New Post
Search
Help[Facts] Galahad
Does anyone know what the meaning of Galahad might be? I know that the site lists the meaning of Galahad as officially "unknown", but I was wondering if there might be any theories out there. I've come across one website that claims it's a variant of the biblical name Gilead. Could there be any truth to this?
1
Replies
That theory is supported by very reliable modern philological sources, specialised in onomastics (Roberto Faure) or in Arthurian literature (Carlos Alvar, e.g., cites the bonds between Galahad and the Biblical/religious theme: "Galaad: Hijo menor de José de Arimatea y su mujer Elyap; hermano de Josefés. (...) Del mismo modo que Josefés es el hijo soltero de José de Arimatea, entregado a la religión, guardián del Grial, Galaad parece tener encomendada la perpetuación del linaje escogido, del que surgirán los caballeros más destacados del mundo artúrico.").
In the original old French sources of the legend, the name is Galaad, just the Greco-Roman form of the toponyme used in the Vulgata version of the Bible and in many of the sequent versions (Gilead in English).
But John Rhys (Studies in the Arthurian Legend, 1891) thought that the name was from Welsh origin (from the personal name Gwalchaved, cited in Culhwch ac Olwen). Withycombe found this theory not very convincing.
M.T. Morlet (1991) suggested that the creator of the name could had used the Germanic personal name Galahard as inspiration (this name still being alive as family name in France).
In the original old French sources of the legend, the name is Galaad, just the Greco-Roman form of the toponyme used in the Vulgata version of the Bible and in many of the sequent versions (Gilead in English).
But John Rhys (Studies in the Arthurian Legend, 1891) thought that the name was from Welsh origin (from the personal name Gwalchaved, cited in Culhwch ac Olwen). Withycombe found this theory not very convincing.
M.T. Morlet (1991) suggested that the creator of the name could had used the Germanic personal name Galahard as inspiration (this name still being alive as family name in France).
1
Gwalchaved could derive from the Welsh gwalch, "falcon", and hâv/hâf, "summer": "falcon of summer".
Galahard derives from the Germanic gal(a)-, "to sing", and hard, "hard, strong".
Galahard derives from the Germanic gal(a)-, "to sing", and hard, "hard, strong".
1
It seems very unlikely to me that Galahad could be related to Gilead. In this list of the names linked to below of characters in Arthurian legend, the only two that are from the Old Testament are Lot and Joseph -- and the latter isn't really a living character in the tales, it's just that the Biblical character Joseph of Arimathea gets mentioned in Arthurian legend as the person who supposedly brought the Holy Grail to England. It seems likely to me that the equation of Galahad with Gilead has been done by someone who wrongly thinks that a superficial similarity in sound or spelling is enough to claim that one name is a "variant" of another.
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/htmlpages/kingarthurlegendpeople.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/htmlpages/kingarthurlegendpeople.html
1