Namen als jüdische Identitätsattribute und als Mittel des Humors oder der Verspottung in den Witzblättern (1882–1883)

Abstract

The conversion of the Nordic countries to Christianity, largely completed in the 13 th century, exerted a profound influence not only on Scandinavian society and its spiritual life, but also on the linguistic practices of name-giving. Hence, the purpose of this article is twofold: (i) to outline the process of introduction of the new religion in the Scandinavian countries and the conflict with the heathen cultic elements, and (ii) to account for the changes in the Scandinavian onomasticon of personal names after the importation of Christian foreign names. The paper draws on early religious and literary sources and includes an etymological analysis of the aforementioned personal names as a result of language contact with Latin and Greek.