Wednesday, November 14, 2018

GWRCI SON OF ELIFFER/ELEUTHERIUS OF YORK AND THE ROMAN GOVERNOR VIRIUS LUPUS


As Peredur son of Eliffer/Eleutherius of York is, as far as I'm concerned, indisputably the "Praetor", it occurred to me that his brother Gwrci might be a Welsh attempt at the following personage, present in Britain just after the governorship of Lucius Artorius Castus:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virius_Lupus

The well-established etymology for Gwrci son of Eleutherius of York:

gwr, man

ci, hound, dog [coed ci = wild dog, wolf]

Virius could very easily have been associated with Latin vir, 'man', while lupus is, of course, 'wolf' in Latin.

Admittedly, the usual Welsh word for wolf is blaidd.  But another Gwrci/Gwrgi, found in the far North, is mentioned in the 'Pa Gur' poem.  He is one of the 'dogheads' (the Cynbyn, originally the Roman period Venicones of Fife), enemies of Arthur at Edinburgh and the Tribruit (North Queensferry).  One recent scholarly book has portrayed this Gwrci as a werewolf, i.e. 'man-wolf':

https://books.google.com/books?id=NUUODgAAQBAJ&pg=PT47&lpg=PT47&dq=%22gwrgi%22%2B%22werewolf%22&source=bl&ots=VrDHva_wjk&sig=TA7w1stiJSvamyuYg2vExKchqG8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiors-H19TeAhVrJTQIHX_lAS8Q6AEwBXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22gwrgi%22%2B%22werewolf%22&f=false

If Gwrci were named after Virius Lupus or is an actual anachronistic reflection of the latter, this would add yet more impact to the theory of Dr. Linda Malcor, who has always placed great importance on LAC, her "prototype" for the Arthur claimed by the British as a Dark Age hero.


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