J. Treatment of names

Sections 1. and 3. here are adapted from the >> 7. Guidelines for the English translation. Some flexibility of treatment may be needed when names occur in other parts of the edition, depending on context.

1. Personal names

a.      ON names should be kept in their original form, including accents, non-English graphs (e.g. Þ) and inflectional -r.  This applies even to names with recognised English versions, hence, e.g., Óðinn not Odin, and to non-Norse names. Explanations or forms appropriate to the nationality can be added in parentheses, e.g. ‘Jarisleifr (Jaroslav)’. Dates, where appropriate and known, should be given.

‡ b.   Where a name exists in archaic and later forms, e.g. Hôkon and Hákon, Áleifr and Óláfr, use the archaic one (if appropriate to the poetry concerned) in Text and Prose Order and the later one in Translation and elsewhere.

In the Indexes all instances will appear at the same point in the alphabetisation, with the appropriate spelling, e.g. Hôkon góði but Hákon Hákonarson, both alphabetised as if Hákon (if that is the majority spelling). Cross-reference from the minority spelling, e.g. ‘Hôkon: see Hákon’ or ‘Hôkon > Hákon’.

c.       Both names of Icelandic scholars should be given, e.g. Finnur Jónsson (and subsequent to the first mention Finnur), Sigurður Nordal, not Jónsson, Nordal.

2. Nicknames

a.      Original ON forms should be retained, not italicised. English translations may be added in single quotation marks if useful, and if certain, e.g. Óláfr digri ‘the Stout’. Less certain ones can be signalled as such, e.g. Einarr þambarskelfir (possibly ‘Paunch-shaker’). As illustrated here, compound nicknames should be translated as hyphenated compounds, with the first element capitalised.

† b.   Sometimes it is difficult to decide how names should be normalised. As a rule apply the same rules of normalisation to proper names and titles/nicknames as to other elements of a text (i.e. normalise in accordance with the supposed age of the text), but, in cases where a particular, unhistorical convention has grown up for adopting a particular form, follow that rather than normalise to a particular chronologically appropriate norm (e.g. skáld not skald passim, even though skáld does not occur in early texts).

‡ c.    On the question of when translations should be included: If the nickname occurs in the Text, both the original nickname and its English translation should be given in the Translation if the meaning is secure. If it is not, the name should be discussed in the Notes. If the name occurs in the Biography, Introduction, Context or Notes, there should be no translation unless it is required by context or needs discussion. The nicknames will be translated in the index of nicknames

3. Place-names

Place-names which have established English counterparts (e.g. Danmǫrk/ Denmark, Dyflinn/ Dublin) should take English forms, unless the ON form is important in context. Others definitely identifiable with modern places should be given in ON or the language of the country in which the place is located, or both, depending on the nature of the discussion. It will often be helpful to give both, e.g.  ‘Fjón (Fyn)’ or ‘Fyn (Fjón)’,  ‘Raumaríki (Romerike)’ or ‘Romerike (Raumaríki)’. Where the place is unidentified the ON form will be retained.

Problems of mismatch, e.g. Svíþjóð = Sweden, when they are not co-terminous, or problems of identification should be mentioned where appropriate.

Note that indices of both personal and place-names will appear in Volume 9 of the edition, and editors are asked to submit lists of both kinds of names occurring in their assignments to their Coordinating Editors, who will collate them with those submitted by other editors.

4. Indigenous terms

Untranslatable indigenous terms for which there is no obvious English counterpart should be left in their ON form, e.g. hersir, bóndi. These will also be indexed and glossed in Volume 9. Editors should submit lists of indigenous terms (with suggested glosses) to their Contributing Editors.

References