What exactaly is meant by "unready" in the name Æthelred the Unready?

Question

I'm not trying to get random internet strangers to do my homework for me. This is more of a trivia question. I know the answer and I'm curious to see if other people know this, too.

Linking to Wikipedia will get a thumbs down rating.

Answer 1

Poor old Aethelred, not so successful in his own time against some pretty tough opposition, and condemmed by history to participate in trivia competitions. My recollection is that Aethelred roughly translates as 'wise counsel' and Unraed translates (roughly again) as 'poor counsel'.

Answer 2

Ethelred the Unready, AD 978 sometimes spelled also
EDGAR ETHERED II. CALLED THE UNREADY

Ethelred was wholly incompetent to wear the crown and his thirty-eight-year rule was something of a nightmare. He was called Ethelred the Unready because he was without rede or counsel, which means that he acted foolishly, and would not listen to the advice of his court, wise and other royals. Had major issues with the Danes, fled England, the Dane became King, he returns with son "Edmund Ironside" wins, dies, son is King.

Answer 3

Ethelred II

(born 968? — died April 23, 1016, London) King of the English (978 – 1013, 1014 – 16). He became king after his half brother's assassination and was suspected of involvement in the murder. An ineffectual ruler, he failed to mount an organized defense against the Danish invasions (from 980); his massacre of Danish settlers (1002) provoked further attacks. When Sweyn I was accepted as king in England in 1013, Ethelred fled to Normandy. He returned to the throne on the death of Sweyn in 1014, but on his death he was succeeded by the Dane Canute the Great. His epithet "Unraed" means "evil counsel" and has been translated incorrectly as "the Unready

Answer 4

im thinking that this thing or person is unready because its almost ready for anything such as answering questions maybe.

Answer 5

He was unready to meet the threat of Viking/Norse raiders/invasions, basically (if I remember my Anglo-Saxon history). I can't remember which of the Norse invasions caused him problems, but I do remember that it earned him his nickname. (Was it King Cnute? . . .)

Answer 6

"Unready" is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon word "unræd" or "un-raed" which means "un-counseled" or "ill-advised." It's also a pun on the meaning of his name Æþelræd, which means "noble counsel" in Old English.