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ArchivesRe: Nordic Name help
in reply to a message by SimonneBee
A verbatim search of "Styburg" produced a grand total of 219 results on the entire internet, but that number fell very quickly once I weeded out the typos and scannos.
However, there is the Old Norse name 'Stígr' which is the agent noun of 'stíga' ("step, tread, set foot on"; 'stígr' itself meaning "path"). Most modern Nordic languages have this as 'Stig' (Icelandic 'Stígur'). As for the "-burg" element, the Old Norse word which I think fits most thematically would be 'byrr' meaning "favourable wind".
According to Old Norse morphology, the compound name of this would be 'Stígbyrr', however this is unused. If you are going for any sort of fiction that does not rely too heavily on accuracy you could use this or a spelling variant (note that Old Norse 'g' before another consonant is commonly dropped in modern descendants). But if you want a very historically/linguistically accurate story, I recommend using 'Stígr' or one of its modern descendants, and/or consulting people from or experts in that culture.
However, there is the Old Norse name 'Stígr' which is the agent noun of 'stíga' ("step, tread, set foot on"; 'stígr' itself meaning "path"). Most modern Nordic languages have this as 'Stig' (Icelandic 'Stígur'). As for the "-burg" element, the Old Norse word which I think fits most thematically would be 'byrr' meaning "favourable wind".
According to Old Norse morphology, the compound name of this would be 'Stígbyrr', however this is unused. If you are going for any sort of fiction that does not rely too heavily on accuracy you could use this or a spelling variant (note that Old Norse 'g' before another consonant is commonly dropped in modern descendants). But if you want a very historically/linguistically accurate story, I recommend using 'Stígr' or one of its modern descendants, and/or consulting people from or experts in that culture.
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This was very helpful. Thank you!!
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Your main problem here is that burg is an English/German form, the Nordic is Borg "fortress" (BTW these are feminine).
I know Wiktionary likes to define byrr as favorable wind, but the quotations are not without qualifying adjectives. The compounds and cognates indicate it is just wind, or even more generally "weather" and may be unfavorable or concerning. As noted above, it does not occur in names, nor do semantic analogs.
Stígr had semantic analogs relating to travel, but it's a bit of an outlier in meaning and is rare. The analogs tend to have "a" sense of journey, path, road, particularly in modern use, but the primary historic and onomastic sense is of a military journey, a raid, expedition or adventure for glory and profit. Stígr doesn't really fit and is recorded mostly or entirely in new formations.
I know Wiktionary likes to define byrr as favorable wind, but the quotations are not without qualifying adjectives. The compounds and cognates indicate it is just wind, or even more generally "weather" and may be unfavorable or concerning. As noted above, it does not occur in names, nor do semantic analogs.
Stígr had semantic analogs relating to travel, but it's a bit of an outlier in meaning and is rare. The analogs tend to have "a" sense of journey, path, road, particularly in modern use, but the primary historic and onomastic sense is of a military journey, a raid, expedition or adventure for glory and profit. Stígr doesn't really fit and is recorded mostly or entirely in new formations.
This message was edited 2/2/2024, 12:54 AM
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