Viking Names
Val
Valr is an original byname meaning ‘hawk, falcon’. Valr is recorded as a male personal name and byname in West Scandinavia and is found in a Swedish runic inscription. Valr is the first element in the place-name Walesby, Nottinghamshire, and a place of the same name in Lincolnshire. Walshcroft Wapentake in Lincolnshire also contains either this name or the Old Norse male name Váli and Old Norse kross, the cross probably marking the location of the Viking Age meeting-place. Cameron suggests that the same man gave his name to Walesby and the wapentake.
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Viking Names
Scartho
Scartho, in the Bradley Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a difficult name. The second element is clearly Old Norse haugr ‘a hill, a mound’. The first element, however, has been the subject of much discussion. It has been suggested that the first element is the Old Norse male personal name Skarði or the Old Norse element skarð ‘an opening, an open place in the edge of something, a gap, a mountain pass’. Since the area is now built up, it is nearly impossible to determine the exact topography of the place. It may be pointed out that there are patches of glacial sand and gravel and alluvium at the top of the hill. It has also been suggested based on forms of the name in Scarf- that the first element is Old Norse skarfr ‘a cormorant’, but these spellings occur in only one source. On balance, skarð provide an acceptable first element, but twentieth-century development makes certainty impossible.
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Viking Names
Hrafnhild
Hrafnhildr is recorded in a few instances in West Scandinavia (Norway and Iceland) and in the quasi-historical Icelandic text, Landnámabók ‘The Book of Settlements’ which recounts the settlement of Iceland. It is also attested in two field names in West Yorkshire. The personal name is an Old Norse compound, formed from Hrafn- , ‘raven’, combined with -hildr, ‘battle’.
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Viking Names
Ranskill
Ranskill, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, probably comes from the Old Norse male personal name Hrafn (which is also the word for ‘raven’) and the Old Norse element skjalf ‘seat, ledge, slope’. It is on a slight slope above the level ground.
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Viking Names
Ravensdale Park
Ravensdale Park, in the Appletree Hundred of Derbyshire, clearly derives its name from either the bird or a person with a name that corresponds to that of the bird, but its linguistic origin is difficult to pin down because of the similarities between Old Norse and Old English. The first element could be Old Norse hrafn ‘raven’, or the Old Norse male personal name Hrafn, or Old English hræfn ‘raven’, or the Old English male personal name Hræfn. The second element is either Old Norse dalr ‘valley’ or Old English dæl ‘a pit, a hollow; later a valley’. It was one of the parks of Duffield Frith hence the later affix ‘park’. In the Nottinghamshire place-name Ranskill, the first element is more likely to be Old Norse as the second element is also in that language, but the difficulty of deciding between the bird and the personal name Hrafn is the same.
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Viking Names
Walesby
Walesby, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name and nickname Valr which denotes ‘hawk’ and the Old Norse element by ‘a farmstead, a village’.
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Viking Objects
Bird Pendant (DENO-55AE35)
A pendant of similar shape although with different decoration is dated to the second half of the ninth century from Yaroslavl, Russia. The bird symbol, very similar to the one depicted on this pendant, was used by the Rurik dynasty which had started the conquest of Slavic lands in the mid-ninth century and later formed the polity of Rus’. With some exceptions, pendants were generally worn by women as an accessory to Scandinavian dress.
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Viking Names
Ruckland
Ruckland, in the Louth Eske Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a Scandinavian compound formed from Old Norse hrókr ‘a rook’ and Old Norse lundr ‘a small wood’.
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Viking Objects
Viking Bird Brooch (NLM-612074)
This brooch is classified as Weetch’s type 30.C and is decorated with an openwork design representing a bird in profile. For more information on Scandinavian jewellery in England check out our blog: Brooches, Pendants and Pins: Scandinavian Dress Accessories in England.
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Viking Names
Hrafn
The Old Norse male name Hrafn is found throughout Scandinavia, but is particularly common in Iceland. It means ‘raven’ and belongs to a common group of male names which refer to animals, such as Arn ‘eagle’, Björn ‘bear’, Ulfr ‘wolf’. It is frequently compounded in personal names with other elements, as seen in the Old Norse personal name Hrafnkell, and others. When found in place-names, it is possible that it represents either the Old Norse common noun hrafn ‘raven’ or the Old English common noun hræfn ‘raven’, rather than a personal name. It may also represent a possible Old English personal name Hræfn. Hrafn is seen in the first element of the minor place name Ranskill in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Objects
Reproduction Bird Pendant
A reproduction bird pendant based on one found at Langford, Nottinghamshire. The nearest parallel to this type of brooch is one from Yaroslavl in Russia. The bird symbol, very similar to the one depicted on this pendant, was used by the Rurik dynasty which had started the conquest of Slavic lands in the mid 9th century and later formed the polity of Rus’. With some exceptions, pendants were generally worn by women as an accessory to Scandinavian dress.