The River Wharfe and Verbeia, Celtic Goddess

Abstract

The Wharfe is a river of Yorkshire, in northern England. It was known to the Romans as 'Verbeia', also used of their fortress in what is now the town of Ilkley. Although 'Verbeia' is surely Celtic and ultimately gives the modern hydronym 'Wharfe', its meaning has been obscure. Comparison with other Celtic forms yet suggests the sense 'Powerful Striker, she who is Strong in Hitting'', with 'ver' as an intensive prefix and 'beia' related to British and Irish words for 'axe' and the like. The pagan Celts worshipped rivers as goddesses; the Wharfe is a formidable stream, liable to dangerous floods; the name hence indicates a female deity regarded with awe, whose name survives to this day on a Roman altar in Ilkley Museum.