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Archives"Grendel" from "Beowulf"
So, for school I'm reading excerpts from Beowulf, and I was doing a little bit of research on the name Grendel (because I'm a name nerd. Not because it was required) and I came first here ('cause it's my go to) and found no definition. So I did a little more research and found that it means "legend name" (confirmed by at least three sites: sheknows.com, whatisthemeaningofname.com, and ourbabynamer.com).
I thought that "legend name" was an interesting name meaning, and was wondering if anyone had any specific thoughts on it?
I thought that "legend name" was an interesting name meaning, and was wondering if anyone had any specific thoughts on it?
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Replies
Your three sites copy "meanings" from the same internet sources without verification - they are not themselves independent sources. Their accuracy is dependant on how well known the real meaning is - if you don't already know the meaning, they are probably wrong. Wiktionary suggests a connection with middle English grindel "fierce" and ON grindill "storm".
This message was edited 11/22/2021, 1:07 PM
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"legend name" sounds less like a true meaning and more like an info to the reader "this is a name occuring in a well-known legend". Why should the meaning of name itself have "name" in it anyway?
Finding something on three different websites does not automatically mean much, as copying of info between naming websites is rampant.
After some quick googling seems to me that the etymology of the name is not really known, but that there are theories, like "perhaps composed of a combination of the words gren and daelan" from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grendel (towards the end)
Or check this scanned page from a book: http://books.google.com/books?id=6C4W4T-6VcYC&pg=PA206#v=onepage&q&f=false
Finding something on three different websites does not automatically mean much, as copying of info between naming websites is rampant.
After some quick googling seems to me that the etymology of the name is not really known, but that there are theories, like "perhaps composed of a combination of the words gren and daelan" from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grendel (towards the end)
Or check this scanned page from a book: http://books.google.com/books?id=6C4W4T-6VcYC&pg=PA206#v=onepage&q&f=false
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The meaning is cool, but if you're asking for opinions instead of more information, then this should be on the opinions board. : )
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