Sael Patti.

> Saell Konrad
> This sounds really interesting - among many subjects I have

studied - I would say that Onomastics has been a lasting favourite.

I am utterly fascinated by the old, heathen naming practice. Here and
there there are folk with a real interest names, I suppose. I think
they tell us more than almost anything else about a folk, taken
collectively.

> I have heard the name Asbjorn and can see that is is some kind of

Bear but in one of the Sagas that we have translated on this Group -
there was a young Chieftain Jarl - whose name was translated as the
HearthBear - do you know who that was. I am not sure if it was
Asbjorn or not

The personal name Jarl is the same as English Earl. Still used, I
think. I recall seeing some years ago that a guitar player on a
record by the rock-artist David Bowie was named Earl Slick. An early
and important American jazz-pianist bore the name Earl Hines. He was
a pioneer, and played with Louis Armstrong during the 1920s, and
again during the 1950s. It is from Proto-Norse Erilaz, and refers to
some kind of public official, whose fuction is not fully understood
any longer. Later, it was used by Haraldr Harfagri Halfdanarson in
Norway as the title of his district-rulers, whom he set in place of
the old kings of the formerly i9ndependent kingdoms after he had
conquered and subjected them. Originally, the Norwegian chieftains
were called hersir, pl. hersar, which means army-leader. Folk were
organized as armies in ancient times. He likely appointed the chief
priest of the nation, called alls herjar godi, the priest of the
whole army, who sacrificed for the folk according to the law at
appointed times of the year. Hersir also occurs as a personal name in
Rigsthula, but I have not found it elsewhere. Jarl is a category of
names I will mention, occupational names, where folk were simply
called after occupations and types of men, apparently irrespective of
whether of not they had those occuptions. Totemic, I think. Asbjorn
is from Proto-Norse *Ansubernuz, a u-stem, and is simply the man's
name Bjorn plus a prefix As- (before about 1150 still Os, long hooked-
o from u-mutation), meaning 'god', one of the aesir (the ON gods that
came with the Indo-Europeans to Scandinavia about 4000BC). Remember
that in ON inherited compound names, the second element is the main
element, even if the second element is partly or fully obscured in ON
due to linguistic loss.

-Konrad