Elconio
Attested: Elconio at position 3 in the Ravenna Cosmography
Where: The Roman marching camp at Alverdiscott at about SS493255, near Bideford, in north Devon. It commands the wedge of land between the two rivers Taw through modern Barnstaple and Torridge through modern Bideford.
Name origin: ‘River confluence’. Plenty of modern river names begin with El- (Ellen, Eller, Eller, etc) or Al- (Allow, Aln, Alne, Alwin, etc). The Roman Elaver is now the Allier in France, while the Roman Albis is now the Elbe in Germany. Possible explanations proposed for El-/Al- include white (*alb- contrasting with rivers visibly ‘dark’ ), brown (as often suggested to explain alders, water-tolerant trees), and nourishing (as explained for Alauna). About -conio ‘coming together’ see Ariconium.
Notes: This analysis rejects the ideas of amending El- to Fl-, short for Latin flumen, suggested by Rivet & Smith, or of any relevance of the river Olchon in Herefordshire, formerly called Elchon, and ελκος ‘wound, ulcer’, or of words for ‘furrow’ related to ελκω ‘to drag behind’. Their joint estuary is also mentioned by the Cosmography as Naurum.
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Last edited 18 September 2025 To main Menu.