[ANSTHRLD] RE:Asa Hrafnsdottir

[C. L. Ward]

Padraig said:
>Given that, does someone with more knowledge
>of Norse names than I have know if the name
<{AE}sa> would be sufficiently different from
>Asa to avoid conflict?
>I'm trying to help my client find an alternative
>that isn't totally different from what she
>originally wanted.

Checking in:

Lena Peterson. Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. Spra*k- och folkminnes-institutet.
http://www.dal.lu.se/runlex/index.htm Accessed 30 May 2003.

Under <A'sa> it says "Short form of feminine names in <A's-> (see
<A's-/{AE}s->)".

Under <A's-/{AE}s-> it says: "The sound form <{AE}s-> is developed from a
palatal vowel or consonant in the second element; it has later by the system
of variation spread from the second element instead of usual sound
mutation."

In other words, depending on what <A's-> name you're talking about, the
short form will vary in pronounciation based on the spelling of the second
element.  But it's the same name, I think, overall.  Rules for Submissions
at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html#2 says:

"PART V - NAME CONFLICT
1. Personal Names
a. Difference of Name Phrases - Two name phrases are considered
significantly different if they differ significantly in sound and
appearance. Name phrases that are not significantly different are said to be
equivalent. Variant spellings of the same word or name, no matter how
radical, are not considered significantly different unless there is also a
significant difference in pronunciation."

There is a difference, but not a big difference, and I'd tend to think that
for most purposes both variants are essentially the same name.

HOWEVER, you can make the name conflict without changing the parts she's
attached to. The Rules for Submissions also says:

"PART V - NAME CONFLICT
1. Personal Names
b. Conflict of Personal Names
ii. Number of Name Phrases - A personal name containing at most two name
phrases does not conflict with any personal name containing a different
number name phrases."

So you could add a locative name at the end and clear the conflict.  How
about something like:

<A'sa Hrafnsdo'ttir i' Hrafnsfjo:r{dh}>
(Asa, daughter of Hrafn, from Hrafnsfjord)

That particular place-name is from Landnamabok ch. 35 (see
http://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm)

It was very common for people's farms or dwellings to be named for the
person, so it would be unsurprising for her father to live at a place
combining the personal name <Hrafn> plus any of several place-suffixes:

Stead: <Hrafnssta{dh}ir>

Farm: <Hrafnsby'r>

Home-place: <Hrafnsto'ft> (this name is specifically listed in Landnamabok
ch. 90)

Village: <Hrafns{th}orp>

Haven: <Hrafnsho:fn>

Garth: <Hrafnsgar{dh}r> (for example in the name of Master Gerekr
fja'rsja'ndi Ro:gnvaldsson i' Hrafnsgar{dh}i)

Headland: <Hrafnsnes> (see Magnúss saga Erlingssonar ch. 12,
http://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/m-erl.htm)

Field: <Hrafnsvo:llr>

Dale: <Hrafnsdalr>

(All of the above suffixes can be found as placenames formed with various
personal names in Landnamabok. Also see
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/033.html for a badly-normalized
complete list of place-names from Landnamabok.  If you start with this then
go back to the Old Norse text for the actual Old Norse form of the
place-name, it can be quite useful.)

See Lindorm Eriksson's "The Bynames of the Viking Age Runic Inscriptions" in
the section on locatives for construction plus several examples
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/lindorm/runicbynames/places.htm#start

::GUNNVOR::