In looking for names for our daughter (due in May), I couldn't help but to look for SCA-period names as well. Both Olaf's and my personae are Faroese, roughly 1000 AD, and the usual places I have looked for names (e.g. The Academy of St. Gabriel) have little information.

I did find one article there, though, that pointed me in the right direction: A Very Brief History of the Scandinavian Languages, by Talan Gwynek. Common Scandinavian was the primary North Germanic language across northern Europe, first attested in the 6th century AD. Thereafter, two dialects developed: East Old Scandinavian and West Old Scandinavian. Gwynek states:

"The West Scandinavian region comprised Norway together with the now-Swedish provinces of Jämtland, Herjedalen, and Bohuslän, Iceland, Greenland, and the western isles of Shetland, the Faroes, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man."

Another source, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, states that: "Faroese (føroyskt...), often also spelled Faeroese (cf. Merriam-Webster, which prefers this spelling), is a West Nordic or West Scandinavian language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 12,000 Faroese in Denmark. It is one of three insular Scandinavian languages descended from the Old Norse language spoken in Scandinavia in the Viking Age, the others being Icelandic and the extinct Norn, which is thought to have been mutually intelligible with Faroese."

This provided what fuel I needed to begin searching for names. The Viking Answer Lady provides an excellent list of names, all based on Old Norse.

The result? I found twenty potential names to narrow down, though only two that pre-date 1100 AD (that I like, that is).

I know that Faroese research is fairly limited, but it is something I am greatly interested in. As I have time I will post more information...

~Miriam