Ælfgifu

Ælfgifu is an Old English feminine name combining ælf, “elf,” with gifu, “gift,” and means “elf gift.” Elves occupied an important and complex place in early Germanic belief, while gift-compounds were common in personal names. Several Anglo-Saxon royal women bore Ælfgifu, including Ælfgifu of Northampton, consort of Cnut, and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, a tenth-century queen and saint. The letter Æ is historically correct; later records sometimes modernize the name as Elgiva.