ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2990 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2990 ************************************ 22 Feb 2005 From: Gunnvor Silfraharr Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of or as an 11th century English name, and for help in forming a locative byname. Here is what we found. The Old English name is adapted from the Old Norse name [1] and was extremely rare in England: almost every citation that we have is for Harold Godwinesson's brother (ca. 1030-1066), whose Scandinavian mother clearly makes him a special case [2]. Still, we do have some post-Conquest evidence showing that the name must have been in occasional use. Examples include: Gyr{dh} (1066, brother of Harold Godwinesson) [3] Gyrth dux (1060, 1065, brother of Harold Godwinesson) [4] Girth earl (1065x1066, brother of Harold Godwinesson) [5] Robert f. Girz de Bicra (ca.1170) [6] Guert (also Guerd) (1086) [6] Gerdus (time of Richard I, who reigned 1189-1199) [6] Alwynus Gerth (1275. Also appeared in 1275 as Alewyn Gert) [2] The notation {dh} used above represents the character 'edh', which looks like a backward 6 with a crossbar on the riser. and were the normal Old English spellings of the Scandinavian name. Here the {th} represents the character 'thorn', which resembles a lower-case p overlapping a lower-case b, so that they share a single loop. In the Danelaw, this name would be pronounced approximately \geardh\. The \g\ is the sound of in and . The \dh\ is a voiced \th\, the sound of in , and , but not in , , and . A given name of Scandinavian origin, especially a rare one, is going to be found almost exclusively in the Danelaw -- that part of England ruled by Scandinavians for a time. We therefore recommend that you base your locative byname on a place in the Danelaw: Northumbria; the areas around and including the boroughs of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Stamford; East Anglia; and the SE Midlands [7, 8]. The northern parts of the Danelaw are a good choice, as that appears to have been where there was the heaviest Scandinavian settlement [9]. Our examples of come from Lincolnshire and Norfolk, but a location in any other part of the Danelaw is also possible. We have put together a list of some early forms of placenames from Lincolnshire; you may wish to review this list to find a placename that appeals to you: Dated Placenames from Lincolnshire http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/gunnvor/LincolnshirePlacenames/ Most of the placenames shown in this article date after the Conquest, and the forms that would have been used before the arrival of the Normans may be quite different. Once you have selected a placename, we can research it further to see if we can determine the correct spelling of the placename in your period. Lists of the modern names of towns elsewhere in the counties of the Danelaw are also available [10]. The usual Old English locative byname has a locative preposition followed by the place-name in the dative case. The most common prepositions in the evidence we've examined are and <{ae}t>. The notation {ae} used here represents an a-e ligature, which looks like the letters a and e pushed together. In an Anglo-Saxon charter dating 983x985, we found examples of locative bynames borne by men whose names are of Scandinavian origin [11]: Fastulf {ae}t Finnesthorpe Osgode on Badingtune Steigncytel {ae}t Lullingtune Sumerlyda {ae}t Stoce {TH}urwold on Macusige Once you have selected a place-name, write us again and we will be glad to help you with the correct grammar for the locative byname and we can also try to provide a spelling of one of these names that fits your period. 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Barak Raz, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, Gunnvor Silfraharr 22 February 2005 ----------------------------------------------------- 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. . [2] Insley, John, _Scandinavian personal names in Norfolk: a survey based on medieval records and place-names_ (Uppsala: Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy; Stockholm: Distributor, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1994). s.n. [3] Timeline: 1016-1066. (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net). http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=chron&from=1016&to=1066 The entries for 1042 and 1043 show that Godwine, earl of Wessex, had married Gytha, a cousin of king Cnut, and their sons' names show the mixed heritage: , , , and are of Old Norse origin (from , , -- a pet form of <{TH}orsteinn> -- and ), and and are Old English. [3] E Version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Bodleian Laud MS Misc. 636, (WWW: History of the English Language and Linguistics). http://web.uniovi.es/HELL/EMETxts/LAUD1066.pdf 'And there he fell, and his two brothers Gyrth and Leofwine'. D Version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: BL MS Cotton Tiberius B.iv: 79, (WWW: History of the English Language and Linguistics). http://web.uniovi.es/HELL/EMETxts/TIBE1066.pdf <{DH}{ae}r wear{dh} ofsl{ae}gen Harold kyng, and Leofwine eorl his bro{dh}r, and Gyr{dh} eorl his bro{dh}r, and fela godra manna> 'There were slain king Harold, and earl Leofwine his brother, and earl Gyrth his brother, and many good men'. [4] Charter S1031: A.D. 1060. King Edward to Westminster Abbey; grant of 10 hides (mansae) in the common land at Wheathampstead, Herts. Latin with English bounds. (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net). http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=1031 Charter S1040: A.D. 1065. King Edward to Westminster Abbey; confirmation and grant of privileges and confirmation of land. (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net). http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=1040 [5] Charter S1083: A.D. 1065 x 1066. Writ of King Edward announcing the appointment of Baldwin as abbot of Bury. English. (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net). http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=1083 The notation "1065x1066" means that the name is found once sometime between 1065 and 1066. [6] Fellows Jensen, Gillian, _Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire_ (Copenhagen: 1968). P. 120 [7] "Danelaw", The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (WWW: Columbia University Press, 2004). http://www.bartleby.com/65/da/Danelaw.html [8] Map of England after 886. (WWW: Medieval History About.com, 2005). http://historymedren.about.com/library/atlas/blatmapengland886.htm [9] England and the Danelaw. (WWW: The Viking Network, 2000). http://www.viking.no/e/england/danelaw/ekart-danelaw.htm [10] Lists of modern towns and parishes in the Danelaw may be found on the webpages listed below. If you look through these and find a placename you like, we can research it for you to determine if the selected town was in existence in your period, and how the name was spelled at that time. Lincolnshire Towns and Parishes http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/parishes.html Norfolk Towns and Parishes http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/ Cambridgeshire Towns and Parishes http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CAM/TownsandParishes.html Essex Towns and Parishes http://www.nivek-systems.co.uk/genuki/ESS/Towns/index.html Suffolk Hundreds and Map http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SFK/Hundreds/index.html http://www.suffolk.org.uk/tourism/map.html [11] Charter S1448a: S 1448a: A.D. 983 x 985. List of sureties for estates of Peterborough Abbey, relating to land. (WWW: Anglo-Saxons.net). http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=1448a