What Ryan Reynolds Doesn’t Say About Wrexham…
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 28/04/2023

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What Ryan Reynolds Doesn’t Say About Wrexham… The Cornovii Celtic Tribe 

One of the most interesting sporting stories over the last few years has been the acquisition of Wrexham by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, with Wrexham recently getting promoted to League 2.
But did you know that Wrexham was part of the territory of an ancient Celtic tribe called the Cornovii, who went on to form a Roman military unit amongst other things. 

This is the ancient Celtic and Gallo-Roman god Cernunnos, Carnonos, which the Cornovii potentially gets its name from. Cernunnos is a god that is usually depicted with antlers and sitting crossed legged, associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs and bulls. In Gaulish, the name Cernunnos is rooted in the word karnon which means "horn" or "antler." He is often depicted as wearing a torc, a neck ring associated with ancient Celtic cultures. The Cornovii thus may mean People of the Horn, and they potentially could have worshipped this horned god as amongst many other. 

The first reference to the Cornovii was from the Roman geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century A.D, although they were likely much older than that. Large amounts of very coarse pottery, associated with the production and storage of salt has been found in Poulton, Cheshire, just north east of Wrexham.

One of the main strongholds of the Cornovii was a hillfort in the Wrekin, a hill in Shropshire, western England. Confusingly, Cornovii is also the name of ancient tribes in Cornwall and the north east of Scotland, but they seem to be separate groups. 

According to some sources, a Roman military unit that was made up of the Cornovii tribe and recruited from the Cornovii tribe was known as the Cohors Primae Cornoviorum. Although the sources are a little thin, this unit was apparently the only recorded native British unit known to have served in Britannia. Their name Cornoviorum means “of the Cornovii.” This unit is thought to have served at the Pons Aelius, or Newcastle Roman Fort, at the east of Hadrian’s wall. 

Wrexham AFC isn’t just a fascinating sporting story, it’s the latest in a history of stories. 

Sources:

Wrexham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrexham 

Cornovii (Midlands) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornovii_(Midlands) 

Pons Aelius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pons_Aelius 

Cernunnos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cernunnos 

History of the Celtic tribes https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/celts_6.html 

Deadpool -Car fight HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI-yMivF9X0 

Ryan Reynolds, Happy Birthday, Rob McElhenney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCKgewLdK9w 

BT Sport - Wrexham v Boreham Wood (3-1) | Paul Mullin's double sends Wrexham up as National League Champions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls4LIWfcPN0

Ptolemy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy 

The Wrekin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrekin 

#wrexham #ryanreynolds #robmcelhenney