Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Alanus]

Where is the "th" arriving post 600 attested please?

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Hello Conal & everyone,

That's a good question. And unfortunately I'm house-sitting and away from my complete library. Various statements have proposed it as "Artur" in the sub-Roman vernacular. I'm not sure if there is a Brythonic thesaurus, but if there is I'd like to have one. The closest language to Brythonic was Gallic, both P-Celtic. The Thesaurus Linguae Gallicae chronologically goes from "Teutomotus, Teumatus" to "tigernius." There is no "th." In Gallic, the bear is recorded as "artos."

On the other hand, High Latin (used by Gildas) has the "th." The only Germanic language written during this period (prior to 383) was Gothic, aka the Bible of Ulfilas. Here the "th" is recorded as a "p" with a vertical line stuck through it. I think this also shows up in Old English. All other Germanic languages don't arrive until after 800. Based on the above, I believe my statement was correct. :wink:

As per Gildas. I think it was Haig who theorized that he may have composed a history. Whether it was Gildas or not, someone had gathered a Brut prior to Nennius. A quick read of Nennius shows he consulted two different Bruts. And this may lead credence to Geoffrey of Monmounth's statement that he used an "old book in the British tongue." Nonetheless, we cannot poke fingers at Gildas. His tract is invaluable. It shows how Romanized the Britons were, and that the isle had intellectuals.

Turning to the so-called Sarmation connection and Ribchester. Perhaps way over-played by Malcor. Sarmatian is an extremely dead language. Close to it Old Iranian has "arta" as meaning "righteousness." Not exactly the the bear! 8) I think the connection was Taifali, not Sarmatian; and I think the Equites Taifali were in the south-west. They spoke Gothic and rode as the Tyrfingi cavalry for eight generations until the split in 376. Interestingly, they joined the Greutungi, were defeated by a Gothic Roman officer, and then sent enmass to the Po Valley. This is were the steppe gray cattle entered the Western Empire, and then subsequently, we find genetically similar cattle in France.