ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2605 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2605 ************************************ 29 Jan 2003 From: Juan del Escobar Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked us to construct a 9th century Manx name for a woman whose given name is and whose father's name is (the / represents an accent mark over the previous letter). You also asked for its Norse equivalent. Early Man was essentially Gaelic-speaking, having been Christianized by missionaries from Ireland around the 6th century. Norse conquerors claimed the Isle in the 9th century, and it owed tribute to Norway until the 13th century. Some Norse names entered the Manx naming pool, though it continued to be predominantly Gaelic. We believe a 9th century Manx woman would most likely have a Gaelic name. was the name of the daughter of Godred, king of the Isle of Man, as well as two other descendants in the 12th and 13th centuries [1] and was also borne by two abbesses of Kildare in the 8th and 9th centuries [2]. It is a very good name for your period. was the name of several very early medieval Irish saints, but never became popular among the laity [2, 3]. We have found the following examples near your period: 919 Ciaran, epscop "bishop" [4] 951 Ciaran ua Gabhla, espucc "bishop" [4] 1030 Bresal Conaillech, comarba Ciarain "Ciaran's successor as bishop" [5] 1061 Ciaran sui ecnaidh Erenn "wise man of Ireland" [5] Note these examples all appear to be men in religious life, who may have taken the name as a devotional name. The example dated 1061 is the latest we have before modern times [6]. We also, however, find the name in Norse documents, in a Norse form ; a appears listed as a servant overseer of a Norse household [7]. Given this example, we believe that some form of is plausible for your father's name. A woman named "Affraic, daughter of Ciara/n" would have been known in Gaelic as . When following a feminine noun like "daughter", the initial \K\ sound in softens to \CH\ as indicated by the spelling change from to . The extra <-i-> in the last syllable of gives it the genitive (possessive) form, like the <-'s> in English . The name was pronounced \AH-fr@k EEN-y@n CHAR-ahn~\, where \@\ is the sound of in , \CH\ is the soft German sound as in [8], and \n~\ is the sound of in French or Italian . During the time of King Godred the Isle of Man was ruled by Norwegians so Gaelic would have been familiar to Norse speakers. While we have no written evidence as to what the Norse equivalent would have been or how it was pronounced, we can offer an informed guess: . It is a straightforward phonetic borrowing of the Gaelic name and it is consistent with Old Norse phonetic patterns. Given the Norse record of as noted above, the Norse equivalent of is , pronounced \AH-freh-k@ KYAH-rahns DOAT-teer\ where \OA\ is the sound of in . During the Middle Ages, the Norse wrote in runes. If you like, we can give you a runic spelling of your name. I hope the information in this letter has been of use to you. If you have any further questions please feel free to email us at the Academy. I was assisted in this research by Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Galiana de Baiona, Mari neyn Brian, Lindorm Eriksson, Adelaide de Beaumont, Laurensa de Chambord, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy Juan del Escobar 29 January 2003 References [1] Stewart Baldwin, "The Kings of the Isle of Man: Tables", s.n. http://www.rootsweb.com/~medieval/mantable.htm [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [3] Flanagan, Laurence, _A Chronicle of Irish Saints_ (The Blackstaff Press Ltd., 1990), pp. 34, 92. [4] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 2", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entries M919.2, M951.1 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005B [5] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997) U1030.1, U1061.1 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/ [6] Certain names were considered "too holy" for common people to use in medieval Ireland. It was more common to use a compound given name like , literally "devotee of [St] Ciara/n". We have a number of examples of near your period; if you would prefer to construct a name using as your father's name, please write again. [7] Arno/rsson, Einar, ed. _Landna/mabo/k I/slands_ (Reykjavi/k: Helgafell, 1948), p.141. The relevant passage translates as "Geirmundr Hio,rsson heliarskinn took certain land and set up four households/farms: One in Adelvi/k. His steward tended that one. Another in Kiartansvi/k. Kiaran his thrall tended that one." The Landna/mabo/k relates events from the 9th-11th centuries, though the earliest surviving manuscripts date from the 13th century. [8] If the German sound \ch\ in is not familiar, \HYAR\ (with \Y\ as in ) is a good substitute.