Rye, Eleanor (2016) Dialect in the Viking-Age Scandinavian Diaspora
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1 Dialect in the Viking-Age Scandinavian Diaspora: The Evidence of Medieval Minor Names ELEANOR RYE MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy SEPTEMBER 2015 2 3 Abstract This thesis investigates the Scandinavian contribution to medieval microtoponymic vocabulary in two areas of northwest England, Wirral, part of the historic county of Cheshire in the north-west Midlands, and an area of the county of Cumbria, the West Ward of Westmorland Barony. It is shown that there was far greater Scandinavian linguistic influence on the medieval microtoponymy of the West Ward than on the medieval microtoponymy of Wirral. This thesis also assesses what conclusions can be drawn from the use of Scandinavian-derived place-name elements in microtoponyms. Scandinavian influence on microtoponymy has previously been interpreted, at one extreme, as evidence for Scandinavian settlement, and, at the other extreme, only as reflecting widespread Scandinavian influence on the English language and English naming practices. The relationship between Scandinavian settlement and Scandinavian influence on naming micropotonymy is explored by considering the microtoponymic evidence in the light of evidence illuminating the circumstances of Scandinavian settlement in the case-study areas, and by considering the evidence from the case-study areas within the wider context of Scandinavian influence on English naming practices. The substantial Scandinavian substantial influence on major place-names in both areas confirms that Scandinavian had been spoken in Wirral and the West Ward. However, the Scandinavian contribution to toponymic vocabulary as recorded in the late-medieval period was very different in the two areas, hinting at the indirectness of the link between Scandinavian settlement and influence on later microtoponymy. Indeed, detailed consideration of the use of individual Scandinavian-derived place-name elements at a national level indicates that the areas over which some Scandinavian-derived place-name elements were used increased during the Middle English period. The factors underlying the usage of Scandinavian-derived toponymic vocabulary in the late-medieval period are therefore more varied than has sometimes been acknowledged. 103,488 words 4 5 Acknowledgments I am very grateful to my supervisors, Jayne Carroll and Judith Jesch, for invaluable advice, discussion and support over the past four years. Thank you for all your input, and for the innumerable cups of tea and coffee, Jayne, which made the writing much more pleasant. I would also like to thank my examiners, Richard Coates and David Parsons, for an enjoyable discussion of this thesis and for their many helpful comments and suggestions. This thesis was funded by the Leverhulme Trust as part of an interdisciplinary research programme at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, The Impact of Diasporas on the Making of Britain: Evidence, Memories, Inventions. I am very grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for their financial support. I would also like to thank my colleagues on the programme for introductions to diverse subjects and fascinating discussions over the past four years. I have learnt much by attending workshops and conferences during the course of my doctorate, and am grateful to those who have shared their knowledge and experience. In particular, thanks to Richard Jones and Peder Gammeltoft, who organised GIS courses, and to fellow students and ‘masters’ on the AHRC-funded Orkney Project and Languages, Myths and Finds programme. I am also grateful to the Society of Name-Studies in Britain and Ireland for financial support towards the cost of attending conferences and workshops. Numerous other people have provided valuable advice along the way. I am particularly grateful to Tom Schmidt and the other onomasts at the University of Oslo, who introduced me to Norwegian place-name studies and provided patient encouragement in my efforts to learn Norwegian during an exchange semester. Terje Spurkland, also at the University of Oslo, introduced me to runology during the same period. I am again grateful to Peder Gammeltoft for introducing me to the Danish place-name database. The inclusion of Scandinavian material in this thesis would have been much more difficult 6 without these scholars’ help. Thank you also to all the administrative staff in the School of English at Nottingham for their help over the past four years. Thanks to friends in Nottingham who have made the process fun, and borne with my moaning. The company of fellow Nottingham early medievalists and onomasts, John Baker, Sarah Beach, Paul Cavill, Graham Collis. Ruarigh Dale, Rebecca Gregory, Chris Hickling, Lara Hogg, Dale Kedwards, Kelly Kilpatrick, Brent LaPadula, Christina Lee, Elizaveta Matveeva, Eleni Ponirakis, Aya van Renterghem, Marjolein Stern and Teva Vidal has been a delight. To Christy Shucksmith, Mikhail Matveev, Neil Meggison, Sam Nandi, and to the other PhD students in the School of English, in particular Frea Waninge and Makenzi Crouch: thanks for keeping me company, often over a glass or two. Thanks also to far-flung fellow onomastics PhD students, especially Alison Burns, Alice Crook and Emily Pennifold: conferences and workshops have been much more fun thanks to your presence. Finally, thanks to my family, Sue, John and Olivia. Thanks, first, for the brainwashing: my decision to study medieval languages no doubt has its origins in dinner-table conversations at a formative age. More recently, your practical and emotional support over the past few years has made this all possible. 7 Table of Contents Abbreviations ................................................................................................. 11 Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................................... 13 Aims and Structure of the Thesis .................................................................. 13 Literature Review .......................................................................................... 15 Existing Minor Name Studies ................................................................ 15 Chronological Considerations ................................................................ 26 Lexicon or Toponymicon? ..................................................................... 31 Conclusions and Methodological Decisions ................................................. 33 Chapter Two: Distinguishing English- and Scandinavian-derived Place-Name Elements .................................................................................... 35 Introduction ................................................................................................... 35 Viking-Age Scandinavian.............................................................................. 36 Background............................................................................................. 36 Runic Inscriptions as a Source of Evidence for Viking-Age Scandinavian........................................................................................... 38 U-umlaut ................................................................................................. 40 Stress-Shifted Diphthongs: ON /ju:/ < Gmc */eu/ and ON /jo:/ < Gmc */eu/ ........................................................................................................ 46 Breaking/Fracture ................................................................................... 50 ‘Palatal-r’ (< Gmc /z/) and /r/ ................................................................. 55 Summary................................................................................................. 59 Element Discussion ....................................................................................... 60 Orthography ............................................................................................ 60 Indistinguishable Elements ..................................................................... 62 Distinguishable Elements ..................................................................... 128 Partially Distinguishable Elements....................................................... 138 Closing Remarks ......................................................................................... 141 Chapter Three: Wirral ................................................................................ 143 Introduction ................................................................................................. 143 Scandinavian Settlement in Wirral .............................................................. 144 8 Textual Sources .................................................................................... 144 Personal Names .................................................................................... 146 Archaeological and Sculptural Evidence .............................................. 152 Genetic Evidence .................................................................................. 155 Toponymic Evidence. ........................................................................... 157 Interpretations ....................................................................................... 173 The Minor Names of Wirral ........................................................................ 183 Method .................................................................................................. 183 Results .................................................................................................