what is in a name?
Brethren is a work of fiction. The genre is called Historical Fiction. Many things in the story are by necessity pure conjecture as they left no written record of themselves, the book is based on just a few scant words written by those who conquered them. (To avoid a 2000 year old spoiler alert, only read Tacitus’ On the Life and Character of Julius Agricola after you finish the book!)
So why do the Ordovice tribe in Brethren call themselves People of the Hammer? While researching the book one old theory I came across is that the name originates from oar-devi, meaning the people who dwell near the river Deva. For a proud tribe who are known to have fought against the might of Rome despite impossible odds, being from a certain side of a river isn't really a strong enough identity to claim. LINK
Another theory that makes a lot more sense is the History Files LINK suggests that:
The tribe's name breaks down into two parts. The first is 'ordo-', which appears to be a variant of the Common Celtic word for 'high', namely 'ard'. This is related to the very familiar Greek 'ortho' in an extended meaning of 'straight, true, correct, regular,' from the proto-Indo-European *eredh-, meaning 'high'.
The second part is Brythonic, found today in the Welsh 'gwych', meaning 'brave, energetic'. Together these constitute a Welsh (Brythonic) name. The meaning could be 'high' in a metaphorical sense, or in a literal sense of elevated geography, and brave. The tribe may have been the 'highly brave' or the 'fighting braves' or, in a geographical sense rather than a personal one, the 'brave highlanders'.
If you claimed the brooding mountains of Snowdonia as your ancestral land ‘brave highlanders’ is closer to a distinguishing identity than being close to a river. I don't dispute either theory. Many are much more qualified than I to determine which suggestion deserves more merit. But another variant resonated with me. From Wikipedia: The Celtic name ordo-wik- could be cognate with the words for 'hammer': Irish: ord, Welsh: gordd (with a prothetic g-) and Breton: horzh (with a prothetic h-)
Fighting with hammers in the Iron Age wasn’t un: LINK
Image by Notuncurious via Wikimedia Commons
In an ancient text, Tacitus’ On the Life and Character of Julius Agricola, the Ordovices were recorded as being a fierce, martial society and like most pre-Roman tribes, it is assumed they would have had a warrior caste. They survive in recorded history as fighting the Romans on several occasions, involved in the rebellion of Caractacus against the governor Scapula in AD 50. Ten years later they fought the Twentieth legion in Angelsey, which was the reason the south of Britannia was left ungarrisoned and ripe for Boudica’s revolt. Finally, Tacitus records them destroying a small Roman fort in their territory and standing against Agricola in AD 77. So the idea of men wielding hammers, arguably a rather more effective weapon for smashing into the wooden shields of a testudo than their long slashing swords, makes sense. So in Brethren warriors fight with hammers as part of their armory. Maybe it was unusual enough among the neighbouring tribes that it became a distinguishing feature?
And of course, it’s not a stretch to imagine that the biggest warrior would have wanted the biggest hammer. A legendary warrior of the past, a man whose name was always spoken with awe, who swung a hammer too heavy for most men to wield would have been a favourite story for evenings around the roundhouse hearth. I didn’t want to write a comic book hammer-wielder in Brethren though, too much of a cliché, so the last king who swung it in battle is dead long enough that myths and legends are beginning to be interwoven with his name and memory. The huge hammer next to the Oak Throne is now more of a symbol than a weapon… especially as the current cowardly king can hardly even lift it. But as a symbol of their tribe’s incredible spirit, it is as important as ever.
