Langobardic

Thurisind or Thaurisinþs?

/ hjkilmartin / Leave a comment

The matter of names has proven surprisingly tricky. The first issue is that there’s very little uniformity in the historical record or in the literature as to most of the names in question. For example, Rosamund’s grandfather is variously referred to as Thurisind, Turisind, Torisind, and Thorisind. These are all, most likely, approximations of his actual name, which may have included the components thauris (which probably meant “daring”) and sinþs (“path”) or sinþa (“traveler”). Likewise, Alboin’s actual name was probably something like Albwin–meaning “elf friend.”

This famous ring is part of the Apahida Treasure, held by the National Museum of Romanian History. The inscription names its presumed owner, Omharus, whose name has been otherwise lost to history. He’s speculated to have been a 5th century Gepidic king who received this ring and other costly treasures as a Roman federate. We don’t know what his name would have been in his native tongue, but it probably incorporated the element harjis (“army”).

All this begs the question: is it a problem if a character has come down to us with a distorted name?

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