The subject of today’s hilarity will be nicknames from the Viking Age. (I did a post awhile back about some of my favorite royal nicknames.) As with most people living in medieval times, the Norse had no last names (surnames), outside of patronyms (Ander’s son, Peter’s son). So, as happened frequently in other medieval communities, nicknames were used as a way of identifying individuals. We’ve all heard of Eric the Red, but there are lots of better ones. The list below comes from the people who settled in Iceland during the 9^th and 10^th centuries. Some are too randy to list on this PG-rated blog. Most are not very flattering. Here are my top ten favorites:

1. Audun Thin-Hair
2. Gunnstein Berserks’-Killer
3. Herjolf Bent-Arse
4. Audun Thorolfsson the Rotten
5. Eystein Foul-Fart
6. Asbjorn Muscle of Orrastead
7. Thorir the Troll-Burster
8. Thurid the Sound-Filler (I’m guessing she was a loquacious woman.)
9. Thorbjorg Ship-Breast
10. Ljot the Unwashed

Sources: http://www.medievalists.net/2014/06/01/viking-nicknames/

The Book of Settlements: Landnámabók by Hermann Pálsson http://books.google.com/books?id=jj6cIwMCZqIC&pg=PA155&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false