Albion is another name for Great Britain. The first recorded use of this name comes from the Greek language. Today, the term is only used in poetry.
In most Celtic languages, the name for Scotland is connected to Albion. These names include "Alba" in Scottish Gaelic, "Albain" (or "Alban" in the genitive form) in Irish, "Nalbin" in Manx, and "Alban" in Welsh and Cornish. Later, these names were changed into Latin as "Albania" and into English as "Albany," which were once other names for Scotland.
During the time of the Canadian Confederation, "New Albion" and "Albionoria" ("Albion of the North") were briefly considered as names for Canada. In 1579, Francis Drake named the area now known as California "New Albion" after landing there.
Etymology
The English name "Albion" is believed to come from the Greek word Ἀλβίων, which was written about by a writer named pseudo-Aristotle in his work De Mundo. This word was later changed to Albiōn in Latin, and its form in the genitive case was Albionis. The same name appears in the writings of Ptolemy in his Geography and by Pliny in Naturalis Historia.
The base of the word albiyo- is also found in other ancient languages, such as Gaulish and Galatian, where it meant "world," and in Welsh, where it appears as elfydd (from Old Welsh elbid, meaning "earth, world, land, country, or district"). This word may be connected to other place names in Europe and the Mediterranean, such as Alpes, Albania, and the river god Alpheus (originally meaning "whitish"). These names may be linked to the Proto-Indo-European word albʰo-, which meant "white" (as seen in Ancient Greek ἀλφός and Latin albus).
Some believe the name "Albion" comes from a word meaning "white," possibly referring to the white Cliffs of Dover in southeastern England. These cliffs are visible from mainland Europe and mark the narrowest point for crossing between the two regions. However, a Celtic linguist named Xavier Delamarre suggested that the name originally meant "the world above, the visible world," in contrast to "the world below," which refers to the underworld.
Attestation
Based on Avienius's Ora Maritima, which is believed to have used the Massaliote Periplus as a source, the Massaliote Periplus (first written in the 6th century BC and translated by Avienius at the end of the 4th century AD) does not use the name Britannia. Instead, it refers to the islands as nēsos Iernōn kai Albiōnōn, meaning "the islands of the Iernians and the Albiones." Similarly, Pytheas (around 320 BC), as quoted in later writings, mentions Albiōn and Iernē, which refer to Great Britain and Ireland. Pytheas's understanding of νῆσος Πρεττανική ("Prettanic island") is unclear and seems to include any western island he encounters, such as Thule.
The name Albion was used by Isidore of Charax (1st century BC–1st century AD) and later by many classical writers. By the 1st century AD, Albion clearly referred to Great Britain. However, this name was not widely used by Greek writers after that time. It was replaced by terms like Πρεττανία (Prettanía), Βρεττανία (Brettanía, meaning "Britain"), Βρεττανός (Brettanós, meaning "Briton"), and Βρεττανικός (Brettanikós, meaning "British"). From these, the Romans created the Latin terms Britannia, Britannus, and Britannicus.
In the On the Universe, a text attributed to Aristotle, the British Isles are described as two large islands named Albion and Ierne.
Pliny the Elder, in the fourth book of his Natural History, also refers to Great Britain as Albion. He begins his section on the British Isles (called Britanniae in Latin) after discussing the Rhine delta.
In his 2nd-century Geography, Ptolemy uses the Greek name Ἀλουΐων (Alouiōn, meaning "Albion") instead of the Roman name Britannia. This may have been influenced by Marinus of Tyre’s writings. He refers to both Albion and Ierne as νῆσοι Βρεττανικαὶ (nēsoi Brettanikai), meaning "British Isles."
In 930, the English king Æthelstan used the title rex et primicerius totius Albionis regni, meaning "king and chief of the whole realm of Albion." His nephew, Edgar the Peaceful, used the title totius Albionis imperator augustus, meaning "august emperor of all Albion," in 970.
The giants of Albion
There is a legend that says giants were either the first people to live in Albion or the ones who started its history. John Milton wrote about this in his book History of Britain (1670). In Book I, he described how a giant named Albion, the son of Neptune, conquered the land and named it after himself. He ruled for 44 years.
A 12th-century book called Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of the Kings of Britain") by Geoffrey of Monmouth tells a different story. It says Brutus of Troy, who was exiled, was told by the goddess Diana:
— Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain/Books 1, 11
After many adventures, Brutus and other Trojans escaped from Gaul and sailed to a land called Albion. This land was inhabited only by a few giants. However, Brutus and his group were drawn to the land because of its beauty, rivers full of fish, and forests. They divided the island among themselves, and Brutus renamed it Britain, calling his followers Britons. Geoffrey later wrote that the last giant, named Goëmagot, was thrown off a cliff by Corineus.
A 13th-century story called Prose Merlin used Geoffrey’s tale but changed some details. In this version, Brutus and Corneus were two barons from Troy who fled after the city was destroyed. Brutus went to Britain and founded London, while Corneus, who had giant ancestors, went to Brittany and built cities and castles. This version said giants were descended from Corneus and survived until the time of King Arthur. They fought with the Saracens against the Britons during the Saxon invasion. Arthur and his knights eventually defeated them, and the giants fled to a forest. Merlin warned not to chase them, saying they would face hardship.
In the 14th century, a more detailed story claimed that Albina and her sisters founded Albion and created a race of giants. This story appears in a poem called Des grantz geanz, written in Anglo-Norman between 1300–1334. The poem describes a Greek king who married his 30 daughters to royalty, but the daughters plotted to kill their husbands. The youngest daughter exposed the plan, so the others were sent to sea in a rudderless boat. After three days, they reached an uninhabited land later called Britain. Albina, the eldest, stepped ashore and named the land after herself. The women initially gathered food but later hunted and mated with evil spirits called incubi, creating giants. These giants are shown by huge bones found in the land. Brutus arrived 260 years after Albina, but by then only 24 giants remained due to conflicts. Brutus’s group later conquered the land and defeated Gogmagog.
The poem Des grantz geanz appears in 16 of 26 manuscripts of the Anglo-Norman Brut, which is based on Wace’s work. The story also appears in other forms, such as prose and short verse. A Latin version called De Origine Gigantum was written in the 1330s and edited by Carey & Crick (1995) and translated by Ruth Evans (1998).
A 14th-century Middle English version of the Brut says a king named Dioclician of Surrey (Syria) had 33 daughters, the eldest named Albyne. The princesses were banished to Albion after plotting to kill their husbands. They mated with local demons, creating giants. The chronicle says Albyne trusted a god named Appolyn to protect her sisters during their journey. The Syrian king sounds like a Roman emperor, though Diocletian (a 3rd-century emperor) would be anachronistic. Holinshed explained this as a mix-up with the legend of Danaus and his 50 daughters, who founded Argos.
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s story was believed as fact until the late 17th century. It appeared in many early histories of Britain, including works by Wace, Layamon, Raphael Holinshed, William Camden, and John Milton. The story also appears in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.
William Blake’s poems Milton and Jerusalem use Albion as a symbol of humanity.
In 2010, artist Mark Sheeky donated his 2008 painting Two Roman Legionaries Discovering The God-King Albion Turned Into Stone to the Grosvenor Museum.