ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3313 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3313 ************************************ From: "Lisa and Ken Theriot" 10 Apr 2008 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a man born to an Irish mother and a Scandinavian father in Ireland at the end of the 10th century. Here is what we have found. First, we'd like to apologize for the time this letter has taken; we hope the information is still of use to you. We'll address some cultural issues, then your name elements. The Vikings first invaded Ireland at the end of the 8th century, and from 840 they had established permanent bases on the coasts. One of the last major battles involving the Vikings was the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where the Vikings fought on the side of Brian Boru [1]. In the interim, mixed Viking/Irish relationships, and their offspring, are completely plausible [2]. You are right in choosing a name which is wholly Gaelic. A child with one Viking parent and one Irish parent would have used a name which was either entirely in Norse or entirely in Gaelic, but not one which combines the two languages. This is not to say that elements were not borrowed between the two languages: For example, the Norse borrowed the Gaelic names and as and , and the Old Irish borrowed the Norse names and as and [3, 4]. (Here and throughout we're using the slash to represent an acute accent over the previous letter.) During the early Irish period, (an earlier form of ) was one of the most popular Gaelic man's names, making it an excellent choice for your given name. During your period, either spelling, or is possible; after about 1200 the most common spelling was . However, we'd like to note that the name comes from the Gaelic root 'fair', and doesn't have any connection with being Finnish [4, 5]. is one of several Irish words meaning 'fox'. This spelling, which you said you prefer, is the later-period spelling, appropriate only for the 13th century and after. Prior to that time, it was spelled and earlier still . The use of this particular word as a byname is somewhat complicated. Our earliest instance is from after your period, in 1077, for a man recorded as Catharnach Sionnach [6]. This man was the king of Tethba, a region of Ireland; apparently he passed the nickname of 'fox' to his heirs, because after him many of the leaders of Tethba were recorded with the byname or sometimes with 'the fox' as an epithet in place of their given name. Their men were known collectively as 'the foxes' [6]. Accordingly, the use of the byname may be construed in some circumstances as a claim to kingship. The use of seems to have become general at some point (i.e., it was used by people other than the king), but we don't know exactly when. The first record of a person using as a byname whom we don't believe was lord of the Tethba is from 1287 [9]. We believe would be a fine name for an Irish man living in the 13th century, but we don't believe it's plausible for your period. If the sound of is most important to you, there is similar-sounding old Irish name from a root word meaning 'stormy'. We find a number of patronymics (names that indicate who your father is) and clan bynames based on this name early enough to work for you; a man was recorded as in 792, another appears as in 980, a reference was made to in 1018, and a record of 'Conn, descendent of Sinach' appears in 1033 [6, 7, 8]. (Note the change from to and makes it possessive, i.e. 'Si/nach's'.) is a fine name for your period, but it would mean that your father's name was , which is impossible if he was Norse. is also a fine name for your period; it reflects either an association with the clan or descent from a man named , which is possible through your Irish mother's side. At some point, it appears the name became confused with such that modern descendents use the name despite the origins of the name coming from an entirely different word. If the meaning of 'fox' is most important to you, you have an alternative, if you don't mind 'fox' being a reference to your father. We find meaning 'fox' as a relatively common Norse given name [10]. Since there are no close-sounding names to in Irish, it's possible your father could have been known as 'the fox' in place of his given name. We find a man recorded in 991 as 'The Fox, descendent of Leochan, king of Gailenga'. Though this man was also a king, his practice of using or in place of his given name does not seem to have been passed to his heirs and cannot therefore be construed as a title. Epithets like this remained in use and did give rise to patronymic bynames; we find a man recorded as 'son of the fox' in 1148 [12]. We therefore believe is a possible name for you; based on other examples we've seen from your period, we believe the spelling is also likely. Further, there is a popular Old Irish name which comes from another word for 'fox' [5]. is a fine entirely Irish name for your period (note the change from to makes it possessive, i.e. 'Crimthann's'). In closing, we thought you might enjoy these books which cover early Irish history, including the Viking invasions: McCullough, David Willis, _Wars of the Irish Kings_ (New York: Crown Publishers, 2000). Curtis, Edmund, _A History of Ireland_ (New York, NY: Routledge, 1936). Richter, Michael, _Medieval Ireland: The Enduring Tradition_ (Dublin: Gill & MacMillan, 1988). 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 if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, Coblaith Mhuimhneach, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Brian Dorcha ua Chonnaill. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Adelaide de Beaumont 10 April 2008 References: [1] "Viking Age" (WWW: Wikipedia.org) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_era [2] Walsh, A., _Scandinavian Relations with Ireland During the Viking Period_ (Dublin: The Talbot Press Limited, 1922). [3] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931), s.nn. Kiallakr, Kormakr. [4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Amlai/b, Finn, I/mar. [5] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100 [6] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 2", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entry M1077.8 for Catharnach Sionnach, entry 1033.3 for Conn Ua Sinaich. The first four digits of the entry number are the year in which the event occurred. Note the Annals were often written long after the events they relate; accordingly, just because we find a spelling like dated to 1077 does not mean that spelling is appropriate for that time. Entry 1053.12 reads, "An army was led by the son of Brian, i.e. Donnchadh, and Conchobhar Ua Maelseachlainn, into Fine-Gall; and the men of Teathbha, i.e. the Sinnaigh (the Foxes)..." Entry M980.4 for Sionach, mac Murthuilen, abb Bendchair. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/ [7] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 1", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entry 792.3: Dubh Da Lethe, mac Sionaigh. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005A/ [8] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [9] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2006). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ [10] Uckelman, Sara L., "Viking Names found in the Landna/mabo/k" (WWW: privately published, 2005-2006). There are 7 instances of . http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html [11] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, ed., "Annals of Tigernach" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1996). Entry 991.1: In Sindach h-ua Leochan, rí Gaileng. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/ [12] Murphy, Ruth, ed., "Annals in Cotton MS Titus A. XXV [Cottonian Annals]" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 2003). Entry 1148 K. Malachias ua Móngair mac in Sinnaig. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100012/