ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2487 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2487 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 9 Apr 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or in combination with , , or is an appropriate name for a 10th century Norse woman living in the Danelaw or on the Isle of Man. You also asked for information about Norse shield decorations and whether a shieldknot is an appropriate design. Here is what we have found. Throughout this letter, we will use several special symbols to represent early Scandinavian letters. {ae} represents the letter aesc, written as an a-e ligature, i.e. an 'a' and 'e' squashed together so that they share a vertical stroke. {dh} stands for the letter edh, written as a backward '6' with a crossbar on the upper limb. A slash after a letter, like , represents an acute accent mark over that letter. In your period, Norse had divided into two main dialects: West Scandinavian, spoken in Norway, Iceland, and the settlements in the British Isles; and East Scandinavian, spoken around the Baltic Sea, including Denmark and most of Sweden. Since you want a name suitable for Man or the Danelaw, we will focus on West Scandinavian names. Unfortunately, neither of the two given names you chose is particularly well-suited to your culture. We have found one medieval instance of , the daughter of Erik the Red who lived in Norway around the year 1000 [1, 2]. We can't recommend a unique name as the best re-creation, especially since you want to transplant it to another country; but we can't rule out the possibility. , in its normalized spelling, was pronounced \FRAY-dees\. is an 8th century Old High German and Langobard name that appears several times in German heroic literature [3]. appears to be a modern Scandinavian adaptation. We recommend that you avoid . Since neither of these names is really a good fit for your persona, we looked back at the other names in your original question. was a moderately common name in Iceland and Norway, with several instances recorded in the 10th century. was common in Norway and not uncommon in Iceland in your period [9]. Either is an excellent choice for Man or the Danelaw in the 10th century. They were pronounced \AHR-noh-r@\ and \AH-streedh(r)\. \oh\ represents the vowel sound in the word and \@\ stands for the sound of the in or . The symbol (r) represents a softly voiced trill that is part of the second syllable of . \dh\ stands for the sound of the in . -- or more normally -- was originally a Swedish name. The earliest evidence we've found for its use in the western Scandinavian dialects is a place name recorded in Norway in the 11th century. The first example we've found of the given name in the western lands is an in Norway in 1343 [4, 5]. We therefore recommend you choose a different byname. (In your original note to us, you asked about . That may have been a typo, but it turns out that a slight different spelling is a fine byname for your period [6].) The byname "red-cloak" is a fine choice for your period. It was used for two early settlers of Iceland [7]. isn't as good a choice, but it is also plausible: We haven't found it used as part of a person's name, but we have found it in the sagas as a description of a woman [8]. These words were pronounced \ROWDH-feld(r)\ and \SKYAHLD-mair\. \OW\ represents the sound of the vowel in . In summary, we can recommend or as excellent names for a Scandinavian woman living in the British Isles in the 10th century. The byname is not as well-supported, but it is plausible. The name is found in your period, but only once and only in Norway, so it isn't a great choice. In your period, the Norse wrote with runes. Once you've chosen your name, we'll be happy to give you a correct runic spelling. As you know, there was no heraldry in Viking culture. The Vikings did use banners of a sort and they did decorate their shields, but without the formalisms of later medieval heraldry. Their shield decorations were simply decorations, not personal identifiers or hereditary family symbols. You can read about Viking banners and shield decoration in several articles on the web: Personal Display for Viking Age Personae: A Primer for Use in the SCA http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/display.html The Raven Banner and Other Viking Banners http://www.vikinganswerlady.org/banners.htm The 'Viking Shield' from Archaeology http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html There are also some runestones in the collection of Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm that depict Viking- or pre-Viking shields: http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild/visa_stor.asp?ID=5612 http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild/visa_stor.asp?ID=4103 http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild/visa_stor.asp?ID=5616 http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild/visa_stor.asp?ID=5605 None of these examples shows knotwork on a shield, but there are of course knotwork designs in other Viking art. One example, which we think is the particular knot that you want to use, can be seen in the center of this image: http://www.historiska.se/collections/shm-bild/visa_stor.asp?ID=5626 This motif is identical to the heraldic "Bowen knot". (Note: We've had occasional problems reaching this website, but it's always come up again within a few hours.) 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, Will Dekne, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Lindorm Eriksson, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 9 Apr 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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.n. Freydi/s. [2] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. _Norsk personnamnleksikon_, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995), s.n. Fro|ydis. [3] Gillespie, George T., _A Catalogue of Persons Names in German Heroic Literature_ (700-1600) (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1973), s.n. Sigelint. The name had an Old Norse cognate, , but it appears only in literature. See also Lind s.n. Sigrlinn. [4] Kruken, s.n. Ingvald. [5] Lind s.n. Ingivaldr. [6] The masculine name was very common in Iceland and Norway in the early Viking period. A Norse king of Dublin in the 9th century was the son of . is thus a fine patronymic byname, well-suited to the persona you've chosen. It was pronounced \ING-yaldz DOAT-teer\. [7] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21), s.n. rau{dh}feldr. [8] Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 2224 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2224 [9] Lind s.nn. Arno/ra, A/stri/{dh}r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 30 July 2005: amended the sentence about since that particular spelling isn't correct.