Teneu (or Thenew (), Tannoch, Thaney, Thanea, Denw, etc.) is a legendary Christian saint who was

venerated Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Traditionally she was a sixth-century Brittonic princess of the ancient kingdom of

Gododdin The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...

(in what became

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

) and the mother of

Saint Mungo Kentigern (; ), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptis ...

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

to the Britons of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

and founder of the city of Glas Ghu (Glasgow). She and her son are regarded as the city's co-patrons, and Glasgow's St Enoch Square allegedly marks the site of a medieval chapel dedicated to her, built on or near her grave ("St. Enoch" is in fact a corruption of "St. Teneu"). She is commemorated annually on 18 July.

Name

In the first recorded

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of her son, her name is given as Thaney. The ''Vita Kentigerni'' ("Life of Saint Mungo"), which was commissioned by Bishop

Jocelin of Glasgow Jocelin (or Jocelyn) (died 1199) was a Scottish Cistercian monk and cleric who became the fourth Abbot of Melrose before becoming Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland. He was probably born in the 1130s, and in his teenage years became a monk of Melrose ...

and redacted later (circa 1185) by the monk Jocelyn of Furness (who claimed he rewrote it from an earlier Glasgow legend and an old Gaelic document), gives her name as Taneu; so does

John Capgrave John Capgrave (21 April 1393 – 12 August 1464) was an English historian, hagiographer and scholastic theologian, remembered chiefly for ''Nova Legenda Angliae'' (New Reading from England). This was the first comprehensive collection of lives o ...

, printed 1516. Variants include Thenewe, given by the '' Aberdeen Breviary''; Thennow of ''Adam King's Calendar''; and the Welsh '' Bonedd y Saint'' calls her Denyw (or Dwynwen). In 1521, she appeared in

John Mair John Mair may refer to: *John Mair (philosopher) (1467–1550, also called John Major), Scottish philosopher and historian *John Mair (journalist), British journalist and academic *John Mair (architect) (1876–1959), New Zealand government archite ...

's chronicle ''Historia Majoris Britanniae'' as Thametes, daughter of

King Lot King Lot , also spelled Loth or Lott (Lleu or Llew in Welsh), is a British monarch in Arthurian legend. He was introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (c. 1136) as King Arthur's brother-in-law, who s ...

and sister of

Gawain Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned und ...

. Sometimes her name is given as Thameta or Thenelis.

Alex Woolf Alex Woolf (born 12 July 1963) is a British medieval historian and academic. He specialises in the history of Britain and Ireland and to a lesser extent Scandinavia in the Early Middle Ages, with a particular emphasis on interaction and comp ...

has suggested that the character Teneu may have been derived from

Danaë In Greek mythology, Danaë (, ; ; , ) was an Argive princess and mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. She was credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium during the Bronze Age. Family Danae was the daughter and only child of King Acr ...

, mother of the classical hero

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...

in the ''Fabulae'' of Gaius Julius Hyginius.

Legend

Saint Teneu has been described as "Scotland's first recorded

rape victim Rape is a traumatic experience that affects the victim (survivor) in a physical, psychological, and sociological way. Even though the effects and aftermath of rape differ among victims, individuals tend to suffer from similar issues found withi ...

, battered woman and unmarried mother". Her son was conceived when the Welsh prince

Owain mab Urien Owain mab Urien (Middle Welsh Owein) (died c. 595) was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends w ...

raped her. Owain was disguised as a woman, and after sexually assaulting the naïve princess, he confused her by saying: "Weep not, my sister, for I have not known thee as a man is used to know a virgin. Am I not a woman like thyself?"Schulenburg, Jane Tibbetts
''Forgetful of Their Sex: Female Sanctity and Society, ca. 500-1100''
Harvard University Press, 1998, p. 226. Upon discovering her

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

, her angry father King Lleuddun sentenced her to death and she was hurled from

Traprain Law Traprain Law is a hill east of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. It is the site of a hill fort or possibly ''oppidum'', which covered at its maximum extent about . It is the site of the Traprain Law Treasure, the largest Roman silver hoard ...

. Miraculously she survived the fall; when discovered alive at the foot of the cliff, Teneu was set adrift in a

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the west of Ireland and also particularly on the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used for ...

and travelled across the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

Culross Culross (/ˈkurəs/) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuileann Ros'', 'holly point or promontory') is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395. Originally, Culross ...

, where she was given shelter at the community of Saint Serf. There she gave birth to and raised her son Kentigern, whom Serf nicknamed ''Mungo'', "very dear one". There are also Welsh legends about Teneu:

Modern adaptations

She is the subject of Kathleen Herbert's historical novel, ''Bride of the Spear'', part of her Dark Ages of Britain trilogy, as Taniu, (1982,

St Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

), and of Nigel Tranter's historical novel '' Druid Sacrifice'' (1993,

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

), as Thanea.

References

External links

Saints SQPN.com » Saint Theneva
{{authority control 6th-century births 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century deaths Arthurian characters Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Northern Brythonic saints People associated with Glasgow People from East Lothian Female saints of medieval Scotland Mythological rape victims 6th-century Scottish women 6th-century Scottish people Rape in Scotland

Name

Legend

Modern adaptations

See also

References

External links