Hild

Old Norse Hildr (f.)

Hildr is a monothematic name derived from Old Norse hildr ‘battle’, and in Old Norse mythology it was the name of a valkyrie. It is common across Scandinavia and also a common second element in a number of female personal names such as the very common Gunnhildr, Ragnhildr, etc.

The name is attested as the first element in Hinderskelfe, North Yorkshire, and in Hinderwell, North Yorkshire. Hinderwell may originally have contained the name of the English St Hild of Streanæshalch (Whitby), but preserved forms of the place-name show Scandinavian grammar in the use of the genitive singular Hildar. This form is also seen in a lost field-name in Brocklesby, Lincolnshire.

 

 

Old Norse Name

Hildr

Anglicised Name

Hild

Gender

Female

Features in Saga

Íslendingabók. Landnámabók, ed. Jakob Benediktsson. Íslenzk fornrit I. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1968, chs 48, 112, 183, 219, 258, 320, 323, 348, 369.

Ascribed Culture

Collection

Viking Names

Keywords

female_name, Lincolnshire, mythology, North_Yorkshire, personal-name, valkyries

Further information

This object is related to Hinderskelfe, North Yorkshire.
Find out about Hinderskelfe, North Yorkshire.

References

Carole Hough, ‘Women in English place-names’, in ‘Lastworda Betst’. Essays in memory of Christine E. Fell with her unpublished writings, ed. Carole Hough and Kathryn A. Lowe. Donington: Shaun Tyas (2002), pp. 41-106.

Kenneth Cameron with John Field and John Insley, The Place-Names of Lincolnshire II, English Place-Name Society Volume LXIV/LXV (1991), p. 71.

Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag (1968), pp. 140, 344.

E.H. Lind, Norsk-isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden. Uppsala: A.B. Lundequistska Bokhandel (1915), col. 541-542, 545-547.

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