Sofia Evemalm-Graham
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8201-0656 
University of Glasgow

https://doi.org/10.4467/K7501.45/22.23.18055

There is a large body of research which deals with the place names coined by the Norse in Scotland during the Scandinavian period of settlement. But how were the Norse, especially Norse women, remembered and imagined by subsequent users of these names? This paper presents a selection of place names that reflect associations with Norse women after the period of Scandinavian settlement in the Hebrides of Scotland and explores how these names were understood by later Gaelic-speakers. The paper presents case studies of two place names: Tobha Mòr/Howmore in South Uist and Uineabhal in North Uist. These place names, and the narratives associated with them, are examined in their onomastic and cultural context.

Keywords Scotland, Scandinavia, folklore, socio-onomastics, folk-etymology