ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3011 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3011 ************************************ 11 Mar 2005 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Norseman in our period. Here is what we have found. is a German form of the Latin name . The spelling is used in modern Scandinavia, but was not in our period. The name first appears in medieval Scandinavian languages as . We have found that form in Norway for a man who died 1161 and others who died at various times in the 13th century; and in Iceland c.1270 [1]. The earliest examples in Sweden were recorded in Latin forms in 1264 and 1272; in the vernacular (Swedish language), the earliest example was 1298. The name was spelled with the final <-s> in Swedish until the 14th century, when we find 1381, 1418. The earliest spelling we find that's similar to your is 1359 [2]. is an anglicized form of <{TH}orvaldr>, a name which was common in Iceland from the Viking Age on. The symbol {TH} stands for the letter thorn, written like a lowercase 'b' with the riser extended downward an equal distance. The name took different forms on the continent: <{TH}o/raldr> in Norway, where it first appeared around 1190 and was very common from the late 13th century [3, 4]. In Sweden, the equivalent name appears first in the 12th century and occasionally thereafter, but never became common [5]. The name is a fine choice for Iceland in the late 13th century or later. The given name wasn't available in Iceland earlier than that, and <{TH}orvaldr> wasn't used anywhere else in our period. In Norway, is a fine choice as early as the mid-12th century. If you want to come as close as possible to the spelling you asked about, is a reasonable choice for mid-14th century Sweden. Unfortunately, no form of the name is appropriate for the Viking period, which is generally considered to have ended by 1100. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. If you choose a particular name from this letter, we'll be happy to verify the correct pronunciation. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Gunnvor Silfraharr, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 11 Mar 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. Gregorius. [2] _Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn_, Vol. 1- (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1967-), bd. 2, h. 7, s.n. Gregers. [3] Lind s.nn. {TH}o/raldr, {TH}orvaldr. [4] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. _Norsk personnamnleksikon_, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995), s.n. Torvald. [5] 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. {TH}o/raldr.