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>
> And 'uinnius' looks very like Brit. _Uinniauos_ >
> 'Finnian', usually etymologised as 'whitey'. I'm not sure I quite, quite
> see
> where this is leading.
>
"Finn" and "vinn" mean a lot more than "white." The word may mean
anything from fair to shining to bright, having connotations of glowing
inspiration and shining sun and bright fire--just as the name "Candida Casa"
did.
Given the multiplicity of names associated with Ninian, I don't
think one should assume that "Ninian" was a proper name; it well may have
been a title or descriptive name or a conflation of a proper name and a
title.
Also keep in mind that for centuries the main focus of pilgrimage at
Whithorn Priory was Ninian's cave. Of course that could well have been a
hermit's cave in monastic times, but was it originally so? After all, so
many Celtic sacred sites have caves associated with them. The association of
underground sanctuary and shining figure was not uncommon, even in the
Christian period. There's Jesus rising from the dead, of course--after being
placed in a cave-like sepulcher--and one might also point to sites like
Montesantangelo where the underground mountaintop sanctuary dates from
pre-Christian times, though it was later associated with the shining figure
of Michael the archangel.
Francine
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