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A glen is a
The word is
A glen is a valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.strath
A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a glen, which is typically narrower and deep).
Word and etymology
An anglicisation of the Gaelic word ''srath'', it is one of many that have been abs ...
".. The word is Goidelic
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically ...
in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
and Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...
, ''glion'' in Manx. The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names.
Etymology
The word is Goidelic
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically ...
in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
and Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...
, ''glion'' in Manx. In Manx, ''glan'' is also to be found meaning glen. It is cognate with Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''glyn''.
Examples in Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, such as Glenridding
Glenridding is a village at the southern end of Ullswater, in the English Lake District. The village is popular with mountain walkers who can scale England's third-highest mountain, Helvellyn, and many other challenging peaks from there.
Ety ...
, Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, or Glendue, near Haltwhistle
Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census.
Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...
, Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
, are thought to derive from the aforementioned Cumbric
Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...
cognate, or another Brythonic equivalent. This likely underlies some examples in Southern Scotland.
As the name of a river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
, it is thought to derive from the Irish word ''glan'' meaning clean, or the Welsh word ''gleindid'' meaning purity. An example is the Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(
(
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
where nine glens radiate out from the Antrim plateau to the sea along the coast between Ballycastle and Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...
.
Places
The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names such asGreat Glen
The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...
and Glenrothes
Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it ...
in Scotland; Glendalough
Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...
, Glenswilly, Glen of Aherlow
The Glen of Aherlow ( Irish: ''Gleann Eatharlaí'') is a valley located between Slievenamuck and the Galtee Mountains in the western part of County Tipperary in Ireland. The principal village is Lisvarrinane (sometimes spelled Lisvernane). There ...
, Glen of Imaal
The Glen of Imaal ( or ; ga, Gleann Uí Mháil) is a remote glen in the western Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. It is ringed by the Lugnaquilla massif and its foothills, including Table Mountain and Keadeen. Much of the glen is used by the Iris ...
and the Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(
(
Glenn Norman in Canada;
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
, Glen Ellen
Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic P ...
and Klamath Glen in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, Glenview in Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, and Glenrock in Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
; Glenview, Glen Waverley
Glen Waverley is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Glen Waverley recorded a population of 42,642 at the 2021 census.
History ...
, Glen Eira, Glengowrie
Glengowrie () is a suburb of the Australian city of Adelaide, approximately 12 kilometres south west of the city centre. The name Glengowrie means " Glen of Gowrie", so called in honour of Lord Gowrie (formerly, Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ru ...
, Glen Huntly
Glen Huntly is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District,Glen Forrest in Australia; and
Glendowie
Glendowie is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is under the local governance of Auckland Council. It was under Auckland City Council from 1989 until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the "super city" in 2010.
Location
Glendowi ...
, Glen Eden and Glen Innes in New Zealand.
In the Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...
region of New York State, the southern ends of Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake
Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...
in particular are etched with glens, although in this region the term "glen" refers most frequently to a narrow gorge, as opposed to a wider valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
or strath. The steep hills surrounding these lakes are filled with loose shale from glacial moraines. This material has eroded over the past 10,000 years to produce rocky glens (e.g., Watkins Glen, Fillmore Glen State Park
Fillmore Glen State Park is a state park located in the Finger Lakes region of New York adjacent to the Village of Moravia in Cayuga County.
Park description
The primary attractions of the park are the hiking trails with views of a stream and ...
and Treman State Park
Robert H. Treman State Park is a state park located in Tompkins County, in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. The park is situated in the towns of Ithaca, Enfield and Newfield.
History
Robert H. Treman first purchased lan ...
s) and waterfalls (e.g., Taughannock Falls
Taughannock Falls State Park () is a state park located in the town of Ulysses in Tompkins County, New York in the United States. The park is northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg.
The park's namesake, Taughannock Falls, is a plunge waterfall ...
) as rainwater has flowed down toward the lakes below.
See also
* *References
{{Rivers, streams and springs Landforms Slope landforms Valleys