Kvigno. Eit busetnadsnamn frå Lærdal i Indre Sogn

English: Kvigno. An oeconym from Lærdal in Indre Sogn

Abstract

This article explores the methodological challenges posed by the toponym Kvigno from Lærdal municipality in Indre Sogn (Western Norway). The name has no known appellative counterpart, and the evidence for it is limited to only two, slightly uncertain attestations: a farm name in Erdal and the name of an abandoned shieling (summer dwelling) in Råsdal. Therefore, the analysis of the primary sources relies on a qualitative approach supplied by several secondary sources. The results indicate that Kvigno could be traced to a form originally derived from the river name *Kvíg(a), from the same stem as ON kvíga f. ‘heifer’ (ultimately ‘livestock’). The insertion of -n- can be explained by analogy to the semantically similar hydronym-type *Yxn(a) ‘ox[en]’ and its appellative counterpart yxn- (plural stem of uxi m. ‘ox’). Moreover, proximity to the prominent pre-historic farms Mo, Rå, Sæbø and Tøri suggests that both attestations of Kvigno as proper names can be dated to the period 1–800 CE.