ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2690 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2690 ************************************ 28 May 2003 From: "Brian M. Scott" Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked how to pronounce the Old Norse feminine names and . [1] (Normal scholarly practice is not to capitalize the bynames, so we'll write these and , respectively.) The question is a bit trickier than it might seem, because Old Norse pronunciation changed considerably during the Viking Age. We've assumed a tenth century date, since that best matches the various elements of these names: * The only known bearer of the feminine name was the wife of a man who died in 1003. [2] * The earliest certain bearer of the masculine name was the grandson of one of the original settlers of Iceland, so he probably lived in the later tenth century; the name remained in occasional use in Iceland through the Middle Ages. [3] * Two bearers of the byname 'priestess' are known, both from Iceland; one was married to the son of one of the original settlers, and the other lived in the later part of the tenth century. [4] * Our only dated example of the byname 'prophetess' is from the tenth century. [5] Our recommendations are therefore based on reconstructed tenth-century Old Icelandic pronunciation; there is some uncertainty involved in any such reconstruction, of course, but at worst our recommendations are probably within the range of dialect variation in the tenth century. These pronunciations involve several sounds that aren't normally used in English. * One is the sound of in Spanish 'a wolf' and of in Spanish 'a grape', which we'll represent by the symbol \bh\. The closest English sound is \v\. Just as the sound \v\ is made by letting air pass between the upper teeth and the lower lip while vibrating the vocal cords, \bh\ is made by letting air pass between the upper and lower lips while vibrating the vocal cords. * Another is the same sound made without vibrating the vocal cords; we'll represent this sound by the symbol \ph\. (Note that this is NOT the same as the sound \f\: we are using \ph\ as a special phonetic symbol and NOT in its usual meaning as an alternative spelling for \f\ in words of Greek origin.) This \ph\ sound is the one that you make when you blow out a candle with a puff of air between your lips. * The third, which we denote by \u"\, is approximately the sound of the u-umlaut in German 'to feel' or of the in French 'you'. To make this vowel, position your tongue to say \ee\, but simultaneously round and purse your lips as if you were saying \oo\. A few other symbols may need a little explanation: * We use \dh\ to stand for the sound of in and (and not the sound of in ). * We use \ey\ to stand for the sound of in the English word . * We use \ah:\ to stand for a slightly prolonged \ah\ sound, and similarly \oh:\ for a slightly prolonged \oh\ sound. With these symbols, we can approximate tenth century pronunciation of the names as follows: \HREBH-nah GU"DH-yah HYOR-leyphs DOH:T-teer\ \HREBH-nah SPAH:-koh-nah HYOR-leyphs DOH:T-teer\ If the unfamiliar sounds prove to be too awkward for regular use, you might substitute the following slightly less accurate pronunciations: \HREV-nah GU"DH-yah HYOR-leyfs DOHT-teer\ \HREV-nah SPAH-koh-nah HYOR-leyfs DOHT-teer\ (Remember, \ey\ stands for the sound of the word , so that syllable \leyfs\ is like the non-existent word .) In the tenth century these names would have been written in runes, not in Roman letters. If you'd like more information on how to write them authentically, please write again; although we're currently on summer break and not taking new clients, we'll be happy work out suitable tenth-century runic spellings. Arval Benicoeur and Aryanhwy merch Catmael also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been useful and that you will write again if you have any further questions. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek 28 May 2003 ===== Notes and References: [1] Here <{dh}> stands for the letter edh, which looks like a backwards <6> with a small crossbar through the upper part; stands for an Old Norse letter that took a variety of forms in early Icelandic manuscripts but is usually printed as an with a reversed comma hanging from the lower edge; and the slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding letter. [2] 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. . (Here stands for a-umlaut, and stands for an with a small circle directly above it.) [3] Ibid. s.n. . [4] Lind, E.H. Norsk-Isla"ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden (Uppsala: 1920-21); s.v. . [5] Ibid. s.v. .