A Pobra do Brollón

Puebla del Brollón

Camino de Invierno

LugoGalicia

Pobra, from the Latin populare 'to settle, to found a chartered town', recalls a medieval foundation by charter; Brollón goes back to the personal name Braulione, attested as early as 1050.

The name carries its founding out in front. Pobra —⁠from Latin populare, 'to settle'⁠— is the 'puebla', the town born of a medieval settlement charter, here granted in the late 13th century. The second element, Brollón, is older than the town: it goes back to a personal name, Braulione, which already appears in the Tumbo de Samos in 1050, long before there was any town to settle. The documentary chain is clean —⁠Prova do Brooloon in 1397, Ploba de Brolõõ in 1422, Puebla del Brollon in the Ensenada cadastre⁠— and it disproves the folk etymology that tied it to brollar, 'to well up': water has nothing to do with it, the name is a man's.

Evolution of the name

  1. Braulione Latin (anthroponym) 1050 (Tumbo de Samos)
  2. Prova / Ploba do Brollón Galician 14th–15th century
  3. Pobra do Brollón Galician official since 1984

Reflections, to the letter

The name comes in two times. Pobra is the 'puebla', the town founded by charter around the late 13th century; you walk through a medieval foundation with a date. Brollón is older still: a certain Braulione who was already spoken of here in 1050, according to the old Tumbo de Samos. If someone tells you the name comes from brollar, 'to well up with water', smile and walk on: the documents tell another story, of a man who lent his name to the land centuries before the land was called a town.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

probable

Sources

  • Louredo Rodríguez, E. — «Pobra do Brollón, A», Toponomasticon Hispaniae
  • Corominas, J. & Pascual, J.A. — Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (Gredos, s.v. pueblo)
  • Nomenclátor de Galicia (Xunta de Galicia)

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Camino de Invierno

  1. Lalín
  2. Rodeiro
  3. Chantada
  4. Monforte de Lemos
  5. A Pobra do Brollón
  6. Quiroga
  7. Montefurado
  8. Petín
  9. A Rúa
  10. Vilamartín de Valdeorras
  11. O Barco de Valdeorras
  12. ··· toward the start