What is "thorkel"

Thorkel or Thorkell is an Old Norse masculine personal name. Among the more famous holders of the name are:

• Thorkel of Namdalen, ninth-century jarl and father of Ketil Trout.
• Thorkel Sursson, tenth-century Icelander and character in the Gísla saga.
• Thorkell Eyjolfsson, Icelandic godi of the late tenth and early eleventh century, husband of Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir and stepfather of Bolli Bollason.
• Thorkell the Tall, eleventh-century Jomsviking leader and jarl.
• Thorkell Leifsson, Greenlandic godi of the eleventh century and son of explorer Leif Eriksson.
• Thorkel Fostri ("Foster-father Thorkel"), foster father of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Jarl of Orkney c. 1020-1064.