2006-04-04

By Any Other Name...

I've been reading a lot as of late (so much that I haven't yet started to write for my April Fool's Challenge!) and I got thinking... What's in a name?

Alareiks is ala(kjo) reiks, all's king (in modern English, well, kind of), which is the name of my starring, and which, as names go, looks suspiciously a title as well.

I mean, when he was acclaimed and raised on the shield by the chief warriors of the tervingi, vesi, greutungi, and other tribes that were hanging around in Illyricum, was he named King-of-All, or was that his name ever since he was a child/man?

Because it sounds like a title-name, one you adopt when you are raised to the rank (like, for example, nowaday Catholic popes, or kings and queens in the Western monarchies)... I have found no information at all, but then sources are usually elusive, and in those times one enters into History when the Roman source mentions you, usually because you become king or a famous warrior or politician.

My hypothesis is that Alaricus was named so when he was raised as king of all the Goths in Romania, and that before that, he had a different name, one he was given (or chose, do we know how naming conventions for the Goths/Germans worked out by then?) when he was born, passed into manhood, or whatever...

Following the 'tamdem-like' costume of having kings with complementing names, and considering Athaulfus was the next king and obviously a wolf, I am thinking a name of the kind of 'Wolf's Fang', which must sound cool...

Any Germanic-speaking/knowledgeable takers? My guess, based on Gothic language (as shown in dictionary www.oe.eclipse.co.uk) and Old Icelandic words for wolf (got. wulfs, o.ice. vargr), claw (got. etymologically reconstructed as rampa, o.ic. kló), paw (got. et.recons. pauta, o.ic. lámr) and tooth (got. tunþus, o.ic. tönn), I'd suggest: Wulfis (strong masculine name, genitive case) tunþus > Wulfunþus.

Ok, it doesn't sound really cool (Wulfispautos? The Paws of the Wolf?; Wulfiskló? grrr...)

What about Brother-Wolf (like his brother-in-law Attawulfs, Father-Wolf)? That would be Broþarwulfs, a bit too ugly, really.

What about a bear? A strong animal for the Goths, undoubtedly... Baira (weak masc.) sounds really nice... (where 'ai' was probably the diphtong [ai], but could be [ɛː]). So what about Swarts Baira, Swartbéra => Black Bear... sure it sounds powerful enough to me!!!

I'll thank your advice...

Kallisti!

PS- old icelandic paw (lámr) is very similar to irish hand, 'lámh', and Gothic has 'atta' as father, the same wat Irish has 'athair', both lost the initial p-/f-, interesting...

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