Editing Avalon (section)

==Etymology==
The meaning and origin of the name Avalon have been long debated by Arthurian scholars as well as Celtic and [[Romance languages|Romance]] philologists.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/433529 | jstor=433529 | last1=Slover | first1=C. H. | title=Avalon | journal=Modern Philology | date=1931 | volume=28 | issue=4 | pages=395–399 | doi=10.1086/387919 }}</ref> [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] in his pseudo-chronicle ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' ("The History of the Kings of Britain", c. 1136) calls the place ''Insula Avallonis'', meaning the "Isle of Avallon" in [[Latin]]. In his later ''[[Vita Merlini]]'' ("The Life of Merlin", c. 1150), he calls it ''Insula Pomorum'', the "Isle of Fruit Trees" (from Latin ''pōmus'' "fruit tree"). Today, the name is generally considered to be of [[Welsh language|Welsh]] origin (a [[Cornish language|Cornish]] or [[Breton language|Breton]] origin is also possible), from [[Old Welsh]], [[Old Cornish]], or [[Old Breton]] ''aball'' or ''avallen(n)'', "apple tree, fruit tree" (cf. Welsh ''afal'', from [[Proto-Celtic]] *''abalnā'', literally "fruit-bearing (thing)").<ref>Matasović, Ranko, ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'', Brill, 2008, p. 23.</ref><ref name="Koch, John 2006, p. 146">Koch, John. ''Celtic Culture: A historical encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO 2006, p. 146.</ref><ref>Savage, John J. H. "Insula Avallonia", ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'', Vol. 73, (1942), pp. 405–415.</ref><ref>Nitze, William Albert, Jenkins, Thomas Atkinson. ''Le Haut Livre du Graal'', Phaeton Press, 1972, p. 55.</ref><ref>Zimmer, Heinrich. "Bretonische Elemente in der Artursage des Gottfried von Monmouth", ''Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur'', Volume 12, 1890, pp. 246–248.</ref>

The tradition of an "apple" island among the ancient Britons may also be related to [[Irish legends]] of the [[Celtic Otherworld|otherworld]] island home of [[Manannán mac Lir]] and [[Lugh]], [[Emain Ablach]] (also the [[Old Irish]] poetic name for [[Isle of Man]]),<ref name="Koch, John 2006, p. 146"/> where ''Ablach'' means "Having Apple Trees"<ref>Marstrander, Carl Johan Sverdrup (ed.), ''Dictionary of the Irish Language'', Royal Irish Academy, 1976, letter A, column 11, line 026.</ref>— from Old Irish ''aball'' ("apple") — and is similar to the [[Middle Welsh]] name ''[[Afallach]]'', which was used to replace the name Avalon in medieval Welsh translations of French and Latin Arthurian tales. All are related to the Gaulish root *''aballo'' "fruit tree" (found in the place name [[Avallon|Aballo/Aballone]]) and are derived from Proto-Celtic *''abal''- "apple", which is related at the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] level to English ''apple'', Russian ''яблоко'' (''jabloko''), Latvian ''ābele'', et al.<ref>Hamp, Eric P. The north European word for 'apple', ''Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie'', 37, 1979, pp. 158–166.</ref><ref>Adams, Douglas Q. The Indo-European Word for 'Apple'. ''Indogermanische Forschungen'', 90, 1985, pp. 79–82.</ref>

In the early 12th century, [[William of Malmesbury]] claimed the name of Avalon came from a man called Avalloc, who once lived on this isle with his daughters.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|title=Finding Arthur: The True Origins of the Once and Future King|last=Ardrey|first=Adam|date=2014|publisher=Abrams|isbn=9781468308433|language=en}}</ref> [[Gerald of Wales]] similarly derived the name of Avalon from its purported former ruler, Avallo.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UI93dKBwWdMC&pg=PA16 | title=Glastonbury Abbey and the Arthurian Tradition | isbn=9780859915724 | last1=Carley | first1=James P. | last2=Carley | first2=James Patrick | year=2001 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref> The name is also similar to "Avallus", described by [[Pliny the Elder]] in his 1st-century ''[[Naturalis Historia]]'' as a mysterious island where amber could be found.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5BxMAQAAIAAJ | title=Histoire de l'art: Bulletin d'information de l'Institut national d'histoire de l'art publié en collaboration avec l'Association des professeurs d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art des universités | year=2008 | publisher=Editions C.D.U.-S.E.D.E.S | isbn=9782757202104 }}</ref>