Abstract :
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.
