ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1760 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1760 ************************************ 24 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked when and where a woman could have used the name . This letter is a brief answer to your question. We believe this name is plausible for the western parts of the Norse world - -- Iceland, Norway, the Orkneys and Shetlands -- in the 10th to 13th centuries. is recorded in Iceland and Norway in the late 10th century and remained in use at least in Norway until the early 16th century [1, 2]. One example of the byname appears in the Icelandic Landna/mabo/k: <{TH}orolfr viligisl> [3]. Based on other examples of bynames in this source, we believe that this one could have been used as late as the 13th century. In your period, the Norse wrote in runes. If your name had been written down, it would usually have been in runes. If you'd like a runic spelling of your name, write us again. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 24 May 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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. Katla. [2] Fleck, G. (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), _The Old Norse Name_, Studia Marklandica (series) (Olney, Maryland: Yggsalr Press, 1977). [3] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21), s.n. Viligi/sl. Because this byname is a noun (a compound of "hostage"), it doesn't need any grammatical change when used in a woman's name.