Posted on 05/02/2014 5:29:10 PM PDT by Hugin
according to the Icelandic sagas
Every few years I re-read the Icelandic sagas in translation. This time, I kept a notepad handy and jotted down the more interesting nicknames. Here are a few of them. For those unfamiliar with the sagas, I should mention that they were regarded by the 12th- and 13th-century Icelanders for whom they were written as essentially factual works, albeit with some literary embellishments. In other words, the following names all belonged to ostensibly historical figures.
(Excerpt) Read more at vianegativa.us ...
Well Vikings fans, you'll have to wait a year for season 3 of Ragnar and company. But for those having Vikings withdrawals, I came across this thread of real life Viking nicknames. Some are what you would expect like Gunnstein the Berserk-Killer. Others are odd and even funny. It got me thinking, what if we gave our leaders real Viking nicknames? Harry Serpent-Tongue? Pelosi Scatter-Brain? And of course, Boehner the Boneless!
Have fun.
As long as they’re not nicknames from the pathetic, football type from our next-door neighbor MN.
I’m going to watch the final episode tonight.
Oh, here I am: Eirik Ale-Lover.
Its been a pretty good show with hot and dangerous viking womenfolk.
“Turn” on AMC sunday nights has been awesome patriotic TV.
I like Harry the Ragman.
Gotta watch that, or you’ll end up like Thorir Paunch.
Barack the Red.
Perfect
Not listed, but perhaps my all-time favorite: Halfdan the Bad Entertainer.
“Take my longship, please!”
*rimshot*
:-)
Some of them are far from flattering. My father’s family had a custom of nicknames for everybody. My oldest aunt hated hers and refused to answer to it, so it never “stuck” outside of childhood. Poopie. Can’t say I blame her, I wouldn’t answer to it either, lol.
My name was passed down from generation, to generation:
Anders Nilsson
Nils Andersson
Anders Nilsson
Nils Andersson
Anders Nilsson
Nils Andersson
Not into the adult bevs enough yet, but
Boner of Short Shanks
Mitch Stale Waters
Hillagertha the Maxi Shield Maiden
Ragnar Cruzbrook
I particularly like Sarcastic Halli and Hallfred the Troublesome Poet.
I’m already there! So I’m working on my new nickname: Helgi the Lean :-)
Dog gone...Bill of the Beer Breath is too close to yours so I’ll go with William Make Water.
I love Turn. Lots of different story lines and things are getting thick, now. Have you seen Fargo on FX? It comes on Tuesday night. It is very good and stars Billy Bob Thornton.
Obammar the Nithling
Definition of Nidering, Nídhingr, Nithling found here:
http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/gods2.html
Fargo is pretty good. They actually got some pretty big names for the series.
Hey...there’s one there for me...Thorolf Bladderbald
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