__NOTOC__ Ælfric Modercope ( ang, Ælfrīc Mōdercoppe; non, *Alfrīkr Mōðirkoppr), sometimes known as Alfric de Modercope in modern English and as Ælfric Wihtgarsson in the

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

system, was an Anglo-Norse

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...

from East Anglia. While ''Ælfric'' is an

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

name, his nickname ''Modercope'' or ''Modercoppe'' is Norse. This would exemplify the time when there were strong Anglo-Danish links, and three successive Danish kings had held the throne until Edward the Confessor succeeded in 1042. Ælfric had a strong connection at court, but his role and status are unusual: he was described as a ''comes famoses'' in a document from Bury St Edmunds. Ælfric was the son of Wihtgar and his son was also called Wihtgar. Ælfric was one of the wealthiest of the East Anglian thegns during this period, whose estate can be traced through the lands held by his son, Wihtgar, that were recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086. His wealth and reputation derived from his connections with

Emma of Normandy Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and the ...

(d. 1052), wife of

King Cnut Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...

and prior to that, second wife of

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

(d. 1016). As her ''dapifer'' (steward or seneschal), Ælfric administered the eight-and-a-half hundreds of west Suffolk on her behalf. He also appears to have had family connections in the queen's household, as evidenced by a bequest left to him as 'kinsman' in a will addressed directly to the queen. Ælfric's will is in the archives of Bury St Edmunds. In it he leaves certain lands to religious institutions in Ely and Bury St Edmunds, including in Loddon, a small town in

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...

. He is therefore credited as the first person to record the name of Loddon or 'Lodne' in any document, and consequently his figure appears on the town's sign.

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* Anglo-Norse people Anglo-Saxon thegns 11th-century English people {{Denmark-bio-stub

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