Hereswith
Hereswith is an Anglo-Saxon feminine name composed of here (army) and swith (strong).
Variants:
Heresuid [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis BedƦ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, page 301].
Hereswitha [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis BedƦ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, page 301].
heresuit [Henry Sweet 1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 144].
Hereswīþ [Henry Sweet 1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 625].
Hereswytha [Charles Hole 1880 A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines 2: 911].
Hereswith [William Searle 1897 Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum, page 294].
Hereswiþ [Elisabeth Okasha 2011 Womenās Names in Old English, pages 40 & 61].
HereswĆþ [Oswin Kinsey 2016 English Compound Names, 2nd edition, page 118].
Note:
Forms ending in -a are Latinizations.
Prototheme:
army = here [Charlotte Yonge 1863 History of Christian Names, 1st edition, 2: 406].
Deuterotheme:
swith = strong [Elizabeth Withycombe 1945 The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1st edition, page 55].
Usage:
āNam et in eodem monasterio soror ipsius Heresuid, mater Alduulfi regis Orientalium Anglorumā [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis BedƦ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, page 301]: ābecause her sister Heresuid, mother to Aldwulf, king of the East Angles, at that time living in the same monasteryā [John Giles 1845 The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, pages 238].
Comment:
Hereswith is an Indo-European personal name of the First Class. Most Anglo-Saxon personal names belong to the First Class: āThe first and chief class consists of names that may be termed dithematic names, as they consist of two elements or themes, mostly monosyllabic, a first element or prototheme, and a second element or deuterotheme; both of these are nouns, either subst. or adj.ā [William Searle 1897 Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum pages xii]. Attempts are sometimes made to translate Anglo-Saxon personal names into meaningful phrases, but this is a mistake: āthe compound name of the child was formed by one or both members being taken from the fatherās, the motherās, or other relativesā namesā [Mats Redin 1919 Studies on Uncompounded Personal Names in Old English, page xxxvii]. The name of Hereswith of Deira indicates that she was the daughter of Hereric and Breguswith. It does not mean that she was a strong warrior. The word here does not even mean warrior, it means an enemy army: āAn army, expedition, host, legion, multitude, troop, chiefly of enemies, any number of men above thirty-five [Joseph Bosworth 1838 A Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language, 1st edition, pages 179-180].

















