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VILBIAM (RIB 154): Kidnap or Robbery?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Paul Russell
Affiliation:
Pembroke College, Cambridge, pr270@cam.ac.uk

Abstract

The form vilbiam has been long known from the earliest of the Bath curse tablets to have been discovered. It has usually, but with some reservations, been regarded as a female personal name. If so, then, this curse tablet (RIB 154) is the only one to record the theft of a person. It is suggested here that vilbia, rather than being a personal name, is the term for some form of sharp-pointed object. It is further argued that it may be of Celtic origin and may have a Celtic reflex in Middle Welsh gwlf.

Type
Notes
Copyright
Copyright © Paul Russell 2006

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