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Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel!
You wrote us regarding your chosen byname of "AEthelwulf," asking specifically 1) about the meaning; 2) whether it could be justified for an English persona circa 1415 of Norse descent; and 3) if not, whether there would be another name which was close to it that would be appropriate.
First, "AEthelwulf" is an Old English ("OE") name from the Anglo-Saxons, rather than Norse (the AE is written as one letter, as you sometimes see "Caesar"). Names in Old English were constructed by using two parts, rather like a compound noun, called a prototheme (the first half) and a deuterotheme (the second half). The themes were combined and re-combined in many ways, until they were treated simply as name elements devoid of meaning. Just as you wouldn't assume that a modern man named "Taylor" necessarily makes his living sewing, an Anglo-Saxon would not have thought of "AEthelwulf" as a word with a meaning. It was just a name. However, the original meaning of the combination of these elements is close to "noble wolf." Whatever remote meaning could be attached to it would be irrelevant by 1415 because by then English surnames were inherited, so meaning did not relate to the individual characteristics of the bearer.
As to the authenticity of your name, it is unlikely that an Englishman in the 15th century would use an OE given name as a surname. With the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the use of OE names (which were ordinarily given names--the few instances of bynames are usually in the form of "son of X") began a rapid decline, with only those few names of notables and saints holding their own. Even those few names underwent significant changes due to the language shifts as OE joined with the Norman French and began turning into Middle English, the language of Chaucer and of your persona. For example, OE "AElfraed" became "Alvred" in the 13th century [1].
"AEthelwulf" does not appear to have survived to your period as a given name. It would not have survived as a "last name" used by the same family since the Anglo-Saxon period; persons did not begin to inherit patronymics until much later.
We can suggest two alternative surnames which you might want to use, "Wolf" or "Ayloff." "Wolf" was a surname derived either from a patronymic based on the given name "Wolf," or from a descriptive byname. Two centuries earlier than your persona, the descriptive byname was often used with the definite article, "le Wolf"; but by your period, it was more commonly just "Wolf." "Ayloff" was a surname derived from several different patronymic bynames. [1] It might even have derived from "AEthelwulf," though that is only a hypothesis.
If these suggestions do not appeal to you, you could try the unsupported but plausible surname "Ayolf." "AEthelwulf" appears as the given name "Aiulf," "Aiolf," and "Eiulf" as early as the Domesday Boke (from the survey conducted in 1086), which correlates with other evidence that the original prototheme had already turned into "Ay-" or "Ai-" by c.1100.
By the time we get to Middle English, names containing the original deuterotheme "-wulf," had most commonly changed to "-olf." One documented 15th century surname in that category is "Edolf," which in OE would have been the given name "Eadwulf." [2] Putting it together, the most likely form of a 15th century surname based on "AEthelwulf" would be "Ayolf."
Although you did not ask, you may be interested in knowing that your chosen first name appears with the spelling "Alexander" in 1316. Spellings were not as fixed in period as now, and since scribes often wrote for individuals, the same person would often vary the spelling of his name. Alternative spellings for "Alexander" found in the 15th century are "Alesaunder," "Alizaunder," and "Alisaunder." [3]
We hope this has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Arval d'Espas Nord, Lindorm Eriksson, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Talan Gwynek contributed research and comments to this letter.
For the Academy,
AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
[1] Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, Oxford University Press, 1995.
[2] Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham, Dictionary of British Arms, Vol. II, The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996.
[3] E.G. Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press.