[NB The brief explanation given below has been drafted on the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the basic building-blocks used in Celtic topographical place-names (Chapter 1 of the Home menu), with the structure of compound place-names (Chapter 2) and with the structure of Celtic river-names (Chapter 19)]
The tribal name appears not to be mentioned in any of the ancient texts but is inferred from the name Setantiorum Portus appearing in the Geography of Ptolemy.
This tribal name is based on a river-name somewhat of the form Setantena. At an earlier date the river-name would have been Setan, comprising the same compound of the river-letters s and t as seen in Seteia, the river Mersey, the river-letters s and t corresponding respectively to the hill-letters r and l1. Later the river-letter t corresponding to the hill-letter l2 was added, this indicating that the tribe used the hill-letter l2. The Setanti tribe thus lived around the river Setantena, the river Wyre in Lancashire.
[This page was last modified on 24 March 2021]
