Viking Names
Toton
The name of Toton, in the Broxtow Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Tófi and the Old English element tun ‘farm, settlement’. It is thus a hybrid name, like others in the region. There are several examples in the Trent valley such as Gonalston or Rolleston. Such names are often called Grimston-hybrids, but the late Kenneth Cameron, formerly professor at the University of Nottingham, always preferred the term Toton-hybrids, since the element ‘Grim’ does not always derive from an Old Norse personal name.
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Viking Names
Colston Bassett
Colston, in the Bingham Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Kolr and the Old English element tun ‘farm, settlement’. It is thus a hybrid name like others nearby, such as Thoroton and Aslockton. Bassett was added in the twelfth or thirteenth century from the name of an owner of the manor. Such suffixes were used to distinguish this Colston from Car Colston, some eight miles to the north of Colston Bassett.
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Viking Names
Barnby Moor
Barnby, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, probably comes from the Old Norse elements barn ‘child’ and by ‘farm, settlement’. Its meaning, ‘children’s farm’, may indicate joint inheritance by the offspring. However, it is also possible that the first element is from the Old Norse male personal name Barni.
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Viking Names
Skegby
Skegby, in the Broxtow Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Skeggi ‘the bearded one’ and by ‘a farmstead, a village’.
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Viking Names
Baumber
Baumber, in the Gartree Wapentake of Lincolnshire, likely comes from the Old English male personal name Badda and the Old English element burh ‘a fortified place’.
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Viking Names
Scrooby
The name of Scrooby probably comes from the Old Norse female personal name Skroppa and the Old Norse element by ‘farm, settlement’.
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Viking Objects
Silver Ingot (NLM-ABB952)
This silver ingot was made by melting down worked silver and casting it in a mould. The Vikings arriving in England had a bullion economy in which they paid for goods with silver that was weighed to an amount agreed between the buyer and the seller. Hacksilver and silver ingots are the most common evidence for their bullion economy. It took some time for the Scandinavian settlers to adopt a monetary economy like that of the Anglo-Saxons, and both systems were used simultaneously for a while before they fully adopted the new system. The Vikings were familiar with monetary economies but they treated coins as just another form of silver before adoption of a monetary economy.
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Viking Objects
Merovingian Tremissis (LEIC-6BAA60)
This Merovingian gold tremissis was minted in Bourges in the late 6th or 7th century. It is possible that it made its way to England prior to Viking incursions but it is equally likely that the Vikings brought this coin with them as plunder after raiding in Frankia.
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Viking Names
Gamston
Gamston, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, is a hybrid name from the Old Norse male personal name Gamall and Old English tun ‘an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate’.
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Viking Objects
Danish Silver Sceat (NARC-70AFF4)
This silver sceat is classified as part of the Danish Series X Type 31. The obverse depicts the head of Woden with crosses to either side of a rounded beard and pellet above. The reverse depicts a monster facing left. These coins are considered to be associated with the early trading center at Ribe. It is very likely that they made their way to England by means of Vikings.
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Viking Names
Haxey
Haxey, in the West Riding of Lindsey in Lincolnshire comes from the Old Norse male personal name Haki and Old Norse ey ‘an island’ or Old English eg ‘an island or well-watered land’ which most frequently refers to dry ground surrounded by marsh. The place-name aptly describes the location as Haxey sits on a low-lying hill surrounded marshland.