Viking Names
Holme
Holme, in the Thurgarton Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, is a simplex name from Old Norse holmr ‘an island, an inland promontory, raised ground in marsh, a river-meadow’. This place is by the River Trent, and there are several other places by this name in the county. For more information about Holme and other place-names in the East Midlands, see the Lunchtime Talk Holme from Home? East Midland Place-Names and the Story of Viking Settlement.
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Viking Names
Gerd
The name Gerðr was found in Iceland in the tenth century, but only possibly found in Norway in place-names. It is also found in one Danish place-name. It is is the first element in the place-name Garriston, North Yorkshire and in Getheston, a field name, in Monk Bretton, West Yorkshire. Gerðr is from the Primitive Scandinavian garðiōʀ. Perhaps it is the female equivalent of the Old Norse male personal name Garðr from Old Norse garðr ‘yard, enclosure’, but used in the older sense of ‘protection’. Gerðr occasionally appears as a form of the male personal name, Giarðarr. Many female names, such as Þorgerðr are formed with -gerðr as the second element. Gerðr also appears in Old Norse mythology as the name of the giantess with whom the god Freyr falls in love.
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Viking Objects
Stirrup-Strap Mount (LIN-CFA7D4)
This example of an Anglo-Scandinavian cast copper-alloy stirrup-strap mount is classed as Williams Class A, Type 1A. It is decorated with a symmetrical pair of moulded beasts shown in profile in the Ringerike/Urnes style.
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Viking Names
Snelland
The derivation of Snelland, in the Wraggoe Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is uncertain. The first element is either the Old Norse male personal name Snjallr or the Old English male personal name Snell, the second element is Old Norse lundr ‘a small wood’.
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Viking Names
Broddi
Broddi, the first element in the place-name Broadholme, Lincolnshire, is otherwise mainly recorded in Iceland.
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Viking Names
Elli
Elli is a mythological name from Old Norse elli ‘old age’. In Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, Thor battles with Elli who here is a personification of old age in the guise of an old woman. Even the mighty Thor cannot defeat her! The name Elli may be found as an element in some West Yorkshire place-names, but it cannot actually be distinguished from the Old English male personal name Ælla or Ælli.
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Viking Names
Bruni
Brúni is a weak variant of Brúnn, originally an Old Norse male byname meaning ‘brown’. The latter name is recorded in some Norwegian place-names, but the independent instances may be loans from Continental Germanic. The weak form of the name, Brúni, was the name of one of the original settlers of Iceland in Landnámabók ‘The Book of Settlements’, but this name soon dropped out of use in Norway. The weak form is common in Swedish runic inscriptions (as bruni) and occasionally appears in Denmark. Brúni may be the first element in the place-name Brumby, Lincolnshire.
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Viking Objects
Silver Dirham (DENO-07CCA4)
A complete silver dirham of Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) reign of al-Mahdi Billah, 163 AH (780 AD). The dirham was a unit of weight used across North Africa, the Middle East, and Persia, with varying values which also referred to the type of coins used in the Middle East during the Viking Age. These coins were extremely prized possessions not only for their silver value but as a way of displaying one’s wealth and vast trade connections. Millions of Arabic dirhams would have been imported throughout the Viking world and are mostly found in hoards.
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Viking Objects
Stirrup Strap Mount (NARC-C34373)
This cast copper-alloy stirrup strap mount is decorated with Ringerike style ornamentation and is classed under Williams Class A Type 1.
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Viking Names
Brumby
The first element of the place-name Brumby, in the Manley Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is likely the Old Norse male personal name Brúni, although it has also been suggested it could be the Old Norse element brunnr ‘a well, spring’. The second element is bý ‘a farmstead, a village’.