Ulpha is a small village and civil parish in the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it forms part of the Borough of Copeland. At Ulpha a road leaves the Duddon Valley to cross Birker Fell to the valley of Eskdale. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 159, reducing at the 2011 Census to 128.
"Ulph" or "Ulf" was the Viking word for wolf, and "ha" a corruption of "high" or "hill". Hence, at face value, "wolf's hill."
However, it was common practice for these Vikings to call themselves after various animals and the wilder the animal, the tougher the Viking (allegedly).
There does seem to be a local Viking with such a pseudonim who also established a community at Ulverston (literally - Ulf's enclosure).
It is suggested that the same gentleman may also have named a lake after himself (Ullswater) but the two places are a considerable distance apart, and over difficult terrain, which suggests that some other tough guy came from the north up the Eamont valley to Ullswater.
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