ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1777 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1777 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 2 Dec 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help creating a masculine name out of the elements and , modifying one or the other so that it was authentic for 10th-12th century Norse or Anglo-Saxon. If this was not possible, you asked for suggestions on similar sounding names. Here is the information we have found. is a Norse name and is an Anglo-Saxon name, so it would not be appropriate to use them together in the same name. However, both of these names have similar counterparts in the other language, so we will discuss both Norse and Middle English possibilities. is a fine choice for a Norse given name. In your period it was pronounced \RAHGH-nar\, where the \gh\ represents the voiced version of the \ch\ sound found in Scottish or German . The Old Norse cognate of is . [2] (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter.) However, in Norse naming practices, people did not use two given names. Rather, the appropriate way to combine two names in Old Norse is to incorporate one into a patronymic, i.e., a name saying whose son you are. is a fine Old Norse name for a man named Ragnarr whose father was named U/lfgeirr. We do have some suggestions that would be appropriate for a Middle English name. By your period, the Old English cognate of , , had gone out of use. However, by the 12th century, the name had come into use in England. It is from , which is the Continental German cognate of . We find in various forms: 1086, 1101-25, and 1148. [3] The English derivatives of for this time period that we found are 1171-2, , 1066, 1066, 1252, and 1188. [4] For an English name after the Conquest, , meaning "Rainer son of Wulgar," would be a fine choice. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Lindorm Eriksson, Guntram von Wolkenstein, Arval Benicoeur, Hartmann Rogge, Giles Leabrook, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael December 2, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Searle, William George, _Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum_ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1897). [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] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.nn. Rayner, Woolgar [4] Fellows Jensen, Gillian, _Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire_ (Copenhagen: 1968).