[Namron] What's in a name

[Ulf Gunnarsson]

Sœmund wrote:
> Well, after Baron Ulf's pronunciation guide.. I dont much care for
> that name.  heh  But I have been looking on and found this
>  
> Sœmund
>  
> which I think is very closely pronouced like the common Simon.  Dont
> have a surname but that can come later I guess.

There is a real nice source for some of the surnames from Iceland during
the time of colonization.  It even has them sorted by how common they
were.  It is at:
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/vikbynames.htm

In general, though, an Icelander would start with a patronymic and only
switch to a descriptive byname if there were two of them or if something
really stood out about them.  And then it was everyone else that came up
with the byname.  You might call yourself Thorstein the Handsome but
everyone else in the area called you Thorstein the Stinky.


Baron Ulf