The Name of Kayrrud in the Franklin’s Tale

One Celtic name in the Franklin's Tale has already prompted analysis. ¹ What follows discusses another. We hear how Arveragus marries and

Hoom with his wyf he gooth to his contree,
Nat fer fro Pedmark, ther his dwellyng was,

(V 800-801)

where they live happily,

Til that the knyght of which I speke of thus,
That of Kayrrud was cleped Arveragus,
Shoop hym to goon and dwelle a yeer or tweyne
In Engelond, that cleped was eek Briteyne. ²

(807-10)

Where were Pedmark and Kayrrud? Walter W. Skeat took the first as Pointe de Penmarch, the southwestern tip of Brittany (nineteen miles southwest of Quimper), named after the village of Penmarch two miles inland. As for Kayrrud, Skeat could not find it on the map, but explained its name from Breton ker 'town' and perhaps ruz 'red.' ³

Since 1914 this subject has been dominated by the views of John S. P. Tatlock. ⁴ He was sure Kayrrud meant 'red house' of red Roman brick (Modern Breton Karru). Because there are still places called Karru in Brittany, but none near Penmarch, he explained it as the name of a large building (now ruined) of red Roman brick near Penmarch rocks. Later scholars have attributed the difference between the termination of Middle Breton ruz 'red' and that of Kayrrud to the influence of English. ⁵

Tatlock's arguments have been widely accepted, but they are not watertight, and Ian Kirby has challenged them. ⁶ Setting out manuscript variants of the name, he emphasizes the unique variant caere iuda of the fifteenth-century MS Phillipps 8137 (now Philadelphia, Rosenbach Foundation, MS f. 1084/1). The first part of the Franklin's Tale in this manuscript derives from an unknown original; this reading is therefore independent of "Kayrrud" and "Kairrud" in the overwhelming majority of manuscripts. Kirby concludes from this that Chaucer wrote (unattested) Kairiud, not "Kayrrud" or "Kairrud." He notes that caere iuda also occurs in Thynne's edition of 1532, suggesting that it was a better and more widespread reading than textual critics have supposed, and that scribes might easily confuse the long-tailed i and r of (for example) the Hengwrt Manuscript, which would produce the corrupt forms "Kayrrud" or "Kairrud" at an early stage. ⁷

Kirby argues that a restored reading Kairiud allows identification of Arveragus's home, as Kayrrud/Karru 'red fort' does not. He takes it as Kérity, a fishing village one mile east of Penmarch Head, on the coast road to Penmarch. This identification perfectly fits what Chaucer tells us of the home of Arveragus as being near Penmarch, by the sea, and having dangerous rocks offshore. The only problems are philological. How can we reconcile (unattested) Kairiud with Kérity? And what does the name mean? If we could answer that, Kirby's explanation would be complete.

Unfortunately, the name of Kérity-Penmarch is not attested until the sixteenth century, so early forms are lacking. But records of another Kérity (a suburb of the port of Paimpol, near Tréguier in north Brittany) here come to our aid. This Kérity is attested as Keriti in 1184 and Kaeriti, Queriti, and Kyriti in the thirteenth century. Other early forms include Caerti, Quiriti, and Keritit. ⁸ Kirby argues that, if the name of Kérity-Paimpol has changed little in eight centuries, the same is probably true of Kérity-Penmarch. If so, we may assume both names have the same origin.

However, even if we can take this problem as solved, another follows. Breton scholars themselves can give no derivation for Kérity. There is no difficulty with the first element, equivalent to Welsh caer 'fort, citadel, fortified town' (compare Cardiff, Caernarfon, Carlisle, and so on), though in Breton (as in Cumbric) the word often meant merely 'settlement, hamlet, manor-house, or farm, originally protected by a stockade.' ⁹ It is the second element that is obscure...