A
meander forms in a river when the vigorous outer current widens its banks by
pushing outwards and the sluggish inner banks narrow by depositing silt. This
creates the classic pattern of bends as the river winds its way downstream. In
some accounts this is the classic derivation of dol in Dol de Bretagne (Ille et Vilaine); Andel and Dolo (Côtes d'Armor); and even
Andouillé (Pays de Loire).
In
Welsh, dol signifies a (water-) meadow
or flood plain and can be found in hundreds of place
names such as Dolygaer, Dol-y-bont, Dolyfelin, Dolffin, Dolblodau, Dolgarrog,
Dolbadarn, Dolbenmaen, Dolwen and Dolwyddelen. The meaning includes ‘bend’, ‘turn’ or ‘meander’
and usually refers to the ‘dale’ or ‘valley’ through which a river runs.
This latter sense matches hundreds of place names in
Britain such as Arundel, Kendal
(Pen-ddol), Annandale, Airedale, Emmerdale, Eskdale, Dalkeith, Dalrymple, Dovedale, Rossendale, Tweeddale and Wensleydale. All of these include the place
name element ‘dale’, usually defined in the broader sense of (river) valley.
Some suggest an Old Breton source: (an) dol, ‘(the) meander’ as well as a Latin one: doliacus. I am a little sceptical about both and suggest that if there is a Breton source its use is almost the same as the Welsh one, indicating a ‘flood plain’ or river meadow .
Some suggest an Old Breton source: (an) dol, ‘(the) meander’ as well as a Latin one: doliacus. I am a little sceptical about both and suggest that if there is a Breton source its use is almost the same as the Welsh one, indicating a ‘flood plain’ or river meadow .
Dolo(the ‘o’ comes from the plural form, Doloù) is also encircled:
And the same goes for Dol-de-Bretagne:
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