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Discussion
Bibliography
Forms
Distribution Map
Property List
People of this Name
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Gunward
Male
CPL
4 of 5
Discussion of the name
The name normalized here as Gunward brings together two main variant spellings, Gunuuar(d)(us) (also Gunwardus) and Gunuer(t) (also Gonuerd). Björkman (1910: 59) reckoned that they represented a single Scandinavian name, ON, formed from elements meaning ‘battle’ and ‘guard’; von Feilitzen, however, thought the second group of spellings, with medial –e–, ‘inconsistent with DB phonology’, and assigned them instead to a different Scandinavian name, ON Gunnfrøðr, retaining ON Gunnvarðr as the origin of the spellings with medial –a– (von Feilitzen 1937: 277–8).There are four difficulties with von Feilitzen’s reasoning, and a compelling case can be made for rejecting his solution and returning to the earlier identification of a single underlying name.
First, von Feilitzen’s insistence that the DB spellings in –uer(t) and –uer(d) cannot represent the Scandinavian element –varðr is too strident; it is at least qualified, and perhaps undermined altogether, by some of the examples listed in his discussion of the OE diphthong ea (1937: 57–8 § 24).
Secondly, as he himself noted, the name Gunnfrøðr — though composed of elements that were widely used in forming names — is not on independent record in either Scandinavia or England (Fellows Jensen 1968: 114, 344, 348).
Thirdly, a piece of supporting evidence for the name Gunnfrøðr in England, in the Lincolnshire place-name Great Gonerby (accepted also by Fellows Jensen 1968: 114), is inadmissible. Gonerby appears eight times in Domesday Book, with the spellings Gunfordebi occurring five times, Gunnewordebi once, and Gouerdebi (for Gonerdebi) twice (Lincs. 1:10; 3:31; 5:3; 31:2; 57:26; 67:24; CK:21). Domesday Gonerby was evidently a 12-carucate hundred of the type which existed throughout Lincolnshire (the six estates add to 12 carucates less ½ bovate) and must have had a single name, despite the variant spellings. There are no grounds except the accidents of the DB spellings for supposing that Great Gonerby and Little Gonerby could possibly have incorporated different personal names. The later division between Great Gonerby, an ancient parish which was absorbed ecclesiastically by neighbouring Grantham but retained its civil identity, and Little Gonerby, part of the township of Manthorpe cum Little Gonerby, also in Grantham parish — cannot be mapped on to the DB holdings with any degree of certainty. Foster and Longley (1924) identified three of the Domesday holdings as Great Gonerby, four as (query) Great Gonerby, and one as Little Gonerby, but without rehearsing the grounds. Von Feilitzen, followed by both Phillimore and Alecto, silently omitted Foster and Longley’s hesitation but without presenting any evidence.
Finally, a strong case can be made that the DB spellings Gunuuar(d)(us), Gunwardus and Gunuer(t), holding estates in Shropshire and Herefordshire, represent the same person.
The name is not recorded in PASE other than for the DB landowners.
Phillimore and Alecto both follow von Feilitzen in giving two different names, respectively Gunfrid and Gunward, and Gunnfrothr and Gunnvarthr.
Bibliography
Björkman 1910: Erik Björkman, Nordische Personennamen in England in alt- und frühmittel-englischer Zeit, Studien zur englischen Philologie 37 (Halle an der Saale, 1910; reprinted Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1973)Fellows Jensen 1968: Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Akademisk Forlag, 1968)
Foster and Longley 1924: The Lincolnshire Domesday and the Lindsey Survey, trans. and ed. C. W. Foster and Thomas Longley, Lincoln Record Society 19 (1924)
von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)
Forms of the name
Spellings in Domesday Book: Gonuerd, Gunuer, Gunuer, Gunuert, Gunuert, Gunuuar, Gunuuardus, GunwardusForms in modern scholarship:
von Feilitzen head forms: Gunnfrøðr and Gunnvarðr
Phillimore edition: Gunfrid, Gunward
Alecto edition: Gunnfrothr, Gunnvarthr
Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
Holder 1066
| Shire | Phil. ref. | Vill | DB Spelling | Holder 1066 | Lord 1066 | Tenant-in-Chief 1086 | 1086 Subtenant | Fiscal Value | 1066 Value | 1086 Value | Conf. | Show on Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herefordshire | 10,27 | Weston Beggard | Gunuer | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Roger de Lacy | - | 6.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | B | Map |
| Herefordshire | 9,1 | Wigmore | Gunuert | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Ralph de Mortimer | - | 2.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 | A | Map |
| Shropshire | 4,20,24 | Clungunford | Gunuuardus | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Roger, earl | Picot de Sai | 6.00 | 12.00 | 4.00 | A | Map |
| Shropshire | 4,3,46 | Clungunford | Gunwardus | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Roger, earl | Reynold de Bailleul | 2.00 | 0.60 | 0.60 | A | Map |
| Shropshire | 4,5,6 | Choulton | Gunuert | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Roger, earl | Robert fitzCorbet | 2.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | A | Map |
| Shropshire | 6,14 | Lingen | Gunuer | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Ralph de Mortimer | Thurstan 'of Wigmore' | 0.75 | 0.00 | 0.25 | A | Map |
| Shropshire | 6,23 | Brampton Bryan | Gunuuar | Gunward 'of Clungunford' | - | Ralph de Mortimer | Richard de Barre | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.50 | A | Map |
| Somerset | 45,6 | Timsbury | Gonuerd | Gunward 'of Timsbury' | - | Odo the Fleming | - | 5.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | A | Map |
| Totals | ||||||||||||