[ANSTHRLD] Bryn Gwlad and vicinity Commentary meeting

Thu Feb 12 10:07:49 PST 2004

I won't be able to come, but I have some commentary.

13) Skarrgarð, Canton of. ()
New Name. New Device.
============================
Firstly, I didn't find any place names in <Skarr->.  I *do* find locative
elements <Skorr-> and <-garðr> (more on <Skorr-> below). The documentation
is available in the online scanned version of the Cleasby-Vigfusson Old
Icelandic Dictionary, which can be simply printed from the URLs provided
below:

Cleasby, Richard and Guðbrandr Vigfusson. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon. 1957.  pp. 191-192 s.v. <garðr>:

garðr, m. ... I. "a yard" (an enclosed space)... 2. "a court-yard" ... 3.
esp. in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, "a house or building in a town or
village" ... 4. denoting "a stronghold" ... Ás-garðr... Mið-garðr ...
Ut-garðr ... II. in Icel. sense "a fence" of any kind ... III. Garðar ...
Garða-ríki or Garða-veli, n. "the empire of Garðar" is the old Scand. name
of the Scandinavian-Russian kingdom of the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of
which were Hólm-garðar, Kænu-garðar, , Nov-gorod, etc., the names being
derived from "the castles or strongholds (garðar)" which the Scandinavians
erected among the Slavonioc people...

The title page is at:
http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oi_cleasbyv
igfusson/a0002.png

P. 191 is at:
http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oi_cleasbyv
igfusson/b0191.png

P. 192 is at:
http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oi_cleasbyv
igfusson/b0192.png

What I'm seeing from the pattern of placenames is that <-garðr> means "a
house in a town" in mainland Scandinavia, is "a farmyard or fenced pasture"
in Iceland, has the sense of "stronghold" when you're talking about
locations in mythology, and the walled cities in Russia mostly appear to
have been using <-garðar>.

Next, looking at their proposed compound from Old Norse <skarr> from the
Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary p. 539 s.v. <skarr>:

skarr, m. [cp. skæra], "a skirmish, tumult"; ... —the name of a sword, Edda
(Gl.)

P. 539 is at:
http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oi_cleasbyv
igfusson/b0539.png

What I do not see is any evidence that this noun appears anywhere in a
placename.

Still, I do find some Old Norse place names that combine a "battle" word
with a place-name suffix. Looking again at the Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary
p. 469 s.v. <orrosta> has:

orrosta, u., f. ... "a battle" ... 2. in local names,
Orrostu-hólmr, -hváll, -tangi, "Battle-hill", etc., Korm., Eg.

P. 469 is at:
http://penguin.pearson.swarthmore.edu/~scrist1/scanned_books/png/oi_cleasbyv
igfusson/b0469.png

So that's place names including:

Orrostuhólmr ("Battle Island")
Orrostuhváll ("Battle Hill", from Egils saga skallagrímssonar)
Orrostutangi (lit. "Battle-tang", a spit of land where a battle occurred)

I guess it's sort of reasonable to have a farmyard or a fenced pasture in
which a skirmish or scuffle takes place, meaning that <Skarrgarðr> more or
less seems reasonable as an Icelandic placename.

However, as I've already informed the folks from the canton, there are some
reasonably close, linguistically plausible O.N. placenames, based on firmly
documentable place-name elements for both halves of the name from
Landnámabók.  Using the sample place-name list below, I suggest:

<Skorragarðr> (rift-garth)
<Skarðugarðr> (mountain-pass-garth)
<Garðarsker> (Garðar-skerry)

Some place-names from Landnámabók
(http://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm)
===================================
Skarði (mountain-pass) Ch. 25, 40, 85
Skarðsbrekka (mountain-pass-slope) Ch. 83

Skorradalr (rift-dale) Ch. 19, 34, 45
Skorraholt (rift woods; rift in a stony ridge) Ch. 45
Skorrey (rift island) Ch. 45
Skoravík (rift inlet; rift bay) Ch. 40
Dufþaksskor (Dufthak's-rift) Ch. 7

Dritsker (Guano-skerry) Ch. 33
Einarssker (Einar's-skerry) Ch. 32
Gunnbjarnarsker (Gunnbjorn's-skerry) Ch. 29, 35, 50
Helgasker (Helgi's-skerry) Ch. 54
Narfasker (Narfi's-skerry) Ch. 67
Svartssker (Svartr's-skerry, Dark-skerry) Ch. 45
Þormóðssker (Thormod's-skerry) Ch. 35

GarðaR, OW.Norse Garðaríki (the Norse name for a eastern Rus settlement in
the Viking Age and medieval period) Ch. 1
Garðarshólmr (Isle of Garðar) Ch. 1, 2
Hagagarðr (Pasture-garth) Ch. 99
Hleiðrargarðr (Hleiðrar's-garth) Ch. 71
Hofgarðr (Temple-garth) Ch. 27
Hólmgarðr (Novogorod in Russia) Ch. 55
Hrossagarðr (Horse-garth) Ch. 86
Húsagarðr (House-garth) Ch. 94
Miklagarðr (Mickle-garth) (Constantinople) Ch. 1
Túngarðr (Home-field-garth) Ch. 40

Glossary of useful place-name terms for the above
=================================================
brekka, f. slope.

dalr (gen. dals, dat. dal or dali, pl. dalar or dalir), m. dale, valley
(djúpir dalir).

drit, n. dirt, excrement, guano.

ey (gen. eyjar, dat. ey and eyju pl. eyjar), f. an island.

garðr (-s, -ar). m. (1) fence, wall; (2) enclosed space, yard; (3)
court-yard, court; (4) house, dwelling; (5) stronghold, castle; (6) walled
Norse settlements in Russia.

hagi, m. pasture, field for grazing. haga-garðr, m. fence round a
pasture-field.

hof, n. heathen temple.

hólmi, m. (1) islet, = hólmr; knoll.

holt, n. (1) wood; (2) rough stony ridge.

hross, n. (1) horse; (2) mare.

hús, n. house; pl. the group of buildings on a farm, = bær; at húsa baki, at
the back of the houses.

hváll, m. a hill.

mikill (acc. mikinn, neut. mikit), a. (1) great, tall, of stature; (2)
great, large, in bulk or size; (3) of quantity, great, much (4) great,
prominent.

skarð, n. (1) notch, hack, in the edge of a thing (skörð vóru fallin í
sverðit); s. í vörr, a hare-lip; (2) empty space; (3) mountain pass.

sker (gen. pl. skezja), n. rock in the sea, skerry.

skor (pl. -ar), f. (1) score, notch, incision; (2) a rift in a rock or
precipice.

tangi, m. a spit of land

tún, n. (1) a hedged plot, enclosure, court-yard, homestead; (2) home field,
home meadow; (3) town.

vík (gen. víkr, pl. víkr), f. inlet, small bay.

::GUNNVOR:

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