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Abstract
Nicknames, which occur in all cultures and time periods, play a unique role in highlighting identity. The pool of first names has always been relatively limited, thus most people were identified by their nicknames, especially before surnames became commonplace. The quantity of nicknames in Old Norse literature is large, and recurring nicknames provide a tool for understanding narrative transmission, cultural history, and etymology. Medieval explanations for giving nicknames are suspect, but they provide a glimpse into the possible reasons for so many of them coming down to us. An overview on nickname terminology is provided, as well as literary examples showing the fluidity of medieval terminology in nickname narrative explanations. The overall approach is therefore to explore the ways in which nicknames are described in the literature and how this information aids in understanding medieval Norse society and culture through its naming customs.
Notes
1. All translations are mine.
2. From ca. 1674/5.
3. This text also occurs in AM 115 8vo (ca. 1600–1649); a normalized version can be found in Guðbrandr Vigfússon (Citation1864, 126, Anhang 2).
4. From Brot úr miðsögu Guðmundar in Biskupa sögur, Vol. 1. (Jón Sigurðsson and Guðbrandur Vigfússon Citation1858, 589)
5. Since Icelandic authors do not have genuine surnames, I have alphabetized these authors by the custom used in their own country, that is, by first name followed by any other secondary name. Similarly, in the main body of the article, I have cited Icelandic authors by their full names according to the same custom.