http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/blog/book-discussion/norse-names-in-the-lothians.php Thoughts about the best historical fiction ever written Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:48:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/blog/book-discussion/norse-names-in-the-lothians.php/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Carla Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:48:52 +0000 http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/blog/?p=52#comment-10 Thank you for this fascinating post. I have no difficulty with the idea that many place names in Scotland might have Norse origins or that substantial numbers of people might have spoken Norse at some time in the past. Does it have to be mutually exclusive, do you think? Or is it possible that some of the place names might be of mixed origin? For example, where there are Norse and Old English cognates with similar spellings, such as stein and stan, or ton and tun, is it possible that a place might have been named first in one language and then reinforced or modified by the other? Is it possible to tell these apart with the records that survive? Thank you for this fascinating post. I have no difficulty with the idea that many place names in Scotland might have Norse origins or that substantial numbers of people might have spoken Norse at some time in the past. Does it have to be mutually exclusive, do you think? Or is it possible that some of the place names might be of mixed origin? For example, where there are Norse and Old English cognates with similar spellings, such as stein and stan, or ton and tun, is it possible that a place might have been named first in one language and then reinforced or modified by the other? Is it possible to tell these apart with the records that survive?

]]>