Talk:Vindolanda

Meaning of Name

Why is the Modern Irish version of this name listed? Is there a particular Irish connection with Vindolanda? QuartierLatin1968 17:43, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

No special Irish connection but it is thought the name was derived from the local Celtic name. We could also add that the "Landa" part of the name may be associated with the welsh ""Llan" (Llandudno, LLangollen, etc). Vignaux 21:56, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes; the Welsh equivalent, if it existed, would be gwynlan. But does the name Fionnlann get any use in modern Goidelic languages (apart from being a name for Finland)? QuartierLatin1968 17:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I suggest we remove the Irish word and replace it with the Welsh. I am not a Welsh speaker but I had also inferred the gwyn part. gwynlan is very close to Vindolanda isn't it? Vignaux 10:21, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Certainly. So is fionnlann, for that matter – at least, once you get accustomed to the kind of sound changes the Celtic languages have undergone! But then again, I'm used to thinking of words like brigantinos and Cunomaglos as being Celtic-looking even though they don't necessarily resemble modern Celtic languages. This is just a result of changes that have made these words, for example, into modern Welsh brenin and Cynfael.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether a purely reconstructed Welsh (or Irish) version of Vindolanda, if it hasn't been in use either nowadays or in the past, would have much encyclopedic value here... QuartierLatin1968 15:30, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I find it fascinating that we can infer the meaning of the name that the Romans (well Batavians and Tungrians) used 1900 years ago and that this is closely related to languages spoken now. I believe it is useful to give some indication of the meaning and the connection but I don't think the Irish version is appropriate. We should swap it for the welsh equivalent though we should not make a big thing of this. Vignaux 20:24, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Never knew this, and I'm fascinated to see it there, but should it really be right up in the first sentence? It makes the lead clumsy, and there's no reference mentioned for it. Telsa (talk) 15:26, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Well I have moved it to the end of the opening paragraph. See how that fits. Vignaux 19:54, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Definitely reads a lot better that way. Telsa (talk) 22:47, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I think it would be a good idea to amplify this and add a short section on the etymology of the name. As well as obviously giving the Welsh which is the most relevant, it is worth adding a mention of the Goidelic cognates for the sake of interest - ModScG, ModIr "fionn" < find- < wind- and "lann" < land-, and other cognates such as Eng "winter".

This might be off-topic here, but VINDOLANDA itself is of some linguistic importance. I note that the name provides evidence for early changes in the Brittonic language, because we here have -landa with an -nd- but close by we see camb-og-lanna- with -nn- < -nd-, showing that this development which was clearly in progress even this far back.83.105.29.226 (talk) 12:34, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

(14 years later) Why is the etymology of this place name still not mentioned in the current version of this article? That's not very encyclopedic. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 22:14, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Vindolanda writing tablets

I would like to add a section about the writing tablets. Apparently they were voted the most precious treasure in the British Museum and as such probably deserve a note here. See . They are briefly referred to in the article but probably not enough. Also i wondered about either adding more pictures or a link to where more pictures can be seen. Its visually quite an arresting site and i am not convinced this comes across in the article.

Collieman (talk) 11:11, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Vindolanda tablets already have an article. A concise version of it, with a link, should be included here.--Wetman (talk) 19:36, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Pointless link

The link for "Vindolanda Trust" simply loops back to the main Vindolanda article. Not terribly useful. --Michael K Smith^Talk 22:48, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

You're absolutely correct, and "Vindolanda Trust" has been a redirect since 2007. When you find a link in an article that links back to where you started you may as well remove it immediately. Nev1 (talk) 18:41, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

The Name Vindolanda

Strange Dutch name like 'find old anda' most likely in the meaning of 'find of other island". Perhaps the westside story of the eastside Si at ut anda (Atlantis, see Ath or Alinda). Than Eindolanda could explain the difference. Did they mean the complete land, or the island, is the question here. Island might come from the eierland Texel (=ei=egg) and of course Insula. F.N. Heinsius — Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.100.67.82 (talk) 12:40, 15 June 2017 (UTC)

Another thought on this matter reveals a strange transformation of the name into: VEINDALENDE or VANDALEN in English the Vandals.

Literally this would be Find Olanda or perhaps the Dutch discovery (disease). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.173.42.108 (talk) 09:41, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Transformation: Veindalende, Vindelindi. Isn't that Lindis farne? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:A467:BB48:1:E13C:A19A:A14C:DF86 (talk) 19:15, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Not so difficult. Perhaps the Batavian cohort that was recruited in Holland, as it was called. On the other Eind land, more or less. Now about the original Roman name of the Castellum? Who derived anything of it from the 'Bretje of Findolanda' that was found there sometime in 1973? Why not mention the Peutinger Map: Vindala, Vindnomora, Vindavia, etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-32424-80 (talk) 10:12, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

New Section?

Hello! I would be interested in adding another section that would outline some of the recent media attention that Vindolanda has received in the past year (especially with the discovery of the new cache of ink tablets). What does everyone think?Ebaker22 (talk) 19:18, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

The new discoveries should certainly be mentioned. Would it fit naturally into an existing section? If not go ahead and create one. Remember on wikipedia: be bold. Mramoeba (talk) 23:38, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

I have added a new section titled "Media attention" outlining some of the finds that have been highly publicized in national media. I also went through the article and added AD where appropriate for continuity in reading. Also did some minor paragraph formatting in "Fort and village" and added a sentence in the introductory paragraph outlining a rough occupation timeline. Ebaker22 (talk) 00:21, 22 October 2017 (UTC)

Aaaand it's gone. Working with the editor to hopefully add this section more appropriately! I'm new, so any feedback on how I could more successfully go about this would be much appreciated! Thanks! Ebaker22 (talk) 02:35, 22 October 2017 (UTC)

The full text of the letters are available online (with no paywall; for a LIMITED time)

For a short while, anyone can download the full text of many of the letters and letter fragments from the 2001-2003 excavations. Direct from the cambridge.org website.

Here's the link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/vindolanda-writingtablets-tabulae-vindolandenses-iv-part-3-new-letters-of-iulius-verecundus/6B9895408612D07051A6590851B5BDE4

Enjoy. N2e (talk) 00:49, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

Recent edits

I've reverted the text to the version prior to the edits on 12 December 2021 by new user Mtkach1, which were made here. I don't have any comment on the content of the edits - I am not sufficiently well informed on the subject matter to judge (though I have visited the site and have some knowledge of it) - but the edits introduced a number of errors of grammar, spelling (for instance, using US spellings such as "jewelry"), and formatting (such as unconventional citation styles), and in some cases were unreferenced. Further discussions should take place here. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:15, 31 December 2021 (UTC)

Plan of action

I've intervened in this article today to create a section on "History and garrison", which aims to cover the political/cultural history of the site. At present, this overlaps with the following section, entitled "description". My plan is to convert that second section into one that actually describes the structures on the site, going through each of the periods in turn. But I've run out of weekend, so won't be executing that plan for a week or three. Furius (talk) 20:14, 8 June 2025 (UTC)