Éadric
Knight at Arms
One of the many things that make Víkingr special is its aim for historical soundness. The developers are doing their best to ensure that all items in the game are faithful representations of actual 10th and 11th century items. This takes a lot of time and effort.
But luckily you too can make this game more historical: by using names of the time and places it is set in. This greatly increases the authentic atmosphere and makes for deeper immersion in this gripping time in European history. Moreover, as most of the clans of Víkingr are already dedicated to using these period names, players who bear such names will be noticed and considered for recruitment sooner than those who don’t.
To help you get started on your quest for a suitable name, links to reliable sources are provided below, arranged by faction. If you have any questions, just ask, and one of our language experts will be happy to help you. Good luck with the nafngift 'name-giving'!
NORÐMENN (Northmen)
An excellent list of Old Norse names, ordered by how popular they were at the time, can be found here. These particular names are taken from the Landnámabók, a medieval document describing the settlement of Iceland. For a list of Old Norse bynames from the same source, see here. And to see how Old Norse patronyms were formed (i.e. the names ending in -son and -dóttir), look here.
ENGLE (Anglo-Saxons)
A short and general introduction to Anglo-Saxon (a.k.a. Old English) names is available here. Included is a large selection of names, as well as instructions on how to make bynames, patronyms and even clan names.
NORMANT (Normans)
For a rare and invaluable introduction to Old Norman names, look no further than here. Included is a carefully compiled selection of some of the most common names of 11th century Normans and information on pronunciation and grammar.
GOÍDIL (Gaels)
One of the best sources on the web for Old and Middle Irish names can be found here. Names are taken from the Irish Annals and ordered by period; suitable are names as they were written down between 700 and 900 AD (Old Irish) and between 900 and 1200 AD (Middle Irish). Most names come with their genitive form, that is the form of the name when it is used for a patronym (i.e. after mac 'son' or ingen 'daughter').
RUS (Rus)
English information on Old Russian (a.k.a. Old East Slavic) names is scarce, but here is a long list of Russian names throughout history. Each name comes with with a date; suitable names are those closest to 1000 AD, roughly the time this game is set in. For a selection of names specifically from this period and notes on usage, see this thread.
Many thanks to Úlfvaldr, who made the first version of this thread, and to former Víkingr developer Eiríkr who made a second version.