LGUID/1

Corpus Refs:Davies/etal/2000:M5
Site:LGUID
Discovery:in/on structure, 1858 Keranflec'h, C. de
History:Davies et al/2000, 218--219: `This stone was discovered by Keranflec'h, built into the enclosing wall of a threshing area in the hamlet of Kervily, Languidic [Keranflec'h/1858, 335]. His illustration of the stone in this position, reproduced by La Borderie, shows it apparently standing on top of the ground and thus complete.

The stone was seen by Rosenzweig in the 1860s but when Louis Marsille went to Kervily in search of it in 1936 he could not find the wall nor the stone and there was no local memory of it. A little over a decade later H. F. Buffet, Archivist of Ille-et-Vilaine, noticed an inscribed stone on private ground at Locmalo, Port-Louis, 25km to the south west of Kervily. He alerted Marsille, who identified it as the missing stone. It was subsequently discovered that Dominique Marquet, mayor of the commune of Port-Louis from 1880 to 1890, had moved the stone from Kervily to his property at Kerso, Port-Louis. Château de Kerso is now a ruin but the stone is still standing in its grounds.

The stone at Kerso, and the original site, were visited by members of the CISP team in May 1997 and the original site in June 1999'.

Geology:Davies et al/2000, 213: `pink tinged granite'.
Dimensions:2.0 x 0.48 x 0.56 (Davies/etal/2000)
Setting:in ground
Location:Château de Kerso, Locmalo;
The stone now stands in the grounds of Château de Kerso, Port Louis.
Form:stele
Davies et al/2000, 213--214: `The stone is a highly worked pillar of pink-tinged granite. It currently stands 162cm above ground level but Rosenzweig gives its total length as c.2m. This is consistent with the drawing by Keranflec'h, which reveals about 25% more of the stone's length than is now visible above ground. The pillar is sub-rectangular in section. The inscribed east (strictly ESE) face is 48cm broad, the west face 44cm, the north and south faces 53cm and 56cm respectively. The top is gently rounded. The four faces are flat and smooth and meet each other at crisp angles; the whole is very regular in both shape and finish'.
Condition:complete , good
Folklore:none
Crosses:1: equal-armed; outline; expanded; plain; lozenge; none; none; none; plain
Decorations:

Davies et al/2000, 214--215: `The carving occupies the visible length of the east face and consists of an equal-armed cross on a long shaft and, on the left-hand side of the shaft, an inscription in two vertical lines, reading downwards. The carving is sharp and well preserved: there is some lichen on the stone but not much active erosion, despite its sea-side location (the inscribed face looks away from the sea).

The cross is crisply carved in false relief, the cross head being about 43.5cm high and 43cm across. The straight-sided wedge-shaped arms taper on the right and at the bottom from about 19cm at the outside to 3-3.5cm, and on the left and at the top from 15-15.5cm to 3-3.5cm, where they meet the central disc (diameter c.9.5cm), which has a small circular depression. The cross stands on a straight-sided shaft, about 14cm wide and 78.5cm long, which meets the lower arms of the cross in two small circular indentations'.

References


Inscriptions


LGUID/1/1     Pictures

Readings

Keranflec'h, C. de (1858):CRAX HAR EN BILI IB FIL | HER AN HAL
Expansion:
CRAX HAR EN BILI IB FIL(IUS) HER AN HAL
Keranflec'h/1858 336 reading only
Rosenzweig, L. (1864):CRARHARENBIUIBRIL | HERANHAL
Expansion:
CRARHARENBIUIBRIL HERANHAL
Rosenzweig/1864 158 reading only
Davies, W. et al. (1999):CROXHARENBILIIB FIL | HERANHAL
Expansion:
CROX HARENBILI IB FILII HERANHAL
Translation:
The cross of Harenbili(PN) … son of Heranhal(PN).
Davies/etal/2000 216 reading only

Notes

Orientation:vertical down
Position:n/a ; broad ; beside cross ; undivided
Davies et al/2000, 215--216: `The first line, of eighteen characters, begins just under the left arm of the cross and runs the length of the shaft. The second line, of only eight characters, is almost centred on the first line, beginning beneath the letter X and ending beneath IB; its letters are slightly more generously spaced'.
Incision:incised
Davies et al/2000, 215: `The incised line is shallow but sharp'.
Date:600 - 799 (Davies/etal/2000)
Davies et al/2000, 219: `7th- or 8th-century'.
Language:Latin (rbook)
Ling. Notes:Davies et al/2000, 217--18: `CROX. This shows the same Brittonic development of Latin CRUX as found at Langombrac'h [LDAUL/1], discussed in that entry above. ...

IB has few suitable parallels. Ibiau was an OB woman's name in the early 9th century. Names in -iau are generally pet names, formed by adding -iau to the first element of a compound name. For example, OW T'eliau is a secondary pet form for the saint otherwise known as El-iud. Therefore, the occurrence of the form Ibiau would point to the existence of Ib- as a personal name element, perhaps specifically used for females. However, in the present case, the syntax of the inscription does not support the presence of a second personal name. Alternatively, ib might be an abbreviation for Latin ibi, 'there', substituted for or confused with the more usual hic `here'.

Another suggestion is that B could have been carved in error for D, reading i with an implied est and meaning `The cross of Heranbili, that (is) the son of Heranal'. Id est is found in a 7th-century inscription from Narbonne and a 5th- or 6th-century inscription from Whithorn in southern Scotland'.

Palaeography:Davies et al/2000, 217: `The inscription is in Insular half-uncial. This is indicated by the half-uncial and open form of the Rs, the wedge-shaped finials on some of the ascenders, such as the final L and the initial H of line 2, and the form of the As. Other letters include minuscule H, H-shaped N, minuscule B and the `wayward' X. There are two forms of E, one very rounded and uncial, the other less rounded but perhaps still an attempt at the uncial form. The F has a rounded top stroke that extends almost to the cross-bar, which is itself slightly elongated with an upturn at its end. This form is close to, but should not be confused with, a `horizontal' R.

The script used on this stone is very similar to that found at Crac'h [CRACH/1]: the H, N, R, A, and the occasional wedge-shaped finial are common to both inscriptions. It seems likely, therefore, on palaeographic grounds alone, that this inscription dates to much the same period, that is the 7th or 8th century'.

Legibility:good
Davies et al/2000, 215: `the inscription is clear and fully legible'.
Lines:2
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References