Rowlands Castle |
|
settlement |
|
parish: county: coords: |
Rowlands Castle Hampshire SU7310 |
refce: |
HANTSLOC.t |
old map: | 25inch County Series map -- Hants LXVIII.15 |
Rowland's Castle otherwise: Rolokescastel, 1307-1327; Roulandes Castell, 1369; Roulakescastel, 1381 |
|
refce: |
Coates 1989 ROWLAND'S CASTLE Whatever this name originally was, it became associated with the hero Roland of the 12th century French romance. The first part is indeed likely to be a man's name, and, to take it at face value, it may be a descendant of a hypothetical Frankish (continental Germanic) 'Hrodlak' or hypothetical Scandinavian 'Hrothlaug' (the latter a woman's name), which would have been introduced after the Norman conquest. 'Castel'='castle' is also a borrowing from Norman French; the whole thing is a medieval rather than a Dark Age name. |