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==Name and etymology== ===Name=== Both the Parker and [[Peterborough Chronicle|Peterborough]] versions of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' for 793 record the [[Old English]] name {{lang|ang|Lindisfarena}}.{{sfn|Freeborn|p=39}} In the 9th-century {{lang|la|[[Historia Brittonum]]}} the island appears under its [[Old Welsh]] name {{lang|owl|Medcaut}}.{{sfn|Nennius|1848|loc=section 65}} The [[philologist]] [[Andrew Breeze]], following up on a suggestion by Richard Coates, proposes that the name derived from Latin {{lang|la|Medicata [Insula]}} (English: Healing [Island]), owing perhaps to the island's reputation for [[medicinal herbs]].{{sfn|Breeze|2008|pp=187{{ndash}}88}}{{sfn|Green|2020|p=236}} The name Holy Island was in use by the 11th century when it appears in Latin as {{lang|la|'Insula Sacra'}}. The reference was to Saints [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]] and [[Cuthbert]].{{sfn|Simpson|2009}} In the present day, Holy Island is the name of the civil parish<ref>{{cite web |title=Town and Parish Councils List |url=http://committee.northumberland.gov.uk/ParishCouncils/ParishcouncilList.aspx |website=Northumberland County Council |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> and native inhabitants are known as Islanders. The [[Ordnance Survey]] uses Holy Island for both the island and the village, with Lindisfarne listed either as an alternative name for the island{{sfn|Ordnance Survey|2019}} or as a name of 'non-Roman antiquity'.{{sfn|Ordnance_Survey|2015}} "Locally the island is rarely referred to by its Anglo-Saxon name of Lindisfarne" (according to the local community website).<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome Visitor |url=https://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/general/welcome.htm |website=The Holy Island of Lindisfarne |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> More widely, the two names are used somewhat interchangeably.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Peter |title=The Extra Mile: A 21st Century Pilgrimage |url=https://archive.org/details/extramile21stcen0000stan |url-access=registration |date=2010 |publisher=Continuum |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/extramile21stcen0000stan/page/155 155]β160|isbn=9781441112071 }}</ref> Lindisfarne is invariably used when referring to the pre-conquest monastic settlement, the priory ruins<ref>{{cite web |title=Lindisfarne Priory |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/lindisfarne-priory/ |website=English Heritage |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> and the castle.{{sfn|The National Trust|2020}} The combined phrase "the Holy Island of Lindisfarne" has begun to be used more frequently in recent times, particularly when promoting the island as a destination for tourists and pilgrims alike.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Holy Island of Lindisfarne |url=https://www.visitnorthumberland.com/holy-island |website=Visit Northumberland |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Take a modern day pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne |url=https://www.visitengland.com/experience/take-modern-day-pilgrimage-holy-island-lindisfarne |website=Visit England |date=11 June 2014 |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> ===Etymology=== The name ''Lindisfarne'' has an uncertain origin. The ''-farne'' part of the name may be Old English ''fearena'', [[genitive]] [[plural]] of {{lang|ang|fara}}, meaning traveller.{{sfn|James|2019}} The first part, ''Lindis-'', may refer to people from the [[Kingdom of Lindsey]] in modern [[Lincolnshire]], referring to either regular visitors or settlers.{{sfn|Mills|1997|p=221}}{{sfn|Myers|1985|p=175}}{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|pp=298β99}}{{sfn|Green|2020|pp=239β40}} Another possibility is that Lindisfarne is [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] in origin, containing the element ''Lind-'' meaning stream or pool ([[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|llyn}}),{{sfn|James|2019}} with the nominal morpheme ''-as(t)'' and an unknown element identical to that in the [[Farne Islands]].{{sfn|James|2019}} Further suggested is that the name may be a wholly [[Old Irish]] formation, from corresponding {{lang|sga|lind-is-}}, plus {{lang|sga|βfearann}} meaning land, domain, territory.{{sfn|James|2019}} Such an Irish formation, however, could have been based on a pre-existing Brittonic name.{{sfn|James|2019}} There is also a supposition that the nearby Farne Islands are fern-like in shape and the name may have come from there.{{sfn|Simpson|2009}}
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