Adron
Attested: Adron at position 254 in the Ravenna Cosmography
Where: Adron occurs in the Cosmography's harbour-estuary tour, when it has reached Hadrian's Wall. It probably referred to the river Tyne, crossed by a bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is generally assumed to be Pons Aelii in the Notitia Dignitatum, where Aelius was Hadrian's family name.
Name origin: Many Germanic languages had cognates of ǽdre, edre ‘artery, vein, river’. The origin of the name Hadrian is uncertain, possibly from Adria, a port near the mouth of the river Po, south of Venice, which Pokorny (1959, p3) attributed to a PIE root *ad-ro- ‘water current’. Adron, as written, matches Greek ἁδρος ‘thick, well-grown’.
Notes: Nicolaisen (1976, 2001 pp 236-239) discussed rivers called Adder (etc) as related to various rivers across Europe, notably the Adrana, mentioned by Tacitus, now the Eder in Germany and the Oder (formerly Adora). Evidently the idea of strong cultural and linguistic links across the North Sea before or during Roman times was still total heresy in 1976, because he described Adder-like names as “pre-Celtic” upon the basis that Anglian “settlers” did not arrive until too late. Also similar is the name of some people from around the lower Rhine (near Nijmegen) usually recorded as Chattuarii, who also show up as Hetwaras in Beowulf and as Attoarii in the Liber Historiae Francorum.
You may copy this text freely, provided you acknowledge its source as www.romaneranames.uk, recognise that it is liable to human error, and try to offer suggestions for improvement.
Last edited 16 July 2021 To main Menu