[ANSTHRLD] Re: FW: Devise in progress: William Black Dragon (Ironwyrm)

C. L. Ward gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com
Thu Feb 26 07:06:51 PST 2004


>    "William Black Dragon" in any variation of old English,
>    Latin, French, Scandinavian, or Flemish that might work.

On the possibilities of a Scandinavian name, you do not find bynames that
are animalname+adjective nor adjective+animalname. If we examine the
recorded by-names from sources such as Landnámabók and the runic
inscriptions, those that do contain animal names are overwhelmingly the
animal name only.  Otherwise the animal name is combined with a word
describing a body-part.:

aurriði	("salmon-trout") VB
Bifru-	("Beaver-") VB
birtingr ("trout") VB
bjarki ("bear-cub") VB
brimill	("large seal) VB
dúfunef	("dove-nose, dove-beak) VB
dýr	("animal, deer) VB
elgr ("elk") VBR
feilan	("wolf-cub") VB
gylðir	(literally "howler, yeller" but metaphorically "wolf") VB
fiskreki ("fish-driver" a metaphorical name for "whale") VB
gagarr ("barker", with the sense of "dog") VB
galti ("boar") VB
gedda ("pike, pike-fish") VBR
geit ("nanny-goat") VB
gríss ("shoat, piglet") VB
gylðir	(literally "howler, yeller" but metaphorically "wolf") VB
Hafr- ("Billygoat-") VB
hafrsþjó ("buck's thigh") VB
hákr ("hake", a specific type of fish) VB
inn haukdoelski ("man from the Hawk-Dale") VB
hauknefr ("hawk-nose, hawk-beak") VB
hegri ("heron") VB
Hesta- ("Horse-") VB
hestageldir ("horse-gelder") VB
hesthöfði ("horse-head") VB
hestr ("horse") VB
hjörtr ("hart, stag") VB
hoengr ("male salmon") VB
Hrafna- ("Raven-") VB
hrogn ("roe, spawn") VB
Hunda- ("Hound-, Dog-") VB
hvalmagi ("whale-might") VB
hvalró ("whale-calmness") VB
Kaða- ("Hen-") VB
kleggi ("horsefly") VB
korpr ("corby, crow") VB
Kráku- ("Crow-") VB
krákunef ("crow-nose, crow-beak") VB
laxakarl ("salmon-man") VB
löngubak ("ling-back" - ling is a type of fish) VB
ormstunga ("serpent-tongue") VB
örn ("eagle") VB
Øxna- ("Oxen-") VB
øxnabroddr ("ox-goad, ox-spike") VB
øxnamegin ("ox-might, ox-strength") VB
pái ("peacock") VB, VBR
refr ("fox") VB
refskegg ("fox-beard") VB
reyðarsíða ("trout-bank, whale-coast") VB
reyðr ("red whale or trout") VB
rymgylta ("runaway-sow") VB
Sela- ("Seal-") VB
selshöfuð ("seal's-head") VBR
Svína- ("Swine-, Pig-") VB
þorskabítr ("codfish-biter") VB
veðr ("ram, male sheep") VB
vífill ("weevil, beetle") VB

That being said, the Scandinavian equivalent of <wyrm> is <ormr>, which also
occurs as the masculine personal name <Ormr> and also as name elements
<Orm-> and <-ormr>.  Names with <-ormr> as the second element include:

Goðormr, Guðormr (NR s.nn. <GórmR>, <Guð->, <-ormr >)

Gormr (GB p. 10 s.n. <Gormr>; FJ pp. 112, 344, 350 s.n. <Guðþormr>, <Guð->,
<-ormr>; NR s.nn. <GórmR>, <Guð->, <-ormr >)

Guðþormr, Guttormr (GB p. 10 s.nn. <Guþormr>, <Guttormr>; FJ pp. 112, 344,
350 s.n. <Guðþormr>, <Guð->, <-ormr>; NR s.nn. <GórmR>, <Guð->, <-ormr >)

Hallormr (GB p. 11 s.n. <Hallormr>)

LingormR (NR s.nn. <LingormR>, <-ormR>)

Ráðormr (GB p. 14 s.n. <Ráðormr>)

Véðrormr (CV pp. 468-469, 687 s.vv. <ormr>, <vé>)

Þórormr (GB p. 16 s.n. <Þórormr>)

There are also a few personal names containing the first element <Járn->,
which is identical with Old West Norse <járn>, "iron".

Járngrímr (GB p. 12 s.v. <Járngrímr>)

Járnskeggi (GB p. 12 s.n. <Járnskeggi>)

Járni (NR s.v. Iarni)

Since <Járn-> does appear as a documentable personal name first element, and
<-ormr> occurs as a documentable second element, I would suggest using
"Járnormr" as a patronymic using RfS II.3
(http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html#2.3)

The Norse equivalent of "William" is <Vilhjálmr> (GB p. 16 s.n. <Vilhjálmr>;
NR s.n. <VilhialmR>).

Thus I'd suggest the closest possible Scandinavian name for this client
would be:

<Vilhjálmr Járnormsson>

Sources:

CV = Cleasby, Richard and Guðbrandr Vigfusson. An Icelandic-English
Dictionary. 2nd. ed. Oxford: Clarendon. 1957.

GB = Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. The Old Norse Name. Studia Marklandica I.
Olney, MD: Markland Medieval Militia. 1977.

FJ = Fellows-Jensen, Gillian. Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire
and Yorkshire. Copenhagen. Akademisk Forlag. 1968.

NR = Lena Peterson. Nordisk runnamnslexikon. Språk- och
folkminnes-institutet (Institute for Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore
Research). http://www.dal.lu.se/runlex/index.htm

VB = Friedemann, Sara L. (Aryanhwy merch Catmael). Viking Bynames found in
the Landnámabók. 1999. http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/vikbynames.html

VBR = Romson, Christer (Lindorm Eriksson). The Bynames of the Viking Age
Runic Inscriptions. 2000.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/lindorm/runicbynames/

::GUNNVOR::







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