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Einulf

Gender: Male

Author: CPL

Editorial Status: 4 of 5

Discussion of the name

The Domesday spellings Einulf and Einulfus have been thought to represent the masculine Continental Germanic name variously rendered Aginulf, Egenulf, Einolf, and Einulf (Forssner 1916: 15; von Feilitzen 1937: 246). This is unlikely because of the cultural circumstances of the two Englishmen with that name in 1066, and because the CG name appears elsewhere in DB in a different spelling.

The CG name occurs in England as that of a moneyer at Stafford (ÆGENVLF) in the period 997–1003 (PASE: Aginulf 1) and that of a 1086 subtenant of the canons of Lisieux (Agenulfus) on ½ hide of land at Horningsham (Wilts.) which his unnamed father had held of King Edward in alms before the Conquest (Wilts. 19:4; PASE: Agenulf 1). Tenure in alms suggests that the father was a priest, and quite possibly non-native.

The TRE name rather represents the masculine Scandinavian name Einulf. Although no person of that name is known in Scandinavian sources, the name is formed regularly from elements which appear in other names — aina ‘one, alone, single’ and ulfr ‘wolf’. It almost certainly formed the Lancashire place-name Ainsdale, spelled Einuluesdel in DB (Ches. R1:24; PN Lancs. 125), and the thegn who witnessed six charters of the 960s variously as Æinulf, Ænulf, Eignulf, and Einulf (S 692, 735, 777, 780–1, 787) may also have been called Einulf rather than OE Eanwulf (PASE: Eanwulf 21).

Other than the thegn living in the 960s and the two TRE landowners, no one called Einulf is currently recorded in PASE.

Phillimore and Alecto both render the name Einulf.

Bibliography

Forssner 1916: Thorvald Forssner, Continental-Germanic Personal Names in England in Old and Middle English Times (Upsala, 1916)

PN Lancs.:

S: P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks 8 (London, 1968), revised by S. Kelly, R. Rushforth et al., The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, published online through Kemble: The Anglo-Saxon Charters Website, currently at http://www.esawyer.org.uk/about/index.html

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: Einulf

Forms in modern scholarship:

von Feilitzen head forms: Einulf

Phillimore edition: Einulf

Alecto edition: Einulf

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
Shire Shropshire	Phil. ref. 4,5,3	Vill Womerton	DB Spelling Einulf	Holder 1066 Einulf 'of Womerton'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Roger, earl	1086 Subtenant Robert fitzCorbet	Fiscal Value 0.63	1066 Value 0.85	1086 Value 0.13	Confidence A	Map
Shire Yorkshire	Phil. ref. C7	Vill York	DB Spelling Einulfus	Holder 1066 Einulf 'of York'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William, king	1086 Subtenant Waldin	Fiscal Value 0.00	1066 Value 0.00	1086 Value 0.00	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value