Gervase writes that the creatures were called Neptunes in France and Portunes in England, but the
vernacular forms are unknown because he gives only Latinised terms representing the local names. Francis Young derives the French term from
netun, meaning "marine monster", and links it to the Christian
demonisation of the Roman god
Neptune. Young also considers a link between the English name and the Roman god
Portunus, but argues that a direct relationship is unlikely because there is no evidence for a cult of Portunus in
Roman Britain and because it is implausible that the god's agricultural associations survived into the thirteenth century. He suggests that Gervase may have coined the English name as a demonisation of Portunus to mirror the French name. == See also ==