Native names of persons are declined like other nouns:--_Aelfred_, gen.
_Aelfredes_, dat. _Aelfrede_; _[=E]ad-burg_ (fem.), gen. _[=E]adburge_, &c.
Foreign names of persons sometimes follow the analogy of native names, thus
_Cr[=i]st_, _Salomon_ have gen. _Cr[=i]stes_, _Salomones_, dat.
_Cr[=i]ste_, _Salomone_. Sometimes they are declined as in Latin,
especially those in _-us_, but often with a mixture of English endings, and
the Latin endings are used {14} somewhat loosely, the accus. ending being
often extended to the other oblique cases; thus we find nom. _C[=y]rus_,
gen. _C[=y]res_, acc. _C[=y]rum_, dat. _C[=y]rum_ (th[=ae]m cyninge
C[=y]rum).
Almost the only names of countries and districts in Old English are those
taken from Latin, such as _Breten_ (Britain), _C[e,]nt_ (Kent),
_[.G]erm[=a]nia_ (Germany), and those formed by composition, generally with
_land_, such as _[E,]n[.g]la-land_ (land of the English, England),
_Isr.ah[=e]la-th[=e]od_ (Israel). In both of these cases the first element
is in the gen. pl., but ordinary compounds, such as _Scot-land_, also
occur. In other cases the name of the inhabitants of a country is used for
the country itself:--_on [=E]ast-[e,]n[.g]lum_ = in East-anglia, lit.
'among the East-anglians.' So also _on Angel-cynne_ = in England, lit.
'among the English race,' more accurately expressed by _Angelcynnes land_.
Uncompounded names of countries are sometimes undeclined. Thus we find _on
C[e,]nt_, _t[=o] Hierusal[=e]m_.
_[.G]erm[=a]nia_, _Asia_, and other foreign names in _-a_ take _-e_ in the
oblique cases, thus gen. _[.G]erm[=a]nie_.
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