Viking Names
Ulceby
Ulceby, in the Yarborough Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a Scandinavian compound from the Old Norse male personal name Ulfr and by ‘farm, settlement’. It is noteworthy that the first element has a Scandinavian genitive (a case that indicates relationships or ownership), as in the identical name Ulceby with Fordington and other place-names in Lincolnshire like Braceby, Haceby, Laceby, Rauceby and Winceby, and this survives today.
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Viking Names
Bleasby
Bleasby, in the Thurgarton Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, was originally Blisetun, probably from the Old Norse male personal name Blesi and the Old English element tun ‘farm, settlement’. It was thus originally a hybrid name, like several others near it, such as Gonalston. By the thirteenth century, the second element had been replaced by Old Norse by ‘farm, settlement’.
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Viking Names
Eakring
Eakring, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse elements eik ‘oak’ and hringr ‘ring’ and must have been named after a circle of oak trees.
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Viking Names
Wood Enderby
The name Enderby probably comes from the Old Norse male personal name Eindriði and the Old Norse element by ‘farm, settlement’. ‘Wood’ was added later to distinguish this part of the settlement from Bag Enderby and Mavis Enderby.
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Viking Names
Legsby
Legsby, in the South Riding of Lindsey of Lincolnshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Leggr and the Old Norse element by ‘farmstead, village’. The boundary between Legsby and Linwood was recorded as Leggeshou/ Legeshou/ Leggeshow ‘Legg’s mound, burial mound’ presumably named from the same man and Old Norse haugr ‘hill, mound, a burial mound’.
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Viking Names
South Ferriby
The name of Ferriby (there is also a North Ferriby across the Humber), in the Yarborough Wapentake of Lincolnshire, comes from the Old Norse elements ferja ‘ferry’ and by ‘farm, settlement’. Both North and South Ferriby were in existence by 1086 and are mentioned in Domesday Book.
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Viking Objects
Reproduction Rune Inscribed Rib
Runes were used not only for monumental inscriptions, or to mark ownership of valuable objects, but also in more informal contexts. In this case the animal bone suggests an after-dinner pastime after a good meal in the Anglo-Scandinavian trading centre of Lincoln. The runes read ——l × hitir × stin × … Only two words of the Old Norse inscription can be read with certainty, and even so they are ambiguous. One possible interpretation is ‘[someone] is heating a stone’ the other is ‘[someone] is called Stein’. The bone is fragmentary, but the inscription may never have been intended to make much sense. The original object dates from around the tenth century. It is one of only three runic inscriptions from the East Midlands.
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Viking Names
Thorpe on the Hill
Thorpe on the Hill, in the Graffoe Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a simplex place-name coming from Old Norse þorp ‘a secondary settlement, a dependent outlying farmstead or hamlet’. The affix is self-explanatory.
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Viking Objects
Stirrup (LCNCC : 1906.9663)
A large iron stirrup of Viking type with a long slender looped form, rectangular terminal, and a flat footrest. It was found in the River Witham near Lincoln. Stirrups like this were an innovation that Scandinavian settlers introduced to Anglo-Saxon England in the eleventh century.
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Viking Objects
Square Lead-Alloy Weight (NLM-941282)
Weights are an important form of evidence for Viking Age commerce and the use of standards across the different economic systems within which Vikings were integrated. Many of the weights discovered, particularly ones in Ireland and those of Arabic type, suggest that a standardized system of weights existed in some areas. These standard weights, alongside standard values of silver, are what allowed the bullion economy of Viking occupied areas to function. A bullion economy was a barter economy that relied on the exchange of set amounts of precious metal in various forms, such as arm-rings or coins, for tradable goods, such as food or textiles. Each merchant would have brought their own set of weights and scales to a transaction to make sure that the trade was conducted fairly.
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Viking Objects
Lozenge Brooch (NLM194)
This openwork Borre-style square brooch with animal heads on each corner was found in Elsham, Lincolnshire, in 1997. This type of brooch was an accessory for women wearing Scandinavian dress. For more information on Scandinavian jewellery in England check out our blog: Brooches, Pendants and Pins: Scandinavian Dress Accessories in England.