X-Cc: Multiple recipients of list WELSH-L To: Multiple recipients of list WELSH-L In-Reply-To: <199401202012.MAA23914@uclink.berkeley.edu> On Thu, 20 Jan 1994, susan stott wrote: > I am writing for help regarding translation of some of the names in _The > Mabinogion_ on behalf of a professor who does not use the Internet. > > He needs either translations of these names or some direction to > materials where the best translations have been given. The names are: > > Hafgan, Gwawl ap Clud, Teyrnon Twryf Liant, Pryderi, Bran and > Branwen. One thing you have to remember is that, while names may have origins, they do not necessarily have living "meanings" at the time they are used. If a name has altered differently over time than the words (if any) from which it was derived, it may be impossible to determine what the true "meaning" is. Often folk etymology takes over and the surface form is assumed to be the original meaning. With that caveat out of the way, I highly recommend Rachel Bromwich's "Trioedd Ynys Prydein - The Welsh Triads" (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1978) for the derivations, earliest forms, and related examples of the names which appear in it. (This is less usefull if the name you're interested in doesn't appear in the triads.) Hafgan - the derivation that I have heard is haf (summer) + can (white). I recall somebody (don't remember who) speculating that the element "haf" here may be cognate with Irish "samh" as in "samhain". Gwawl ap Clud - Jeffrey Gantz's notes on this name suggest an origin of "gwawl" = wall, "clud" = Clyde. The GPC notes that "gwawl" meaning "wall" can have the specific meaning of the Antonine Wall, running between the Clyde and Forth. On the other hand, another meaning of "gwawl" is "light, splendour" which fits nicely into one of the categories of words from which names are formed in Welsh. Teyrnon Twryf Liant - "Teyrnon" is fairly transparently derived from "teyrn", one of the multitudinous "ruler" words in Welsh. For "Twrfliant", Gantz suggests "thunder of waters" (twrf+lliant) but is rather tentative about the whole thing. Pryderi - The explanation in the story for this name (from "pryder" = "care, worry") is the most obvious one (which doesn't necessarily mean it's right). Bran - "Crow, raven". Unlike the above, this was a fairly common given name in Wales in the middle ages. Branwen - This may be a derivative of "bran+gwen" (i.e. "white raven") but I've also seen derivations from "bron+wen" ("white breast") with the explanation that the spelling was influenced by that of "Bran". Neither "Bran-" nor "Bron-" appear to be elements in other compound given names, so it's a toss-up. Heather Rose Jones