ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2224 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2224 ************************************ 22 Jan 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Typo corrected 18 Feb 2001. Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate given name for a woman of the Viking culture, specifically between 750 and 1050. You also asked whether , , and are appropriate epithets; and if not, whether we could recommend a surname that relates to warfare in some way. Here's what we've found. Throughout this letter, we'll use {dh} to represent the Norse letter edh, which is written like a backward '6' with a crossbar through the upright. Similarly, we will use {ae} for the letter aesc; it is written as an 'a' and 'e' squashed together to create a single character. We'll use a slash in a name to represent an acute accent mark on the preceding letter and a comma to represent a backward-comma-shaped hook hanging from the bottom of the preceding letter. is a fine name for your period [1]. It was pronounced \BRU"N-gairdhr\. In this pronunciation, the first and second \r\ are trilled as in modern Italian or Spanish; the last \r\ is more like an ordinary American English \r\. \U"\ represents the sound of u-umlaut in the German or "u" in French ; it's the vowel you get by pronouncing the "ee" in with you lips positions as if you were saying "oo" as in . \{dh}\ stands for the sound of the 'th' in . The word is plural, "battle maidens, corpse maidens" [2]. The singular is essentially a synomym for "Valkyrie, corpse-chooser". We strongly doubt it would have been used as a personal epithet. was an epithet for the goddess Freyja [3]. We found no evidence that word would was used as a personal nickname, and given its divine associations, we doubt it would have been. is another plural form. The singular means "shield maiden, female warrior" [4]. It seems to be an appropriate nickname for your period: It was used almost as a byname for human women in the sagas [5]. Also spelled , the word was pronounced \SKYAHLD-mair\. The \Y\ in the first syllable is a consonant, as in . The second syllable is pronounced just like the English word . A more certainly authentic alternative is a form of "shield", which was a reasonably common nickname. Examples include "Shield-Biorn Herfinn's son" 10th C and "Bardr Shield" 1181 [6]. Descriptive nicknames like this one were used in two ways, as shown here, before or after the name. The two usages require different grammatical forms of the word: \BRU"N-gair{dh}r SKYOHLDr\ or \SKYAHL-d@ BRU"N-gair{dh}r\ [7]. The syllable \SKYOLDr\ in the pronunciation of the first version is like , with that consonantal \y\ inserted and with the addition of the same final \r\ as we described for . Several compounds of were also used as personal nicknames: 'ship-shield', 'iron-shield', and 'littler-shield'. The last of these was recorded c.1200 [8]. is fine Viking name. If you're interested in any of these bynames, we'll be happy to send you the correct pronunciation. In your period, Old Norse was written with runes. We've written the names in this letter using a standard modern transliteration scheme. If you'd like to use the runic spelling, let us know which name you want to use and we'll send you the runic version. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Lindorm Eriksson. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 22 Jan 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Viking Names found in the Landna/mabo/k" (WWW: privately published, 1998). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/landnamabok.html [2] Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, _An Icelandic-English Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975), s.vv. Valm{ae}r., Valkyrja. [3] Gunna Hallakarva, "The Viking Answer Lady" (WWW: self-published, accessed 15 Jan 2001). See under Mythology and then Religion:The Valkyries. http://www.vikinganswerlady.org/ [4] Zoe"ga, Geir T. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1987 [1910]), s.v. skjaldm{ae}r. The word is also glossed , uncapitalized; we interpret this as the generic use meaning "female warrior" rather than an reference to the mythological Amazons. [5] Filippusson, Jo/n Ju/li/us, "Fornaldarso"gur Nor{dh}urlanda" (WWW: self-published, 1998; accessed 15 Jan 2001). http://www.forn-sed.org/n-text/fornaldars/forn.html So"gubrot af nokkurum fornkonungum i/ dana- ok svi/ aveldi, "Saga fragments of several early kings of Denmark and Sweden", ch.8. http://www.forn-sed.org/n-text/fornaldars/sogubrot.htm Sva/ er sagt, at i/ her Haralds konungs var ho"f{dh}ingi sa/ er Bru/ni he/t. Hann var allra {th}eira manna vitrastr, er me{dh} honum va/ru. Hann le/t Bru/na fylkja li{dh}inu ok skipa ho"f{dh}ingjum undir merki. Sto/{dh} merki Haralds konungs i/ mi{dh}ri fylkingu, ok var um hans merki hir{dh} hans. {TH}essir kappar va/ru me{dh} Haraldi konungi: Sveinn, Sa/mr, Gnepi inn gamli, Gar{dh}r, Brandr, Bl{ae}ngr, Teitr, Tyrfingr, Hjalti; {th}eir va/ru ska/ld Haralds konungs ok kappar. {TH}eir va/ru heiman o/r hir{dh} Haralds konungs: Hjo"rtr, Borgarr, Beli, Barri, Beiga{dh}r, To/ki. {TH}ar var skjaldm{ae}rin Visma ok o"nnur Hei{dh}r, ok hefir hva/rtveggi komit me{dh} mikinn her til Haralds konungs. Visma bar merki hans. Me{dh} henni va/ru {th}essir kappar: Ka/ri ok Milva. Ve/bjo"rg he/t enn skjaldm{ae}r, er kom til Haralds konungs me{dh} mikinn her sunnan af Gotlandi, ok fylgdu henni margir kappar. Af {th}eim o"llum var mestr ok a/g{ae}tastr Ubbi inn fri/ski, Bratr i/rski, Ormr enski, Bu/i Bra/muson, Ari eineygi, Geira/lfr. Vismu skjaldmeyju fylgdi mikill Vinda herr. Va/ru {th}eir au{dh}kenndir; {th}eir ho"f{dh}u lo"ng sver{dh} ok buklara, en {th}eir ho"f{dh}u ekki langa skjo"ldu sem a{dh}rir menn. Ok i/ annan fylkingararm Haralds konungs var Hei{dh}r skjaldm{ae}r me{dh} si/nu merki, ok hefir hu/n me{dh} se/r hundra{dh} kappa. {TH}eir va/ru berserkir hennar: Gri/mr, Geirr, Ho/lmsteinn, Eyso"{dh}ull, He{dh}inn mjo/vi, Dagr li/fski, Haraldr O/la/fsson. {TH}ar va/ru margir ho"f{dh}ingjar me{dh} Hei{dh}i i/ arminn. It is said that in king Harald's host there was a leader who was called Bru/ni. He [Bru/ni] was the wisest of all the men who were with him [Harald]. He [Harald] had Bru/ni draw up the troops in battle array and arrange the captains under their banners. King Harald's banner stood in the middle of the host, and his bodyguard was about his banner. These champions were with king Harald: Svein, Sa/m, Gnepi the old, Gar{dh}, Brand, Bl{ae}ng, Teit, Tyrfing, Hjalt; they were king Harald's skalds and champions. These were from king Harald's bodyguard at home: Hjo"rt, Borgar, Beli, Barri, Beiga{dh}, To/ki. There was the shieldmaid Visma and another, Hei{dh}, and each of the two had come with a large host to king Harald. With her [Visma] were these champions: Ka/ri and Milva. Ve/bjo"rg was the name of the shieldmaid who came to king Harald from south of Gotland with a great host, and many champions followed her. The greatest and most glorious of them all were Ubbi the Frisian, Brat the Irishman, Orm the Englishman, Bu/i Bra/muson, Ari one-eye, Geira/lf. A great Wendish host followed Visma shieldmaid. They were of distinguished appearance, they had long swords and bucklers, but they did not have long shields like other people. And in the other wing of king Harald's army was Hei{dh} shieldmaid with her banner, and she had with her a hundred champions. These were her berserks: Gri/m, Geirr, Ho/lmstein, Eyso"{dh}ull, He{dh}in the slim, Dag the Liflander, Harald O/la/fsson. There were many captains with Hei{dh} in the wing. Hervarar saga ok Hei{dh}reks konungs> "The saga of Hervo,r and king Hei{dh}rek", ch.9. http://www.forn-sed.org/n-text/fornaldars/hervarsaga.htm Hei{dh}rekr konungr l{ae}tr _a/ efna til veizlu mikillar ok gengr at eiga do/ttur Gar{dh}akonungs. Do/ttir _eira he/t Hervo"r, Hu/n var skjaldm{ae]r ok fæddist upp i/ Englandi me{dh} Fro/{dh}mari jarli. King Hei{dh}rek then had a great feast prepared and married a daughter of the Greek (Russian?) emperor. Their daughter was named Hervo,r; she was a shieldmaid and was brought up in England with jarl Fro/{dh}mar. [6] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21), s.nn. Skiald-, Skialda-Bio,rn. appears in the Landna/mabo/k. [7] Under SCA College of Arms rules, the name is treated as a registerable two-element name. The College has previously registered the analogous in 1992. [8] Lind, s.nn. elli{dh}askio,ldr, ia/rnskio,ldr, minniskio,ldr.