Pictish Women: Eithne

(Repost from 2010)
For a number of years, since I decided on a Pictish persona in the SCA, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for Pictish women's names. These are generally assumed to be vanishingly hard to find. Most of the web sites I came across either claimed there were none known or one or, at most, two.

Over the years I have found quite a few names that are worthy of, at the very least, consideration in this topic. Many of them have some dubious or debatable aspect to them: whether the name is really Pictish, whether it is really a woman's name, whether it was the name of a real person and not created for a legendary context alone. Nevertheless, given the scarcity of evidence for female Pictish names, it seemed worthwhile to bring these names together with a consideration of both their evidence and their problems.

But although I've done quite a bit of research and compiled quite a few names with shorthand notes to myself, I've been dragging my heels actually writing it all out and putting it up for people to use.

So, I've decided to use this space to try to edit my notes and get them out into the world. If anyone wants to offer feedback on any of the names, or offer additional names or documentation, etc., please feel free!

So, to start us off, one of the most famous ones:

Eithne – the death of “Eithne ingen Cinadhon” is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 778: “Eithni ingen Cinadhon moritur” (U778.11 in the Annals of Ulster, Electronic Texts Edition, University College Cork, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001A/). Incidentally, this stands alone as the last entry for 778. Cinadhon is most likely Ciniod son of Uuredech, an 8^th century Pictish king. His death is noted, among other places, in the same annal at the beginning of 775: “Mors Cinadhon regis Pictorum” (U775.1) three years before Eithne's death. 

 

Eithne is also a Gaelic name, one relatively popular in Ireland at the time and still in use today, the origin of the Anglicized name “Enya.” While this might make the name less distinctively Pictish, this is one of the best documented names for a Pictish woman we have. 

 

Whether the name would have been recognizably an Irish borrowing or was in common use in Pictland as well is impossible to say. It's also entirely possible that the name would have been slightly different in Pictish and the Irish annalist altered it slightly to bring it in line with the familiar Eithne. See the alternate spelled versions of the Pictish king list for examples of such spelling shifts.