The origin of the nickname of Haraldr hárfagri „fair hair‟ is given in chapter 23 of his saga in Heimskringla, where Earl Rǫgnvaldr Eysteinsson gave him the new nickname after washing and cutting his hair, replacing his former nickname lúfa „(thick) matted hair‟ (= „shock-head‟):
Haraldr konungr var á veizlu á Mœri at Rǫgnvalds jarls. Hafði hann þá eignazk land allt. Þá tók konungr þar laugar, ok þá lét Haraldr konungr greiða hár sitt, ok þá skar
Rǫgnvaldr jarl hár hans, en áðr hafði verit óskorit ok ókembt tíu vetr. Þá kǫlluðu þeir hann Harald lúfu, en síðan gaf Rǫgnvaldr honum kenningarnafn ok kallaði hann Harald inn hárfagra, ok sǫgðu allir, er sá, at þat var it mesta sannnefni, því at hann hafði hár bæði mikit ok fagrt.10
[King Haraldr was at Earl Rǫgnvaldr‟s in Mœrr for a feast. He had then possession of the entire country. Then the king took a bath there, and then King Haraldr had his hair combed, and then Earl Rǫgnvaldr cut his hair, and before it had been uncut and uncombed for ten years. Before then they called him Haraldr lúfa („shock-head‟), and afterwards Rǫgnvaldr gave him a nickname and called him Haraldr inn hárfagri („the fair
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haired‟), and everyone said who saw him that it was the truest name of all, because he had hair both plentiful and fair.]
The use of the term kenningarnafn for “title” does not seem entirely fitting, especially when hárfagri looks a lot more like a nickname and the label viðrnefni „additional name‟ would have been expected. One terminological variant here is followed by yet another naming term, sannnefni „true, accurate name‟, used to verify the accuracy of the byname in terms of public opinion. Earlier in the same saga (chapter 10), Rǫgnvaldr Mœrajarl (a title meaning „Earl of Mœrr [modern day Møre, a county in Norway]‟) is called by two nicknames, inn ríki „the mighty, powerful‟ and inn ráðsvinni „the wise in counsel, shrewd‟:
Hann var kallaðr Rǫgnvaldr inn ríki eða inn ráðsvinni, ok kalla menn, at hvárt tveggja væri sannnefni.11
[He was called Rǫgnvaldr inn ríki or inn ráðsvinni, and people say that both were accurate names.]
The description of positive nicknames such as these with the term sannnefni is relatively commonplace.
In a fragment of the so-called miðsaga of Guðmundar biskups saga (in AM 657c 4to, from ca. 1340-1390), Guðmundr gives his friend Einarr the title klerkr „cleric‟ (not a nickname), which is described in a similar fashion as the re-dubbing of Haraldr hárfagri:
…en hann [Guðmundr] vígði hann þá er hann var tvítugr, ok gaf honum þat kenningar nafn at hann skyldi heita Einarr klerkr, ok kvað honum þat sannnefni en eigi auknefni.12
11 In Heimskringla I. (ÍF XXVI, 104).
12 From Brot úr miðsögu Guðmundar in Biskupa sögur Vol. I (Jón Sigurðsson and Guðbrandur Vigfússon 1858, 589).
[…and he (Guðmundr) consecrated him then when he was twenty, and gave him the nickname (title) that he should be called Einarr klerkr, and said that to be a true name for him and not a nickname.]
This is another example where medieval Icelanders shuffled around terminology and applied kenningarnafn to a person‟s title. Even more interesting in this regard is that his title is said not to be an auknefni, which should only be applied to a nickname (and this is obviously not one), but it is instead a sannnefni. The terms kenningarnafn and auknefni are not entirely synonymous, so it is important that a distinction is made between the two.
To differentiate between a kenningarnafn, which is either neutral or given as an honorific title, and an auknefni, which can often be derogatory (as the previous example shows), in Fóstbræðra saga it differentiates between the two established senses of nicknames:
Helgi átti kenningarnafn ok var kallaðr hvítr, ok var honum þat eigi auknefni, því at hann var vænn maðr ok vel hærðr, hvítr á hár.13
[Helgi had a nickname and was called hvítr („white‟), and for him it was not a derogatory nickname, because he was a handsome man and had fine, white hair.]
This strong inflection variant hvítr is found only in Flateyjarbók; other manuscripts repeat more or less the same explanation, but have the nickname as the more usual, weakly inflected form inn hvíti:
Hann átti þat kenningarnafn, at hann var kallaðr Helgi inn hvíti, því at hann var vænn maðr ok vel hærðr, hvítr á hárslit.14
[He had this nickname that he was called Helgi inn hvíti („the white‟), because he was a promising man and had fine hair, white in color.]
13 In Flateyjarbók Vol. II (Sigurður Nordal 1945, 243).
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It is apparent from the text in Flateyjarbók that a distinction was made between
kenningarnǫfn, which were more apt for describing a positive feature or a title (and could
even be considered sannnefni), and the often negative auknefni, echoing the description of Einarr klerkr‟s title.
There is one instance in a short tale from Ólafs saga ins helga where the term
sannnefni is used to verify a name which is derogatory. The title character of Hróa þáttr heimska is named Hrói inn heimski „the stupid, foolish‟, though the entire tale disproves
the accuracy of the nickname (it may have been a joke). In this passage, he does his best not to deny the nickname in what can only be described as tongue-in-cheek modesty:
hann kom þar at sem kona iung gek til uatz. ỏngua þottizst hann set hafa konu fridari en þessa ok er hann kom at henni leit hon uit honum ok mællti. huer ertu. Ek heiti Hroi segir hann. Ertu Hroi hinn heimski segir hon. Hann suarar. ek ætla þat nu vera ærit mikit sannefnne en att hefui ek ædri nöfnen fyrr. edr huert er þitt nafnn segir hann. Hon segir. ek heiti Sigrbiorg ok er ek dottir Þorgnyrs lögmannz.15
[He came there just as a young woman was going to the water. He thought that he had seen no woman more beautiful than this one, and he went to her. She looked at him and said: “Who are you?” “My name is Hrói,” he says. “Are you Hrói inn heimski („the foolish‟),” she says. He answers: “Well, I consider that name to be quite true enough, but I have had more dignified names before. And what is your name?” he says. She says: “I‟m called Sigrbjǫrg and I am the daughter of Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker.]
Hrói is showing great humility and telling the truth, which ultimately leads to his rise in the Swedish court as his legal and business successes compound. Earlier in the tale, the narrator mentions that he was called by two other nicknames, inn auðgi „the wealthy‟ and
inn prúði „the magnificent, elegant‟, both of which are positive:
uar hann þa kalladr Hroi hinn audge edr Hroi hinn prude ok for hann med þessu konungs tillagi huert sumar til ymisra landa.16
15 In Flateyjarbók. II. (Guðbrandr Vigfusson and Unger 1862, 76-7).
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[Back then he was called Hrói inn auðgi („the wealthy‟) or Hrói inn prúði („the splendid‟), and he traveled with the king‟s contribution each summer to various countries.]
The use of sannnefni in the case of Hrói inn heimski, where the nickname does not fit and is definitely not a “true, accurate name,” is an instructive example of irony, though this is the only such case of it with sannnefni in the entire literary corpus.
The verbal expressions used to give nicknames are not numerous. An example of the phrase auka nafn „add a name‟ is found in Chapter 1 in Ketils saga hœngs, which gives a typically legendary account of Ketill‟s nickname hœngr „(male) salmon‟, reflecting an overlay of medieval etymology. After killing a dragon, which Ketill
believed to be a mere salmon, Ketill has a dialogue exchange with his father Hallbjǫrn. In commemoration of Ketill‟s “fishing trip,” Hallbjǫrn replaces Ketill‟s former nickname
Hrafnistufífl „fool of Hrafnista‟ (given by the now-murdered neighbor Bjǫrn bóndi
„farmer‟) with an ironic nickname for his ability to slay a dragon and still consider it a small task:
Ketill svarar: “Ekki kann ek at færa í frásagnir, hvar ek sé fiska renna, en satt var þat, at sundr hjó ek einn hæng í miðju, hverr sem hrygnuna veiðir frá.” Hallbjörn svarar: “Lítils mun þér síðar vert þykkja um smáhluti, er þú telr slík kvikvendi með smáfiskum. Mun ek nú auka nafn þitt ok kalla þik Ketil hæng.”17
[Ketill replies: “I can‟t bring anything to the accounts, where I see fish swimming, but it was true that I cut apart a salmon in the middle, whoever fishes the spawner from it.” Hallbjǫrn replies: “You will be thought of little worth later regarding small things, when you count such a creature among small fish. I will now add to your name and call you Ketill hœngr.”]
Ketill hœngr‟s (< *hœingr) nickname is probably related to hór „hook‟ and seems to have originally meant something like “the hooked one,” but it may have meant “(male)
salmon” just like the explanation given here in his saga (cf. NNorw. hyngn „male sea trout, salmon‟). The male salmon hœngr seems to have received its name from the bent up hook on its lower jaw (cf. ÍO, 408 s.v. hængur). Hœngr (> Hængur) is also found as a first name, a familiar pattern in name inheritance.