Eilert Ekwall
Encyclopedia
Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö, Jönköpings län, Sweden
, died 23 November 1964 in Lund
), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Lund University
, Sweden, from 1909 to 1942, and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language
of the first half of the 20th century. He wrote works on the history of the language, but is best known as the author of numerous important books on English place-names (in the broadest sense) and personal names.
(1923-date), his philological advice was often sought and acknowledged by scholars preparing the county volumes, such as Allen Mawer and Frank Stenton
. He was competent not only in English philology, but also in Scandinavian and Celtic
, making him ideally qualified as an authority on linguistic aspects of the place-names of England.
His other work on English included scholarly editions of classic early-modern works such as John Jones' Practical Phonography of 1701 (1907), the anonymous Writing Scholar's Companion of 1695 (1911), John Lydgate
's Siege of Thebes (1930). Notable other book(let)s were that on modern English phonology and morphology originally published in German in 1914 and still being reprinted in 1965 (English edition finally after Ekwall's death, in 1975); and that on the genitive of groups, with much relevance for place-name studies (1943).
Ekwall also left behind an extensive body of influential academic articles and notes (many collected in the books of 1931 and 1936 mentioned above), local working papers of Lund University, and a very large number of book reviews, all published over a period of some 60 years, in English, Swedish and German, and mostly referenced in von Feilitzen's bibliography.
From 1935, Ekwall was a Fellow of the Swedish Academy of Letters and the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He and his wife Dagny founded a bursary for students at Lund University from the Småland
region. A picture of his gravestone in the North Cemetery, Lund, may be seen in the Swedish counterpart of this article, at http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilert_Ekwall.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, died 23 November 1964 in Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
, Sweden, from 1909 to 1942, and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
of the first half of the 20th century. He wrote works on the history of the language, but is best known as the author of numerous important books on English place-names (in the broadest sense) and personal names.
Scholarly works
His chief works in this area are The Place-Names of Lancashire (1922), English Place-Names in -ing (1923, new edition 1961), English River Names (1928), Studies on English Place- and Personal Names (1931), Studies on English Place-Names (1936), Street-Names of the City of London (1954), Studies on the Population of Medieval London (1956), and the monumental Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (1936, new editions 1940, 1947/51 and the last in 1960). The Dictionary remained the standard national reference resource for over 40 years, and is still valuable even though some aspects of Ekwall's methodology and some of his ideas are no longer accepted. Although not a county editor of the survey conducted by the English Place-Name SocietyEnglish Place-Name Society
The English Place-Name Society is a learned society concerned with toponomastics and the toponymy of England, in other words, the study of place-names ....
(1923-date), his philological advice was often sought and acknowledged by scholars preparing the county volumes, such as Allen Mawer and Frank Stenton
Frank Stenton
Sir Frank Merry Stenton was a 20th century historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society . He was the author of Anglo-Saxon England, a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period...
. He was competent not only in English philology, but also in Scandinavian and Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
, making him ideally qualified as an authority on linguistic aspects of the place-names of England.
His other work on English included scholarly editions of classic early-modern works such as John Jones' Practical Phonography of 1701 (1907), the anonymous Writing Scholar's Companion of 1695 (1911), John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...
's Siege of Thebes (1930). Notable other book(let)s were that on modern English phonology and morphology originally published in German in 1914 and still being reprinted in 1965 (English edition finally after Ekwall's death, in 1975); and that on the genitive of groups, with much relevance for place-name studies (1943).
Ekwall also left behind an extensive body of influential academic articles and notes (many collected in the books of 1931 and 1936 mentioned above), local working papers of Lund University, and a very large number of book reviews, all published over a period of some 60 years, in English, Swedish and German, and mostly referenced in von Feilitzen's bibliography.
From 1935, Ekwall was a Fellow of the Swedish Academy of Letters and the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He and his wife Dagny founded a bursary for students at Lund University from the Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
region. A picture of his gravestone in the North Cemetery, Lund, may be seen in the Swedish counterpart of this article, at http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilert_Ekwall.
Further reading (not mentioned above)
- Ekwall, Eilert (1924) "The Celtic element" and "The Scandinavian element", in A. Mawer and F. M. Stenton, eds, Introduction to the Survey [of English Place-Names]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (English Place-Name Survey vol. 1, part 1, pp. 15-35 and 55-92).
- von Feilitzen, Olof (1961) The Published Writings of Eilert Ekwall: a Bibliography. Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup WorldCat catalogue record.