That's named after a bloke, though
you'd think the Norse words for "black" and "pool" would show up a fair amount on a map of Scandinavia.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:35, archived)

Well I don't know,
I never got round to committing the name of every Scandinavian settlement to memory.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:39, archived)

I'm not saying it's not possible
but the word "dublin" doesn't sound Norse at all. "dub" doesn't sound like any of the words for murky, swampy, dull, dark, black or anything else in my Norwegian, Icelandic or Swedish dictionaries, and neither does Pool. And Icelandic is only 4% different from the Old Norse spoken by Vikings (according to lexicostatistics or whatever) so I just want to see a little bit of evidence contrary to my own opinion that Dublin is the Irish word for "town full of trollops."
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:42, archived)

So far, wikipedia is saying "Dubh Linn" is Irish
so fuck knows how the poor Vikings got roped in as an explanation for such a shit name.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:45, archived)

you're a slow reader,
it's only the fifth sentence in.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:49, archived)

Perhaps he's checking the facts before making wild outlandish statements.

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:55, archived)

what do you think I just made it up or something?

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:58, archived)

ok well Wikipedia tells me it's actually Irish for "blackpool"
but that it is a Viking settlement. I read in a book that it was founded by Vikings and called "Dubh Linn" meaning Black Pool and I guess I assumed they would have named it in their own language, granted it doesn't sound very Norse but place names often seem to take on a mind of their own.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:48, archived)

and reading a bit more
not only is it not a Viking name, it's not a Viking settlement either. Yes, there was a Norse encampment there, but it is neither the origin of the town or of the name. History fail. You should know better, MGT.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:54, archived)

So where it says "originally founded as a Viking settlement",
that's a lie, is it?*

Yeah, I should know better, fancy getting my facts about European mediaeval history by reading a book on the subject. Silly me.

*EDIT: and
"the town was established in about 841[7] by the Norse. ...
Dublin was ruled by the Norse for most of the time between 841 and 999, when it was sacked by Brian Boru, the King of Cashel.[8] Although Dublin still had a Norse king after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, Norse influence waned under a growing Celtic supremacy until the conquest of Ireland which was launched from Britain in 1169-1172."
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:55, archived)

Wikipedia is not a book.
Nor is it facts.
( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:57, archived)

Neither is it the book I'm talking about.

( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:58, archived)

But why would a Norse settlement give itself an Irish name?
that wouldn't make any sense. Or we could look at this sentence from wiki... "It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duiblinn..." just to get a second opinion on whatever book it is you're reading, that's all I'm saying.

Is it a book all about Dublin?
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:01, archived)

No it's a book about the middle ages generally,
it only mentions Dublin as an aside. I don't know why you have to be such an arse about it, I just thought it was interesting. Fucking hell. It's like I mortally offended you or something.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:06, archived)

well, I don't mind off the cuff statements from most people
but something so obviously false as your original statement, coming from someone as academically clued-up as you, stuck in my craw. Consider it a compliment, if you like.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:10, archived)

Maybe it's more obvious to a professional linguist.
I don't know very much about either Old Norse or Gaelic. But it WAS a Viking town, and it DOES mean "Blackpool".
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:14, archived)

He's almost certainly correct, mind
Dublin sounds about as Norse as Qatar.
( wotofco pissing in your swimming pool, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 17:43, archived)