The Lombards

The Lombards is a fabulously flash name that may mean 'the long beards'.  I will explain how.

A gentleman with a long beard

Lombardy originally referred to the entire territory of Italy (known as Longobardia Major and Langobardia Minor) ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who conquered much of the Italian peninsula beginning in the 6th century.

This area is an historic region of Italy and one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan.

The word Lombardy comes from Lombard, which in turn is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus (“a Lombard”), derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz; equivalent to long beard.

Some sources derive the second element instead from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz (“axe”), related to German Barte (“axe”).

On reading all of this I can see where the name Bardot came from perhaps.   We had better not call her a battle axe, that would not be fair at all.   But the name denotes this however.

Lombard Flag

Images @ Eminpee Fotography