ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2896 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2896 ************************************ 8 Sep 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if we could recommend a name appropriate for a Norwegian man born in 1448 that sounds like , your modern nickname. Here is the information we have found. We believe we can recommend a given name which is pronounced similarly to . The modern Norwegian name , which is a shortened form of the Old Norse name , is found in Norway from the 1400s on, though not at first in that spelling. [1] The earliest examples that we have are the genitive (possessive) forms , from sometime after 1427, and , from 1470. [4] The corresponding nominative forms (used for the subject of a sentence, or for signing one's name) will have been and , respectively. This name was pronounced roughly \chel\, where \ch\ is the soft German of . A rough approximation of this is \hyel\, where the \y\ is pronounced like the in . [2] Either or is a fine choice for your name. In your period, the most common type of byname for a Norwegian man, especially one in an upper class, is a patronymic byname, i.e., one that indicates the bearer's father's name. Below is a list of men's names we've found in your period in Norway. [6] We have grouped variant spellings together, and numbers following the names are the numbers of time we found the name. (No number means we found it once). 1480-1530 --------- Anders (2), Anderss, Andhers {AE}rik, Eric (3), Erick, Erik (2) Esbiorn, Esbi{o|}rn Filppus Guszorm Halstein Hans, Ioansz, Ion (3), Jon (4), J{o|}ns (2) Hemmingh Ieppe Ketil (2), Ki{ae}til (2), K{ae}tils Laffrens (2), Larens, Lasse Mans, Mognus Martein Mattis Morten, Mortin Mykyl (2) Niels (2) Olaf (2), Olaff (10) Ole (3) {O|}rian, Yrian Paal (2) Peder (2), Pedher (2), Per (3) Rulff Sigurd, Sigurdh Stenar Swein, Swen Thord Torgeir Ywaar In this list, {ae} or {AE} represents the a-e ligature, where the two letters are squashed together to share a side, and {o|} and {O|} represent the Norwegian slashed-O. Many other forms of bynames also appeared, for example names indicating were you grew up or were living, names indicating your profession, who you were married to, adjectives describing yourself either physically or mentally (usually derogatory). [5] If you are interested, we may be able to suggest bynames appropriate for your period. Please let us know what initial sounds or letters you prefer. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, and Hartmann Rogge. For the Academy, -Arianui filia Catmail, 08 Sept 2004 -- References: [1] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. _Norsk personnamnleksikon_, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995) s.nn. , [2] More precisely, this can be represented in Kirschenbaum ASCII IPA as [CEl]. [3] [3] Blaheta, Don, "Representation of IPA with ASCII" (WWW: Blahedo.org) http://www.blahedo.org/ascii-ipa.html [4] 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. [5] Mode/er, Ivar, _Svenska Personnamn: Handbok fo:r universitetsbruk och sja:lvstudier av Ivar Mode/er utgiven av Roger Sundqvist och Carl-Erik Thors med en bibliografi av Roland Otterbjo:rk som kompletterats och omarbetats av Sigurd Fries_, 3rd ed., Anthroponymica Suecana 5 (Lund: Studentlitteratur 1989, ISBN 91-44- 29033-0)., Chap. 8. [6] Fladby, Rolf, _Kongebrev i Diplomatarium Norvegicum_ (Oslo: Kommisjonen for Diplomatarium norvegicum, 1965). vol. 3, nr. 929; vol. 6, nr. 632; vol. 14, nrr. 193-196, 697, 701; vol. 16, nr. 274; front page: http://www.dokpro.uio.no/dipl_norv/om_dn.html English search page: http://www.dokpro.uio.no/dipl_norv/diplom_field_eng.html