From Starafjall to Starling Hill - Scottish Place-Name Society

405 Pages·2010·7.96 MB·English

From Starafjall to Starling Hill

An investigation of the formation and
development of Old Norse place-names in
Orkney

Berit Sandnes
© Berit Sandnes

Permission is granted to print pages from this website for personal
use. However, commercial publication, copying, hiring, lending and
reproduction are strictly prohibited and constitute a breach of copy-
right.

If you have any questions please contact Dr Sandnes at berit.sandnes
@ sofi.se.

ISBN: 978-0-9565172-0-3

E-book publisher: Scottish Place-Name Society www.spns.org.uk

2010

Frontpage photo: View from Rousay towards Evie. Photo P. Gam-
meltoft.
Contents
Foreword……………………………………………............ VI
1. Introduction …………………………………………….. 7
2. Historical background …………………………………. 10
2.1 The Norse settlement ……………………………… 10
2.2 The Norse period (ca. 850 – 1350) ………………… 14
2.3 The early contact period (ca. 1350–1468)………….. 15
2.3.1 Political overview ………………………………….. 16
2.3.2 Written documentation of contact and conflict…….. 16
2.3.3 The languages ……………………………………… 19
2.4 The Scottish take-over ………………………........... 21
2.4.1 The languages from 1468 to the death of Norn…….. 23
2.4.2 The language shift – summary …………………….. 30
3. Former research…………………………………........... 33
3.1 Place-names in the Viking colonies ……………….. 33
3.1.1 Nicolaisen’s distribution maps …………………….. 34
3.2 Orkney (and Shetland) ……………………………... 35
3.2.1 The Norn language …………………………............ 35
3.2.2 Place-names ………………………………………... 39
3.3 Contact onomastics ………………………………… 44
3.3.1 Early contact onomastics ………………………….. 44
3.3.2 Sociolinguistics and contact onomastics…………… 45
3.3.3 Integration of borrowed names ……………............. 46
3.4 Hybrid names? ……………………………………... 48
3.5 Borrowed names - part of the recipient language….. 50
4. The languages …………………………………………... 52
4.1 A brief history of the Scots language ……………… 53
4.2 Structural characteristics of Orkney Scots…………. 55
4.2.1 Phonology …………………………………….......... 55
4.2.2 Morphology ………………………………………... 60
4.2.3 Lexicon …………………………………………….. 61
4.3 The Norse language in Orkney …………………….. 62
4.4 Structural characteristics …………………………... 64
4.4.1 Phonology ………………………………………….. 64
4.4.2 Morphology ………………………………………... 72
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4.4.3 Lexical features ……………………………………. 73
4.5. Conclusion ……………………………………........ 73
5. Place name elements …………………………………… 75
5.1 Names and the lexicon …………………………….. 75
5.2 Celtic loans in ON names ………………………….. 75
5.3 Old Scandinavian and Old Norse ………………….. 76
5.4 Old Norse and Scots ……………………………….. 77
5.5 Common place-name elements …………………… 79
5.6 From onomasticon to lexicon? …………………….. 91
6. The name material ……………………………………... 93
6.1 Habitation names …………………………………... 93
6.2 Non-habitation names …………………………....... 159
7. Name formation ............................................................... 265
7.1 Formation language ................................................... 265
7.1.1 Norse formations ....................................................... 267
7.1.2 Scots formations ........................................................ 269
7.1.3 Uncertain formation language ……………………... 272
7.2 Analogy in place name-formation …………………. 274
7.2.1 Name transfer …………………………………........ 275
7.2.2 Transfer of name elements? ……………………….. 280
7.2.3 Contents analogy …………………………………... 281
7.2.4 Fashion names ……………………………………... 282
7.2.5 Preferred generics …………………………………. 282
7.3. Stereotypy in colonial place-names? …………........ 285
7.3.1. Personal names as specifics ……………………….. 285
7.3.2. Nicolaisen’s study from Sanday and N. Ronaldsay... 287
7.3.3 Evidence of the West Mainland material …………. 287
8. Structural features observed in the place-name mat.… 291
8.1. Phonology ………………………………………….. 291
8.1.1. Vowels ……………………………………………... 292
8.1.2. Consonants ………………………………………… 298
8.1.3 Conclusions ………………………………………... 310
8.2. Morphology ………………………………………... 314
8.2.1 Word-final vowels -o, -y and -a……………………. 316
8.2.2 Word-final consonants …………………………...... 321
8.2.3 Weakening and loss of case morphology in specifics 325
8.2.4 Recent changes of morphological form …………… 327
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8.3. Morphosyntax ……………………………………… 328
8.3.1 Postpositional specifics…………………………….. 329
8.3.2 of-periphrasis ………………………………………. 333
8.3.3 Preposition names ………………………………….. 336
8.3.4 Verbal constructions ……………………………….. 338
8.4. Lexicon and semantics …………………………….. 339
8.4.1 Semantic field and etymological origin ……………. 339
9. Integration of loan-names …………………………....... 344
9.1.1 Phonetic adaptation ……………………………....... 345
9.1.2 Analysability and adaptation ……………………… 345
9.2. Semantic adaptations - correct analysis …………….347
9.2.1 Substitution of grammatical morphemes ………....... 347
9.2.2 Substitutions of generics or specifics …………….... 349
9.2.3 Substitution by synonymous elements in the same
language …………………………………………... 356
9.2.4 Immediate understanding of ON name elements?..... 354
9.2.5 Degree of bilingual competence …………………… 355
9.3. Adaptations without correct analysis - reanalysis….. 356
9.3.1 Morphological adaptation ………………………….. 357
9.3.2. Lexical and onomastic adaptation …………………. 359
9.3.3. Epexegesis …………………………………………. 368
9.3.4. Name-internal adaptation – rhyming names ……… 370
9.3.5. Why are names adapted? …………………………... 371
9.3.6. Conclusion …………………………………………. 374
List of IPA phonetical symbols ……………………….……. 375
Bibliography and abbreviations …………………………… 376
Appendix 1. Onomastic and lexical adaptations ……........... 385
Appendix 2. Personal name specifics ……………………… 386
Appendix 3. Index of generics ……………………………... 387
Index of place-names ………………………………………. 394

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Foreword
The present work is a somewhat revised version of my doctoral the-
sis from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, pub-
lished in Norwegian in 2003. The Norwegian version is clearly not
very easily accessible for potential British readers, whether scholars
or people with a local interest in Orkney names, and I am very
pleased to be able to present an English translation.
This is also a way of thanking my very helpful informants and
other contacts in Orkney: Mary Bichan and Sheila Spence who first
helped me with my Harray thesis (a translation of that work may
follow), Robert Bakie, who let me use his Rendall material, Alistair
Marwick, who helped me with Evie names, the Millers of Niggly,
Neil Leask and everyone else who spent time helping me. I would
like to thank Peder for our many fruitful discussions and last but not
least – many thanks to Gillian Fellows-Jensen for invaluable proof-
reading of the manuscript. All mistakes are my responsibility.
1. Introduction

Chapter 1. Introduction

This book contains an investigation of the formation and develop-
ment of Orkney place-names in the Old Norse and Scots periods in
Orkney. It is based on the study of place-names in four Orkney par-
ishes for my master and doctoral theses (Sandnes 1996 and 2003).
The development of Orkney place-names in this period depends
fundamentally on the interaction of the two contact languages. Our
first task, then, is to give an outline of the actual contact situation –
the socio-political and sociolinguistic setting. This is done in chapter
2. Secondly, we need a description of the two contact languages.
This is not as straightforward as it might seem, as the actual lan-
guages in contact were hardly standard variants. A short presentation
of the contact languages and major developments of the two is given
in chapter 4. Ch. 3 is an overview of former research.
The actual place-name material is presented in chapter 6, along
with suggested interpretations and other information.
The remaining chapters explore features of the formation and
development of Orkney place-names from a more principal point of
view. First of all, it is important to decide which names are Old
Norse formations and which are Scots. This is problematic for a
number of reasons, most importantly because nearly all the written
sources for place-names are in the Scots language. The two lan-
guages are quite closely related and the dividing lines become even
more blurred during the prolonged bilingual period, when a number
of Old Norse appellatives and proper nouns are borrowed into Scots.
These borrowed linguistic elements are all adapted to Scots in dif-
ferent ways. The first part of chapter 7 is an attempt to establish
criteria for distinguishing between Old Norse and Scots formations.
It goes on to treat various kinds of patterns and analogy in name
formation and finally, the assumption that colonial names are par-
ticularly stereotypical is tested on the Orkney material.
Finally, I am interested in the development of place-names, and
in the language contact aspect in particular. A place-name is coined
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From Starafjall to Starling Hill
at a certain point in time, but it is not static, it may be adapted and
adjusted as long as it is in use. For instance, Orkney names coined in
the Viking Age are now an integrated part of a Scots nomenclature,
and they may have changed radically from their original form. Tra-
ditional name research tends to overlook the development phase and
treat names of Old Norse origin in isolation. After the introduction
of contact linguistics, Old Norse names cannot be studied independ-
ently of the Scots linguistic context in which they have been trans-
mitted. This means that contact phenomena are emphasised
throughout the book, but treated in more detail in chapters 8 and 9.
Important questions include: How do general linguistic changes
affect place names? Do they undergo any changes specific to place-
names? In this way, processes taking place in place-names are stud-
ied in the light of general linguistic processes.
The present study is essentially linguistic. Place-names can be
used as sources for various kinds of investigations, e.g. archaeologi-
cal, historical or linguistic studies. I have chosen to emphasise the
linguistic information.
Chronologically, the study is limited to the Old Norse and Scots
periods, starting ca. 800 or somewhat later. The preceding Pictish
period and contacts between Picts and Scandinavians are not treated,
one obvious reason being the lack of surviving sources. The oldest
source for Orkney names from this period is the Orkneyinga Saga,
the first comprehensive sources are rentals from 1492 onwards, writ-
ten in Scots. This means that the present study has a very different
chronological focus as compared with studies of Scandinavian
names in the Danelaw, which have an invaluable source in Domes-
day Book (1086).
Geographically, the study is limited to four parishes in West
Mainland: Harray, Firth, Rendall and Evie. Name inventories with
interpretations from these parishes are found in chapter 6. The limi-
tation has some obvious advantages: it facilitates field work and the
name material is in a homogeneous dialect. Certain comparative
aspects may be lost, however. As a means of counterbalance, com-
parisons are made with names from a wider Scoto-Scandinavian
context. The present work differs from Marwick’s Orkney Farm-
Names in including field-names and topographical names. Habita-
8
1. Introduction
tive names form the oldest and most well-documented stratum, and
have thus been in focus in most onomastic studies. From an essen-
tially linguistic point of view, however, other types of names may be
equally informative.

Figure 1. The parishes of Orkney. From Thomson 1987.

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From Starafjall to Starling Hill

Chapter 2. Historical background

This chapter constitutes a brief presentation of the historical
conditions for the development and decline of the Norse1 language
in Orkney. The Norse-speaking period in Orkney lasts for nearly a
millennium, from the Viking settlers brought their Old Norse lan-
guage to the isles ca. 800–850 until the local dialect based on Old
Norse, called Norn, died in the latter half of the 18th century. As the
present study is exploring the Norse-Scots interface in particular, it
is mainly concerned with the contact period, which starts in the 14th
century. From this century onwards, Scots held most of the impor-
tant offices in Orkney, This is the start of a scotticisation of all insti-
tutions, which eventually leads to the death of Norn. It may be added
that nearly all written sources for place-names belong to the Scots-
speaking period.
In the following presentation, the Norse settlement and the Norse
earldom will be presented very briefly, whereas the contact period
will be treated in some more detail. The available sources are insuf-
ficient for a thorough analysis of the relationship between Norn and
Scots throughout the centuries, but some major points will be
sketched. Important developments in the two contact languages are
treated in ch. 4.

2.1. The Norse settlement
“Originally those islands were inhabited by Pents and Papes. Of
these races, the Pents, only a little taller than pygmies, accom-
plished miraculous achievements by building towns morning and
evenings, but at midday every ounce of strength deserted them
and they hid for fear in underground chambers. […]The Papes
were so called on account of the vestments in which they clothed
themselves like priests, and for this reason all priests are known
as papen in the German tongue. However, as the appearance and

1 Norse is used in a wide sense, to denote different stages of the Scandinavian
language in Orkney. For a definitions, see ch. 3.
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