ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1192 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1192 ************************************ 30 Aug 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a pre-14th century name, appropriate to Rus culture, which means . Here is what we have found. Historians do not agree on the origin of the Rus. One hypothesis holds that they were Scandinavian Vikings, an offshoot of the Varangians, who moved southward and founded a state centering on Kiev. A competing hypothesis argues that the Rus were a Slavic tribe that founded a tribal league which created the Kievan state, and that the Varangian rule of Kiev was a only a brief interlude [1]. It is known for certain that the Varangians (Scandinavian Vikings mercenaries), under the leadership of Oleg or Oleh, ruler of Novgorod, conquered Kiev in the mid-9th century. However, they did not retain their Scandinavian heritage for long, at least not in naming. By the 10th century, the rulers of Kiev had Slavic names like and . We've found Scandinavian names in Kiev as late as the 11th century, but the Varangian period had very little lasting impact on the Kievan namestock [2, 3, 7]. Based on this evidence, our conclusion is that if you choose to make your persona a Varangian living in Kiev in the mid-9th century, a Scandinavian name would be appropriate. If you want to be a Rus much later than that, you ought to choose a Slavic name. Since the name you asked about is Scandinavian, we're going to assume that choice in the rest of this letter. If you want a Slavic name, please write us again, or read the articles on period Slavic naming that you will find on the web at http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/slavic.html is a fairly late-period spelling of the name that modern scholars spell in Old Norse. The earliest examples we found of the spelling were recorded in mid-14th century Sweden or Denmark. This is later than your period, which you specified ending in 1300. In earlier written records, the name was recorded either as in the Latin form or in runes [4, 5]. is probably the best approximation in our alphabet of the name as it was used before 1300. It is pronounced \AY-reekr\. The final is barely pronounced; it's just a slightly roll after the \k\. In particular, it is not a separate syllable. Sentences or phrases as bynames (epithets) are quite unusual in Scandinavian naming. We recommend that you consider a shorter, more compact way to convey the same idea as "Eirikr who fell in the fire". The hero of Njall's Saga was burnt to death by his enemies; as a result, he is sometimes called "Burnt-Njall". We've found several other examples of the same byname recorded in Norway and Iceland between 1000 and 1253, e.g. , [6]. would be a fine Viking-age or medieval name (8th to 13th century) in Scandinavia. In Rus culture, we recommend it only for the 9th and 10th centuries. In your period, a man in Scandinavian society would have been known as his father's son in any formal circumstance. He might be known for some other byname at other times, but he would also use a patronymic byname (one that names his father) when appropriate. Viking patronymics are pretty straightforward; Brennu-Eirikr the son of Thorvaldr would be called . The possessive form of the father's name ( in this case) isn't always so obvious; we can help you get the grammar right once you choose your father's name. A very good source for Viking-age names is _The Old Norse Name_ by G. Fleck (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), which is owned by many heralds in the Society. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Lindorm Eriksson, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Aug 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Rus" Britannica Online. [Accessed 24 July 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/513/93.html [2] "Kiev: History" Britannica Online. [Accessed 24 July 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5003/53/3.html [3] Predslava Vydrina, "Russian Personal Names: Name Frequency in the Novgorod Birch-Bark Letters" in Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1997 (SCA: Rochester, NY, 1997; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/predslava/bbl/ [4] _Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn_, Band 1, ha:fte 5 (Uppsala, 1991, isbn: 91-7402-044-7). [5] Knudsen Gunnar, Marius Kristiansen, & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48). [6] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21). [7] _Nestorskro:nikan. O:versa:ttning av Gabriella Oxenstierna. Fo:rord av Per-Arne Bodin_, (Stockholm/Stehag 1998: Brutus O:stlings Bokfo:rlag Symposion, ISBN: 91-7139-307-2). A Swedish translation of "Nestor's Chronicle", i.e. "Povest vremennych ler". P. 109, year 6508 after the creation (= 1000 AD) and died. Rogned was the mother of the Prince of the Kievan state. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -