Tintagel

Coordinates: 50°39′47″N 4°45′00″W / 50.663°N 4.750°W / 50.663; -4.750

Tintagel /tɪnˈtædʒəl/ or Trevena (Cornish: Tre war Venydh meaning village on a mountain) is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of the parish was 1,820 people (2001 census), and the area of the parish is 4,281 acres (17.32 km²). The parish population decreased to 1,727 at the 2011 census. An electoral ward also exists extending inland to Otterham. The population of this ward at the same census was 3,990.

The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. The village has, in recent times, become attractive to day-trippers and tourists, and is one of the most-visited places in Britain.

Toponymy

Toponymists have had difficulty explaining the origin of 'Tintagel': the probability is that it is Norman French as the Cornish of the 13th century would have lacked the soft 'g' ('i/j' in the earliest forms: see also Tintagel Castle). If it is Cornish then 'Dun' would mean Fort. Oliver Padel proposes 'Dun' '-tagell' meaning narrow place in his book on place names. There is a possible cognate in the Channel Islands named Tente d'Agel, but that still leaves the question subject to doubt.

Tintagel (Bax)

Tintagel is a symphonic poem by Arnold Bax. It is his best-known work, and was for some years the only piece by which the composer was known to many concert-goers. The work was inspired by a visit Bax made to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall in 1917, and, although not explicitly programmatic, draws on the history and mythology associated with the castle.

History

During the late summer of 1917 Bax, together with the pianist Harriet Cohen, with whom he was having a passionate love affair, spent six weeks in Cornwall. They visited Tintagel Castle which inspired the composer to write a symphonic poem. The piece was fully sketched during October 1917 and orchestrated between then and January 1919. It is dedicated to Cohen.

In a programme note written in 1922 Bax stated that the piece is "only in the broadest sense programme music". He aimed, he said, to offer an impression of the cliffs and castle of Tintagel and the sea "on a sunny but not windless summer day", and to reflect some of the literary and traditional associations of the scene.

Tintagel (disambiguation)

Tintagel is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK.

Tintagel can also refer to: