Re: CHAT : Origin of the name "Northumbria"

Andreas Johansson wrote:

>Quoting Joe <joe@...>:
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>>Andreas Johansson wrote:
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>>>I ended up in a discussion of this on a gaming forum, arguing it's the kind
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>>of
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>>>name one'd expect to be given by othersiders rather than a self-assumed one;
>>>for the Northumbrians themselves, living north of the Humber probably did
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>>not
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>>>seem like the most noteworthy thing about them.
>>>
>>>Is it known where the name originates?
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>>No, it does originate from that.  I think that Southumbria was found in
>>some texts, actually.  It comes from 'Norþhymber', I believe, which has
>>a pretty transparent origin.
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>Not from _what_, but from _where_; I'm not interested in the etymology, but
>_where_ the name was coined, specifically whether in Northumbria itself or
>somewhere south of the Humber.
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Ah, right.  Well, either possibility seems likely to me.  Because
Northumbria was the union of two kingdoms (Bernicia and Deira), it is
possible it was a name coined for the new entity by the Northumbrians -
called so because it now contained all the lands north of the Humber.

Or, as you say, it could have been an (exonym?).

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