THE NAME OF BERNICIA

The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia has a Celtic name, sometimes explained as ‘land of dwellers in mountain passes’. But this analysis suggests a fiercer interpretation: ‘land of piercers of battle-lines, territory of those making gaps between enemy warriors’. Bernicia was the northern part of the old kingdom of Northumbria. It extended from Tees to Forth, including the later counties of Durham and Northumberland and south-east Scotland. Everyone agrees that (as with the southern kingdom of Deira) its name is Celtic. Yet its meaning has never had a satisfactory explanation, despite discussion by Professor Kenneth Jackson (1909–91), whose account remains standard. This paper, after summarizing Jackson’s comments and comparing them with opinion before and after, quotes evidence from Irish and other Celtic sources for a derivation based on the one he proposed.