The Artognou Stone

[RobertGargan]

Question for Dave Hollin

I saw a replica of the Artognou stone or slate at Tintagel yesterday.  Wikipedia indicates the name Artognou is descended from the Old Breton, Arthnou and the Welsh, Arthneu.  If the original writer, from the sixth century, was aware of this, and given the significance of Tintagel Castle as an ancient British fortress and trading station, could he have referenced that legendary defender of Britannia Prima?
Is the name Patern, also on the stone, meant to be the welsh St Paternus who confronted the legendary Arthur?
I only ask these questions because you are the society's resident archaeologist.

Cheers,
Robert Gargan

[Imperial Dave]

Hi Robert....

am flattered to be called the Society's resident archaeologist but in reality I am only an 'armchair' enthusiast who occasionally gets out to do amateur fieldwalking/surveying. I would throw the questions you pose to the wider audience of the society as there are a few who have good working knowledge of the period.

For myself, anything with 'Art' or 'Arth' in the name is likely to be linked with 'Arthur'. Of course it is always possible that the stone makes reference to said Arthur. However we make a lot of assumptions about the validity of the person and he often migrates from historical to legendary and back again. Its a tiny piece of a massive puzzle and the pitfall of picking one piece up to the light is that it can lead you down a rabbit hole!

re the Patern name....this is very possibly St Paternus who is linked to the Arthur legend and infact may have 'inherited' some details from the semi historical Padarn of the Red Cloak

All interesting stuff and I would invite you to read some of the threads on the subject of Arthur on these forums as we have had quite a few interesting debates on all things Arthur and the transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon Britain

[Anton]

Gidlow discussed the Artognou slate in one of his Arthur books and commented on the legend of Tintagel being Arthur's birth place.  Whatever of that Heroic Age Tintagel was clearly an impressive place with international connections.

[Patrick Waterson]

If you have not already done so, a look at this page summarises the main lapine excavations.

Assuming PATERN to be a proper name rather undoes the assumed genealogical aspect of the whole thing, but may be worth opening another burrow.

The inscription might even have been intended to read: PATER COLIA VI FICIT ARTOS NOVUM.  Or ARTOG NOVUM, if the '3' is indeed a 'g' rather than an unsuccessful 's'.  Pater Colia vi ficit artos novum makes easy sense as Father Colia by strength/power made a new artos.  It has the problem of needing to discard the assumed 'N' or 'M' or 'A' superimposed on a groove in the stone, but the repetition of COLI... FICIT suggests the emphasis is on something Colia made, which would not be the already-exisiting stone.

The idea that a 'Father', perhaps an abbot, had invented - or more likely imposed (vi ficit = by force he made it happen) - a new form of communion bread has fertile application in the context of Dark Ages religious heresies and general differences.  Whether it would be likely subject matter for a graffiti contributor at Tintagel is another question, and there is another possible interpretation: Father Colia has made by his strength a new Arthur, which would be a cynical comment on rumoured sexual involvement between the local priest and the lady of the castle while its lord was absent.  If this was the intent, it establishes that Tintagel was believed to be the birthplace of Arthur and Arthur was believed to have been real, or at least was so well ensconced in legend as to be universally known.  It would also mean that bedchamber secrets were not as secret as the participants believed.

[Duncan Head]

Assuming PATERN to be a proper name rather undoes the assumed genealogical aspect of the whole thing, but may be worth opening another burrow.

This one mentions in passing the suggestion that PATERN should be read PATERNOSTER.