Rethinking Old English Toponyms.
Richard Jones, Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester.
The analysis of English place-names has, for the last ninety years, been framed in post-Enlightenment Cartesian terms. Focusing on place-names formed in Old English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, three aspects of this approach are challenged here: Cartesian reductionism which has informed how place-names have been grouped and subdivided; Cartesian dualism which has encouraged the idea that resulting categories of place-names are intrinsically different and opposed —especially topographical and habitative names; and Cartesian mapping which has dictated how place-names have been examined in spatial context. While these remain extremely helpful in developing etymologies for particular place-name elements, it is argued that since these names originated in a non-Cartesian world, current approaches create interpretative barriers that hinder a full understanding of the motivation lying behind place-naming and the role that place-names may have played in Anglo-Saxon society. Drawing on examples of indigenous naming practices from across the globe, where it can be shown that place-names are habitually designed to communicate critical aspects of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, a new way forward for English place-name studies is proposed that might operate alongside the existing paradigm.
You can view and/or download the full article as a PDF here.
