What's in a name?
Jul. 16th, 2008 09:59 amI go through phases in my reading; A few years ago I went through a phase of reading a lot of utterly beserk Japanese literature (Junichiro Tanizaki is particularly insane, I can assure you), I once decided to read all the classics that everyone has heard of but nobody reads (like War and Peace and Crime and Punishment), and over the last year I've read through a lot of the Norse and Icelandic sagas.
I've enjoyed reading these, not least for the fantastic nicknames that the vikings gave each other: We've got the prosaic ones like Erik the Red, Leif the Lucky, Ogun the Grim and so on, and more enjoyably monikered people like Ragnar Hairybreeks, Erik Bloodaxe and Ivar Horse-Cock. Each of these nicknames tells you something about the person - either a recognisable feature (Sveyn Forkbeard) or an indication that there's a story behind this name that everyone knows (Harald the Cuckold).
Names tend to be more poetic than simply necessary. For example, rather than Thorbjorn the Fat, we get Thorbjorn Kegbelly or Thorbjorn Bellyshaker, or a beardless man might be known as "Woman's cheeks".
Viking culture was surprisingly poetic with a lot of insults in wordplay. It sounds quite fun until you consider that killing someone for insulting you was considered perfectly acceptable in both society and law.
With this in mind, here's today's question: What would your viking name be? And if you'd care to suggest a viking name for me, I'll be only too delighted to do the same for you :)
I've enjoyed reading these, not least for the fantastic nicknames that the vikings gave each other: We've got the prosaic ones like Erik the Red, Leif the Lucky, Ogun the Grim and so on, and more enjoyably monikered people like Ragnar Hairybreeks, Erik Bloodaxe and Ivar Horse-Cock. Each of these nicknames tells you something about the person - either a recognisable feature (Sveyn Forkbeard) or an indication that there's a story behind this name that everyone knows (Harald the Cuckold).
Names tend to be more poetic than simply necessary. For example, rather than Thorbjorn the Fat, we get Thorbjorn Kegbelly or Thorbjorn Bellyshaker, or a beardless man might be known as "Woman's cheeks".
Viking culture was surprisingly poetic with a lot of insults in wordplay. It sounds quite fun until you consider that killing someone for insulting you was considered perfectly acceptable in both society and law.
With this in mind, here's today's question: What would your viking name be? And if you'd care to suggest a viking name for me, I'll be only too delighted to do the same for you :)