2007-12-21 10:02:26 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
His nickname didn't come to him because his contemporaries considered him ill-prepared. Rather, his nickname "the unready" derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Unræd, which means "without counsel", "ill-advised" or "indecisive". This was meant as a play on word with his name which means "noble council"
Sorry, I am a total freak about England. :-)
2007-12-21 10:11:44 · answer #1 · answered by Vega 3 · 7⤊ 0⤋
Ethelred II (c. 968 – April 23, 1016), also known as Ethelred the Unready or Aethelred the Unready (Old English Ãþelræd Unræd), was King of England (978–1013, and 1014–1016). He was the son of Edgar, King of all England (959–975) and Ãlfthryth. The majority of his reign (991–1016) was marked by a defensive war against Viking invaders.
It is not true that contemporaries considered him ill-prepared. Rather, his nickname "the unready" derives from the Anglo-Saxon Unræd, which means "without counsel", "ill-advised" or "indecisive". This can be seen as a pun on his name, Ãþelræd, which may be understood to mean "noble counsel" in Old English. So he was 'Noble counsel, No counsel'. There are 2 spellings of his name, the one here being 'Ethelred', and the second being 'Aethelred', which is closer to the original Anglo-Saxon spelling 'Ãþelræd'. Books about him will use one of the two spellings, but they both refer to the same person.
2007-12-21 18:12:56 · answer #2 · answered by Quizard 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
"Unready" is a mistranslation of the Old English word "redeless," which literally means "without council [or "counsel"]." So he was actually Ethelred the Ill-advised or Ethelred the Judgmentless.
2007-12-21 18:15:22 · answer #3 · answered by aida 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
When he came out of the boozer
they called him Ethelred the Unsteady.
2007-12-21 19:03:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
According to this site:
http://www.bartleby.com/81/16984.html
he was lacking counsel.
2007-12-21 19:56:32 · answer #5 · answered by Ace Librarian 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
He was caught napping when an invasion came.
2007-12-21 18:06:26 · answer #6 · answered by stoopid 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No, it means he wasn't advised (Anglosaxon raedan) - i.e. he had no advisors.
2007-12-21 18:36:33 · answer #7 · answered by grayure 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but dude, hasn't he suffered enough already!!!! Can't we just change his name to Brian and forgive and forget?!
;-)
2007-12-21 18:07:31 · answer #8 · answered by politicsguy 5 · 1⤊ 4⤋