Heill Llama!
> Thanks for posting these; inteersting stuff. I suppose 'folkvaldi'
may not have counted as a name in Old Norse any more than 'fylkir',
though it's used in a kenning for Freyr in Skírnismál
(and 'folkvaldr' also appears as a kenning for a human ruler). On
the other hand, the Old English cognate does appear as a name in
Béowulf, as Folcwalda, the father of Finn.
Well, I can't say (without a census) whether it occured in ON or not
as a personal name, but it appears not to have.
> Folcwig (=ON Folkvér?, cf. Hloþvér : Hlodowech, Ludwig) is
attested in continental Germanic at least as the name of bishop of
Worms, but I'm not sure of the date.
*folkvér is likley in ON, as fem. folkvé is found:
< *folkawîhaz *folkawîhu
> Does 'folk' ever occur as the last element of a name, as 'polk'
does in old Russian names?
Not that I am aware of.
> The Slavonic 'polk' is supped to be a loan from East Germanic, but
I'm not sure if that ever appears as the first element of compound
names, or whether the practice of using it finally originated in
Slavic.
Gutland has some attested fulk-names, and the others are largely
from Sweden. Given the geography, one might expect some Gothic names
in fulka-, at least as an initial element. Anyway, I'll eventually
get something like a *complete list of all pre-reformation ON names
considered original to ON. I am sorting them thus (in fuþark-order:
fuyúýoøóø'þå&æ(nasal/long)rkghniíaæáæ'stbml and diphthongs):
1. compound-names (2 elements)
2. short-forms of compound names (tobba=þórbiorg, etc.)
3. non-compound-names (all strong declension)
4. non-compound-names (all weak, many short-forms for #3 names)
5. strong-declined nicknames
6. weak-declined nicknames (hinn góði, etc.)
7. compounding nicknames (fiall-, etc.)
8. compounding nicknames oblique (fialla-, etc.)
The last will simply appear as a list prefixed by 'hinn'. The real
problem is where to draw the line between strong-nicknames and
strong non-compound names, as in many cases the situation appears to
have been confused in viking times (some nicknames were becoming
names, etc.) - thus, amongst some of the oldest ON names (often used
as elements in compound-names, like gautr fastr finnr alfr ormr oddr
gestr gerþr gísl etc., but not always - vakr raumr vagn haukr knútr
etc.), there will be ones of nickname-origin which had definitely
become names by viking times (fundinn, glúmr, etc.). 3 and 4 will
have some duplicate strong/weak forms (gautr gauti, gamall gamli
etc.), where one can be the short-form of the other, or just
variations, as well as some different material. 5 will overlap to
some extent with 3, as I will relist items as nicknames in 5 if they
thus occur, besides as names in 3. It's a rough-outline as of now,
but the material is basically collected. What I can do is print out
the list (a few pages, small print), get it scanned to Norse Course
and hope for the best (new finds, corrections, suggestions). Perhaps
I should do the names first and wait with the nicknames, because the
material here is just as extensive.
On a side note, I listed fiallgeirr as a name in my previous post,
but it is really a compounding-nickname plus name, I think. Thus,
only fiallarr is a *real compound in fiall- (the only attested one)
- thus show fialla- and fiall- above as examples. In the end, I'm
sure I'll add the sea-kings, giants, etc. ;) Still, I think it is
very important that folk have ready access to a complete list of all
known ON names that can be reasonably attested. This would include
anything from PN inscriptions (but in ON form) that 1) occurs in ON
2) probably occured in ON, but isn't attested. Of the latter, the
two examples I like to cite are: ansugîslaz & ansugastiz. Neither
are attested in ON, and names in ós-/ás- were never formed after
Christianization (many died out, others became generic/neutralized,
no more were invented). Still, ON ósgísl & ósgestr must have existed
in ON times, despite their fate after Christianization (compare the
likes of þórgísl þórgestr goþgísl goþgestr etc.). - thus, there will
be some interesting items from PN inscriptions as well. On occassion
names will have 2 forms: the old West Norse standard form beside a
clearer, more archaic/explanatory attested form (sigurþr eþa vorþr -
listed thus : goþfrøþr eþa røþr, etc.).
-K
> Llama Nom
>
>
> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "akoddsson" <konrad_oddsson@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Using the inscriptional evidence, we get:
> >
> > folkvé : folkvarþr : folkgeirr : folkuþr : folkbiorn :
folkmarr :
> > folki : folka
> >
> > folki and folka are just the short-forms for masc. and fem.
names in
> > folk, respectively. Folkgeirr is somewhat dubious, as the
> > inscription reads fulkir (coulf be fylkir), but name -geirr
names
> > show -kir, -ker, -kiz, -kez in younger Swedish inscriptions,
while
> > older ones tend to show -kaiz. Given that a personal name
*fylkir is
> > otherwise not attested, *folkgeirr is what most scholars would
read,
> > as it belongs to a known name-category. Folkuþr is just a
typical,
> > conservative West Norse version of the inscribed fulkaþr
(uþr/aþr <
> > PN *folkôþuz). The name folkvarþr (or folkvorþr) is alone found
> > inscribed in West Norse (one time, against non elsewhere).
> >
> > Using pre-reformation non-saga sources, we add:
> >
> > folkviþr : *folkvin(r) : folksteinn : folkarr :
> >
> > OS folkvidher; folkvinr OS (folkvin 1279-1421) OD(folkwin,
folken),
> > but also OG folcwin, OE folkwine volken 1371-1687 - thus, the
name
> > could, but need not be, a Germanic borrowing. folksteinn (OS
folsten
> > 1446), folkviþr (OS folkvidher, folvit 1283-1520 OGut
fullkuiþr),
> > and folkarr OS (folkar 1385) OD (folker 1413-1645) OGut (folkar)
are
> > are normal ON formations.
> >
> > Using saga-sources, we add nothing, as names in folk- seem to
have
> > been non-existent (or more probably more correctly, much rarer)
in
> > West Norse areas. Combining our pre-reformation sources, we get:
> >
> > folkviþr : folkvé : folkvarþr/vorþr : folkuþr : *folkgeirr :
> > folkarr : folksteinn : folkbiorn : folkmarr
> >
> > 8 names plus *folkgeirr, which while probably not fylkir, could
be a
> > masc. equivalent to folkvé (*folkvér), even if written fulkir
(on
> > this compare, for instance, þórir < þórvér beside þórvé, etc.),
but
> > a resulting West Norse *følkir would be strange, and while
fylkir
> > could result, it would run into the ON word fylkir, which is not
a
> > personal name, as far as we can tell. On the other hand,
*folkvér
> > would avoid having to reconstruct *folkvér, which would be the
most
> > obvious reconstruction in view of folkvé. Any ideas or
references
> > here would be appreciated. Lastly, a fem. *folkbiorg is a likely
> > reconstruction, based on folksteinn (same meaning) and folkbiorn
> > (while not cognate, mascs. in -biorn occur beside fems. in -
biorg/
> > borg in other categories). I left folkvinr out as dubious, but
it
> > could be actual for ON (compare auþunn < auþvinr).
> >
> > -K
> >
>