Description
Gudrid
Old Norse Guðríðr (f.)
Guðríðr was common in Iceland from the time of settlement (c. 870-930) onwards and is recorded in the quasi-historical Old Norse-Icelandic text Landnámabók ‘The Book of Settlements’ that recounts this period. The name was also common in Norway and is found in a Danish runic inscription and possibly appears in a Swedish place-name. Forms of Guðríðr are attested in medieval Yorkshire charters and documents.
The first element of the name is Guð from guð, ‘the gods’ and is combined with the second element -(f)ríðr, related to Gothic frījōn ‘to love’ with the original meaning ‘loved’, later meaning ‘fair’.
Old Norse Name
- Guðríðr
Anglicised Name
- Gudrid
Gender
- Female
Features in Saga
Íslendingabók. Landnámabók, ed. Jakob Benediktsson. Íslenzk fornrit I. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1968, chs 83, 87, 100, 237, 244, 276, 310.
Ascribed Culture
Collection
- Viking Names
Keywords
- female_name, personal-name
Further information
References
Lena Peterson, Nordiskt runnamnslexikon: Femte, reviderade utgåvan. Uppsala: Institutet för språk och folkminnen (2007), p. 85.
Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag (1968), pp. 111, 344, 348.
E.H. Lind, Norsk-isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden. Uppsala: A.B. Lundequistska Bokhandel (1915), col. 387-389.