ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2400
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2400
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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4 Feb 2002
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us to review the Viking names <Hallbjorg herkja>, for you, and
<Bjorn bjarnylr>, for your brother.  You were interested in a feminine
byname meaning "the ruthless", while your brother was interested in a
byname that means "bear".  You were also interested in forming appropriate
patronymics for both of you, and expressed interest in basing them on the
name <Rykker>.

The name <Hallbjorg> or <Hallbio,rg> was not common, but we've found
examples in Iceland at the end of the 10th century, about 1100, in 1388 and
in 1536.  It was also used in Norway [1].  The <o,> represents an 'o' with
a backwards cedilla (like a reversed comma hanging from the lower edge of
the <o>); it is used in late-medieval Icelandic texts.  <Hallbio,rg> is
pronounced \HAHL-byorgh\.  To make the sound represented by \gh\, pronounce
the <ch> of Scottish <loch> or German <Bach> while vibrating your vocal
cords.  This is the sound in the expression of disgust <ugh!> (it doesn't
rhyme with <bug>).

We have found two examples of the use of <Herkia> -- <Skvli herkia Gvnolfs
son kroppu> (no later than the early 12th century) and <Hallsteinn herkia>
(a bit later).  The meaning of this byname is uncertain.  It may be a
derivative of Old Norse <hark> 'noise, tumult' or 'harshness'.  However, in
Nynorsk, one of the two modern Norwegian standard languages, <hark> means
'frail person, waster, lean creature'.  This last meaning is very
appropriate for a byname and there are reasons to believe it may be very
old [2].  <Herkia> is pronounced \HAIRK-yah\.

We also found several other bynames that mean "ruthless".  Some
possibilities are:

- - <miskunnarlausa>, <hin miskunnarlausa> or <in miskunnarlausa>
"merciless, ruthless, unforgiving, cruel" [3].  We have not found examples
of its use as a byname, but similarly-constructed words were certainly used
[4].  It's pronounced \MIS-kun-nar-'low-sah\, where \u\ is the vowel of
<put>, and \ow\ is that of <cow>.  <'> marks the beginning of a syllable
with secondary stress.

- - <hin grimma> or <in grimma> from <grimmr> "grim, cruel, ruthless,
ferocious".  An attested masculine instance of the byname is <Heimer hinn
grimmi> [2]; <hin grimma> is the feminine form of the byname.  <hin grimma>
is pronounced \hin GRIM-mah\.

- - <v{ae}g{dh}arlausa>, <hin v{ae}g{dh}arlausa> or <in v{ae}g{dh}arlausa>
meaning "ruthless, merciless, exacting" [3].  (Here {ae} represents an Old
Norse letter, ash, which is an ae ligature.  {dh} represents the letter
edh, which can be described as a backward <6> with a crossbar on the
riser.)  <v{ae}g{dh}arlausa> is pronounced: \VEHGH-dhar-'low-sah\.  \EH\ is
roughly the vowel of <they're>.  \dh\ is the sound of <th> in <this>.


The most common Roman-alphabet spelling of <Bjorn> in medieval records
is <Bio,rn>.  The name was very commonly used in both Norway and
Iceland from the 9th century onwards [1].  This is pronounced \BYORN\,
where \Y\ stands for the sound of <y> in <yes>.


The byname <biarnylr> is a fine choice for your brother, but it
doesn't mean "bear".  If he'd prefer a byname with that meaning, we
can suggest one.  The masculine byname <biarnylr> is literally
'bear-warmth', for someone supposed to have the body heat of a bear
[2].  It appears in one of the Icelandic chronicles which mentions an
<O/la/fr biarnylr Ha/var{dh}ar son hins halta> 'Olaf bear-warmth, son
of Havard the lame' (who lived c.1000 [2a]).  <Biarnylr> is pronounced
\BYAR-nu"lr\, where \u"\ is the u-umlaut of German <fu"llen>.  (Thus,
\nu"l\ is what one gets if one tries to say the word <nil> with one's
lips rounded and pursed.).  The final \-r\ is not a separate syllable;
it's just a quick tap or trill following the \l\.


We cannot recommend the name <Rekkr> for the construction of a patronymic
[5, 6, 7], though we can not rule out the possibility that it was used.
The earliest dated real example we have found is from the early 15th
century though it's also the name of a dwarf in one of the Eddas and may be
related to names in other inscriptions.  This means that the name is not a
sure choice for building a patronymic, though it's not out of the question.
In your case it would take the form of <Rekks do/ttir>.  (The o followed by
the slash represents an o with an acute accent over it.) This is pronounced
\REKS DOAT-teer\.  The masculine form of the patronymic is <Rekks son>,
pronounced \REKS sohn\ (\oh\ is the vowel of <more>).

Another possibility, if you are interested in a name from very late in the
Viking era, is constructing the patronymic from <Ri/kar{dh}r> [8].  For you
the patronymic would be <Ri/kar{dh}ar do/ttir>.  For your brother it would
be <Ri/kar{dh}ar son>).  These are pronounced \REE-kar-dhar DOAT-teer\ and
\REE-kar-dhar sohn\ respectively.


In short, we think that <Bi,orn biarnylr Ri/kar{dh}ar son> is an appropriate
name for a late Viking man and that <Hallbio,rg herkia Ri/kar{dh}ar
do/ttir> is also a great name for a late Viking woman.


The Vikings wrote with runes.  We've used later-period Roman alphabet
spellings in this letter, but once you choose your names, we'll be happy to
provide runic spellings.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Gunnvor Silfraharr,
Arval Benicoeur, Lindorm Eriksson, Hartmann Rogge, Julie Stampnitzky, Barak
Raz, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Dietmar von Straubing, Ursula Georges and
Catriona inghean ui Bhraonain.


For the Academy,

Leonor Martin
4 Feb 2002

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References:

[1] 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.  <Hallbio,rg>, <Bio,rn>.  (Here <a:> represents an
<a> with a diaeresis -- two dots -- over it; it marks a long vowel.  The
<a*> represents the Swedish letter that looks like an <a> with a small
circle directly above it.)

[2] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala:
1920-21); s.vv.  <Herkia>, <Grimmi>, <Biarnylr>.  Lind's source for
<Grimmi> is <{TH}i{dh}riks saga af Bern>, a medieval quasi-historical saga
which is thought to have been compiled perhaps as late as 1250-1251,
although possibly as early as the late 12th century.  There are three main
manuscripts surviving: one from Norway ca.  late 13th century, and two 17th
century paper MSS from Iceland.  There's also a Swedish translation,
<Didrikskro:nikan>, made ca.  mid-15th century.  Finch, R.G.,
"{TH}i{dh}riks saga af Bern," Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia.
Garland Reference Library of the Humanities 934.  Pulsiano, Phillip et al.,
eds.  New York: Garland.  1993.  pp.  662-663.

[2a] Lind s.n. halti dates Olaf's father to the late 10th century.

[3] Cleasby, R., G.  Vigfusson, & W.  Craigie, _An Icelandic-English
Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975); s.vv.  <miskunn>,
<v{ae}g{dh}>.

[4] Attested bynames using the <-lauss> ending include <dy/nulauss>
'noiseless', <go{dh}lauss> 'godless', <matlauss> 'without food',
<skegglauss> 'beardless'.  In <-lausi>: <barnlausi> 'childless',
<beinlausi> 'boneless', <huglausi> 'faint-hearted, cowardly', <ma/llausi>
'speechless, dumb', <skegglausi> 'beardless'.  In <-lausa> (fem.):
<sio/nlausa> 'blind'.  Many of these are from the 13th c., though they are
probably also appropriate for an earlier period.  Lind, E.H.,
_Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21); s.vv.
<-lausa>, <lausi>, <lauss>.

[5] Peterson, Lena, "Nordiskt runnamnslexikon" (WWW: Institute for
Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Research, 2001).
http://grimnir.dal.lu.se/runlex/index.htm; s.n.  <Ri/kR>

[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.  <Rekkr>.

[7] The name <Rekkr> is probably represented in Rune 1-4, <rakR>, known in
some instances from Ja:mtland.  In Denmark "rek" is earliest known as the
byname of a mintner in Lund <thorkil:rek>, <toukil:r(e)k>.  The runic coins
can usually be dated to 1065-1075.  From Denmark, a "Rech" is known from
1249 and "Rek" is also supposed to be an element in the place name
<Rextorp>, now Regstrup.  Jacobsen, L.  & E.  Moltke, _Danmarks
Runeindskrifter_, 3 vols.  (Kobenhavn 1941-42).  sp.  575.

[8] The earliest example we found is one <Ri/kar{dh}r a Breckum>, possibly
the same as <Ri/kar{dh}r {TH}orleifarsun>, in the 1130s in Orkney.  The
name probably didn't reach Norway until the mid-14th century.  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.
<Ri/kar{dh}r>

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Addendum, Arval, Apr 2005: Added the dating of <biarnylr> and note
[2a].

Correction, Arval, Feb 2006: Clarification in the paragraph on <Bjorn>
and changed our recommendation to <Bi,orn>.