Editing River Severn (section)

==Etymology and mythology==
===Celtic Root===
An etymology has been proposed, which signifies that 'Severn' is an anglicized version of an ancient Celtic phrase signifying 'a gap (in the coastline)', referring to the estuary.<ref>*John Walter Taylor, [https://archive.org/details/dumbleton-and-the-celtic-substrate/mode/2up "Dumbleton and the Celtic Substrate"] (Dublin, 2022)</ref>

===Romano-British name===
The name Severn is thought to derive from a [[Common Brittonic|British]] word [[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/Sabrinā|''sabrinā'']], possibly from an older form  *''samarosina'', meaning "land of summertime fallow".<ref>{{cite thesis |url=https://orca.cf.ac.uk/54375/1/U584476.pdf |last=Price |first=Bronwen |date=2009 |title=Unknown, unfamiliar and abnormal worlds. Engaged knowing in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age of the Irish Sea Region |type=PhD |publisher=Cardiff University |docket= |access-date=2 May 2021 |archive-date=2 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102212033/http://orca.cf.ac.uk/54375/1/U584476.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
During the [[Roman Britain|Roman occupation]] the ''Severn'' was known by the [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]] [[British Latin|Latin]] name ''Sabrina''.{{efn|Dictionary – Old English (Clark Hall) < Sæfern >
# " Severn " (Latin Sabrina).{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}} }}{{efn| See [[Ancient Rome]] > [[Ancient Rome#Language|Language]] > . . .''The native language of the Romans was [[Latin]]''.}}{{efn| The name was recorded in the 2nd century:
* Sabrinam 115-7<ref name= PC_Hafren/> 
* Sabrinā 150<ref name= PC_Hafren/>}}{{efn| See [[Roman Britain]] > [[Roman Britain#Diocletian's reforms|Diocletian's reforms]] > Map of ROMAN BRITANNIA about 410 > ''Sabrina Aest''}}

====Name legacy====
{{main|Hafren#In literature}}
[[John Milton|Milton]]'s 1634 masque ''[[Comus (Milton)|Comus]]'' makes ''Sabrina'' a [[nymph]] who had drowned in the river.<ref name="rogers">{{cite web |url=http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/sabrina.htm |author=Liam Rogers |title=Sabrina and the River Severn |access-date=9 December 2006 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125044848/http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/sabrina.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
In [[Shrewsbury]], there is now a statue of Sabrina in the Dingle Gardens at the [[The Quarry (park)|Quarry]], as well as a metal sculpture erected in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/06/26/statues-of-famous-salopians-unveiled-in-shrewsbury/30111460/ |title=Statues of famous Salopians unveiled in Shrewsbury |work=[[Shropshire Star]] |date=26 June 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000232/http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/06/26/statues-of-famous-salopians-unveiled-in-shrewsbury/30111460/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is a different deity associated with the Severn Estuary: [[Nodens]], represented as mounted on a [[seahorse]],<!--is this the actual [[seahorse]], or the mythological [[hippocamp]]?-->  riding on the crest of the [[Severn bore]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Clucas |first=P. |year=1985 |title=Britain – The Landscape Below |location=Guildford |publisher=Colour Library Books |isbn=0-86283-174-1 }}</ref>

===Welsh name===
{{main|Hafren}}
The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] form of the name is ''{{lang|cy|Afon Hafren}}'' ({{IPA|cy|ˈavɔn ˈhavrɛn|pron}}) first recorded in the 12th-century ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]''. The [[Old Welsh]] form of the name ''{{lang|cy|Habren}}'' was recorded c.800.<ref name= PC_Hafren>*{{cite web |title= Welsh Place-names: Afon Hafren ( River Severn) |url= https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/466933#?xywh=-119%2C-47%2C1508%2C1107 |publisher= People's Collection Wales |access-date= 2 July 2023}}</ref>

Documented history of the Welsh name:
* Habren c.800.<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
* Hauren c.1170.<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
* hahafrenn, 12th century.<ref name= PC_Hafren/> 
* Dyffrin hawren, mid 13th century.<ref name= PC_Hafren/>

The [[toponym]] for ''Habren'' might be:
* High prow of a ship.{{efn|[[Old Welsh]] ''breni'' – " prow of a ship ".{{sfn|Falileyev|2000|pp=18}}}}<ref name= GPC_Welsh>*{{cite web |title= GPC – A dictionary of the Welsh language |url= https://welsh-dictionary.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html |publisher= [[University of Wales]] |access-date= 3 August 2023}}</ref>
* High prow of a wave.<ref>{{cite web |title= MAGiC MaP : The Haw (Severn bore) near Tewkesbury. |url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?chosenLayers=&xygridref=384400,227800&startScale=25000 |publisher= Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.}}</ref>

===English name===
The English form of the name ("''Severn''") is derived from [[Old English]] ''Sæfern''.{{efn|Dictionary – Old English (Clark Hall) < Sæfern >
# "Severn"{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}} }}{{efn|WiKtionary : Old English < [[wikt:Sæfern#Old English|Sæfern]] >
# "Severn"}} However the name is also influenced by English dialect [[wikt:seave#English|''seave'']] ("[[List of plants known as rush|sedge, rush]]") hence the origin of the name ''Seaverne'' recorded in the 16th–17th century.{{sfn|Raithby|1819|pp=892–893}}{{efn|See [[Rushbearing]] > [[Rushbearing#Dialect names for rush|Dialect names for rush]].}}

Common club-rush (''[[Schoenoplectus lacustris]]'') prefers to grow in shallow water such as that found in ponds, streams and river margins.{{efn|'''Common club-rush''' or '''Bulrush'''.''[[Schoenoplectus lacustris]]'' (Richard Mabey). . . " Club-rush is a stout [[Perennial plant|perennial]] found in shallow water in lakes, ponds, canals, slow rivers. . .It can reach heights of up to ten feet in height with a thickness of nearly an inch at its base. . . "{{sfn|Mabey|1996|pp=389–391}} }} The [[Hwicce]] people used the club-rush growing along the banks of the River Severn to make [[wicker]] baskets.{{efn|See [[Hwicce]] > [[Hwicce#Name|Name]] > . . .''It is also likely that "Hwicce" referred to the native tribes living along the banks of the River Severn,
. . .who were weavers using rushes. . .growing profusely to create baskets.}}{{efn|'''Common club-rush''' or '''Bulrush'''.''[[Schoenoplectus lacustris]]'' (Richard Mabey). . . " The rounded stems are straight and jointless, which makes them ideal for [[wikt:plait#English|plaiting]] and [[weaving]] into [[basket]]s, [[Reed mat (craft)|mats]]. . . "{{sfn|Mabey|1996|pp=389–391}} }}

====Name history====
The name history shows evidence of Scandinavian influence:{{efn|Aelfred's Britain (Max Adams). . . " Words loaned both ways between Old English and Old Norse
. . .{{sfn|Adams|2017|p=136}} }}

{| class=wikitable
|-
!Name
!Year
!Period
!Influence
|-
|Sæferne
|894{{efn|[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle|ASC]] 'A' sa 894 recte 893 }}
|[[Viking Age]]
|[[Old English]] ''sæfôr'' – " seafarer ".{{efn|Dictionary – Old English (Clark Hall) < sæfôr >
# " sea−voyage "{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}} }}
|-
|Saverna		
|1086<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
|[[Norman Conquest]]
|English dialect ''seave'' – " sedge, rush ".{{efn| WiKtionary : English dialect < [[wikt:seave#English|seave]] > From Old Norse ''sef'', whence also Danish ''siv'', Icelandic ''sef'' and Swedish ''säv'' ("club-rush").}}{{efn|WiKtionary : Old Norse < [[wikt:sef#Old Norse|sef]] >
# " sedge, rush ".}}
|-
|Severne
|1205<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
|13th century
|English dialect ''seave''
|-
|Sephern{{efn| See also [[River Seph]], [[Bilsdale]], [[North York Moors]].}}
|1479{{efn| {{blockquote| ". . .Servern id est aqua Haveren id est Sephern 1479<ref name= PC_Hafren/> }} }}
|15th century
|[[Old Norse]] [[wikt:sef#Old Norse|''sef'']] – " sedge, rush ".{{efn|WiKtionary : Old Norse < [[wikt:sef#Old Norse|sef]] >
# " sedge, rush ".}}
|-
|Seaverne
|1584<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
|16th century
|English dialect ''seave''
|-
|Seaverne
|1677{{sfn|Raithby|1819|pp=892–893}}
|17th century
|English dialect ''seave''
|-
|Severn
|1836<ref name= PC_Hafren/>
|19th century
|
|}

====Viking age====
In the Summer of 893 a coalition of all of the Danish armies in England made a determined attempt to annex western Mercia to Danish Mercia.{{efn| North-West Mercia (Wainwright). . . " It has been suggested that these raids were a deliberate attempt to annex western Mercia to Danish Mercia. . . "{{sfn|Wainwright|1975|pp=73–74}} }} The [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] (ASC){{efn| The ASC is written in [[Old English]].}} recorded an account of the [[Battle of Buttington]], and included this description of the route taken by the [[Danes (tribe)|Danes]]:
<blockquote>
"... Foron þa up be [[River Thames|Temese]] oþþæt hie gedydon æt ''Sæferne'', þa up be ''Sæferne''.{{efn|ASC 'A' sa 894 recte 893 }}{{efn| North-West Nercia (Wainwright) . . " In the Summer of 893 the two Danish Armies, supported by considerable reinforcements from the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, moved from [[Shoeburyness|Shoebury]]. . . "{{blockquote|. . . " up along the Thames until they came to the Severn and then up along the Severn. . .{{sfn|Wainwright|1975|pp=73–74}} }} }}{{efn|Viking Britain (Thomas Williams). . . " it was the exploration of England's river routes. . .made possible by their light and shallow-draughted [[Viking ships|ships]]. . .that provided Viking armies with a means of swift and efficient movement through Britain's interior
. . .increased the range of ther attacks. . .able to destabilise [[Anglo-Saxon]] kingdoms. . .{{sfn|Williams|2017|pp=145}} }}
</blockquote>

====Seafarer====
{{Quote box
| width = 22em
| align = right
| quote = [[The Seafarer (poem)]]<br>
..."þæt he a his sæfore{{efn|''sæfôr'' – " seafaring ".}} sorge næbbe,<br>
to hwon hine Dryhten gedon wille."<br><br>
..."that he never in his seafaring has a worry,<br>
as to what his Lord will do to him."
| source = — A passage in [[Old English]] poem
}}

The name ''Sæfern'' might be related to:{{efn|Aelfred's Britain (Max Adams). . . " Words loaned both ways between Old English and Old Norse. . .{{sfn|Adams|2017|p=136}} }}
# The Sea.{{efn| Dictionary – Old English ( Clark Hall )
# ''sæfaroð'' – " sea−coast ".{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}}
# ''sæflôd'' – " flow of the sea ".{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}}
# ''sæflota'' – " ship ".{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}}
# ''sæfôr'' – " sea−voyage ".{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=524}} }}
# Middle English ''faren'' – "travel".{{efn|WiKtionary : [[Middle English]] < [[wikt:faren#Middle English|''faren'']] >
# " To move, go or travel "}}
# Old Norse ''sær'' – " the sea, ocean  ".{{efn|WiKtionary : [[Old Norse]] < [[wikt:sær#Old Norse|sær]] >
# " the sea, ocean  ".}} 
# Old Norse ''fara'' – " to fare, to travel ".{{efn|WiKtionary : [[Old Norse]] < [[wikt:fara#Old Norse|fara]] >
# " to fare, to travel ".}} 
# The Old Norse personal name ''Sæfari'' – " Seafarer ".<ref name= Nordic_Saefari>*{{cite web |title= Nordic Names – Saefari – "Seafarer". |url= https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/S%C3%A6fari |publisher= Nordic Names |access-date= 2 July 2023}}</ref>

The Old Norse name ''Sæfari'' ("Seafarer") lives on as the name of the [[Dalvík]] – [[Grímsey]] ferry in [[Iceland]].{{efn| SAEFARI (IMO: 9041277) is a Passenger/Cargo Ship. . .<ref>*{{cite web |title= SAEFARI (IMO: 9041277) |url= https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:294377/mmsi:251521110/imo:9041277/vessel:SAEFARI#Summary
 |publisher= [[MarineTraffic]] |access-date= 2 July 2023}}</ref> }}<ref>*{{cite web |title= Ferry from Dalvík: Sæfari |url= https://www.akureyri.is/grimsey-en/moya/news/ferry-from-dalvik-saefari |publisher= Akureyrarbaer |access-date= 2 July 2023}}</ref>