[...A sermon having been delivered at Abergevenni,67 and many persons converted to the cross, a certain nobleman of those parts, named Arthenus, came to the archbishop, who was proceeding towards the castle of Usk, and humbly begged pardon for having neglected to meet him sooner....]
the above text is taken from the following website:
http://historymedren.about.com/library/text/bltxtitineraryi4.htm
Arthenus is from the Welsh word
arthen , meaning 'from the earth'. It is likely that Arthena is a female form of Arthenus. There are more names deriving from this same origin, like Arthenia and Arthensia, all these names have variants without the 'h', thus Artena, Artenia and Artensia, but the 'th' form is the original.
[...Ainsi, dans les noms que vous citez, Artenay vient d'un nom d'homme gallo-romain "Artenus" et du suffixe -"acum"...]
the above text is written in French and it is taken from the following website:
http://genealogy.henny-savenije.pe.kr/oorsprong.htm
this source translated to English says:
...Thus, of the names that you citate, Artenay is from a Gaul-Roman man called "Artenus" and the suffix "-acum"...
(this is a free translation, not literally).
this source states that Artenus was originally a
Roman name found in Gaul (nowadays
France). This explains why there are many French names with the root
art(h)en , but it contradicts the origin of
arthen as being Welsh.
the meaning of the name Artenus (without the 'h') is unclear and it is uncertain if it is related to the Welsh word
arthen , but
France and England have had more exchanges in language.
This message was edited 9/16/2004, 2:58 AM