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Since written history began and as far back as oral history reaches,
people have had pet names and nicknames.
The word 'nickname' is derived from the Middle English 'eke name'
meaning 'also name' or 'additional name.'
Nicknames have been around for as long as people have wished to describe each other in affectionate,
obsequious, familiar or spiteful ways.
Nicknames included pet names, bynames, soubriquets, appellations,
cognomens, monikers or epithets. Some nick names concentrate on a physical
attributes such as Rolf the Woman-Lover, who by all accounts was pretty
goodlooking and Blihar the Snub-Nose, who wasn't.
Some consider the uninteresting toponymic, such as Brat the Jute or Od the Englishman; some
scrutinize the behavioural, such as Thorlevar the Unyeilding, Grettir
the Wicked and Hothbrodd the Furious and some are simply treasures of
wonder, including the singular nicknames of Alf the Far-Wanderer, Roldar
Toe-Joint and the wonderfully eccentric, Frosti the Melting Pot.
Our quiz, 'Fat Bald and Ugly' pays homage to those humble yet
capricious nicknames of the Germanic 'Greats' (and no so greats) of history and
embraces the quirky, the fickle and the downright questionable.
See if you can figure out this who's who of nicknames...
We also bring you a fantastically hillarious article on the subject, it's a great read so
don't miss it!
By 'Sementawy, the Wrapped One.'
Quiz Part I
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Quiz Part II
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Quiz Part III
Sources:
http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/
The great land survey from 1086, commissioned by William the Conqueror.
Forssner, Thorvald. ContinentalGermanic Personal Names in England in
Old and Middle English Times. Uppsala Press, 1916.
Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. The Old Norse Name. Private Press, 1977.
Jönsjo, Jan. Studies on Middle English Nicknames. Sweden: Lund, 1979.
Redin, Mats. Studies on Uncompounded Personal Names in Old English.
Uppsalla, 1919.
Orchard, Andy (1997). Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend.
London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-36385-5.
Pratchett, Terry (2001) The Last Hero; illistrated by Paul Kidby. Orion
Publishing London, ISBN 0575 06885X.
Rydberg, Viktor (1889). Teutonic Mythology, trans. Rasmus B. Anderson.
London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. Reprinted 2001, Elibron Classics. ISBN
1-4021-9391-2. Reprinted 2004, Kessinger Publishing Company. ISBN
0-7661-8891-4.
Larrington, Carolyne (transl.) (1996). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's
Classics. ISBN 0-19-283946-2.
'Inspiration, Erik the Viking.'
Thanks to...
Elenwe the Hippy.
Gisele, the Lover of Mutants.
Fenton the Casual.
Cornellia the Chainsaw, for her coding skills.
and Attila the Hun, the Scourge of God.
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