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Birbantum Rex's avatar

"caste, Nechtan's daughter and Lord of Dyfed"

Brenin being a word for a Welsh King or lord, the language seems related to Old High German. The sentence seem implied a marriage between a Pict Princess and a Welsh prince or king, then again they could be using "Brenin" as a loan word.

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Helen McKay's avatar

About the Pit- placenames, all formed with a Gaelic descriptor. I take the issues you describe. But, I think that words are a bit more fluid in their usage and their 'fads', so I'd have no problems thinking this is an inherited word similar to the Welsh peth, but which has slightly slid in semantic scope and specific application in Pictland. The other thing that is unexplored about the pit- names is that they may reflect some sort of relationship to the churches, and possibly pagan nemetons before them, so the pit- could have a fairly specific application in Pictland that it didn't get elsewhere.

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