ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3076 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3076 ************************************ 11 Jul 2005 From: Gunnvor Silfraharr Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked whether is appropriate as a name for a Swedish woman ca. 1100-1400, or for any other Scandinavian culture at that time. Here is what we found. The name appears to be fairly limited in distribution. While examples are found in Iceland early in the Viking Age and occurring frequently throughout the remainder of your period, the first Norwegian example is from 1519 [1]. We were not able to find evidence for in Sweden at all, and only one uncertain runic example in Denmark [2]. The masculine name seems to have been borrowed fairly early from the Merovingian Franks by Scandinavians in Denmark; the name was in common use within the Danish royal line during the Viking Age [3]. was adopted later as a Norwegian royal name, but didn't come into general use among the rest of the Norwegian population apparently until after 1200 [3, 4]. In Iceland, one of the Icelandic settlers was named , but the next Icelandic instance is from the 13th c., after which there are some scattered examples [4]. In Sweden, there are several runic examples of the name dating from ca. 990-1100, and is also found frequently in medieval diplomas (official documents or charters) and place-names [3, 5, 6]. Based on this evidence, we can't recommend as a Swedish name. would be a fine Icelandic name for the last two-thirds of your period or so [7]. 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Ursula Georges and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, Gunnvor Silfraharr 10 July 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] Knudsen Gunnar, Marius Kristiansen, & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48). S.n. . [3] 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. . [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] Lena Peterson. Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. (WWW: Spra*k- och folkminnes-institutet). http://www.sofi.se/SOFIU/runlex/ S.nn. . [6] Samnordisk runtextdatabas. (WWW: Uppsala universitet, 2004). http://home.swipnet.se/~w-61277/rundata/1.htm Signa UFv1973;146, Vg85, Sm87+, U769, Sm42, O"l145, So"179, So"242. [7] The basis for spelling the genitive form of the name with a is the forms actually found in period manuscripts. In these documents, the genitive case ending occurs mostly after and .