Word Origin Alert
The name Malo comes from the old Breton word machlou, a compound of mach “hostage” and lou meaning “brilliant, bright, beautiful”. Isn’t that interesting? What could it mean?
Photo by Daniel Morris on Unsplash
Early Celtic societies took hostages to make sure that the other side carried out their contractual obligations. Hostages served as collateral. They were usually the sons of vassals beholden to the overlord. However, daughters were also taken. If the vassal reneged or rebelled against the authority of his lord, the hostage could be blinded, hurt, or even killed.
Malo was a 7th-century (that’s the 600s) Welsh monk who ventured over to Brittany to join a hermit named Aaron D’Aleth on the site of what is today a charming medieval walled city that is a popular tourist destination in France. I don’t know if Aaron appreciated this houseguest since he was a hermit. Actually, a hermitage was also a religious retreat for monks. An Irish monk had already laid claim to what is now Mont Saint Michel one hundred years earlier. What’s with these Celtic monks moving south?
Pagans Invade
The Romans pulled out of “Britannia” as they called England, circa 410 AD. They had been there for almost 500 years. However, life had started to deteriorate even before that and some theorize that the Britons invited Angles and Saxons to help them repel the Picts and Irish. The Angles and Saxons were from what is now northern Germany but had been living separately from Germany for many generations by this time. They were pagans. Christian monks may have decided to leave for greener pastures and sail across the English Channel to places like Saint Malo and Mont Saint Michel.
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