Hernetoc

Male
DWP
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

The DB spelling Hernetoc appears to represent a Scandinavian masculine name but its derivation is obscure. Von Feilitzen (1937: 290) suggests that it represents Old Norse Tóki (more probably Old Danish Toki, cf. Insley 1985: 36) with a prefixed byname along the lines of Anglo-Scandinavian Kartoka and Muntoke; to these examples can be added the Besi Tuk occurring in a forged Crowland charter dated 1051 (S 1230) and the prefixed patronymic of the legendary hero Palnatoki ‘Toki son of Palnir’ (Keil 1931: 127). The forms Toc(us) for ODan Toki occur in DB and later, with the loss of the final vowel perhaps resulting from scribal error (von Feilitzen 1937: 385-6; Fellows Jensen 1968: ci, 287-8), and Toki therefore seems the best explanation for the second element of DB Hernetoc. If so, then the first element may well be ODan Arni occurring as a patronymic, the inorganic initial ‘h’ being evidenced in the Haregrim of DB who occurs as Hernegrimus elsewhere (von Feilitzen 1937: 119, 162-3; Fellows Jensen 1968: xcviii, 13). It is possible, therefore, that the DB form Hernetoc represents an ODan name meaning ‘Toki son of Arni’.

Bibliography

Fellows Jensen 1968: Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Akademisk Forlag, 1968)

Keil 1931: M. Keil, Altisländische Namenwahl (Leipzig, 1931)

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: Hernetoc

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Hernetoc

  Phillimore edition: Hernetoc

  Alecto edition: Hernetoc

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
Sussex 9,10 Foxearle hundred Hernetoc Hernetoc 'of Foxearle' - Robert, count of Eu Olaf 0.13 0.50 0.50 C
Totals