In ancient Celtic religion, Ialonus Contrebis or Ialonus or Gontrebis was a god (or perhaps two related gods) worshipped in what are now Lancashire and Provence. Ialonus is thought to be the god of clearings and/or meadows.
The name Ialonus, which may have designated a god of clearing, derives from the Celtic stem ialo(n)- ('cleared place, clearing'; cf. Middle Welsh ial 'clearing', an-ial 'wasteland'). [1] [2] The stem ialon- also had the meaning 'village' in Gaulish. In the words of Xavier Delamarre, "In forest-covered Gaul, a village was essentially established by clearing a wood." [1]
The name Contrebis is based on the prefix con- ('with, together') attached to the root -treb- ('settlement'; cf. Old Irish treb, Middle Welsh tref, Old Breton treff 'town, dwelling-place'). It can be compared with the Celtiberian place name Contrebia, meaning 'conurbation'. [3] [4]
He is known from three dedicatory inscriptions. One, at Lancaster, was dedicated (in the dative) to Deo Ialono Contre Sanctissimo ("to the holiest god Ialonus Contre[bis]"); [5] another, at Overborough or Over Burrow near Kirkby Lonsdale, to Deo San Gontrebi ("to the holy god Gontrebis"). [6] In the third inscription, found at Nîmes in Provence, Ialonus was invoked in conjunction with the goddess Fortune. [7]
