] Note, however, that in your period your name would have been written in runes, not in Roman letters. When you've decided upon a given name, we'll be happy to work out an appropriate runic version. To sum up, is a fine Old Norse name for your period, and it seems likely that is also suitable. On the basis of the name one could further conjecture that the name was also possible, but we don't recommend it: the evidence in favor of the conjecture is just too skimpy. Lindorm Eriksson and Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been useful and that you'll not hesitate to write again if you have further questions. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek 21 May 1999 ===== References and Notes: [1] Gordon, E.V. An Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford: At the University Press, 1971). [2] Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie. An Icelandic-English Dictionary (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975); s.vv. , . [3] Lind, E.H. Norsk-Isla"ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, suppl. Oslo, Uppsala and Copenhagen: 1931); cols. 1004-12. [The is an a-umlaut; the is an with a small circle directly above it.] [4] In a few names this element eventually developed into in Norway, but only much later than your period. , for instance, is found as and the like from about 1400 on, and a appears c.1530. [5, 6] [5] Lind, op. cit. s.n. . [6] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. Norsk Personnamnleksikon. 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995); s.v. . [7] Lind, op. cit., cols. 1112-3. [8] Lind, op. cit. s.n. . [9] Kruken, op. cit. s.n. <{O|}yvind>. [{O|} stands for an with a slash through it.] [10] Lind, op. cit. s.nn. , . [11] Fellows Jensen, Gillian. Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: 1968), p. 352. [12] Lind, op. cit. s.n. . [13] Cleasby et al., op. cit., p. ix. [14] Lind, op. cit. s.nn. , . [15] Ibid. s.n. .