| Corpus Refs: | Huebner/1876:140 Macalister/1945:390 Nash-Williams/1950:96 RCAHMW/1964:1675 |
| Site: | LLNR3 |
| Discovery: | non-arch dig, 1833 anon |
| History: | Parry/Westwood/1847, 201: `The tomb was first discovered some years ago [before 1833 according to Lewis, cited in Breese/1925, 385], in pulling down a hedge, under which it extended at right angles'. Macalister/1945, 366--367: `They have had an adventurous career. When first found they formed the sides of a grave covered by two slabs, discovered in the course of removing a hedge; evidently the grave was later than the inscriptions, the stones being used as mere building material. They were re-buried before 1859; exhumed again in 1876, when Rhys examined them; in the following year re-buried once more: and some time later they were taken up again, and are now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford'. Nash-Williams/1950, 90, agrees that these stone were reused in the grave. RCAHMW/1965, 82, notes that the stones were transferred to Oxford c. 1895. Additional account given by Breese/1925. |
| Geology: | Nash-Williams/1950, 90: `Local basalt'. |
| Dimensions: | 1.7 x 0.25 x 0.14 (converted from Macalister/1945) |
| Setting: | in display |
| Location: | Ashmolean, Oxford Macalister/1945, 367: `now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford'. |
| Form: | plain Nash-Williams/1950, 90: `Rough hexagonal pillar stone'. RCAHMW/1964, 82: `Each stone is natural hexagonal prism of local volcanic origin with the inscription lengthways placed centrally on the stone. Stone (i) 5 ft. 5 ins. long with faces from 5 3/4 ins. to 10 ins. broad'. |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Westwood, J.O. (1847): | VIN[--] Expansion: VIN[--] Translation: Vin[--] (PN). Parry/Westwood/1847 203 reading only |
| Huebner, E. (1876): | VEND[--] Expansion: VEND[--] Huebner/1876 49 reading only |
| Breese, C.E. (1925): | VENDESETLI Expansion: VENDESETLI Translation: Vendesetli (PN). Breese/1925 385--386 reading only |
| Nash-Williams, V.E. (1938): | VENDESETLI Expansion: VENDESETLI Translation: (The stone) of Vendesetl (PN). Nash-Williams/1938 35 reading only Nash-Williams/1950 90 reading only |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): | VENDESETLI Expansion: VENDESETLI Macalister/1945 368 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical down |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated Nash-Williams/1950, 90: `in one line reading vertically downwards(?)'. Middle of one of the faces of the hexagonal section stone. |
| Incision: | pocked Macalister/1945, 368: `pocked'. |
| Date: | 500 - 599 (Nash-Williams/1938) 400 - 599 (RCAHMW/1964) RCAHMW/1964, 82: `5th--6th century, but possibly 5th century'. 400 - 499 (Jackson/1953) |
| Language: | name only (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | See name table. |
| Palaeography: | Nash-Williams/1938, 35: `The letters of [this stone] are taller and more neatly cut [than LLNR3/2/1]; the forms are Roman throughout'. Nash-Williams/1950, 90: `Roman capitals'. |
| Legibility: | good Parry/Westwood/1847, 202--203: `Of the inscription...I can make nothing; indeed the letters can scarcely be decyphered as they are not cut deep...I should think, however, it [the inscription] might be made out'. Macalister/1945, 368: `legible, but worn'. |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
Breese/1925, 386: `meaning him of the white (in the sense of being clean, pure, or saintly) life...The name is identical with Vennisetli. Now Vende-setli, whereof setl is the correct antecedent of our modern heodl, `life, lifetime'. In the earliest pedigrees of the Welsh Saints -- those in the 13th century Peniarth MSS. 16 and 45 -- the name appears as Gwynnoedyl and Gynodyl. Later we have it as Gwynhoedl. The Church bearing the name of Llangwynhoedl, now generally Llangwnadl, is in the neighbourhood, and for my part I have very little doubt that the monument in question was the tombstone of the Saint after whom the church was called. The reference to him in these pedigrees is to the following effect:---
Lastly, it would be difficult perhaps to determine whether Tir Gwyn, as the field used to be called, meant the white or sacred land, or the land of Gwyn, i.e. Gwynhoedl. As to the adjective gwyn, feminine gwen, it means not only white, but also blessed, and the like'.
Nash-Williams/1938, 35: `The form Vendesetl preserves the name of the sixth-century saint, Gwynhoedl, patron of the ancient church at Llangwynadl, a neighbouring parish to Llannor'.
Jackson/1953, 325, note 2, states that the identification is very unlikely. Apart from any other reason Jackson argues that the stone is of fifth century date, not sixth century. Jackson also quotes a letter from Nash-Williams who by late 1950 agreed with Jackson that the identification was unlikely.
RCAHMW/1964, 82: `Since Vendesetl, meaning `He of the blessed life' is an earlier form of the name Gwynhoedl, the stone has been associated with the saint whose name occurs in that of the neighbouring Llangwnnadl parish. But there are epigraphical and linguistic reasons making this identification uncertain'.