Grannus (also Granus, Mogounus, [1] and Amarcolitanus [2] ) 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. [3]
The theonym Grannus is a latinized form of Gaulish Grannos. [4] The same stem appears in the personal names Grania, Grannia, Grannicus, and Grannica, as well as in the place names Grignols (from an earlier *Granno-ialon 'Grannus' clearing'), Aquae Granni (> Aachen ), and Granéjouls. [5]
Its etymology remains debated. The name could be connected to Proto-Celtic *grand-/grend-, meaning 'beard' (cf. Middle Irish grend, Middle Welsh grann 'chin, beard, cheek', Middle Breton grann 'eyebrow'), although some scholars have pointed that the god is never actually portrayed with a beard. Old French grenon ('small beard'), Old Spanish greñon ('beard') and Occitan gren ('moustache') are derived from an earlier *grennos, that is supposed to be Gaulish, but the vocalism is difficult to reconcile with the other forms. [5] [6] [7]
An alternative etymology connects the name to a reconstructed form *gra-snó- (< *gwhr-snó-), which could be related to Proto-Celtic *gwrīns-/gwrens-, meaning 'heat' (cf. Middle Irish grīs 'heat, glow, embers', Middle Welsh gwres 'heat [of the sun, fire], passion, lust'). [4] [8] Scholar Jürgen Zeidler contends that this would be a "probable reference to the sun's heat and its healing properties". [9] In early twentieth century scholarship, the theonym was often compared with the Old Irish grían ('sun'), [5] which, according to linguist Ranko Matasović, should be derived from Proto-Celtic *gwrensā (> Primitive Irish *gwrēnā). [8]
At Monthelon, Grannus is called Deus Apollo Grannus Amarcolitanus [2] ("The one with a piercing or far-reaching look" [10] ), and at Horbourg-Wihr Apollo Grannus Mogounus . [3] [1]
In all of his centres of worship where he is assimilated to a Roman god, Grannus was identified with Apollo, [3] presumably in Apollo's role as a healing or solar deity. In Trier, he is identified more specifically with Phoebus as Apollo Grannus Phoebus. [11] [3]
One of the god's most famous cult centres was at Aquae Granni (now Aachen, Germany). Aachen means ‘water’ in Old High German, a calque of the Roman name of "Aquae Granni". [12] The town's hot springs with temperatures between 45 °C and 75 °C lay in the somewhat inhospitably marshy area around Aachen's basin-shaped valley region. [12] Aachen first became a curative centre in Hallstatt times. [12]
According to Cassius Dio, the Roman Emperor Caracalla (188 AD to 217 AD) unsuccessfully sought help from Apollo Grannus—as well as Aesculapius and Serapis—during a bout of physical and mental illness, visiting the god's shrine and making many votive offerings; Dio claims that the gods refused to heal him because they knew Caracalla's intentions to be evil. [13] Caracalla's visit to the shrine of ‘the Celtic healing-god’ Grannus was during the war with Germany in 213. [14] [ citation needed ]
A 1st century AD Latin inscription from a public fountain in Limoges mentions a Gaulish ten-night festival of Grannus (lightly Latinized as decamnoctiacis Granni):
Translation: "The vergobretus Postumus son of Dumnorix gave from his own money the Aqua Martia ("Water of Martius [or Mars]", an aqueduct [16] ) for the ten-night festival of Grannus".[ citation needed ]
The name Grannus is sometimes accompanied by those of other deities in the inscriptions. In Augsburg, he is found with both Diana and Sirona; [17] he is again invoked with Sirona at Rome, [18] Bitburg, [19] Baumberg, [20] [3] Lauingen, [21] and Sarmizegetusa (twice). [22] At Ennetach he is with Nymphs, [23] at Faimingen with Hygieia and the Mother of the Gods, [24] and at Grand with Sol. [3] A votive altar at Astorga invokes him after "holy Serapis" and "the many-named Isis", and before "the unvanquished Core and Mars Sagatus". [25] [3]
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.
Borvo or Bormo was an ancient Celtic god of healing springs worshipped in Gaul 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.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus.
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.
Lugos (Gaulish) or Lugus (Latin), also known by other names, 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 him, 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 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
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.
Moccus or Moccos is a Celtic god who is attested in one 2nd or 3rd century AD inscription from Langres, in which he is identified with the Roman god Mercury. Moccus has been connected, on etymological grounds, with pigs and boars. The boar was a potent symbol, of the hunt and of war, but also of prosperity.
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 Eburovīcēs or Aulercī Eburovīcēs were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Eure department during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were part of the Aulerci.
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 Leucī were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the modern Lorraine region during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Ballomar or Ballomarios was a leader of the Marcomanni during the Marcomannic Wars.
Candidus was a "candid spirit" that accompanied the healing god Borvo in Lusitanian and Celtic polytheism. This association is demonstrated in Nièvre at Entrains-sur-Nohain. He has been described as "a minor deity in Apollo’s train who calls to mind Apollo Virotutis ‘truth’ and Apollo's role as revealer of the truth through oracles".
The gens Opellia, also spelled Opelia and Opilia, was a minor family of imperial Rome, which briefly emerged from obscurity when Marcus Opellius Macrinus was proclaimed emperor following the murder of Caracalla in AD 217. The only members of this gens who appear in history are the emperor and his son, Marcus Opellius Diadumenianus, who ruled briefly as co-emperor in 218, but other Opellii are found in inscriptions, particularly from Dacia.
Vesunna is a Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Gaul. She was likely considered a giver of prosperity, abundance and good fortune, as evidenced by the cornucopia she is depicted carrying in her images.
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