Eidyn
Eidyn was the region around modern
The site of Din Eidyn has been nearly continuously occupied since the Bronze Age, serving as a stronghold of the Votadini during the Roman era and later the principal centre of their successors, the Gododdin kingdom. Eidyn's importance to the Hen Ogledd is reflected in the medieval poem Y Gododdin, which concerns a war band that gathered there for a raid around AD 600. After years of decline, Eidyn was conquered by the Angles in 638.
Eidyn is the source of the name of Edinburgh in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic. It also remained prominent in Brittonic tradition throughout the Middle Ages. Y Gododdin evidently circulated in multiple manuscripts into the 13th century. Eidyn also features in the Welsh Triads and poetry, where it was often remembered as the Britons' northern frontier. Welsh genealogies of the figure Clydno Eidyn may preserve Eidyn's royal pedigree.
Name and location
Questions of Eidyn's name and location are closely linked, as it is not entirely clear what area the name refers to. It certainly included the fortress of Din Eidyn (a
Eidyn is the source of the name of Edinburgh in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic.[6] The Angles, who conquered the area in the 7th century, replaced the Brittonic din in Din Eidyn with the Old English burh to produce Edinburgh; similarly, the name became Dùn Èideann in Scottish Gaelic. The origin of the name Eidyn is not known. It may not have been known even in the 7th century, as both the Angles and Gaels adopted it into their languages more or less phonetically, even as they translated the term Din into their own languages. Some sources suggest it derives from an Old English form referring to Edwin of Northumbria, though modern scholarship refutes this, as the form Eidyn predates Edwin.[6] Eidyn is evidently the original form of the name, though Eiddyn appears in later poetry.[7]
Later Welsh sources also refer to
History
Fortified communities appeared around Edinburgh in the
In the post-Roman era, the Votadini polity transitioned into the
In the 7th century, the Gododdin kingdom was in decline. At this time, Eidyn may have been a sub-kingdom within Gododdin, and its lords may have controlled only their own territory, and not all of Gododdin.[17] The Annals of Ulster record the "siege of Etin" in the year 638. This may refer to the final Anglian conquest of Lothian. This is also the earliest relatively certain historical reference to Eidyn.[18] Eidyn appears to have remained in Anglian hands for most of the next three centuries, although historical and archaeological evidence is scant, and it is unclear if a fortress remained at Din Eidyn. The Annals of Clonmacnoise indicate that Æthelstan of England "spoiled the kingdom of Edinburgh" in 934, suggesting a fortification of some note existed at that time. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that the Scots conquered Eidyn and its fort under King Indulf, who ruled from 954–962. Around this time a noble estate was built there, paving the way for the royal castle in the 11th century.[19]
Din Eidyn
Eidyn's most significant location was the stronghold of Din Eidyn. The initial Iron Age settlement at Din Eidyn was presumably a dun or hill fort. Remains of such structures exist at Arthur's Seat and at Castle Rock (now the site of Edinburgh Castle), and some other hilltops in the area.[20] Among these, archaeologists generally identify the Castle Rock site as Din Eidyn, as the evidence indicates it was an important centre continuously from Roman times into the Middle Ages.[18][19][21]
Archaeological evidence suggests Castle Rock has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, possibly making it the oldest site in Scotland that has been nearly continuously occupied.[22] However, the earliest evidence suggests the site was initially minor compared to other contemporary locations.[23] During the Iron Age, the site was apparently a fortified village, though only one of several in the Edinburgh region. Its easily defended location appears to have given it an advantage over other nearby sites such as Arthur's Seat, where settlement was evidently unstable and not continuous.[24] In the Roman era, the site supported a prosperous settlement that likely included a hillfort, perhaps featuring a broch (roundhouse).[25] In this period, Castle Rock was apparently one of the major centres of the Votadini, though it was dwarfed by Traprain Law, which was ten times larger.[26]
In the early medieval period, Din Eidyn emerged as the principal political centre of the Gododdin kingdom, especially after the abandonment of Traprain Law in the early 5th century.[17][18][27] In the 7th century, when the Gododdin kingdom was in decline, the lords of Din Eidyn may have only controlled only the Eidyn district rather than the entire Gododdin territory.[17] Following the Anglian conquest of Eidyn, the Din Eidyn location remained a fortified settlement of the Angles, and later of the Scots.[17]
Legacy
Eidyn remained prominent in Brittonic tradition long after its conquest by the Angles. Several works invoke Eidyn's position as the northern frontier of the Britons. The poem
Y Gododdin and its account of Eidyn apparently circulated in multiple manuscripts during the Middle Ages. The only existing version is in the 13th-century
Notes
- ^ a b Dumville 1994, p. 297.
- ^ Jackson 1969, pp. 77–78.
- ^ Williams 1972, pp. 47, 64.
- ^ Chadwick 1968, p. 107.
- ^ Bromwich 2006, p. 314.
- ^ a b Gelling, Nicolaisen, & Richards 1970, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Bromwich 2006, pp. 314, 456.
- ^ a b Green 2007, p. 120.
- ^ Koch 1997, p. 131.
- ^ Koch 2006b, p. 1191.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, pp. 220–223.
- ^ Smyth 1989, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Dumville 1994, pp. 295–297.
- ^ Smyth 1989, p. 15.
- ^ Smyth 1989, p. 9.
- ^ a b Bromwich 2006, pp. 456–458.
- ^ a b c d e Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, p. 227.
- ^ a b c Driscoll 2006, p. 624.
- ^ a b Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, p. 229.
- ^ a b Bromwich & Evans 1992, pp. xxxvi–xxxvii.
- ^ Laing 2006, p. 297.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, pp. 2, 226–227.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, p. 220.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, p. 222.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, pp. 223–224, 226.
- ^ Driscoll & Yeoman 1997, pp. 224–225.
- ^ Koch 2006a, p. 824.
- ^ Green 2007, pp. 84–85, 119–122.
- ^ Sims-Williams 1991, pp. 41–43.
- ^ Bromwich 2006, pp. 75–78, 410.
- ^ Jarman 1988, p. lxvi.
- ^ Bromwich 2006, pp. 314–315, 326–327.
- ^ Harleian Genealogy 7. www.kmatthews.org.uk. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
- ^ Bromwich 2006, pp. 256–257.
References
- ISBN 0-7083-1127-X.
- ISBN 0-19-211696-7.
- ISBN 0-7083-0465-6.
- Driscoll, Stephen; Yeoman, Peter A. (1997). Excavations within Edinburgh Castle in 1988-91. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland monograph series. Vol. 12. ISBN 0-903-903121.
- Driscoll, Stephen (2006). "Dùn Èideann". In ISBN 1851094407. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- Dumville, David (1994). "The eastern terminus of the Antonine Wall: 12th- or 13th-century evidence" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 124: 293–298. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ISBN 0-7134-5235-8.
- Green, Thomas (2007). Concepts of Arthur. Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1.
- ISBN 9780852240496.
- Jarman, A.O.H. (1988). Y Gododdin: Britain's Oldest Heroic Poem. Gomer Press. ISBN 0-86383-354-3.
- ISBN 0708313744.
- Koch, John T. (2006). "Gododdin". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 823–826. ISBN 1851094407. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- Koch, John T. (2006). "Lothian". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1190–1191. ISBN 1851094407. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- Laing, Lloyd Robert (2006). The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland: C.AD 400 - 1200. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521838622. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- Sims-Williams, Patrick (1991). "The Early Welsh Arthurian Poems". In ISBN 0708311075.
- ISBN 0748601007.
- ISBN 0-7083-0035-9.