Women's Names in Old English (Studies in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland)

This study provides an in depth study into the issue of vernacular names in Old English documents. Specifically it challenges the generally accepted notion that the sex of an individual is definitively indicated by the grammatical gender of their name. In the case of di-thematic names, the grammatical gender in question is that of the second element of the name. Thus di-thematic names have been taken as belonging to women if their second element is grammatically feminine. However, as there are no surviving Anglo-Saxon texts which explain the principles of vernacular nomenclature, or any contemporary list of Old English personal names, it is by no means sure that this assumption is correct. While modern scholars have generally felt no difficulty in distinguishing male from female names, this book asks how far the Anglo-Saxons themselves recognised this distinction, and in so doing critically examines and tests the general principle that grammatical gender is a certain indicator of biological sex. Anyone with an interest in Old English manuscripts or early medieval history will find this book both thought provoking and a useful reference tool for better understanding the Anglo-Saxon world. Cover 1 Contents 8 Foreword 10 List of Abbreviations 12 Preface 14 1 Introduction 16 1.1 General Introduction 16 1.2 Particular Questions to be Discussed 17 1.3 Previous Work in the Field 19 2 The Material 22 2.1 Sources 22 2.1.1 Reliability of the Source Material 23 2.1.2 Discussion of the Source Material 25 2.2 Editions Used 27 2.3 The Female Names 31 3 Analysis and Classification of the Material 70 3.1 Di-thematic Names 70 3.1.1 Second Elements of Di-thematic Names 70 3.1.2 First Elements of Di-thematic Names 79 3.2 Mono-thematic Names 81 3.2.1 Mono-thematic Names Corresponding to Old English Nouns and Adjectives 82 3.2.2 Other Mono-thematic Names 83 4 Discussion of Di-thematic Names 84 4.1 General 84 4.2 Second Name-elements 85 4.2.1 Male and Female Names 88 4.3 First Name-elements 91 4.4 Conclusions 94 5 Analysis and Discussion of Mono-thematic Names 96 5.1 General 96 5.2 Identification of the Head-word 96 5.3 Origin of Names 98 5.3.1 Names whose Origins are or may be Old English Words 99 5.3.2 Names that are Shortened Forms of Di-thematic Names 100 5.3.3 Hypocoristic Names 101 5.3.4 Nicknames 102 5.3.5 Uncertainty of Actual Origin 103 5.4 Similar Male and Female Names 104 5.5 Conclusions 105 6 Some Implications 108 6.1. Assumptions about Sex made from Personal Names 108 6.1.1 Finger-rings 108 6.1.2 Name-stones from Hartlepool 111 6.1.3 Other Inscriptions 112 6.1.4 Some Names in the Durham Liber Vitae 113 6.2 Coins and Moneyers 114 6.3 Words Used to Describe Women 116 6.4 Implications for the Presentation of the Material under Discussion 117 7 Vernacular Names in Old English Poetry 120 8 General Discussion 124 8.1 The Naming of a Child 124 8.2 Gender Specificity 125 8.3 Naming Practices at Different Periods and in Different Areas 126 8.4 The Importance of Meaning in Old English Name-elements 129 8.5 The Choice of a Personal Name 132 9 Conclusion 136 Appendix A: Brief Comparison with Some Modern Names 138 Bibliography 140 Concordances 148 This monograph provides an in-depth study into the issue of vernacular names in Old English documents. Specifically, it challenges the generally accepted notion that the sex of an individual is definitively indicated by the grammatical gender of their name. In the case of di-thematic names, the grammatical gender in question is that of the second element of the name. Thus di-thematic names have been taken as belonging to women if their second element is grammatically feminine. However, as there are no surviving Anglo-Saxon texts which explain the principles of vernacular nomenclature, or any contemporary list of Old English personal names, it is by no means sure that this assumption is correct. While modern scholars have generally felt no difficulty in distinguishing male from female names, this book asks how far the Anglo-Saxons themselves recognised this distinction, and in so doing critically examines and tests the general principle that grammatical gender is a certain indicator of biological sex. Anyone with an interest in Old English manuscripts or early medieval history will find this book both thought provoking and a useful reference tool for better understanding the Anglo-Saxon world. This book provides an in-depth study into the issue of vernacular names in Old English documents. Specifically it challenges the generally accepted notion that the sex of an individual is definitively indicated by the grammatical gender of their name. While modern scholars have generally felt no difficulty is distinguishing male from female names, this book asks how far the Anglo-Saxons themselves recognised this distinction, and in so doing critically examines and tests the general principle that grammatical gender is a certain indicator of biological sex. Anyone with an interest in Old Engli