Belenus: Difference between revisions
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==Name== |
==Name== |
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=== Attestations === |
=== Attestations === |
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The [[theonym]] ''Belenus'' or ''Belinus'', which is a Latinized form of the Gaulish ''Belenos'', appears in some 51 inscriptions. Although most of them are located in [[Aquileia]], the main centre of his cult, the name |
The [[theonym]] ''Belenus'' or ''Belinus'', which is a Latinized form of the Gaulish ''Belenos'', appears in some 51 inscriptions. Although most of them are located in [[Aquileia]], the main centre of his cult, the name has also been found in places where Celtic speakers lived in ancient times, including in [[Gauls]], [[Noricum]], [[Illyria]], and the [[British Islands]]. According to philologist [[Helmut Birkhan]], the widespread attestation of Belenus among ancient Celtic peoples suggests a [[Proto-Celtic folklore|Common Celtic]] origin of the cult.{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}} |
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Known variants include ''Belinos'', ''Bellinus'', and perhaps ''Belus''.<ref name="MacKillop">{{Harvnb|MacKillop|2004}}, s.v. ''Belenus''.</ref> Scholar Blanca María Prósper has argued that ''Belinos'' was probably the |
Known variants include ''Belinos'', ''Bellinus'', and perhaps ''Belus''.<ref name="MacKillop">{{Harvnb|MacKillop|2004}}, s.v. ''Belenus''.</ref> Scholar Blanca María Prósper has argued that ''Belinos'' was probably the original form,{{Sfn|Prósper|2017|p=258}} which also appears in the name of the Welsh leader [[Belyn o Leyn|''Belyn'']] (earlier ''Belinos''), who died in 627 AD.{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}} Furthermore, the river name ''[[Bienne (river)|Bienne]]'' attests to a Gaulish feminine form *''Belenā''.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} The deity may have been known in Ireland and Britain by the variants ''Bel'', ''Beli'', or ''Bile.''{{Sfn|Leeming|2005|p=48}} |
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===Etymology=== |
===Etymology=== |
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The etymology of the name remains unclear. It has been traditionally translated as the 'bright one' or the 'shining one', by deriving the name from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*bʰelH-'', interpreted as 'white, shining' (cf. <small>Lith.</small> ''báltas'' 'white', <small>Grk</small> φαλόσ ''phalós'' 'white', <small>Arm.</small> ''bal'' 'pallor', <small>Goth.</small> ''bala'' 'grey'). This theory was encouraged by the ''[[Interpretatio Romana|interpretatio romana]]'' of ''Belenos'' as the 'Gaulish [[Apollo]]', a divinity with sun attributes.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=24–25}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} |
The etymology of the name remains unclear. It has been traditionally translated as the 'bright one' or the 'shining one', by deriving the name from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*bʰelH-'', interpreted as 'white, shining' (cf. <small>Lith.</small> ''báltas'' 'white', <small>Grk</small> φαλόσ ''phalós'' 'white', <small>Arm.</small> ''bal'' 'pallor', <small>Goth.</small> ''bala'' 'grey'). This theory was encouraged by the ''[[Interpretatio Romana|interpretatio romana]]'' of ''Belenos'' as the 'Gaulish [[Apollo]]', a divinity with sun attributes.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=24–25}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} |
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However, this etymology has come under increasing criticism in recent scholarship. [[Xavier Delamarre]] notes that the proposed [[cognate]]s stemming from ''*bʰelH-'' do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather '[pale] white' or 'grey', and suggests |
However, this etymology has come under increasing criticism in recent scholarship. [[Xavier Delamarre]] notes that the proposed [[cognate]]s stemming from ''*bʰelH-'' do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather '[pale] white' or 'grey', and suggests that ''Belenos'' derives rather from the Gaulish stem ''belo''- ('strong, powerful') attached to the suffix -''nos'' ('lord, master'), which would lead to ''Belenos'' as the 'Master of Power'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} Alternatively, [[Peter Schrijver]] has proposed that ''Belenos'' might be an ''o''-stem of the [[Indo-European]] root *''bʰel-'', designating the [[henbane]] (cf. Welsh ''bela'', Germanic *''bel(u)nōn'', Slav. ''*bъlnъ''), a psychoactive plant which was known as ''belenuntia'' in Gaulish and as ''apollinaris'' in Latin.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=24–27}} [[Bernhard Maier]] has also argued that the name may derived from a root ''*g<sup>w</sup>elH-'', meaning 'source, spring'.{{Sfn|Maier|1994|p=40}} The 19th-century attempt to link the root ''bel''- with the Phoenician deity ''[[Baal]]'' is now widely rejected by modern scholars.<ref name="MacKillop" /> |
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=== Related terms === |
=== Related terms === |
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Revision as of 14:38, 22 June 2022
Belenus (Gaulish: Belenos, Belinos) 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.[1][2]
Name
Attestations
The theonym Belenus or Belinus, which is a Latinized form of the Gaulish Belenos, appears in some 51 inscriptions. Although most of them are located in Aquileia, the main centre of his cult, the name has also been found in places where Celtic speakers lived in ancient times, including in Gauls, Noricum, Illyria, and the British Islands. According to philologist Helmut Birkhan, the widespread attestation of Belenus among ancient Celtic peoples suggests a Common Celtic origin of the cult.[3]
Known variants include Belinos, Bellinus, and perhaps Belus.[4] Scholar Blanca María Prósper has argued that Belinos was probably the original form,[5] which also appears in the name of the Welsh leader Belyn (earlier Belinos), who died in 627 AD.[3] Furthermore, the river name Bienne attests to a Gaulish feminine form *Belenā.[6] The deity may have been known in Ireland and Britain by the variants Bel, Beli, or Bile.[7]
Etymology
The etymology of the name remains unclear. It has been traditionally translated as the 'bright one' or the 'shining one', by deriving the name from a Proto-Indo-European root *bʰelH-, interpreted as 'white, shining' (cf. Lith. báltas 'white', Grk φαλόσ phalós 'white', Arm. bal 'pallor', Goth. bala 'grey'). This theory was encouraged by the interpretatio romana of Belenos as the 'Gaulish Apollo', a divinity with sun attributes.[8][6]
However, this etymology has come under increasing criticism in recent scholarship. Xavier Delamarre notes that the proposed cognates stemming from *bʰelH- do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather '[pale] white' or 'grey', and suggests that Belenos derives rather from the Gaulish stem belo- ('strong, powerful') attached to the suffix -nos ('lord, master'), which would lead to Belenos as the 'Master of Power'.[6] Alternatively, Peter Schrijver has proposed that Belenos might be an o-stem of the Indo-European root *bʰel-, designating the henbane (cf. Welsh bela, Germanic *bel(u)nōn, Slav. *bъlnъ), a psychoactive plant which was known as belenuntia in Gaulish and as apollinaris in Latin.[9] Bernhard Maier has also argued that the name may derived from a root *gwelH-, meaning 'source, spring'.[10] The 19th-century attempt to link the root bel- with the Phoenician deity Baal is now widely rejected by modern scholars.[4]
Related terms
A village now part of the municipality of Aquileia is still named Beligna.[3] A tribal leader of pre-Roman Britain was named Cunobelinos (Old Welsh Conbelin), which possibly means 'hound of Belenos', or 'strong as a dog' if the name is not theophoric.[11][4][12] The Old Welsh personal name Liuelin (modern Llywelyn) goes back to a similar compound *lugu-belinos (either a dvandva with two deities or 'strong as Lugus').[12] The Brittonic variant of the name could be the source of the Billingsgate ward in London, although this may be a folk etymology, and possibly of the fountain of Belenton (now Bérenton) in the Brocéliande forest in Brittany.[7][4] The names of the Welsh and Irish ancestor-figures Beli Mawr and Bile may also be related.[4][13]
The Gaulish term belenuntia (Βελενούντιαν), which designated the henbane, a hallucinogenic plant also known in Latin as apollinaris, may be a derivative form of Belenos.[14][15] The variant belenion, cited as a poisonous plant by Pseudo-Aristotle, appears to be the source of the Spanish beleño ('henbane').[15] The Gallo-Roman belisa could have been borrowed into Old High German as bilisa (cf. modern German Bilsenkraut 'henbane').[3] Henbane was commonly used in antiquity for medicinal purposes, providing further evidence of Belanos' healing attributes.[16] A shallow stone dish found in Saint-Chamas (south of France) and dedicated to Beleino could have been used to hold hallucinogenic substances.[3]
The goddess Belisama, whose named appears to be built on the root bel(o)- ('strong, powerful') attached to the intensifying suffix -isama, has been translated as 'Very Powerful', and the personal name Bellovesus as 'Worthy of Power', from bello- attached to uesus ('worthy, good, deserving').[6]
Epithets
In ancient Gaul and Britain, Apollo may have been equated with fifteen or more different names and epithets (notably Grannos, Borvo, Maponus, Moritasgus and others).[17]
An epithet of Belenus may have been Vindonnus. Apollo Vindonnus had a temple at Essarois near Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. The sanctuary was based on a curative spring. Part of the temple pediment survives, bearing an inscription to the god and to the spirit of the springs and, above it, the head of a radiate sun-deity. Many votive objects were brought to the shrine, some of oak, and some of stone. Some offerings take the form of images of hands holding fruit or a cake; others represent the parts of the body requiring a cure. In many cases the pilgrims appear to have suffered from eye afflictions.[18]
Historical cult
Images of Belenus sometimes show him to be accompanied by a female, thought to be the Gaulish deity Belisama.[19] He may also have been accompanied by a female deity named Beléna, Beléstis, Beléstis Augústa, Beléstris or Belínca, a deity of light and health.[20]
Tertullian, writing in c. 200 AD, identifies Belenus as the national god of Noricum. Inscriptions dedicated to Belenus are concentrated in the Eastern Alps and Gallia Cisalpina, but there is evidence that the popularity of the god became more widespread in the Roman period. The third-century emperors Diocletian and Maximian each dedicated an inscription to Belenus in the region of Aquileia. A further 6 votive inscriptions of Belenus were discovered at Altinum, Concordia and Iulium Carnicum.[21] The soldiers of Maximinus Thrax, who laid siege to Aquileia in 238, reported seeing an appearance of the god defending the city from the air.[22]
He was associated with the horse (as shown by the clay horse figurine offerings at Belenos's Sainte-Sabine shrine in Burgundy) and also the wheel. Perhaps like Apollo, with whom he became identified in the Augustan History,[17] Belenos was thought to ride the Sun across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot.[23]
Legacy
The Slovenian divinity Belin, attested in the 19th century by Simon Rutar, may provide evidence of the survival of Belenus' cult in the region and of its later integration into Slovenian beliefs, possibly blended with attributes of the Slavic god Belibog.[24][5] The local population regarded him as a great healer who could cure blindness with his 'key'.[25]
Professor Monika Kropej also states that Belenus was likewise possibly incorporated as the beliči of the Slovenian fairy lore.[26] An incised stone in southwestern Slovenia called berlina by the local population, among other names, which is connected to ancient rituals and shows two primitively carved figures with heads ornated with rays, may also be related.[5]
Popular Culture
- Belenus is often sworn, 'By Belenos', by the Gauls on the Asterix franchise.
References
- ^ Schrijver 1999, p. 24: "Apart from the association with the Roman Apollo, little is known about the function and significance of Belenos (Pauly Wissowa s. v. Belenus). He is probably associated with medicine."
- ^ Birkhan 2006, p. 195: "Celtic deity whose name is often connected with the Graeco-Roman god Apollo (see interpretatio romana), although the cult of Belenos seems to have preserved a degree of independence ... Belenus was often identified with Apollo and seen as a typical Karnian oracle- and health-giving deity."
- ^ a b c d e Birkhan 2006, p. 195.
- ^ a b c d e MacKillop 2004, s.v. Belenus.
- ^ a b c Prósper 2017, p. 258.
- ^ a b c d Delamarre 2003, p. 72.
- ^ a b Leeming 2005, p. 48.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, pp. 24–27.
- ^ Maier 1994, p. 40.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, p. 27–28.
- ^ a b Prósper 2017, p. 262.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, pp. 30–34, 39–40.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, p. 27.
- ^ a b Delamarre 2003, p. 71.
- ^ Schrijver 1999, p. 26.
- ^ a b Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-200-7.
- ^ Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997
- ^ Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.
- ^ Kropej, Monika. Supernatural beings from Slovenian myth and folktales. Ljubljana: Institute of Slovenian Ethnology at ZRC SAZU. 2012. p. 217. ISBN 978-961-254-428-7
- ^ Maier, Bernhard (2012). Geschichte und Kultur der Kelten. C.H.Beck.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Helmut Birkhan, Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur, p. 583.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Šašel Kos 2001, p. 14.
- ^ Šašel Kos 2001, p. 9.
- ^ Kropej 2012, pp. 81–85.
Bibliography
- Birkhan, Helmut (2006). "Belenos/Belinos". In Koch, John T. (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
- Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
- Kropej, Monika (2012). Supernatural beings from Slovenian myth and folktales. Založba ZRC. ISBN 978-961-254-428-7.
- Leeming, David A. (2005). The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515669-0.
- MacKillop, James (2004). A dictionary of Celtic mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860967-1.
- Maier, Bernhard (1994). Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. A. Kröner. ISBN 978-3-520-46601-3.
- Prósper, Blanca María (2017). "The irreducible Gauls used to swear by Belenos. – Or did they? Celtic religion, henbane and historical misapprehensions". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 64 (1). doi:10.1515/zcph-2017-0007. ISSN 1865-889X.
- Šašel Kos, Marjeta (2001). "Belin". Studia mythologica Slavica. 4: 9–16. doi:10.3986/sms.v4i0.1807. ISSN 1581-128X.
- Schrijver, Peter (1999). "On Henbane and Early European Narcotics". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 51 (1): 17–45. doi:10.1515/zcph.1999.51.1.17. ISSN 1865-889X.
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