ANSTHRLD - Patronymic sources

[Richard Culver]

>Tengvik cites "sunu" forms as being regularly used in the Domesday book and
>other locations as true patronymics.

  Perhaps, when I get to doing the research, I might be able to prove some 
of his wrong.  He is the one source everyone has recommended and I am not 
one to rely on one source for accuracy.
   Maybe I am being cocky or just know my gut instinct has helped more than 
hurt me, but I think I am on the right track.

>You can indicate paternity either (1) by using the patronymic marker
>"-ing", or (2) by using a "sunu" form.

  As said before, I think we are dealing with a semantic difference.  The 
instances of "sunu" I have seen to date are reflective of the possessive, 
not true patronyms--actual proper nouns.

>the "sunu" forms significantly
>outnumber the "-ing" forms.  But then Tengvik concentrates on the few
>centuries up to the Norman conquest & a bit after.

  Here in could lie the problem with his analysis.  Two hundred years  
previously, we had the influence of the Danelaw.  The English were adapters 
culturally and tended to melt their own culture in with the ones around 
them.  Northumbria is a good example of this.  They retained the indiginous 
names of Bernicia and Deira early on.
   It could have very well been, when under Scandinavian rule, they adopted 
the mode of law and culture which called for specific realtionships for 
determining wergild, inherentance, and so forth.
   It is just my initial thought.


>2. Derivated in OE suna.
>
>...Turning to the derivatives in -suna(1) found in our material ... we find
>that the oldest entry dates from the 7th c. (Hussan sunu, Hering 603 ...).
>In the next century we meet with Molles suna, {AE}{d/}elred ... 774 ...

  When I read this, the examples do not read as patronyms to me.  In Genesis 
A and B there is "sunu Noes"--"Noah's son", but many times the sunu helps 
complete the metrical alliteration and rarely is there another name directly 
around it.

>...
>
>The corresponding Latinized form in filius is recorded as early as c. 690
>(Eadfrid filius Iddi, 688-690 ...

  When writing Latin, do as a Roman would....  I think the Latinization is 
weak support if at all.  Excuse my opinionatedness.

>It should, however, be borne in mind that in a few cases we might be
>concerned with a rendering of the OE patronymic suffix -ing.  Cf. Wulf
>Wonreding (Beowulf 2965) = sunu Wonredes (ib. 297).

   Certainly I think this this more the rule than the exception.

Thanks Mari.  I was interested in how he put it.

Time for a project.

Cyniric

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