Ancient Celtic Goddesses
The extant remains of the Celtic forms of religion afford
abundant testimony to the great variety of divine names which were associated
therewith. No student of Celtic religion can fail to be impressed with the
number of Celtic deities, who appear to have been local or tribal in character.
Even where a certain deity appears to have become non-local,
it will generally be found on investigation that the sphere of the extended
worship has fairly well-defined areas and centers. Some of the names of Celtic
deities fortunately bear in their very forms unmistakable evidence as to their
original character, so that we have an insight not only into the religious
conceptions of the later and more developed stages of civilization, but also
into the earlier ideas from which they sprang. It is possible, also, to see in
this way how variation in the degree of civilization both locally and
temporally is reflected in the forms of religion.
In dealing with the religion of the Celtic world, it is of
prime importance to bear in mind at the outset that Celtic civilization was
very far from being homogeneous in character, and that we must expect to see
this absence of homogeneity reflected also in the religious evolution.
The inscriptional evidence that has come down to us is
associated almost entirely with districts that were highly Romanized. We are
thus enabled to see what districts during the Empire were those in which the
conceptions of certain deities had been so developed as to make it possible to
identify them with the gods of Rome. These, too, were the chief districts of
trade and commerce among the Celts, and, though the earlier and the later
trade-routes through Gaul, for example, were not the same, yet the routes which
were important in Roman times had already risen into some prominence in the
earlier period. Archaeology cannot render greater service to the study of
Celtic religion than by mapping out the distribution of Celtic civilization.
The religion of the rich is never quite the same as that of
the poor: that of the farmer is never absolutely identical with that of the
sailor: that of the townsman always differs in some degree from that of the
countryman: the merchant and the craftsman do not usually worship quite the
same gods as the soldier. The gods of fashionable health-resorts vary no less
than their worshippers, and the study of the forms and degrees which civilization
assumed in Celtic lands may help to bring these variations more and more home
to us.
Attention will be directed to the Celtic goddesses in the
various districts from which evidence concerning them has come down to us. It
may here be stated at the outset that there are great gaps in the available
evidence concerning the goddesses in question; for example, our information
from the western part of Gaul is extremely slight, while from the district of
the Pyrenees, though the names of gods abound, practically no names of
individual goddesses have survived. These facts will become clearer, when we
take the various inscriptional zones in order, as follows:
(1) The Pyrenees,
(2) Gaul south of Lyons,
(3) Gaul between Lyons and the lower Rhine,
(4) Other districts of Transalpine Gaul,
(5) Cisalpine Gaul,
(6) Britain,
(7) Noricum and the Celtic zone of the Danube.
The only goddesses with a distinctive name known from inscriptions in this district are the Niskai of the Amelie-les-Bains tablets in the Pyrenees Orientales in the ancient territory of the Sordones. These tablets are eight in number. Some of the words, such as kantamus, rogamus, sanate, omnes, non, amiki, illius, quidquid, si, are clearly Latin, but there are other words which are apparently in some form of Celtic speech. One of these words, peisqi, raises problems similar to those raised by the Coligny Calendar and the Rom tablets. The identification of Niskas with the root contained in the English 'nixies'= water-sprites, following as it does the word kantamus, is not at all improbable. The river-name
2. Gaul, south of Lugdunum (Lyons).
In this district the names of goddesses are frequent. They fall naturally into two main types, those of grouped goddesses and those of individuals. The former are often termed Matres or Matrae. With this name may be compared one of the Welsh names for the fairies, ' Y Mamau ' (the mothers), a name which survives in the expression ' Bendith y Mamau,' the blessing of the mothers, used of fairy benefactions, and in that of ' Y Foel Famau,' the hill of the mothers, the highest point of the Clwydian range in Denbighshire.
We find the Eburnicae matrae at Yvours, on the Bhone, near
Lyons, on the inscription restored as Matr[i]s, au[g(ustis)] Eburnici[s], etc.
These appear to have been the local tutelary deities of Yvours. Recorded on
inscriptions are the Mairae of the neighbourhood of Dijon (Dibio).
To the south of the Eburnicae Matrae are the Obelenses
Matres at Crossillac, and the Nemetiales at Grenoble, Isere. The ' Obelenses
Matrae ' appear to derive their name from a place, 'Obelum' or 'Obela,' and seem
to have been local tutelary goddesses; they are called on the inscription in
the dative Matris Aug(ustis) Obelesibus. The Nemetiales are also called Matres,
and were doubtless the protecting goddesses of the 'nemeta ' or sacred
enclosures. Their name occurs on an inscription in the dative as Matris
Nemetiali[b(us).
The inscription Icotiis may represent 'Icotiae' or 'Icotii.'
It occurs at Cruviers, dep. Gard. The Tangonas [Matres] are mentioned on an
inscription at Venasque, dep. Vaucluse,
in the dative [Matribus] Tangonis. The name 'olatonse' occurs on an
imperfect inscription at Nimes in the dative olatonis. On an inscription of Le
Plan d' Au(l)ps, arrond. de Brignolles,
which reads Matribu[s] Almahabu[s], etc., we have an adjective applied
to Matres which contains an intervocalic 'h' such as is characteristic of the
inscriptions found in the neighborhood of German territory. In Nimes itself, a
great center of the Matres worship, we have the Matres Namausicse of the
Marpefio Na/xavcri/ca/So inscription. There is a specifically designated group
of Matres in Southern Gaul: Matres Gerudatiae, found in the dative 'Matribus
Gerudatiabus’ on a votive tablet at Saint-Esteve, dep. Var. The inscriptions
the Matres in this district have no local designation. For example, at Aix one
inscription has the words Matrib[us] conservatricibus, while another has
Matrib[us] simply:
(1) Saint-Henry
de Ventabren: Ma[t]ris,
(2) Aries: 'Mat]ribus' are associated on an inscription with
Fortuna Arelatensis,
(3) Apt and at Montbrun: Matribus,
(4) Vaison: Matrabus on three inscriptions, Matribus on
three, and Matris on one,
(5) Sahune and at Dieule-fit, dp. Drome: Matris,
(6) Vienne, Lyons, and Grenoble: Matris augustis,
(7) llon-daz: Matris Mithres,
(8) Saint-Innocent: Matris au[gustis],
(9) Geneva: Matr(ibus) aug(ustis),
(10) Brienne: Mat(ribus),
(11) Nimes: Matris,
(12) Narbonne: [M]a[t]ribus,
(13) Lyons: M. a. t. r on and Matris and Matribus,
(14) Moirans, Saint- Vit and Besancon: Matrabus,
Along with these examples may be given that of Le Bourget,
where we have a dedication 'Mercurio et Matr[is],' and that of Allmendigen,
near Thun, where we have Iovi, Matribus, Matronis, Mercurio, Minervse, Neptuni,
and once more Matribus and Minervse. It is clear from this that Lyons and the
districts around it were prominent centres of the Matres worship.
The three inscriptions of Spain at Porcuna, where M alone
represents Matribus, which is qualified by Veteribus, that of Duraton
(Matribus) and that of Muro de Agreda, prov. Soria, where we have Matrubos, are
isolated and stand on a somewhat different footing from the others.
The grouped goddesses of the south of Gaul are not, however,
Matres only. We have here also in great prominence, especially in Nimes, the
Proxumse or Proximse,
(1) Saliers, Bouches-du-Rhône, at Vaison, Nimes and Clansayes: Proxsumis suls,
(2) Avignon: Proxsumis,
(3) Lourmarin: P(roxumis),
(4) Orange: Proxs(umis),
(5) Vaison: Proxsumis and Proxumis,
(6) Beaucaire: Nimes: Proxum(is),
(7) Barron: Proximis Ledaa,
(8) Nimes: [Pr]oxxumis, Proxsumis, in various degrees of
completeness, and Proxumis, more or less completely.
With the Matres, as with the Matronoe of Cisalpine Gaul, may
be associated the grouped goddesses called Junones, who are mentioned on a
votive inscription at Nimes, as Junonib(us) Montan(is), and at Aigues-Mortes,
Gard, as Junonibus Aug(ustis). These Junones appear to have been also
worshipped in the zone of the central health resorts; for example, an
inscription at Neris-les-bains, dep. Allier, of the Antonine period, reads
'Numinibus Augustorum et Iunonibus Neriomagienses.' On an inscription also
between Langres and Toul we have Deabus Iunonibus, at Bordeaux there is an inscription Iunonibus Iulise et
Sextiliae.
In Southern Gaul, as in Spain, we also find the worship of
the nymphs prominent under their Latin name:
(1) Saint Saturnin-d'Apt, Lez, Castel: two inscriptions
each,
(2) Vaison: two, one being dedicated Nymphis Augustis and
also an inscription with the same words at Bourguin,
(3) Goul, Apt, Carpentras, Rasteau, Vercoiran,
Castera-Veveril, Castillon, Alzey and Mombach: one each,
(4) Les Fumades, near Allegre, dep. Gard: six inscriptions,
one of which has the words Nymphis Augustis,
(5) Uzes: there is a record of the dedication of a temple to
the nymphs in the first century a.d,
(6) Nimes: five votive tablets to nymphs occur,
(7) Puech, in Provence, there are three votive tablets to
nymphs.
In the zone of the south of France, too, we find another
name of a group of goddesses like those already described, in the case of the
Baginae, the companions of Baginus, the local deities of Mt. Vanige and the
village of Besignan: the names 'Bagino et Baginahabus' occur on an inscription
at Bellecombe, canton du Buis.
Dep.Gard: There is a goddess Perta commemorated: the name
occurs in the dative Pertse.
Aix-en-Diois, Drome: Bormana, the companion of the god
Bormanus occurs on an inscription 'Bormano et Bormana',
Saint Vulbaz (earlier Saint Bourbaz), canton Lagnieu:
Bormana on an inscription of the phrase Bormanae Augustas.
Saint Saturnin d'Apt: an inscription to another goddess,
Albiorica, whose name is given in the dative Albiorice. She was doubtless
regarded as the companion of Albiorix.
Viens, dep. Vaucluse,
there is an inscription to Bergonia, a name doubtless cognate with
Brigindu and Brigantia.
Pertuis, dep. Vaucluse, arrond. Apt (Dexsivse), and at
Cadenet in the same district, on the hill of Castelar, three times: The goddess
Dexsiva, she may either be the eponymous goddess of the Dexivates, or a goddess
of fortune.
Trets: Trittia, the local goddess of an old town in the
arr.of Aix,
Carnoules, dep. Var: Trittiae,
Pierrefeu, dep. Var Trittae.
Montaren near Alais, dep. Gard, Saint Honore-les-bains, dep.
Nievre: [R]iton[a]e, the name Ritona is the name of a river-goddess, that of
the modern river Rieu.
Beziers: an inscription in honour of a goddess, who may be
either Bicoria or Tricoria;
Bagnol-sur-Ceze, dep. Gard: an inscription to a goddess
Diiona (cf. Dibona, Divona) This was probably the eponymous nymph of the brook
la Vionne or l'Andiole, which flows into the Ceze. The name occurs in the
nominative, Diiona. The form of the name suggests that in this dialect of
Celtic there was a tendency to drop intervocalic ' v.'
Le Prugnon near Antibes: The remaining name of an individual
goddess from this district is Thucolis. She appears to have had a priestess or
priestesses.
It will be readily seen from the evidence of these
inscriptions that, in the south of Gaul, group-goddesses were far more widely
worshipped than individual goddesses. The latter appear to be in this district
highly localized in character, and perhaps were often regarded only as members
of groups. On the other hand, individual gods are numerous, while grouped gods
are rare. Here, too, we do not find traces of the worship of one deity at the
expense of others, but the ancient type of worship of groups seems to hold its
own.
3. The district between Lugdunum and the Lower Rhine.
This is a large district, which may be roughly regarded as extending from Lugdunum to Treves (Augusta Treverorum) and thence to Cologne and to the mouth of the Rhine. From this large and important district many inscriptions containing names of Celtic deities have come down to us, and in this respect it stands in very marked contrast to the districts in the west of Gaul. Except in the neighborhood of Cologne, grouped goddesses are here conspicuous by their absence. In their stead we find several individual goddesses, often associated with some god, and some of these goddesses appear to have attained to more than a strictly local worship.
In accordance with the plan already adopted of dealing with
the group-goddesses first, the worship of Matres may be first considered.
(1) Langres: Matra[b(us), Matra, Majtris, and Ma]trab[us. These, together with the Mairse of Dijon, may be regarded as forming the northerly representatives of the group-goddesses of the Rhone valley and its neighborhood, If we now cross into the Rhine valley, we reach another zone of Matres or Matra. In this zone the Matres are generally qualified by some local or descriptive adjective.
(2) Bonn: 'Matiribus domes ticis',
(3) Andernach: 'Matribus suis',
(4) On the road from Zahlbach to Mainz: 'Iovi optimo maximo
et Matribus',
(5) Frankfort on the Main: Matribus,
(6) Heddernheim: Matribus,
(7) Ell, in Alsace: Matrabus,
(8) Berkum: Matribus suis.
The Matres that are qualified by local or other adjectives
are distributed as follows:
(1)Colonia Trajana (Xanthen): Brittae Matres, Maxacae
matres, and Arsacse matres,
(2) Beeck, near Xanthen: Matribus Brittis,
(3) Cologne: the Malvisae, a group of goddesses commemorated
in the terms 'iabus Malvisis et Silvano', (The name as ' Malvisis ' occurs also
at Nieukerk Netherlands.) the Matres Mediotautehae, the Axsinginehae Matronae,
(4) Castel, near Mainz: The Ollogabiae, the name Ollogabiae
apparently means ' All-seizing,' from Olios = Welsh Oil, and gab- = Welsh gaf-
(in gaf-ael), and Old Irish gabim.
Another important name of group-goddesses in the Rhine
district is that of Matronae, a name widely used among certain German tribes,
who are thought to have adopted the religion of the Gauls. This name was also a
favourite one in Cisalpine Gaul.
(1) Tetz, near Jülich: the Matronae Cantrusteihiae, (also
found at Hoeylaert, near Brussels, Belgium),
(2) Altenberg, near Cologne, Rodingen, near Jülich; the
Gesahenae Matronae,
(3) Rodingen and Bettenhofen: Gesahenae Matronae, the
Etrahenae,
(4) Odenhausen, near Berkum: The Ascricinehae Matronae,
(5) Odendorf, near Euskirchen: The Ascricinehae,
(6) Bürgel, near Sollingen: the Matronae Rumanehae et
Maviaitinehae,
(7) Sinzenich: Matronis Tummaestis.
The prominence of the worship of group-goddesses in this
district is very remarkable. Of the other types of group- goddesses the Mairae
of the neighbourhood of Dijon are of interest:
(1) Dijon: Dis Mairis,
(2) Til-Chatel, dep. Cote d'Or, Deae Eponae et dis Mairabus,
genio loci and deabus Mairis.
In this zone there is no reference to the Proximae, but
between Langres and Toul there is an inscription 'Deabus Iunonibus'.
Coming now to the Rhine valley,
(1) Cologne: Iunonibus [G]abiabus,
(2) Bonn: [Matribus or Iunonibus do]mesticis [Lugo]vibus
comfedonibus,
(3) Zulpich: Iunonibus domesticis,
(4) Piitzdorf: Iunonibus,
(5) Altenhoven in the neighbourhood of Aachen: Iunonibus.
It is not improbable
that the Iunones were the Matres or Matronae of the district. On the other
hand, inscriptions to nymphs are conspicuous by their absence from the Rhine
valley though they are frequent elsewhere.
When we come to the individual goddesses of the zone now
under consideration, we find several names which are attested by inscriptions.
For example, there is Damona, the companion of Borvo, ' the Boiler,' the god of
certain hot springs. The form of the name Damona suggests that it is a parallel
to Epona, the former being a goddess of cattle, the latter of horses. It is
possible that originally both were deities of corresponding animal form. Damona
appears to be associated with the root dam-, which we find in the Irish dam (an
ox), and in the Welsh dafad (a sheep), for an older damat-. The inscriptions on
which Damona's name occurs are chiefly
from Bourbonne-les-Bains, dep. Haute-Marne:
‘Borvoni et
Damonae,'
'Deo Apollini
Borvoni et Damonae,'
'Borvoni et
Damonse,'
'Deo Borvoni et
Damone,'
'Borvoni et Damonae,'
‘Damonae
Augustae,'
'Deo Borvoni et
Damonae,’
'Borvoni et
Damonae.'
The other district in which inscriptions to her are found is
Bourbon-Lancy, dep. Saone-et-Loire,
'Borvoni et
Damonaa,’
'Bormoni et
Damonae.'
The form Bormoni shows the influence of Bormanus. Aquae
Bormonis appears to have been the old name of Bourbon-Lancy. In Damona we not
improbably have an old tribal animal goddess, who came to be associated with
Borvo, a god of hot springs, as his name implies.
Another individual goddess, whose name appears to be
associated with the zone now under consideration, is Litavis. This name occurs
in conjunction with that of the god Cicolluis, identified with Mars. Some of
the inscriptions on which the name is thought to occur are very imperfect:
(1) Matain, dioc. Langres: 'Marti Cicollui et Litavi, Marti
Cicollui et Bellonae (Litavis was regarded as a goddess of war. 'Litavis' would
appear to be identical with that of the Welsh Llydaw, e.g. a lake called Llyn
Llydaw in the Snowdon district. It appears, too, to be the basis of the name of
the Aeduan Litavicus or Litaviccus (Caes. B. G. vn. xxxvii. and also of Convictolitavis, who is mentioned
in the same passage. The name Litaviccus occurs also in the genitive Litavicc(i)
on an inscription in the first century from Monthureux-sur-Saone, dep. Vosges.
It occurs also in the dative on an inscription at Langres, as well as on silver
coins of the Aeduans. A place-name of the same basis, too, Litavicrarus, occurs
on an inscription at Langres in the will of a member of the tribe of the
Lingones of the first century a.d. The inscription reads 'Ante ce[l]lam memoria
que est Litavicrari.' The name Litavis is also probably contained in that of
Cobledulitavus, found on an altar in the museum of Perigueux, Dordogne, set up
by a priest of the altar of Lyons. The inscription reads [Tutelae Vesonnse] et
deo Apollini Cobledulitavo . . . v. s. 1. m. The name of Litavis may be safely
regarded as that of one of the most prominent deities of the Lingones, and, as
derivatives of this name are found among the Aeduans, her worship probably
extended to the latter tribe as well),
(2) Aignay-le-Duc, dep. Cote-d'Or: 'Deo Marti Cicollui et
Litavi’.
In the zone now under consideration there are two other names of goddesses that are found mainly along with the Latin names Mercurius and Apollo. There are Rosmerta, named along with Mercury, and Sirona, named along with Apollo:
(1) Aix: Vssiae Ros[mertae?] Mercuri[o] v.s.l.m.,
(2) Gissey-le-Vieil, dep. Cote-d'Or: Aug(usto) sa[c(rum)]
Deae Rosm[er]tae,
(3) Alise-Sainte-Reine: it is doubtful whether the
inscription should read [Ro]sme[rtae] or Sme[rtullo],
(4) Langres: Deo Mercurio et Rosmerte,
(5) Grand: Mercurio et [Ros]mertae,
(6) Worms: Deo Mercuri(o) et Rosmerte,
(7) lzey: [Deo Merc]urio et R[osmerte],
(8) Spechbach, near Lobenfeld: [Mercu]rio [et Ros]mert(a)e,
(9) Cologne: Mercu[rio et Rosjmerte,
(10) Andernach: Merc[urio et] Rosmertae, and Me[rcurio et
R]o[smertae],
(11) Huttigweiler: [Mercujrio [et Ro]sm[e]r[tae],
(12) Nider-Emmel, Zumeth, Bernkastel: D[eo] Me[rc]urio [et]
Ro[s]me[rtae], Mer[curio e]t
Rosm[ertae], and Deo Mercurio et d(e)?e [R]osmertae,
(13) Reinsport on the Moselle: Deo Mer[c]urio et Rosme[r]te,
(14 )Soulosse: D(eo) M(ercurio) et Rosmerte, and also
Mercurio (et) Rosmert(ae) sacr.vicani Solimariac(enses),
(15) Mt. Sion, dep. Meurthe- et-Moselle: 'Deo Mercurio et
Rosmertae',
(16) Metz: 'Deo Mercurio et Rosmertae’,
(17) Wasserbillig, Luxembourg: Deo Mercurio et deae
Rosmertae,
(18) Chatenoy, dep. Vosges: ' Mercurio et Rosmertae sacrum'.
From this we may gather that Rosmerta was worshipped largely
in the neighbourhood of the Rhine, and in the neighbourhood of Langres. The
origin of the name is doubtful. The root may be smer(t)-, brilliant, so that
Ro-smerta would mean the exceedingly brilliant one. The same root appears to
occur in other proper names, such as Smertus, Smertullos, Smertomara,
Smertorix, Smertuccus, Smertulitanos, and the old British tribe of the Smertae,
as well as Atesmerius. We have also Smerius, Smertalus, Smertu, and
Cantesmerta. From this it will be seen that the root in question was
extensively distributed in personal names.
The next goddess, Sirona, is widely associated in the area
in question with Apollo, her name being also written as Dirona or Dirona. The
distribution of her inscriptions is as follows:
(1) Baumburg, Apollini Granno [et Si]ronae,
(2) Rome, Apollini Granno et sanctae Sironae sacrum,
(3) Bordeaux, Sironae,
(4) Luxeuil, Apollini et Sironae,
(5) Bitburg, Apollin[i Granno] et Siro[nae],
(6) Nierstein,
Deo Apollini et Sironae,
(7) Mainz [Deae] Sirona ...,
(8) Grossbottwar am Marbach, a.d. 201, Apo[lli]ni et Sironae
,
(9) Maximiliansau, Deae Sironae,
(10) Wiesbaden, Sironae,
(11) Andernach DirfonaeJ,
(12) Graux, dep. Vosges, Apollini et Sironae,
(13) Sept-Fontaines, near Saint- Avoid, in Lorraine, Deae
Dironae,
(14) Corseul, dep. Cotes-du-Nord, arrond. Dinan, cant.
Plancoet, Sirona.
From these inscriptions Sirona may be regarded as the
companion of Grannus, whose name we have in Aquae Granni (Aix-la-Chapelle) and
in Granheim. The name Sirona was not improbably that of the Earth, regarded as
a goddess, and it probably meant the 'long-lived one.' Another name for Apollo
besides Grannos in this district is Mogounos, (whence Moguntiacum).
Of the other names of goddesses in the zone now under
consideration Icovellauna occurs near
Divodurum (Metz). Icovellauna occurs
like Mogontia at Le Sablon, near Metz, and may have meant the 'protectress of
health.'
Epona is one of the
most widely distributed of the names of Celtic goddesses. The goddess Epona is
commemorated on numerous inscriptions :
(1) At Guidizzolo between Mantua and Verona,
(2) At Siguenza,
(3) At Also-Ilosva in Dacia,
(4) At Waitzen in Pannonia,
(5) In Carinthia,
(6) In Zollfeld,
(7) At Mariasaal, Herculi et Eponae aug(ustae),
(8) At Cilli, Eponae aug(ustae) sacrum : Iovi o(ptimo)
m(aximo) Eponae et Celeise sanctee,
(9) At Windenau near Marburg in Steier-mark, Eponae
aug(ustae) sacrum,
(10) At Pforing near Ingolstadt in Rhaetia, Campestribus et
Eponae,
(11) At Mount Eudrik in Moesia, Epone,
(12) At Karlsburg in Dacia, Epone regin(ae) sanc(tae),
(13) At Varhely in Dacia, not long after a.d. 107, Eponabus
et Campestribus,
(14) At Salona, [Iovi optim]o maxsi[mo . . . Epo]ne [. . .
Marti] Cam[ulo],
(15) At Rome, associated on various inscriptions with the
Matres Sulevae,
(16) At Carvoran,
(17) At Auch- indavy, near Kirkintulloch in Scotland,
(18) At Lyons,
(19) At Naix in the department of Meuse,
(20) At Metz,
(21) At Solothurn,
(22) At Til-Chatel in the diocese of Langres, Deae Eponae et
dis Mairabus,
(23) At Andernach, Eponae sacr(um),
(24) At Heinzerath, Kreis Bernkastel, on two inscriptions.
There is a place called Epona, now Ep6ne, in the department
of Seine-et-Oise, arrond. Mantes, and there are also two places called
Eponiacum:
(1) Eppenich, near Aachen,
(2) The modern Appoigny, dep. Yonne.
Eponicus occurs as a man's name on an inscription at Rome. The zone of distribution of the Epona inscriptions will give a fair conception of the districts where her worship was most prominent. As her name shows, she was pre-eminently a goddess of horses.
Among the other names of goddesses which occur in this zone
or its neighboring districts, may be instanced that of Clutoissa or Clutoidda,
which occurs on an inscription not far from Noviodunum in Gaul. Her name occurs
on two inscriptions, one from the village of Mesves-sur-Loire in the
depart-ment of Nievre, near a spring with a reputation for healing fevers. The
inscription reads, Aug(usto) sacrum, deae Cluto[i]dae, etc. It occurs, too, on
a patera from Etang-sur-Arroux, dep. Saone-et-Loire. There is no evidence that
Clutoida was more than a purely local goddess of a healing spring.
At Bourges there is an inscription to Solimara, a word which
probably means 'the large-eyed', Solimarae sacrum. Solimaros occurs over a wide
area, for example at Cilli, Sziszek, Scherschell, Martigues, Orange, Brignon,
dep. Gard, near Ledignan, Nimes, Bordeaux, Paris, Breitenbach, Gustavsburg
(Mainz), Heddernheim, and on the gold coins of the Bituriges Cubi (before B.C.
58), which were found at Amboise, Vendeuil Caply, dep. Oise, as well as in
Yivonne (dep. Vienne), and in Vernon. A Gallo-Roman name Solimarius occurs at
Apt, Bordeaux, and at Niersbach in the Prussian Rhine-province. A name of the
form Solimario occurs on an inscription at Nimes. There was a place called
Solimariaca on the Roman road from Metz to Langres between Neufchateau
(Vosges), and Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle).This word, too, appears to underlie the
names Sommere, dep. Saone-et-Loire, Saumeray, dep. Eure-et-Loire; Saumery
(Solimariaca), dep. Loiret; Le Saulmery, dep. Loiret; Saumery, dep.
Loir-et-Cher; as well as the Italian Sumirago in the province of Milan in the
district of Gallarate.
On the Celtic inscriptions of Volnay we have the name of a
goddess Brigindu in the dative Brigindoni. It is her name that probably
underlies that of Brigendonis, now Brognon, in Cote d'Or, arrond. Dijon, as
well as the Ager Briendonensis in the Macon country. It is possible, too, that
Gregory of Tours meant this goddess, when he said that the Gauls worshipped
Berecynthia. He says that there was an image of this goddess which was carried
on a vehicle to ensure the success of the fields and vineyards (pro salvatione
agrorum et vinearum). Before this image the people danced and sang.
Other names of isolated goddesses are Abnoba or Deana
Abnoba, the presiding deity of the Black Forest on the German side of the
Rhine;
Brixia, of Brixia (Breuchin), near Luxeuil,
Aventia in the territory of the Helvetii from whom Aventicum
derives its name,
Naria Nousantia mentioned on an inscription at Grissach,
near Landeron, canton Neuenburg. The inscription is on a votive tablet set up
by a certain T. Frontinus Hibernus,
Saint-Marcel-lez- Chalon, dep. Saone-et-Loire: a local
goddess called Temusio,
Lorraine:
Nantosvelta, who is named along with a god Sucellus.
4.The Remainder of Transalpine Gaul.
In dealing with the west and north-west of Gaul we cannot
but be struck by the great scarcity of names of goddesses from these districts.
This is due, we may be sure, not to any absence of goddesses but to the slight
extent to which the Gallo-Roman fashion of setting up votive tablets had
penetrated to these regions. It is to be noted that in the neighborhood of
Cherbourg the goddesses of cross-roads (Quadrivise) were objects of worship,
but we have no evidence of the worship of Matres or Matronse in these
districts. There is a solitary inscription to a spring-goddess Acionna at
Fleuri, near Orleans, where we have the words Aug(ustae) Acionnae sacrum.
At Perigueux a goddess Stanna, perhaps a spring- goddess of
the Petrucorii, is mentioned on three inscriptions in conjunction with a god
Telo, the spring-god of Tolon, now Le Toulon, near Perigueux, dep. Dordogne.
The root of Stanna is not improbably sta-, to stand, and may have been
originally given to the earth-goddess as 'the abiding one.' The name Telo may
possibly underlie the name of Toulon-sur-Mer (Telo Martius), and the place-name
Telonnum, a town of the Aeduans, Toulon-sur-Arroux, near Autun, dep. Saone-et-
Loire, and also the present commune called Lipostey, dep. Landes.
Another goddess of the southern area of Gaul, whose
distinctive name was generally omitted, was Divona or Devona, a name which
means simply ' the goddess.' The name occurs as that of the spring 'Fontaine
des Chartreux ' in Cahors, dep. Lot, and then as that of Cahors itself. Divona
is also given by Ausonius as the name of the spring of Bordeaux, and is
probably to be read on an inscription at that town: Divionae. This form, too,
seems to underlie that of the modern Divonne, dep. Ain, as well as that of
Dewangen in Germania magna, given by Ptolemy n, xi, as Arjovova.
There is also a local goddess Dunisia, whose name occurs on
an inscription at Bussy-Albieu, dep. Loire, The name probably means,'the
goddess of fortresses.'
The name ' athubodvae ' occurs on an inscription of Fins-de-
Ley, dep. Haute- Savoie. It has been thought to stand for Cathu-bodvae, and so
to be the equivalent of the Irish Bodb-Catha, a goddess of war, but this
identification is very far from being certain.
5. Cisalpine Gaul.
In this district inscriptions to the grouped goddesses
called Matronse are numerous, for example:
(1) Verona, Iunonib(us), Matronis,
(2) Marzana, Matrona[b(us); Isorella, Matronis ; Calvisano,
Matronabu[s]; Manerbio, Matronab(us),
(3) Nuvolento, in the province of Brescia, and on about
forty-seven other inscriptions.
As already mentioned, the Matronae appear to have been
worshipped, too, on German territory. In this district, also, the Iunones were
widely worshipped, and we find inscriptions naming them about twenty-seven
times.
Another group of goddesses is called Dervones or Dervonnse,
‘the spirits of the oak': these are called on the inscription of Cavalzesio,
near Brescia, Fatis Dervonibus, and, on another we read Matronis Dervonnis.
With these may be compared the Silvanae, who are mentioned
once on an inscription of Verona in the dative, Silvana- bus. In Cisalpine Gaul
inscriptions to the god Silvanus are frequent.
Of individual goddesses Epona seems to have been worshipped
in Cisalpine Gaul, as we see from an inscription at Guidizzolo between Mantua
and Verona, as well as from an inscription at Siguenza. The goddess Epona is
mentioned by Iuvenal, viii. 154-157, and, according to the scholiast on the
passage, she was a patron of muleteers as well as of horsemen. Plutarch,
Parallel, c. xxix., p. 312 E, states that she was born of a mare. Reverting to
the grouped goddesses, it may be here stated that inscriptions to nymphs occur
only about four or five times in Cisalpine Gaul.
6. Britain.
In Britain the grouped goddesses most widely worshipped were
the Matres:
(1) Winchester: Matrib(us) Ital[i]s, Germanis, Gal[lis],
Brit(annis),
(2) London: Matr[ibus],
(3) Chester, the singular Deae Matri,
(4) Doncaster, Matribus,
(5) Ribchester: Deis Matribus,
(6) Micklegate: Mat(ribus) Af(ricanis), Ita(licis),
Ga(llicis),
(7) Carrawburgh: Matribus com[munibus],
(8) Aldborough: I(ovi) o(ptimo) m(aximo) Matribus M . . .,
(9)Lowther: Deabus Matribus tramarin(is), those who set it
up being a vex(illatio) Germa[norum],
(10) Lough, near Plumpton Wall in Cumberland: same as 9,
Deabus Matribus tramarinis,
(11) Old Carlisle: [Dea]bus Ma[tribus],
(12) Skinburness, near Silloth: Matribus Par(cis),
(13)Binchester: Mat(ribus) sac(rum),
(14)Newcastle-on-Tyne: Dea[bus] Matribus tramarinis
patri(i)s,
(15) Matfen Hall: we have Deabus Matribu[s],
(16)Chesters: Deabus Matribus communibus,
(17) Housesteads:Ma[tribus] on two inscriptions, the second
of which was set up by a cohort of Tungri, (18) Carvoran: two inscriptions, one
reading Matri . . . , the other Matrib(us),
(19) Cambeckfort in Cumberland: we find the formula
M[at]ribus omnium gentium,
(20) Walton-House-Station: Matribus t[ra]ma[rinis],
(21) Stanwix and Dykesfield: Matribu[s djomesticis, that is
the guardians of the foreign soldier's home,
(22) Carlisle: Matrib(us) Parc(is),
(23) Bowness and York: Matribus suis,
(24) Bisingham: Matribus tramarinis,
(25) Burnfoot Hall and Castlecary: Matribus,
(26) Newcastle, Backworth, Matr(ibus) and Matrum.
In Britain, too, there are inscriptions to nymphs:
(1) Great Boughton: Nymphis et Fontibus,
(2) Blenkinsop Castle: Deabus Nymphis,
(3) Risingham: Nymphis venerandis,
(4) Nether Croyfarm, near Croyhill: Nymphis,
(5)Greta Bridge: the singular Deae Nympha[e],
(6) Newtown of Irthington: Deae Nymphae Brig(antia).
Whatever doubt there may be as to the local connections of
some of the other deities we have here undoubtedly a goddess of Britain. It may
be noted also that an inscription at Benwell, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, is set up
to the three Lamias (Lamiis tribus).
Coming now to the individual goddesses, we have the
following mentioned on inscriptions in Britain. Ancasta is mentioned in the
formula Deae Ancastae on an inscription at Bittern, near Southampton.
The name Belisama does not occur in Britain as the name of a
goddess, but only as that of an estuary, probably the Mersey or the Kibble,
called by Ptolemy II. iii. 2. In the south of Gaul, however, the name occurs as
that of a goddess, as, for example, on the Celtic inscription in Greek
characters of Vaison, Vaucluse, ‘Segomarus, son of Villonus, a citizen of
Nemausus, made for Belisama this temple. At Pont de Saint-Liziers in Les
Couserans there is an inscription with the formula Minervae Belisamae sacrum.
It is from her name that the place-name Belismius has probably arisen, a name
surviving in Blismes (Nievre), Blesmes (Marne), and Blesmes (Aisne). The name
Belisama is probably a superlative from the root bel-, which is found in the
Welsh rhy-fel, war. The name Belismius occurs as a man's name on an inscription
at Caerleon-on-Usk.
Of British goddesses, Brigantia is one of the most
important:
(1) Greetland: D(eae) Vict(oriae) Brig(antiae) et
num(inibus) A(u)g(ustorum),
(2) Adel near Leeds: Deae Brigan[tiae],
(3) Cumberland: she is called a nymph in the words Deae
Nymphae Brig(antiae),
(4) Birrens near Middleby: Brigantiae s(acrum).
It is not improbable that Brigantia was the tribal deity of the powerful tribe of the Brigantes of the north of England.
Another goddess whose name occurs on inscriptions in Britain
is Epona. She is mentioned on an inscription at Carvoran in the formula Deae
Eponae, and at Auchindavy, near Kirkintilloch, in Scotland,
in the middle of the second century, along with Mars,
Minerva, the goddesses of the fields (Campestres), Hercules, Epona, and
Victory. With this inscription may be compared the inscriptions of Rome, on
which Epona is mentioned along with several other deities.
A goddess Lata, or Latis, is mentioned on inscriptions at
Kirkbampton: Deae Lati and Birdoswald: Dae Lati.
On two inscriptions, one at Chesters: Dea(e) Rat . . . and
the other at Birdoswald: Dae Rat, a goddess is mentioned, whose name is given
in an abbreviated form as Rat. There is not enough evidence to associate her
with Ratae, the old name of Leicester.
It may be here noted that, in the case of the names of gods
found in Britain, the chief links with the continent are for the most part with
the district around Cologne, Treves, and Mayence, but there are sometimes
unexpected links with other districts. Grannus ( = Apollo), who was largely
worshipped in the neighbourhood of the Rhine, is mentioned on an inscription
found at Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, but we find Ialonus, whose name occurs on
an inscription at Nlmes, mentioned also on an inscription at Lancaster.
Leucetios, the Mars of the neighborhood of Mainz, is
mentioned on an inscription at Bath.
Maponos ( = Welsh Mabon) is mentioned three times as a god
in Britain, as well as in a place-name Maponi, but on the continent there are
no traces of him as a god.
British references:
(1) Ribchester, county Durham: to Deo sancto Apollini
Mapon(o),
(2) Ainstable, near Armthwaite, Cumberland: Deo Mapono,
(3) Hexham, in Northumberland: Apollini Mapono.
Mogons ( = Apollo) was worshipped in Britain by Vangiones in
the Roman army, as may be seen from the formula Deo Mogonti, which occurs on
inscriptions at Plumpton Wall (Old Penrith), Netherby, and Risingham.
The god Silvanus, too, who was widely worshipped in Spain,
in Cisalpine Gaul, in the neighborhood of the Rhine, in the south of Gaul, and
in central Europe, is also mentioned in Britain on about sixteen inscriptions.
On one at Housesteads he is identified with Cocidius by a certain prefect of a
cohort of Tungrians. This wide worship of Silvanus in the Celtic world is very
suggestive of the form into which the early tree-worship of the Celts had
developed.
The name Maponos, identical as it is with the Welsh Mabon,
suggests that Modron, who is represented in Welsh legend as his mother, was an
ancient British goddess, whose name in Roman times would be Matrona, a
derivative of the root matr- (mother). This very name, it may be noted, is the
original of that of the river Marne. Some of the river-names of Wales appear to
be formations of this type, and the suggestion naturally arises that they also
were names of goddesses.
For example, the name Aeron, in Cardiganshire, may stand for
Agrona, the goddess of war.
Tarannon may have meant the goddess of thunder.
The river Dee, Deva (Welsh Dyfr-dwy), means simply the
goddess.
The two streams, Dwyfor and Dwyfach, near Criccieth in
Carnarvonshire, probably mean 'the great goddess' and 'the little goddess'
respectively.
The name Ieithon, a stream in Radnorshire, may mean ' the
goddess of speech.
'Crawnon,' in Breconshire, may mean ' the goddess of
storage.'
7. The Transrhenane and Danubian districts.
In these wide zones the task of separating Celtic and
Germanic deities is well-nigh impossible, but its very difficulty suggests that
to both peoples the popular substratum of religion had far more in common than
is usually supposed. For example, we have among the Germans as among some
sections of the Celts a most remarkable development of the worship of Matres
and Matronae, a form of worship of a very primitive character. This similarity
of underlying religious belief is also confirmed by the study of folk-lore, as
any reader of Dr. Frazer's Golden Bough can readily ascertain. At Varhely in
Dacia, on an inscription made not long after 107 A.D., there is mentioned even
a group of Eponae in the formula Eponab(us) et Campestrib(us) sacrum.
In Noricum again there is a group called Alaunas, who were
worshipped along with Bedaios.
It may be safely conjectured that in the countries east of
the Rhine grouped goddesses abounded.
Of the names of individual Celtic goddesses worshipped in
these territories, especially in Pannonia and Dacia, that of Epona is by far
the most prevalent.
In Noricum we find the worship of Adsalluta closely
associated with that of Savus, the river Save. At Saudorfel her name occurs on
five inscriptions, on two of which it is associated with that of Savus. At
Hrastnigg, too, her name occurs on an inscription which reads Adsal(l)ute
Aug(uste).
Another goddess who deserves mention here is Noreia:
(1) Mount Avala, near Belgrade: an inscription of the year
287 a.d., D(ea)e Nor[e]ia[e] sacrum,
(2) Hohenstein, near Pulst: Noreiae Aug(ustae) sacr(um),
(3) At Hohenstein and at Ulrichsberg: she is identified with
Isis “Isidi Norei(ae)”,
(4) Trojana: Noreie August(ae),
(5) Cilli: one inscription, along with Jupiter and with
Celeia, as 'Noreia sancta.' On another inscription she is mentioned along with
Mars, Hercules, Victoria, and Noreia,
(6) Kerschbach: [Marti A]ug(usto) e[t NJoreiae Re[g(ina)e
et] Britania[e pr]o vic(toria) L. Sep[timii Severi p]ert(inacis) inv(icti),
(7) Weihmorting, in the district of Griesbach in Lower
Bavaria: Noreiae Aug(ustae) sacrum, while at
(8) Khamisa: she is mentioned along with the Di Manes on an
inscription set up by a certain Artorius, whose name is the original of the
Welsh Arthur.
In Istria it may be noted that there is also a goddess Noriceia, who was also called Veica, as we see from the dedication Veicae Noriceiae.
The name Celeia, which is mentioned along with Noreia, is
that of the town Cilli in Noricum, a town which was also wor shipped as a
goddess, as is shown by inscriptions from the beginning of the third century
a.d. On these she is called Celeia Augusta and Celeia sancta. As a goddess she
is named on inscriptions along with Noreia in one case and Epona in another.
That Noricum was largely Celtic in its religion may be
gathered from the prominence there of the worship of the god Belinos, a name
which forms the second element in the British Cuno-belinos, the Welsh
Cyn-felyn.
In the course of this investigation it has become very
evident how large a part was played in Celtic as well as in at least some forms
of Germanic religion by the worship of grouped goddesses. It is from these that
the individual goddesses appear in some cases to have been detached, or else
developed by a kind of process of unification and generalization. In some
cases, topographical connections operated towards individualization, in others
the growing conception of the earth as 'the Mother' par excellence, while in
other cases the individual goddesses seem to have been the human
representatives of previous goddesses of animal form. Of the latter type were
doubtless Epona and Damona. In spite of the existence of certain individual
goddesses, however, it is most remarkable that the grouped goddesses held their
own, especially in certain districts. How far we may base ethno-logical
conclusions upon this is very uncertain, since under similar conditions of
civilization similar religious ideas are apt to prevail. It is noticeable,
however, that the worship of the Matres and the Proximae held their ground even
in districts which came under the full influence of Roman civilization.
The Celtic Review III, 1906-1907, Professor E. Anwyl
