Do you know a Hrothgar? I bet you do…
Hrothgar was a semi-mythical Danish king who appears in several places in Old English and Old Norse literature. His name is dithematic – it consists of two elements hroth + gar, meaning ‘famous’ and ‘spear’.
Many Germanic names follow this dithematic pattern and there are hundreds, possibly thousands of examples attested. Many survive in modified form to the present day and are very common and familiar given names, for instance
William - will + helm = ‘wish helmet’
Mathilda - maht + hild = ‘mighty battle’
Rosamund - hros + mund = ‘horse guardian
Robert - hroth + beraht = ‘famous bright’
Several of these elements are easy to recognise – will, maht, hros, beraht - and helm survives as a poetical word for helmet. mund was still found in Middle English but is now obsolete, and hild seems to have disappeared earlier.
As for Hrothgar, it has become Roger, a fact I only realised a couple of days ago. Hroth is an element in several other names: Wikipedia quotes Rudolph, Roderick, and Roland; but seems extinct now except in names.
But gar = ‘pike’ i.e.a long, pointed spear, hangs on. This is a garfish, courtesy of Wikipedia.
