Anvallus

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One of the two Latin altars dedicated to Anvallus. The inscription may be interpreted as "Consecrated to the august, to the god Anvallus, Norbaneius Thallus the gutuater [freely and deservedly fulfilled his vow]". Anvallus MuseeRolin Autun 2600.jpg
One of the two Latin altars dedicated to Anvallus. The inscription may be interpreted as "Consecrated to the august, to the god Anvallus, Norbaneius Thallus the gutuater [freely and deservedly fulfilled his vow]".

Anvallus was a Gaulish god, known from several public inscriptions at Augustodunum (Autun). Two Latin inscriptions on altars were dedicated by gutuatres in requital of vows; both such dedications began with the formula Aug(usto) sacr(um). [1] [2] The title gutuater is typically understood to mean 'priest'; [3] the gutuatres have at times been taken to be Romanized continuations of the druids. [4] These altars were both discovered in 1900 on the site of Autun's railway station, along with a Greek-style helmet of thin bronze that would have been left there as a votive offering. [5]

The third text mentioning a name similar to Anvallus was a Gaulish text found on a limestone cartouche: [6]

LICNOS · CON
TEXTOS · IEVRV
ANVALONNACV ·
CANECOSEDLON · [7] [6]

According to P.-Y. Lambert [8] and J.-P. Savignac, [9] this stone commemorated the dedication of a kind of seat or throne by a person named Licnos Contextos. The seat was dedicated to a sanctuary of Anvalos, in the interpretation of P.-Y. Lambert; [6] Delmarre gives the translation "Licnos Contextus dedicated to Anvalonnacos the (golden?) seat". [10]

The god's name has been analyzed as a composition an-ualos, of which the second root has been understood to mean 'sovereign' or 'prince', and the first 'without' or 'not'. [11] The name might therefore be understood as 'without a sovereign', i.e. inferior to none.

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References

  1. 1 2 CIL XIII:11225.
  2. ↑ CIL XIII:11226.
  3. ↑ Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, p184.
  4. ↑ Monique Clavel-Lévêque (1989). Puzzle Gaulois: les Gaules en mémoire : images, textes, histoire, Volume 396. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté, p423.
  5. ↑ J.-G. Bulliot (1901). "Découverte de deux inscriptions romaines et d'un casque votif à Autun." Bulletin monumental. Retrieved from Gallica on 2011-06-03.
  6. 1 2 3 "Inscriptions gauloises : Le cartouche d'Autun". Encyclopédie de l'Arbre Celtique. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  7. ↑ CIL XIII:2733.
  8. ↑ P.-Y. Lambert (2003). La langue gauloise. Errance, Paris.
  9. ↑ J.-P. Savignac (2000). Merde à César. La différence.
  10. ↑ In the original, “Licnos Contextos a dédié à Anvalonnacos le siège (d’or ?)”. Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, p331.
  11. ↑ Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, pp43, 305.
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