Friday, October 31, 2008

Nicknames

Rulers of yore often had gnarly nicknames. There was Domnall the Pock-Marked and Eochaid Crooked Nose of Dal Riata in the 7th century. Scotland had Malcolm Bighead in the 11th century and Malcolm the Maiden in the 12th and John Emptycoat in the 13th. Orkney was blessed with Erik Bloodaxe and Thorfinn Skullsplitter and Einar Falsemouth and Harald Smoothtalker. York had Ivarr the Boneless. England had Athelred the Unready (or the Heedless as I translate it), Swein Forkbeard, and Edmund Ironside before the Normans. The first Norman king in England was William the Bastard, later William the Conqueror. Later, there was Richard Lionheart and Edward Longshanks. Somewhere there was a Sigurd the Haughty. Russia had Ivan the Terrible.

What should GW Bush's kingly nickname be?

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