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. [2] [3] 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 (Lleu of the Skillful Hand) and Irish Lugh Lámhfhada (Lugh of the Long Arm).
The etymology of the name is debated. Besides the Gaulish Lugos (pl. Lugoues, Lugouibus), the deity is attested in Old Irish Lug (Ogham: Lugu-), Middle Welsh Llew, and Celtiberian Luguei, which may point to a Common Celtic origin of the cult. [4] [5] A Proto-Celtic compound *Lugu-deks ('serving the god Lug') can also be reconstructed from Gaulish Lugudeca, Old Irish Lugaid , and Hispano-Celtic Luguadici. [6] [5] The Lugunae, goddesses attested to in Atapuerca (Burgos), are also linguistically related. [7]
The Proto-Celtic root *lug- has been tentatively derived from several different Proto-Indo-European roots, including *leug- ('black'), [8] *leuǵ- ('to break'), [9] and *leugʰ- ('to swear an oath'). [10] It was once thought to be derived from PIE *leuk- ('to shine'), but most modern scholars rule this out, notably because Proto-Indo-European *-k- never produces Proto-Celtic *-g-. [11]
According to linguist Xavier Delamarre, "it is not certain that there is an appellative behind this theonym; it is likely, given its presumed antiquity, that it is an unmotivated idionym (or that it has become so), possibly subject to various 'folk etymologies', one of the best known being Lugdunum = 'desideratum montem' from the Vienna glossary." [4]
The theonym Lugu- is the source of the place names Lugu-dunon ('Lug's fortress'), at the origin of Lyon , Loudon, Laudun , Laon , Lea, [12] and perhaps Leiden ; *Lugu-ialon ('Lug's village'), at the origin of Ligueil ; as well as Lugu-ualion ('Place of Lug the Sovereign'), the ancient name of Carlisle. [4] Lucus Augusti (modern Lugo in Galicia, Spain) may be derived from the theonym Lug, [7] [13] though perhaps from Latin lucus ('grove') cannot be ruled out. [14]
It has been suggested as an element of Lothian.
It is also in the personal names Lugu-dunolus, Lugu-uec[ca], Lugius, Lugissius, Lugu-rix, and Lugiola. The female name Lugu-selua, meaning 'Lug's possession', can be compared with the Greek personal name Theodulus ('God's slave'). [5] In Insular Celtic are found the Brythonic Louocatus (< *Lugu-catus) and Old Welsh Loumarch (< *Lugu-marcos 'Lug's stallion'). [5]
Ethnonyms which may derive from Lug include the Luggoni (or Lougonoi) of Asturias, as well as the Lougei, known from inscriptions in Lugo and El Bierzo. [7] The Lougoi of Scotland might also be related. [13]
The god Lug is mentioned in a Celtiberian inscription from Peñalba de Villastar in Spain, which reads:
The translation is debated, but the phrase "to Luguei" ("to/for Lug" with the theonym in the dative singular) clearly indicates a dedication to the god. [15] [16]
Additionally, the name is attested several times in the plural, for example: nominative plural Lugoues in a single-word (and potentially Gaulish) inscription from Avenches, Switzerland, on the capital of a Corinthian column, [17] and dative plural in a well-known Latin inscription from Uxama (Osma), Spain:
This shows Lug being worshiped by shoemakers in Spain, parallel to his Welsh counterpart Lleu being represented as a shoemaker in the 4th branch of the Mabinogi. [20] [21]
The plural form of the theonym is also found in Latin inscriptions:
Lugo, Galicia, Spain:
Outeiro de Rei, Lugo, Galicia, Spain:
[Both epithets Arquieni and Arquienobo are considered to be related to a Proto-Indo-European root *h₂érkʷo 'bow, arrow' with cognates Latin arcus and English arrow. [13] ]
The majority of the known inscriptions dedicated to Lug come from the Iberian Peninsula, perhaps indicating this deity's particular importance and popularity among the Iberian Celts. [7]
An inscribed lead plate found in Chamalières in France includes the phrase luge dessummiíis, which has been tentatively interpreted by some scholars as "I prepare them for Lug", though it may also mean "I swear (luge) with/by my right (hand)". [28]
Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallico identified six gods worshipped in Gaul, giving the names of their nearest Roman equivalents rather than their Gaulish names ( interpretatio romana). He said "Mercury" was most revered: patron of trade and commerce, protector of travellers, and inventor of all the arts. [29] The Irish god Lug bore the epithet samildánach ("skilled in all arts"), which has led to the widespread identification of Caesar's Mercury as Lug. There are frequent (over 400) inscriptions referencing Gaullish Mercury from the subsequent Roman Gaul and Britain. [21] The blanket identification of Lug with Mercury may go too far; Jan de Vries [30] demonstrates the unreliability of any one-to-one correspondence in the interpretatio romana. [31]
The iconography of Gaulish Mercury includes birds, particularly the raven and the cock (now the emblem of France); horses; the tree of life; dogs or wolves; a caduceus, or herald's staff topped with a pair of snakes; mistletoe; and bags of money. A widespread attribute is shoes: one of the dedications to the Lugoves was made by a shoemakers' guild; Lug's Welsh counterpart Lleu (or Llew) Llaw Gyffes is described in the Welsh Triads as one of the "three golden shoemakers of the island of Britain". He is often armed with a spear. He is frequently accompanied by his consort Rosmerta ("great provider"), who bears the libation with which kingship was conferred (in Roman mythology). Unlike the Roman Mercury, who is typically a youth, Gaulish Mercury is occasionally also represented as an old man. It has also been speculated that the Irish leprechaun shares the same root (le- from Lu-), and notably leprechauns were often represented as shoemakers. [32]
Gaulish Mercury is associated with triplism: sometimes he has three faces, sometimes three phalluses, which may explain the plural dedications. In some Irish versions of the story, Lug was born as one of triplets, and his father Cian (Distance) is often mentioned, along with his brothers Cú (Hound) and Cethen (meaning unknown), who nonetheless have no stories of their own. Several characters called Lugaid, a popular medieval Irish name thought to derive from Lug, also exhibit triplism: for example, Lugaid Riab nDerg ("of the Red Stripes") and Lugaid mac Trí Con ("Son of Three Hounds") both have three fathers.
Ludwig Rübekeil [33] suggests that Lug was a triune god, comprising Esus, Toutatis and Taranis, the three chief deities mentioned by Lucan (who however makes no mention of Lug); and that pre-Proto-Germanic tribes in contact with the Celts (possibly the Chatti) moulded aspects of Lug into the Germanic god Wōdanaz, i.e. that Gaulish Mercury influenced Germanic Mercury.
High places (Mercurii Montes), including Montmartre, the Puy-de-Dôme and the Mont de Sène, were dedicated to the god.
In Ireland, Lugh was the victorious youth who defeated the monstrous Balor "of the venomous eye". He was the paradigm of holy or priestly kingship, and his epithet lámhfhada “of the long arm”, carries on an ancient Proto-Indo-European image of a noble sovereign spreading his power far and wide (cf. "the long arm of the law"). His festival, called Lughnasadh ("Festival of Lugh") in Ireland, was commemorated on 1 August.
His name survives in the village of Louth (anciently Lughmhagh, "Lug's plain") and the County Louth in which it stands. When the Emperor Augustus inaugurated Lugdunum ("fort of Lug", now Lyon) as the capital of Roman Gaul in 18 BC, he held the ceremony on 1 August (also the date of Augustus' victory over Cleopatra at Alexandria). At least two ancient Lughnasadh locations, Carmun and Tailtiu, were supposed to enclose the graves of agricultural fertility goddesses.
The Celtic Lugh and Lleu Llaw Gyffes may also have influenced the Arthurian characters Lancelot and Lot (a theory championed most famously by Roger Sherman Loomis), though more recent scholarship has downplayed such links.
Lugh or Lug is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a saviour. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. Lugh also has associations with oaths, truth and the law, and therefore with rightful kingship. Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name. His most common epithets are Lámfada and Samildánach. This has sometimes been anglicised as "Lewy of the Long Hand".
Alaunus or Alaunius is a Gaulish god of healing and prophecy. His name is known from inscriptions found in Lurs, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in Southern France and in Mannheim in western Germany. In the latter inscription, Alaunus is used as an epithet of Mercury. The feminine form Alauna is at the origin of many place-names and hydronyms across Europe, including the Roman-era names of Valognes in Normandy, Maryport and Watercrook in Cumbria, River Alyn in North Wales, Alcester in Warwickshire, Ardoch in Perthshire, and Learchild and the River Aln in Northumberland.
Alisanos was a local Gallo-Roman god worshipped in what is now the Côte-d'Or in Burgundy and at Aix-en-Provence.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes is a hero of Welsh mythology. He appears most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math fab Mathonwy, which tells the tale of his birth, his marriage, his death, his resurrection and his accession to the throne of Gwynedd. He is a warrior and magician, invariably associated with his uncle Gwydion.
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.
Camulus or Camulos is a Celtic deity who was identified with Mars via interpretatio romana. Camulus was an important god of Roman Britain and Gaul, especially among the Belgae and the Remi, a Gaulish people living in the region that is now modern Grand Est around Reims.
In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus.
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 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
Moccus is a Celtic god who is identified with Mercury. He is the boar- or swine-god of the continental Celtic tribe of Lingones. Moccus was invoked as the protector of boar hunters and warriors. Boar meat was sacred among the ancient Celts, and features in accounts of feasts in Irish mythology. The Lingones, whose tribal center was at modern-day Langres, were a Gaulish tribe located in the area of the rivers Seine and Marne in what is now northeastern France. They were neighbors to the Celto-Germanic tribe of Treveri. Another tribe known as Lingones was located near the mouth of the Po River in northeastern Italy, and were known for agriculture, weaving and metalworking.
Cicolluis or Cicoluis is a god in Celtic mythology worshiped by the ancient Gauls and having a parallel in Ireland.
Toutatis or Teutates is a Celtic god who was worshipped primarily in ancient Gaul and Britain. His name means "god of the tribe", and he has been widely interpreted as a tribal protector. According to Roman writer Lucan, the Gauls offered human sacrifices to him.
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.
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.
Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion, having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire, the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity. Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples. They preserved some of their myths in oral lore, which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the Middle Ages. Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology.
The Chamalières tablet is a lead tablet, six by four centimeters, that was discovered in 1971 in Chamalières, France, at the Source des Roches excavation. The tablet is dated somewhere between 50 BC and 50 AD. The text is written in the Gaulish language, with cursive Latin letters. With 396 letters grouped in 47 words, it is the third-longest extant text in Gaulish, giving it great importance in the study of this language.
In Irish mythology, Cian or Cían, nicknamed Scal Balb, was the son of Dian Cecht, the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and best known as the father of Lugh Lamhfada. Cían's brothers were Cu, Cethen, and Miach.
Lugus, like Odin, was king of the gods in the Celtic pantheon, was accompanied by crows and ravens, carried a spear, and closed one eye to do his magic (Odin offered his eye); like the Great Zeus in Hesiod's Theogony, he led the Tuatha Dé Danann gods in victory over the Fomorian giants. Lugh's birth and childhood also parallels that of Zeus.
In The Baile in Scail ("The God's Prophecy") Lugh is seen as a sacred solar king and king of the otherworld, associated with Rosmerta, who is herself a kind of personification of Ireland, sometimes known as "the Sovranty of Ireland." Lugh followed Nuada as king of the gods in Ireland, and was with the mortal Dechtire the father of the great hero Cuchulainn.
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