Talk:beorn

beorn, as in a source for the title of Baron, could it possibly stem from the nordic "born (eg. "välborne")" an epithet referring to nobility? (92.32.41.175)

Well, "born" is English as well as Nordic, and it means just that, "one who has been born", not necessarily "well-born", hence bairn. It is presumably root-cognate, but OED isn't sure it has to do with being born, but rather with being a "carrier", perhaps originally just the guy who has to carry the chief's gear, but as these things go, whoever walks next to the king, no matter how menial their task, will end up with his descendants being courtiers with fancy titles. --Dbachmann (talk) 09:07, 23 March 2012 (UTC)