On 10 Mar 2018, at 12:53, Nick Corbett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I was in Heffer's last week and picked up the latest annual collection of symposium papers from Celtic Studies Publications, Aberystwyth - "Celtic Religions in the Roman Period" ed Hauessler and King.
GBP 40.00 and very well worth it. 26 papers - including one on the theonym *Conventina by F. Fernandez Palacios with a very handy overview of the etym. possibilities in Celtic and Latin for the related Venta place-names.
About 9 papers are not in English - 3 French, 3 Sp, 2 Ger, 1 It.
There is a lot of state-of-the-art linguistic comment, mainly on Celtic but a bit on Germanic and Latin as well.

Regarding Thetford NFK, there is a very interesting paper by Daphne Nash Briggs on the epithets applied to the god Faunus and engraved on the silver spoons of the Thetford Treasure, unearthed 1979 and now in the BM. They do show that, at least in the field of religion, elite Icenians wanted British epithets engraved on their silver - as well as Latin.  (I still think lowland Britain will have more or less completely switched to Latin by the 370's which the hoard is dated to - there is still a prominent bit of Aramaic ("talitha koum" etc. Kephas = stone), Hebrew ("Eloi, eloi, lama sab-" ) Greek "Christ" in modern NTs. Religion archaisizes linguistically).

I suggested here in posts last year that the two Thetford names were to be equated with Icoranda and Morgariton names in Gaul - i.e. marking Iron Age and post Roman boundaries.   I suggested there were many other PNs with human landscape value "boundary of polity". DNB does not comment linguistically on the Thetford name - but please read this:
"The history of this site must have been related to its command of an important road near a border crossing .... it is exactly the sort of place where travellers in and out of a territory could be obliged to present their credentials and pay their respects".  (NC: and pay their customs dues!).   DNB says the major crossing point from Icenian to Catuvellaunian-Trinovantian terr.

Here's a brief overview of some PNs which have human landscape value: Boundary Crossing
Feel free to disagree with some of these.

- Thetford NFK and Little Thetford Cambs (OE theod)
- Ludlow SHR , Lydford DEV the very big "common access" grazing parish on Dartmoor (OE hleode)
- Harwich, Harlow ESX Hereford, Little Hereford, Hergest HRF Harefield MDX (OE here)
- Plaistow Essex A (Middx border) and B (Nearish Suffolk border in Halstead Rural)
Plaistow W SSX (on SUR border)
and other PNS with OE pleg (not all though - not eg Plaxtol KNT)
- Liss HMP, (border w SUR), Brailes WAR (OXF border) Weston-under-LIzard STF/SHR (Celtic lisso "court")

On the Southern land boundary of Greater Cantia, some or all of..
Limpsfield (L limen ?), Westerham, Groombridge (aggressive young men), Crowboro (Brannos God of boundaries), Mayfield (OE maeghth), Tonbridge , Chiddingstone KNT if with the OE "kith" word - and ending with Lympne (L. limen again - maybe)

Thanks for reading this post. Nick