CALGACUS
Attested: Tacitus (Agricola 39) used the name Calgacus for a Caledonian leader who addressed the British warriors (in a speech that was probably Tacitus' own invention) before the battle of mons Graupius.
Where: Mons Graupius was probably in the Ochil hills, midway between Stirling and Perth.
Name origin: Calgacus is usually claimed as Celtic for ‘swordsman’ because of Old Irish colg, calg ‘anything pointed’. Adomnan's life of Saint Columba (2,39) mentioned locum qui in Scotice dicitatur Daire Calgaich as a harbour in Ireland in the late 500s AD, where Calgaich has been interpreted as the genitive of a personal name *Calgach with daire (oak wood) being modern (London)Derry. However, there is a better alternative, combining PIE ghalgh- ‘post, tall stick’ (the origin of gallows and cognates in other Germanic languages, but also of calc ‘point on a horseshoe’) with -acus ‘point’, discussed here. Maybe lexicographers have been reluctant to suggest that Agricola's troops called this man ‘dickhead’ much as modern Ukrainian soldiers refer to their enemy leader Putin.
Notes: An alternative no longer favoured is that Calgacus was a herald who travelled around to summon the tribal warriors rather than a great fighter himself. One great unanswered question about mons Graupius is how a huge number of politically disunited Caledonian warriors were persuaded to assemble.
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Last edited 12 October 2024 To main Menu