ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1990
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1990
************************************

3 Mar 2000
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Thorfinn Rurik Sigurdson> is an appropriate name for a
Viking man.  This letter is a brief answer to your question.

If your aim is to find documentation for a name so that you can register it
with the SCA College of Arms, we may or may not be able to help you.
Documenting submissions isn't our focus: We want to help you to choose and
use a name that fits the historical culture you are re-creating.  Our
research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of
Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with
the College's needs.  If your main goal is to register a particular name,
then we may not be able to help you.


The elements of the name you asked about are all close to correct, but the
spellings aren't appropriate for your period and the combination isn't
compatible with Viking Age naming customs.  You noted that you'd found
<Thorfinn> and <Rurik> in a couple books; modern historians and translators
often modernize the form and spelling of names, so their work can't be
taken as a reliable guide to early medieval spelling.

Old Norse used several letters that don't exist in modern English; we use
some special notation to represent them:

{TH}  represents the letter thorn, which was written like a lower
      case 'b' and 'p' overlapped so that they form one long vertical
      stroke and one loop.  It was pronounced in this name like the <th> in
      <thing>.  
{dh}  represents the letter edh, written like a backward '6' with a
      cross-bar on the ascender and pronounced like the <th> in <this> 
{o|}  represents an 'o' with a slash through it.  
{o'}  stands for an 'o' with a comma-like hook on the upper right corner.  
      {o'} developed later into an oe-ligature, i.e. an 'o' and 'e'
      squashed together side-by-side.
o/    or any vowel followed by a slash represents that vowel with an acute
      accent mark. 


<Thorfinn> is a much later spelling of the Viking name <{TH}orfinnr>.  The
final <-r> is a grammatical ending; we don't find examples of the name
recorded without that ending until the 15th century, long after the Viking
period [1, 2].

<Rurik> is a Russian form of the medieval Swedish or Danish name <R{o|}rik>
[3].  The Viking-era precursor of this name appeared as <Hroeri/kr>,
<Hr{o'}rekr>, and <Rodrekr> in Iceland and Norway, and as <Hro/rikr> or
<Ro/rikr> in Sweden [2, 4, 5].  

<Sigurdson> is a later-period form of a name that was usually written
<Sigur{dh}ar son> in the Viking Age [2].

The Vikings did not use middle names or double given names, so we strongly
recommend that you choose only one given name, <{TH}orfinnr> or
<Hroeri/kr>.  Either <{TH}orfinnr Sigur{dh}ar son> or <Hroeri/kr
Sigur{dh}ar son> is a fine choice for western Scandinavia in the Viking
period.  However, as you noted, the SCA College of Arms would consider the
first of these names to be too similar to the registered <Thorfinn
Sigurdson>.

You asked us to suggest other ways to add a third element to your name.  We
can suggest two: add a descriptive nickname or add your grandfather's name
as well as your father's.  Let's take the second option first: {TH}orfinnr,
son of Sigur{dh}r who was the son of {TH}orsteinn, could have been
identified in writing (if not also in speech) as <{TH}orfinnr Sigur{dh}ar
son {TH}orsteins sonar>.  Essentially the name is constructed to mean
"{TH}orfinnr son of Sigur{dh}r {TH}orsteins son".  If you'd like to choose
a suitable name for your grandfather, you can find a good list on the web:

  Viking Names found in the Landnamabok
  http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/landnamabok.html

You could add a nickname in several ways.  In Old Norse, descriptive
nicknames were sometimes prefixed to the given name, like <Kra/ku-Bjo/rn>
"Crow-Bjorn", and sometimes added after the given name, like <Bjo/rn
kra/ka> "Bjorn the crow".  Notice that the nickname is spelled a little
differently depending on position; this is a function of Old Norse grammar.
You could choose a nickname either for yourself or your father.  For
example, <Kra/ku-{TH}orfinnr Sigur{dh}ar son> or <{TH}orfinnr
Kra/ku-Sigur{dh}ar son>.  You can find a list of Old Norse descriptive
nicknames on the web:

  Viking Bynames found in the Landnamabok
  http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/vikbynames.html

Once you choose the elements of your name, we'll be happy to verify the
grammar and give you the correct pronunciation.  


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, Hartmann Rogge, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Amant le
Marinier, Isfael ap Briafael, and Lindorm Eriksson.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  3 Mar 2000


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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), s.nn. Thorfinnr, Hr{o'}rekr, Sigur{dh}r.

[3] Knudsen, Gunnar; Marius Kristiansen; & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle
Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48), s.n. R{o|}rik.

[4] Uppsala University Department for Scandinavian Languages, "Samnordisk
tuntextdatabas" (WWW: Uppsala universitet, 29 Oct 1997).
http://www.nordiska.uu.se/forskn/samnord.htm

[5] Arno/rsson, Einar, ed.  _Landna/mabo/k I/slands_ (Reykjavi/k:
Helgafell, 1948).