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BOOK II.
CHAP. VI.
Gille u a -
religions
Adjunct to
Scandinavian
names.
130 THE SCANDINAVIANS, AND
the back thief of Norway,"' " Gille the Russian
Merchant," 9 and we might even add to our list" St.
Gille of Caen in Normandy," whose history appears
to have perplexed the Bollandists.
And the Scandinavians not only used the name
in this manner, but they also used it as a religious
in the same sense in which it is used
adjunct,
among the Irish, as it appears, that many Scandinavians
who dedicated themselves to Thor, and
were " godar " in his Temples, took the name of the
deity they served adding to it some epithet indicative
of their connexion with him. Among others they
added the words, Kal or Gil, that is to say " man "
or " servant of," as Thorkel or Thorgil the man
or servant of Thor. We therefore venture to
suggest, that not only is the term Gille, of Scandinavian
origin, but that it was introduced into
Ireland by the Scandinavian 4
worshippers of Thor.
Northern Archaeologists assert that when Christi-
anity was established in Scandinavia, the "godi in some
degree renounced his Hof and built and endowed
upon
his demesne a Christian Church of which his
1 a Gilli Bakrauf." Heimsk, vol.
iii., p. 204.
8 "Gilli enn gerzke," Laxdla
Saga Hafnise, 1816, p. 28.
3 Acta Sanct, Antw., 1746, vol. i.
p. 280," St. ^gidio Abbate u vulgo
"
St. Gilles." In 940 Danish was
still spoken by the Normans of
Bayeux." Gibbon, Dec. and Fall,
Lon. 1807, vol. 2, p. 230.
4
fin Cleasby and Vigfusson's
Icelandic English Dictionary,
Thorgil is stated to be " the same
as Thorketil (by contraction). " In
poets of the 10th century
the old
uncontracted form was still used ;
but the contracted form occurs
in verses of the beginning of the
llth century, although the old
form occurs now and -then. The
frequent use of these names, combinations
of Ketil, is no doubt
derived from the holy cauldron at
sacrifices as is indicated by such
names as Vekell (holy kettle).
Compare Kettleby in Yorkshire."
P. 337. 4to, Clarendon l'<
Oxford, 1874,]