In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus.
The theonym Damona is a derivative of the Proto-Celtic stem *damo-, meaning 'bull' or 'deer' (cf. Old Irish dam 'bull, deer'; also *damato- > Middle Welsh dafad 'sheep', Old Cornish dauat 'ewe'), itself from Proto-Indo-European *dmh2o- ('the tamed one'). The Latin noun damma, which is the source of French daim ('roe'), is probably a loanword from Gaulish. The root *dmh2- is also presumably reflected in the British tribal name Demetae , interpreted as meaning 'Tamers'. [1] [2]
Damona and Bormana have been described as the patron deities of the hot springs at Bourbonne-les-Bains and Saint-Vulbas, respectively. [3] [4] Some seventeen inscriptions dedicated to Damona have been recovered, including nine from Bourbonne-les-Bains and four from Bourbon-Lancy, both spa towns in eastern France. In one inscription from Saintes, she has the epithet Matubergini. [5]
There are several inscriptions relating to Damona, [6] including two inscriptions in Bourbon-Lancy (CIL 13, 02805), discovered in 1792.
and (CIL 13, 02806), where Damona is also included in dedications to Borvo, (CIL 13, 02807) and (CIL 13, 02808):
The other large site associated with Damona is Bourbonne-les-Bains, there are nine dedications to the goddess of the waters, including (CIL 13, 05911):
and (CIL 13, 05914):
with (CIL 13, 05921):
Damona also appears in dedications to Chassenay, associated with Albius and Alise-Sainte-Reine. An inscription was found bearing Damona's name in Alesia in 1962, where she was worshipped with Apollo Moritasgus [7] [8] [9] (CIL 13, 11233):
and (CAG-21-01):
Finally, there is an inscription in Rivières. [10]
Jullia Malla Malluronis fîl (ia) numinibus Augustorum et deae Damonae Matuherginni (?) Ob memoriam Sulpiciae Silvanae filiae suae de suo posuit
In Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues and by inscriptions. In Gaul she was often depicted with the Roman god Mercury as her consort, but is sometimes found independently.
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.
Grannus was a Celtic deity of classical antiquity. He was regularly identified with Apollo as Apollo Grannus and frequently worshipped in conjunction with Sirona, and sometimes with Mars and other deities.
In Celtic polytheism, Sirona was a goddess worshipped predominantly in East Central Gaul and along the Danubian limes. A healing deity, she was associated with healing springs; her attributes were snakes and eggs. She was sometimes depicted with Apollo Grannus or Apollo Borvo. She was particularly worshipped by the Treveri in the Moselle Valley.
Lugus is a god of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms and status as king of the gods. His nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury, who is widely believed to have been identified with Lugus, and from the quasi-mythological narratives involving his later cognates, Welsh Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Irish Lugh Lámhfhada.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Luxovios, Latinized as Luxovius, was the god of the waters of Luxeuil, worshiped in Gaul. He was a consort of Bricta. The thermal spring sanctuary at Luxeuil provided evidence of the worship of other deities, including the sky-horseman who bears a solar wheel, and Sirona, another deity associated with healing springs.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Bricta or Brixta was a Gaulish goddess who was a consort of Luxovius, god of the waters of Luxeuil-les-Bains.
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
In Celtic mythology, Taranis is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube regions, amongst others. Taranis, along with Esus and Toutatis, was mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem Pharsalia as a Celtic deity to whom human sacrificial offerings were made. Taranis was associated, as was the Cyclops Brontes ("thunder") in Greek mythology, with the wheel.
In ancient Celtic religion, Sulevia was a goddess worshipped in Gaul, Britain, and Galicia, very often in the plural forms Suleviae or (dative) Sule(v)is. Dedications to Sulevia(e) are attested in about forty inscriptions, distributed quite widely in the Celtic world, but with particular concentrations in Noricum, among the Helvetii, along the Rhine, and also in Rome. Jufer and Luginbühl distinguish the Suleviae from another group of plural Celtic goddesses, the Matres, and interpret the name Suleviae as meaning "those who govern well". In the same vein, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel connects Suleviae with Welsh hylyw 'leading (well)' and Breton helevez 'good behaviour'.
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.
Icovellauna was a Celtic goddess worshiped in Gaul. Her places of worship included an octagonal temple at Le Sablon in Metz, originally built over a spring, from which five inscriptions dedicated to her have been recovered, and Trier, where Icovellauna was honored in an inscription in the Altbachtal temple complex. Both of these places lie in the valley of the river Moselle of eastern Gaul in what are now Lorraine in France and Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. One such inscription was, somewhat unusually, inscribed on a copper tablet in Roman cursive letters.
Visucius was a Gallo-Roman god, usually identified with Mercury. He was worshipped primarily in the east of Gaul, around Trier and on the Rhine; his name is recorded on about ten dedicatory inscriptions. One such inscription has also been found in Bordeaux. Visucius is, along with Gebrinius and Cissonius, among the most common indigenous epithets of the Gaulish Mercury.
Lenus was a Celtic healing god worshipped mainly in eastern Gaul, where he was almost always identified with the Roman god Mars.
Ucuetis is a Gaulish deity who was venerated at Alesia in Burgundy.
Intarabus was a Gaulish god in the pantheon of the Treveri and some neighbouring peoples. His name is known from nine inscriptions from a relatively compact area in what are now Belgium, Luxembourg, western Germany and eastern France. He may have been the tutelary deity of one of the three pagi (subdivisions) of the Treveri. In most cases, Intarabus is invoked alone – without any synthesis to a Roman deity, and without accompanying female deities. However, one inscription invokes him as Mars Intarabus, noting that a fanum and simulacrum of this god had been restored at Trier. Meanwhile, another inscription from Mackwiller in Alsace gives Intarabus the epithet Narius. An inscription at Ernzen in Germany has his name as [In]tarabus, while another from Foy-Noville, invokes Entarabus in conjunction with the Genius Ollodagus.
Artaha is the name of an ancient goddess that was worshiped in Southern Gaul, in the region of Aquitania. She is a protector goddess that is thought to be associated with bears.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Sequana is the goddess of the river Seine, particularly the springs at the source of the Seine, and the Gaulish tribe the Sequani. The springs, called the Fontes Sequanae, are located in a valley in the Châtillon Plateau, to the north-west of Dijon in Burgundy, and it was here, in the 2nd or 1st century BC, that a healing shrine was established. The sanctuary was later taken over by the Romans, who built two temples, a colonnaded precinct and other related structures centred on the spring and pool. Many dedications were made to Sequana at her temple, including a large pot inscribed with her name and filled with bronze and silver models of parts of human bodies to be cured by her. Wooden and stone images of limbs, internal organs, heads, and complete bodies were offered to her in the hope of a cure, as well as numerous coins and items of jewellery. Respiratory illnesses and eye diseases were common. Pilgrims were frequently depicted as carrying offerings to the goddess, including money, fruit, or a favorite pet dog or bird.
Sexarbores is a Gallic god known only from inscriptions found in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Like the gods Abellio and Fagus, it could have been a deified tree.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)