ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2559
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2559
************************************

4 Jun 2002
From: 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether we could find a byname meaning "needing or wanting pants" 
appropriate for a tenth-century Norseman.  Here is what we have found.

There is an Old Norse adjective <bro/klauss> which means "breeches-less, 
without breeches".  (Here the slash '/' represents an acute accent on the 
preceding letter.) [1]  We haven't found an example of this word used as a 
personal byname, but we think it could have been used that way.  We found 
several names that used the element <bro/k>, including that of a tenth-
century woman known as <Bro/ka-Au{dh}r> or "Breeches-Aud".  (The symbol {dh} 
represents the letter edh, which looks like a backwards 6 with a crossbar on 
the riser.)  We also found many bynames using the element <-lauss> "-less", 
such as <go{dh}lauss> "godless", <matlauss> "without food", and 
<skegglauss> "beardless". [2]  Thus, we consider <bro/klauss> a plausible 
byname for a Norseman; for example, a tenth-century man named <Sveinn> might 
have been known as <Sveinn bro/klauss>.  We believe that <bro/klauss> would 
have been pronounced \BROAK-lows\, where \lows\ rhymes with the word <house>.

Going a little farther afield, we found the bynames <berbeinn> "bare-leg" and 
<berf{oe}ttr> "barefoot, bare-leg".  (Here the {oe} symbol represents the o-e 
ligature, an 'o' and an 'e' joined together.) [3]  We believe that <berbeinn> 
was pronounced \BAIR-bayn\, where \bayn\ rhymes with the word <pain>, while 
<berf{oe}ttr> was pronounced \BAIR-fo"t(r)\, where \o"\ sounds like the vowel 
in German <Ho"hle> or French <feu>, and \(r)\ represents a very brief \r\ 
sound. [4]  We also found the byname <hnapprass> "button-arse"; since we 
found both of the elements <ber-> and <-ass> used in bynames, we conclude 
that <berrass> "bare-arse" is also an appropriate byname for a Norseman. [5]  
This name would have been pronounced \BAIR-rahs\. 

Of course, during this period the Norse wrote in runes; please contact us 
again if you're interested in the runic spelling of any of these bynames.

I 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, Adelaide de Beaumont, 
Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Arval Benicoeur, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant 
Glasvryn.

For the Academy,

Ursula Georges
3 June 2002

References:

[1]  R. Cleasby, G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, _An Icelandic-English 
Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975) s.v. 
<bro/klauss>.  <bro/klauss> occurs in Sverris saga, which was written by 
Karl A/bo/ti (Abbot Karl); he died in 1213, eleven years after the death of 
King Sverrir, the subject of the saga.

[2]  E.H. Lind, _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 
1920-21) s.n. <bro/ka>, <go{dh}lauss>, <matlauss>, and <skegglauss> .  Bro/ka-
Au{dh}r's husband divorced her for wearing male clothing.

[3]  Lind, s.n. <berbeinn> and <berf{oe}ttr>.

[4]  The diphthong in the second syllable of <berbeinn> probably had the
vowel of <cat> as its first element and therefore sounded to English ears 
about halfway between \ay\ and \ey\ (as in <eye>).  The \(r)\ sound can be 
approximated with a normal American \r\, but should not form a full syllable.

[5]  Lind, s.n. <hnapprass>.