Saxamonde

The anthroponymic reading proposes a Germanic personal name with two meaningful elements, Saxa-munda, composed of saxa (which in medieval Germanic designated indistinctly the Saxon people or, by extension, someone 'noble, free') + munda ('who protects, guardian'). Names of the pattern X + munda are well documented in peninsular Gothic and Suevic onomastics: Edemunda, Geremunda, Frumunda, Saxamunda. The toponymic reading derives the name from the Latin descriptive compound saxum + mons, 'mount of rocks', a description of the steep hill on which the freguesia sits. Both are phonetically possible; the medieval charters of the Oia monastery, where the toponym appears, do not permit deciding. The hamlet belongs to the Redondela council and sits between the Maitén pass and the Vigo estuary. The pilgrim crosses it after O Porriño, on the final climb toward Redondela.