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| ==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
| The name was first documented as ''Meanwarorum'' |
The name was first documented as ''Meanwarorum'' in the eighth century to denote a province of Britain not inhabited by the ''Anglorum''. <ref>Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, ed. & tr. B. Colgrave & R. A. B. Mynors, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford Medieval Texts, 1969)</ref> The origin of the root is uncertain. ''Mêon'' is the ] of ''μῆον'', <ref></ref> a ] in ] that derives from the ] ''μεῖον'' meaning “lesser.” <ref></ref> It is unknown if the root was used in ] beyond the known botanical context of ''mêum''.<ref></ref> Others have postulated a ] or pre-Celtic origin with no agreement as to the original root or meaning.<ref name="Kilpatrick">{{Citation|last=Kilpatrick|first=Kelly A.|title=Saxons in the Meon Valley: A Place-Name Survey|url=http://www.saxonsinthemeonvalley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MeonValleyPlaceNameResearch_Sep2014.pdf|publisher=Saxons in the Meon Valley|year=2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531103051/http://www.saxonsinthemeonvalley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MeonValleyPlaceNameResearch_Sep2014.pdf|archive-date=22 May 2022}}</ref> <ref>Ekwall, E. (1928), English River-Names (Oxford), p. 288.</ref> <ref name="Insley">Insley, J. (2001), ‘Meanware’, in J. Hoops (ed.), Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 19 (Berlin), pp. 473-6.</ref> <ref>Holder, A. (1904), Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz, Bd. II (Leipzig), p. 606.</ref> Meon Hill in ]<ref name = “WCN">{{cite web| url = https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/prehistoricbritain/ironage/meonhill/#:~:text=Meon%20Hill%20stands%20in%20the,about%20260m)%20above%20sea%20level./|title = Meon Hill|work = Roman Coventry and Warwickshire Project| date=11 August 2021 |publisher = Department of Classics and Ancient History|access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref> bears the same root, geographically distinct yet surrounded by similar Jutish toponyms{{efn| There is a familiarly-named River Itchen to the northeast, as well as several nearby villages with names derived from the Yte-root.}} as in ].<ref name="Kilpatrick"/> | ||
| The suffix ''-wara'' is the ] ] of the ] ] ''waru'' which means "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend".<ref name="Insley"/> The literal translation of ''Meonwara'' is thus the two ] “Meon-guards". | The suffix ''-wara'' is the ] ] of the ] ] ''waru'' which means "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend".<ref name="Insley"/> The literal translation of ''Meonwara'' is thus the two ] “Meon-guards". | ||
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| ] | ] | ||
| The ''Meonwara'' appear to have been part of the defence of |
The ''Meonwara'' appear to have been part of the defence of a Sub-Roman ], settling near the mouth of the River Meon at ] and downstream in the Meon Valley sometime after 476 AD.<ref>Frassetto, Michael (2003). Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-263-9.</ref> <ref>The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past, Vol. XXIX. United Kingdom, E. Stock, 1894.</ref> Archaeology has confirmed their presence downstream with nearly four dozen Jutish graves containing spearheads, ]es and grips, knives, belt fittings, brooches, ] and ], amulets, amulet bags, ], pottery, glass and beads dating from the late fifth century through the sixth century.<ref>Aldsworth, Fred w/ contributions by Welch, Martin. Droxford Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Soberton, Hampshire. Proc. Hants. Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 35, 1979, 93-182.</ref> They were tasked with defending the western section of the road that ran from ] to ], with ] settlements at ] and ] defending the eastern section.<ref name="Margary">{{Cite book| publisher = Baker|last = Margary|first = Ivan D.| title = Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed.|location = London|date = 1973}}</ref> | ||
| In the late seventh century the West Saxons moved southward and absorbed the Jutish lands in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.<ref>Jeans, G. E.. Memorials of Old Hampshire. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2019.</ref> <ref>Hampshire Notes and Queries, Repr. from the Winchester Observer & County News Hampshire Observer & Winchester News. United Kingdom, n.p, 1884.</ref> The former seemed to be a relatively peaceful affair while the latter was particularly brutal.<ref>* </ref> The subsequent establishment of the very large trading settlement at ] suggests that control over the ] was the motivating factor in the conquest of the Jutish folklands.<ref name = Yorke>Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. Yorke, Barbara A. E. (London: 1990).</ref> | In the late seventh century the West Saxons moved southward and absorbed the Jutish lands in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.<ref>Jeans, G. E.. Memorials of Old Hampshire. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2019.</ref> <ref>Hampshire Notes and Queries, Repr. from the Winchester Observer & County News Hampshire Observer & Winchester News. United Kingdom, n.p, 1884.</ref> The former seemed to be a relatively peaceful affair while the latter was particularly brutal.<ref>* </ref> The subsequent establishment of the very large trading settlement at ] suggests that control over the ] was the motivating factor in the conquest of the Jutish folklands.<ref name = Yorke>Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. Yorke, Barbara A. E. (London: 1990).</ref> | ||
Revision as of 15:57, 16 June 2022
Tribe of Anglo-Saxon Britain
| Meonwara | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th century–7th century | |||||||||
| Capital | Titchfield | ||||||||
| Common languages | Northwest Germanic Old English (Englisc) | ||||||||
| Religion | Paganism | ||||||||
| Government | þeihs | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| • Established | 5th century | ||||||||
| • Disestablished | 7th century | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Meonwara were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Their territory was a folkland located in the valley of the River Meon in Hampshire that was subsumed by the Kingdom of Wessex in the late seventh century. The tribe's name survives in the names of the river, valley and the village of Meonstoke.
Etymology
The name was first documented as Meanwarorum in the eighth century to denote a province of Britain not inhabited by the Anglorum. The origin of the root is uncertain. Mêon is the Anglicisation of μῆον, a noun in Ancient Greek that derives from the adjective μεῖον meaning “lesser.” It is unknown if the root was used in Latin beyond the known botanical context of mêum. Others have postulated a Celtic or pre-Celtic origin with no agreement as to the original root or meaning. Meon Hill in Warwickshire bears the same root, geographically distinct yet surrounded by similar Jutish toponyms as in Hampshire.
The suffix -wara is the genitive plural of the Old English noun waru which means "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend". The literal translation of Meonwara is thus the two nouns “Meon-guards".
Origins
The Meonwara were Jutes from the Cimbric peninsula. As recorded by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People:
" Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germany—Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the West Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight."
— Bede 1910, 1.15 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBede1910 (help)
Attributions to Hengist and Horsa as leaders of the tribe are examples of non-historical founding myths.
History
The Meonwara appear to have been part of the defence of a Sub-Roman polity, settling near the mouth of the River Meon at Titchfield and downstream in the Meon Valley sometime after 476 AD. Archaeology has confirmed their presence downstream with nearly four dozen Jutish graves containing spearheads, shield bosses and grips, knives, belt fittings, brooches, firesteels and pursemounts, amulets, amulet bags, chatelaines, pottery, glass and beads dating from the late fifth century through the sixth century. They were tasked with defending the western section of the road that ran from Venta Belgarum to Noviomagus Reginorum, with Geatish settlements at Warblington and Emsworth defending the eastern section.
In the late seventh century the West Saxons moved southward and absorbed the Jutish lands in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The former seemed to be a relatively peaceful affair while the latter was particularly brutal. The subsequent establishment of the very large trading settlement at Hamwic suggests that control over the Solent was the motivating factor in the conquest of the Jutish folklands.
Notes
- There is a familiarly-named River Itchen to the northeast, as well as several nearby villages with names derived from the Yte-root.
- Jutes were an amalgam of Cimbri, Teutons, Charudes and Gutones called Eudoses, Eotenas, Iutae or Euthiones
References
- Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, ed. & tr. B. Colgrave & R. A. B. Mynors, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford Medieval Texts, 1969)
- Wiktionary
- Wiktionary
- Wiktionary
- ^ Kilpatrick, Kelly A. (2014), Saxons in the Meon Valley: A Place-Name Survey (PDF), Saxons in the Meon Valley, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2022
{{citation}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 31 May 2022 suggested (help) - Ekwall, E. (1928), English River-Names (Oxford), p. 288.
- ^ Insley, J. (2001), ‘Meanware’, in J. Hoops (ed.), Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 19 (Berlin), pp. 473-6.
- Holder, A. (1904), Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz, Bd. II (Leipzig), p. 606.
- "Meon Hill". Roman Coventry and Warwickshire Project. Department of Classics and Ancient History. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- Leonard Neidorf, "The Dating of Widsith and the Study of Germanic Antiquity," Neophilologus (January 2013)
- Tacitus, Germania, Germania.XLV
- Stuhmiller, Jacqueline (1999). "On the Identity of the "Eotenas"". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. Modern Language Society. 100 (1): 7–14. JSTOR 43315276.
- Martin, Kevin M. (1971). "Some Textual Evidence Concerning the Continental Origins of the Invaders of Britain in the Fifth Century". Latomus. 30 (1): 83–104. JSTOR 41527856.
- Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England 3rd edition. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
- Brewer's Britain & Ireland: The History, Culture, Folklore and Etymology of 7500 Places in These Islands. Ayto, John; Crofton, Ian. Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006
- Ingram, James Henry (1823). The Saxon chronicle, with an English Translation and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row.
- Frassetto, Michael (2003). Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-263-9.
- The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past, Vol. XXIX. United Kingdom, E. Stock, 1894.
- Aldsworth, Fred w/ contributions by Welch, Martin. Droxford Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Soberton, Hampshire. Proc. Hants. Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 35, 1979, 93-182.
- Margary, Ivan D. (1973). Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed. London: Baker.
- Jeans, G. E.. Memorials of Old Hampshire. United States, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2019.
- Hampshire Notes and Queries, Repr. from the Winchester Observer & County News Hampshire Observer & Winchester News. United Kingdom, n.p, 1884.
- * Time Team - Season 9, Episode 13 - Seven Buckets And A Buckle (New Forest, Hampshire).
- Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. Yorke, Barbara A. E. (London: 1990).
| Anglo-Saxon heptarchy | |
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| Kingdoms | |
| Monarchs |
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| Regiones |
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| See also | |
 Ceremonial county of Isle of Wight | |
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| Unitary authorities | Isle of Wight Council |
| Major settlements (cities in italics) | |
| Rivers | |
| Topics | |