[74] Such names may have been current before, though their frequent occurrence is no proof of this and may be due to the popularity of the heroic poems. It is perhaps worth noting that alliteration is shown by certain names which are generally believed to have been introduced into the story in Norway or Iceland, e.g. Oddrún, Erpr, Eitill with Atli, Giaflaug, Gullrönd (Guðrún?) with Giuki and Gunnarr. If we may judge from the genealogies in Landnámabók and elsewhere the principle of alliteration seems to have been generally given up in family names before the ninth century.
[75] The Cult of Othin, p. 51 f.
[76] Cf. Bugge, Beiträge, XII 45 ff.
[77] Cf. Sievers, Ges. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig, Ber. 1895, p. 180 ff.
[78] Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie, pp. 18 ff., 132.
[79] The Origin of the English Nation, p. 118 ff.
[80] Item barbara et antiquissima carmina, quibus ueterum regum actus et bella canebantur, scripsit memoriaeque mandauit (Vita Caroli Magni, cap. 29).
[81] Cassiodorus (Var. VIII 9) states that the Gothic king Gensimundus, who according to Jordanes (cap. 48) reigned shortly after Eormenric's death, was widely celebrated in poetry (toto orbe cantabilis); but his name is preserved only in Gothic records.