ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2396 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2396 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 5 Nov 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a woman born in 1230 in the Orkney Islands. You also wanted to know if Norse and Icelandic elements could be combined in one name. Here is the information we have found. The original language known as Old Norse began to split into two related branches, West Norse and East Norse, around 1000. The West Norse dialects include Icelandic and Norwegian, while East Norse ones include Danish and Swedish. In your period, the language spoken in the Orkney Islands was a form of Norse called Norn [3]. Norn is most similar to Old Norwegian, and because of the similarity between the languages, names that were used in Norway and Iceland were also likely used in the Orkney Islands. We have therefore concentrated on West Norse names. We were unable to find the name in any of our sources. If you remember the site where you found it and let us know, we might be able to find more information on the name. The Norse word means 'peace, clemency,' and is also the name of a goddess [1]; it could be that the site you found meant to reference this. We have not found any evidence that was used as a name of real people before modern times, and so recommend that you do not use this name. [5] If you'd like to consider a similar name, we can recommend , also spelled and . (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter.) It is found in a 10th century Icelandic record of events and people from the 8th and 9th centuries. [2] We also found records of an who died in 1198, as well as examples from Iceland in the 13th century, 1392, and 1570. [6] As you can see, most of these examples are later than your period; and they are from Iceland: Early Norwegian examples would be a better indication of names likely to be have been used in Orkney. We are not sure if ever made it to the Orkney Islands, but feel it is possible, though not especially plausible. The name was pronounced \AIR-nu"\, with \u"\ pronounced as in German ; this sound can be roughly approximated by say \ee\ while pursing and rounding your lips as if you were saying \oo\. If you would like other suggestions for appropriate names, please feel free to write us again and let us know what initial sounds or letters you might be interested in, and we'll see what we can find. The byname "woman from Orkney" is found in the 10th century Icelandic chronicle we mentioned earlier. [4] It is a fine choice for your period. However, we would like to note that, as a rule, a woman from Orkney would not have been known as "from Orkney" unless she was no longer living there; since everyone living in Orkney could be known as "from Orkney," this wouldn't be a very useful descriptive unless the person had moved. 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 were provided by Ursula Georges, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Lindorm Eriksson, and Dietmar von Straubing. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 05Nov01 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, _An Icelandic-English Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975). s.v. eir [2] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Viking Names found in the Landna/mabo/k" (WWW: privately published, 1998) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/landnamabok.html [3] "Norn: The Language of Orkney," (WWW: Orkney - The Heritage of the Orkney Islands). http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/norn.htm accessed 25Oct01 [4] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Viking Bynames Names found in the Landna/mabo/k" (WWW: privately published, 1999) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/vikbynames.html [5] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. _Norsk personnamnleksikon_, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995). s.n. Eir [6] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931). s.n. Eyrny/