Abbatissae uenerabili Heanfled agnominatae

An etymological-onomastic note on a unique Anglo-Saxon woman’s name (S904)

Authors

• Valeria Di Clemente University of Catania

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51814/nm.107989

Keywords:

Old English, Women's names, Heanfled, S904, dithematic names

Abstract

The unique Anglo-Saxon woman’s name Heanfled (S904, c. 1002 AD) is generally interpreted as a scribal error for Eanfled (or Eadfled, or Heahfled). Although the hypothesis has been dismissed in the older literature, the possibility stands that the form handed down is correct, and Heanfled might represent a (Christian) proper name in its own right, deliberately created or shaped according to the rules presiding over the formation of Germanic dithematic anthroponyms.