[ANSTHRLD] Question on my King's College class for the heralds...

[Christie Ward]

Mari offered several good suggestions for structuring my Old Norse Names 
class for King's College

Starting from her suggestions, I've put together a draft outline and I 
thought I'd see what folks think and if there are other suggestions on what 
I should cover...

::GUNNVOR::


NAMES AND NAME-GIVING IN THE VIKING AGE

I.    Overview
      A. When is the Viking Age
      B. What countries are involved
      C. What languages are involved

II.   Sources
      A. Runestones
         1. What are runestones and where are they
         2. Rundata and the inscription codes
         3. Runes, runic alphabet, runic spellings vs. normalized scholarly 
renditions
         3. Caveats - problems in dating

      B. Placename evidence
         1. What type of personal name evidence is available via placenames
         2. Caveats - uncertainness in backformation from placenames

      C. Medieval histories and chronicles
         1. Dating of sources such as Landnámabók and Heimskringla
         2. Latinate sources such as Saxo Grammaticus and the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle
         3. Caveats
            a. The transition from oral history to written history
            b. Problems with backformation from Latin records
            c. Issues with literature in translation: translation and 
normalizing

      D. Sagas
         1. Dating of the sagas
         2. Sagas as romance fiction, historical fiction
         3. Caveats
            a. The transition from oral history to written history
            b. Romance and märchen elements appearing in sagas (Snotra and 
her rhyming sisters)
            c. Issues with literature in translation: translation and 
normalizing

III.  Terminology
      A. Personal name
      B. Byname
      C. Placename
      D. Grammatical terms
         1. Nominative - used as the name itself
         2. Genitive - most important for forming patronymics
         3. Dative, Accusative, Ablative - found in some sources, what these 
are

IV.   Construction of Old Norse Personal Names
      A. How the Viking Age peoples selected names
         1. Based on recent lineage and recent deceased near kin
         2. Older practices based on alliteration and variation

      B. Why etymology is not meaning
         1. Viking Age peoples didn't select names based on meaning
         2. Etymology looks at word ancient word roots, meaning not always 
transparent
         3. A note on meaning being important to modern SCA folk
            and how to use it as a tool to guide clients towards
            documentable, authentic names.

      C. Name elements
         1. Single element names vs. compound, two-element names
         2. Name elements not "mix and match"
            a. RFS II.3
            b. Some name elements only found in first position, others only 
in second
            c. Some name elements gender-specific
            d. Invented names not the best historical recreation

V.    Construction of Old Norse Patronymics etc.
      A. Patronymics
      B. Matronymics
      C. Grandparent names

VI.   Construction of Bynames
      A. Types of byname by frequency
         1. Bynames of relationship and lineage
            a. Patronymics - the overwhelmingly most common type of byname
            b. Matronymics
            c. Grandparent names
            d. Lineage
            e. Names of tribes and peoples
            f. Marriage
         2. Locatives - the second most common type of byname
         3. Descriptive bynames
            a. Physical Characteristics and Body Parts
            b. Age
            c. Mental Characteristics
            d. Travels
            e. Physical Objects
            f. Animal Names
         4. Occupational bynames
            a. Titles
            b. Occupations and Activities

      B. Bynames largely derogatory, and why

      C. Why "Dances-With-Wolves" type bynames are inappropriate

      D. Why bynames don't encapsulate a person's entire persona story and 
life history

      E. Capitalization and positions of bynames in a name phrase

      F. Two bynames in one name

VII.  A Brief Look at Diminuitives and Pet Names
      A. Old Norse names often form diminuitives based on one element
      B. Diminuitives appear to have moved into name stocks as personal 
names over time

VIII. Constructing an Old Norse Name for Registration with the SCA CoH
      A. RFS I-VI and some issues often encountered with Old Norse Names
         1. RFS III - COMPATIBLE NAMING STYLE AND GRAMMAR
            a. What the Norse did in adopting foreign names
            b. Compatible with the culture of a *single time and place*.
            c. Two name components for registration

         2. RFS IV - OFFENSIVE NAMES - Why some bynames may bounce

         3. RFS V - NAME CONFLICT
            a. Conflicts can be cleared by adding a name element
               1. Name + Patronymic - try adding a byname
               2. Name + Byname - try adding a patronymic
               3. Add a grandfather's name

            b. If a personal name has to be changed,
               1. Consider changing only one element in a two-element name
               2. Consider registering a documented diminuitive form for the 
desired name

         4. RFS VI - PRESUMPTUOUS NAMES - Avoiding mythological elements

      B. Order of name elements

IX.   Documenting an Old Norse Name for Registration with the SCA CoH
      A. A review of the materials provided on the CD-ROM
         1. WWW Articles
            a. Access original article, print, and add to submission
            b. My articles cite original source of information, where to go 
to find the original data

         2. Dictionaries and Bynames
            a. The intricate art of nuance
            b. Making sure invented bynames fit patterns of documented 
bynames
            c. To use as documentation, print scanned title page and page(s) 
with entry(ies)

         3. Bibliographic materials
            a. Using online college library catalogs to find sources
            b. Using Interlibrary Loan to find sources

      D. Seeking assistance
         1. Gunnvör - gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com
         2. Academy of St. Gabriel