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, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath".. 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 historical ...

in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish 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 as ...

, ''glion'' in Manx. The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names.

Etymology

Robert's Glen, circa 1877 - DPLA - ca6d90442a3574b7551b029c31a71c84

The word is

in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and

, ''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 peopl ...

''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 Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

, such as Glenridding,

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,

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 south ...

cognate, or another

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

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 ...

, 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 in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

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 a ...

Places

The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names such as Great Glen and Glenrothes in Scotland; Glendalough, Glenswilly, Glen of Aherlow, Glen of Imaal and the Glens of Antrim in Ireland; 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 and

Klamath Glen Klamath Glen is an unincorporated community in Del Norte County, California. It is located on the Klamath River from its mouth, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). References External links * Unincorporated communities in Del Norte ...

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 Rock ...

, 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 t ...

; 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 The City of Glen Eira is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and has an estimated population of 153,858 (51.6% female and 48.4% male). It was formed in 1994 ...

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-Rut ...

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 Glendowie i ...

, Glen Eden and Glen Innes in New Zealand. In the Finger Lakes region of New York State, the southern ends of Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake in particular are etched with glens, although in this region the term "glen" refers most frequently to a narrow

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

, as opposed to a wider

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 f ...

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 ...

s) and waterfalls (e.g., Taughannock Falls) as rainwater has flowed down toward the lakes below.

References

{{Rivers, streams and springs Landforms Slope landforms Valleys

Etymology

Places

See also

References