Home Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names

A comparative approach to Anglo-Saxon anthroponomy
  • Olga Khallieva Boiché
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
Search
Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
This chapter is in the book Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English

Abstract

The Anglo-Saxon name-element ead- was the one of the most common themes used to form dithematic personal names. The overall goal of this paper is to examine the reason for this abundance in anthroponyms such as Eadbald, Eadberht, Eadred. First, the paper addresses the questions of which meaning of Old English ead (wealth, prosperity, happiness, bliss) is present in personal names, and whether there is a hidden message in these names. I look for the ancestral meaning of ead by examining the Old English poetic corpus and then establish lexical and anthroponomical parallels within continental Germanic and other Indo-European traditions: namely Old Greek and Old Slavic. The paper suggests that names formed with Germanic *aud- (etymon of OE ead-), Greek plouto-, and Slavic žir- referred to riches and abundance and were originally used within the inferior stratum of society. Originally, they would have been monothematic and reflected the parents’ desire that their progeny would have a prosperous life. Dithematic anthroponyms, then, containing the ead- element (Eadric, Eadwald, Edmund) emerged during the Heroic Age; they were a later interpretation of ancient poetic epithets describing the lord as a guardian of his people and his land.

Abstract

The Anglo-Saxon name-element ead- was the one of the most common themes used to form dithematic personal names. The overall goal of this paper is to examine the reason for this abundance in anthroponyms such as Eadbald, Eadberht, Eadred. First, the paper addresses the questions of which meaning of Old English ead (wealth, prosperity, happiness, bliss) is present in personal names, and whether there is a hidden message in these names. I look for the ancestral meaning of ead by examining the Old English poetic corpus and then establish lexical and anthroponomical parallels within continental Germanic and other Indo-European traditions: namely Old Greek and Old Slavic. The paper suggests that names formed with Germanic *aud- (etymon of OE ead-), Greek plouto-, and Slavic žir- referred to riches and abundance and were originally used within the inferior stratum of society. Originally, they would have been monothematic and reflected the parents’ desire that their progeny would have a prosperous life. Dithematic anthroponyms, then, containing the ead- element (Eadric, Eadwald, Edmund) emerged during the Heroic Age; they were a later interpretation of ancient poetic epithets describing the lord as a guardian of his people and his land.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.01boi

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 10.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cilt.343.01boi/html
Scroll to top button