Look up Andarta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Andarta was a Celtic goddess worshiped in southern Gaul. Inscriptions invoking her name have been found among the Vocontii in Southern France, and in Bern, Switzerland. [1] [2]
Andarta was a Celtic goddess worshiped in southern Gaul. Inscriptions invoking her name have been found among the Vocontii in Southern France, and in Bern, Switzerland. [1] [2]
The Gaulish theonym Andarta is traditionally interpreted as meaning 'Great Bear', perhaps 'powerful bear' or Ursa Major , formed with an intensifying suffix and- attached to a feminine form of artos ('bear'). [1] [2] Andarta might thus have been a counterpart or an alternative name of the Celtic bear goddess, Artio. [2]
According to linguist Blanca María Prósper, however, "this idea is uncompelling because the semantics lack good parallels and the inner syntax of the compound is utterly problematic." In her view, the name should be translated as 'Well-fixed, Staying-firm', formed with a prefix *h₂ndʰi- (or *h₁ndo-) attached to a participle *-h₂-rtó ('fixed, composed, built'; cf. Sanskrit ṛta 'cosmic law, order', Greek artús 'arrangement', Latin artus 'joint'). [3]
Erecura or Aerecura was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be Celtic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of Proserpina and associated with the Roman underworld god Dis Pater, as on an altar from Sulzbach. She appears with Dis Pater in a statue found at Oberseebach, Switzerland, and in several magical texts from Austria, once in the company of Cerberus and once probably with Ogmios. A further inscription to her has been found near Stuttgart, Germany. Besides her chthonic symbols, she is often depicted with such attributes of fertility as the cornucopia and apple baskets. She is believed to be similar to Greek Hecate, while the two goddesses share similar names. She is depicted in a seated posture, wearing a full robe and bearing trays or baskets of fruit, in depictions from Cannstatt and Sulzbach. Miranda Green calls Aericura a "Gaulish Hecuba", while Noémie Beck characterizes her as a "land-goddess" sharing both underworld and fertility aspects with Dis Pater.
Artio is a Celtic bear goddess. Evidence of her worship has notably been found at Bern in Switzerland. Her name is derived from the Gaulish word for 'bear', artos.
Belenus is an ancient Celtic healing god. The cult of Belenus stretched from the Italian Peninsula to the British Isles, with a main sanctuary located at Aquileia, on the Adriatic coast. Through interpretatio romana, Belenus was often identified with Apollo, although his cult seems to have preserved a certain degree of autonomy during the Roman period.
Belisama is a Celtic goddess. She was identified by Roman commentators with Minerva by interpretatio romana.
Borvo or Bormo was an ancient Celtic god of healing springs worshipped in Gauls and Gallaecia. He was sometimes identified with the Graeco-Roman god Apollo, although his cult had preserved a high degree of autonomy during the Roman period.
Condatis was an ancient Celtic deity worshipped primarily in northern Britain but also in Gaul. He was associated with the confluences of rivers, in particular within County Durham in the North of England. Condatis is known from several inscriptions in Britain and a single inscription found at Alonnes, Sarthe, France. In each case he is equated with the Roman god Mars.
In ancient Celtic religion, Ialonus Contrebis or Ialonus or Gontrebis was a god worshipped in what are now Lancashire and Provence. Ialonus is thought to be the god of clearings and/or meadows.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus.
In ancient Celtic religion, Maponos or Maponus is a god of youth known mainly in northern Britain but also in Gaul. In Roman Britain, he was equated with Apollo.
In Celtic mythology, Nantosuelta is the goddess of nature, the earth, fire, and fertility
The Sluagh, or Sluagh na marbh, were the hosts of the unforgiven dead in Irish and Scottish folklore. In the words of British folklorist Lewis Spence, "In the Western Isles of Scotland the Sluagh, or fairy host, was regarded as composed of the souls of the dead flying through the air, and the feast of the dead at Hallowe'en was likewise the festival of the fairies." Usually taking a crescent form, similar to a flight of grey birds, they were said to be able to approach and pick up a person from any direction and then transport them far away through the air, from one island to another. Although they would sometimes rescue humans from dangerous rock clefts, they were generally portrayed as dangerous to mortals.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Sucellus or Sucellos was a god shown carrying a large mallet and an olla. Originally a Celtic god, his cult flourished not only among Gallo-Romans, but also to some extent among the neighbouring peoples of Raetia and Britain. He has been associated with agriculture and wine, particularly in the territory of the Aedui.
Brigantia or Brigindo was a goddess in Celtic religion of Late Antiquity.
Cissonius was an ancient Gaulish/Celtic god. After Visucius, Cissonius was the most common name of the Gaulish/Celtic Mercury; around seventeen inscriptions dedicated to him extend from France and Southern Germany into Switzerland.
Litavis is a Gallic deity whose cult is primarily attested in east-central Gaul during the Roman period. She was probably originally an earth-goddess. In medieval Celtic languages, various terms derived from *Litauia came to designate the Brittany Peninsula.
The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects, and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon of deities comparable to others in Indo-European religion, each linked to aspects of life and the natural world. Epona was an exception and retained without association with any Roman deity. By a process of syncretism, after the Roman conquest of Celtic areas, most of these became associated with their Roman equivalents, and their worship continued until Christianization. Pre-Roman Celtic art produced few images of deities, and these are hard to identify, lacking inscriptions, but in the post-conquest period many more images were made, some with inscriptions naming the deity. Most of the specific information we have therefore comes from Latin writers and the archaeology of the post-conquest period. More tentatively, links can be made between ancient Celtic deities and figures in early medieval Irish and Welsh literature, although all these works were produced well after Christianization.
The Namnetes were a Gallic tribe dwelling near the modern city of Nantes during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Celtic language of the Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula around the start of the 1st millennium. That became the Roman province of Gallaecia, which is now divided between the Spanish regions of Galicia, western Asturias, the west of the Province of León, and the North Region in Portugal.
Proto-Celtic paganism was the beliefs of the speakers of Proto-Celtic and includes topics such as the mythology, legendry, folk tales, and folk beliefs of early Celtic culture. By way of the comparative method, Celtic philologists, a variety of historical linguist, have proposed reconstructions of entities, locations, and concepts with various levels of security in early Celtic folklore and mythology. The present article includes both reconstructed forms and proposed motifs from the early Celtic period.
Notes
Bibliography
 | This article relating to a Celtic myth or legend is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
