Celtic deities

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Celtic deities is the collective term for gods and beings of Celtic mythology and religion who were worshiped within the realm of Celtic culture (Celticum) by the tribes of the British Isles , Gaul , the Celtiberian peoples and the Eastern Celts of the Danube countries and Galatia before their Christianization . Archaeological and philological evidence shows a polytheistic view with numerous local and regional, but also some nationally widespread Celtic deities. The names of the deities of mainland Celtic cultures have been handed down through inscriptions and the works of ancient Greek and Roman authors; also those of the island celts through early medieval records of Celtic myths and legends . While mother goddesses were to be found in the entire Celtic region, father gods or god fathers can hardly be reliably named. On the other hand , gods of the dead , crafts and, above all, war gods took important positions . Whether gods with animal attributes or in animal form played an essential role in the Celtic cult is controversial.

Etymology and sources

The reconstructed Indo-European word for god or goddess, * deiuos , * deiuih 2 , is present as a stem in all Celtic languages . In Gaulish and British it is * dēvo- or * dīvo- and is not only in name but also in Vercelli ' s bilingual (from Latin bilinguis "bilingual") as teuoxtonion , from which dēvo-gdonion "gods and man" passed down; Irish día , plural dè , Cymrian dwyw , younger duw . The river name Dee , which is common in Britain, is derived from the British deva "goddess" .

The ideas of the Celts of their deities are essentially unknown, as there are hardly any older written traditions (traditions) for them. The fact that the gods were seen as anthropomorphic - including the distinction between male and female and the existence of families of gods - can be seen not only in many cult images, but also in a human-God analogy that is often found in literature. A uniform pantheon , as it is known from Greco-Roman mythology, cannot be assumed for the Celtic deities.

Hypotheses on the structure of the Celtic gods and on Indo-European religions as a whole (“three-function theory”) in comparative research on myths and religions of the 20th century by their contributor Georges Dumézil , and in his successor, especially for the Celticum, for example by Jean J. Hatt and Jan de Vries , are viewed more critically by Celtologists today and are sometimes no longer accepted.

The Interpretatio Romana and the Interpretatio Graeca - Celtic gods are interpreted as classical deities - only represent a very simplified picture of the functions of gods and say practically nothing about the associated myth. The problems of the Greeks and Romans in identifying classical Celtic deities can be traced back to their extensive lack of understanding of the complexity of the Celtic gods. For reasons of legal policy, Cicero , who wanted to achieve a favorable litigation position for a client with this argument, assumes that the Gauls are almost godless. The euhemerism widespread in the island Celtic area, first turning mythical heroes into gods, then after Christianization, then again becoming mortal heroes, shows the origins of ancient mythology only in fragments. On the mainland, the names of the deities, on the other hand, the myths on the islands - albeit in an alienated form - have been preserved:

" We know (at least in part) the religion of the mainland Celts, but no mythology, whereas the island Celts literarily formed the mythology at a time when the underlying religion no longer existed "

- Helmut Birkhan
Pillar of the Nautae Parisiaci

Although there were some deities that were widespread, nowadays it is more likely that there are limited, locally bound cult communities. Archeology confirms that most known god names are limited to small geographic areas. On the basis of images, (consecration) inscriptions, escape signs ( defixiones ) and texts by ancient authors as well as early medieval legends - especially in the island Celtic area - one can identify some "divine archetypes" that were widespread throughout the Celtic culture. An example of this is Belenus / Belinus , often equated with Apollon , the one on inscriptions in Aquileia (still today in the name of the Beligna district ), in France ( Saint-Chamas , Bayeux ), in Britain (compare the king's name Cunobelinus ) and probably also in Thrace was worshiped. The attempt by Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville to postulate the Irish god Lugh / Lugus as the deity of Gaul, however, is very controversial. However, the almost typical Celtic particularism , which was also politically decisive, is responsible for the local limitation of worship due to a large number of gods (over 400) and their therefore fuzzy, overlapping functions. A division of the deities according to these functions is therefore only to be seen as a guide in each case. It is more likely that the deities had a number of functions and that these came to the fore individually depending on the occasion and cult.

With the frequently occurring triads and also the pairs of gods, there is on the one hand a merging because of the same function (see the matrones or matrons ), on the other hand as a mutual complement (example male / female, see Bormo / Damona ), and according to the aspect of " saints Wedding ”to be accepted. The cuboid I (" god pair cuboid") of the Nautae Parisiaci can be seen as an example of two deities each with the same function. In these associations, the male deity often - sometimes exclusively - bears the Roman name, while the goddess retains the old Celtic name (see Mercurius and Rosmerta ). The connection to a pair of gods also sometimes goes beyond the language border, for example the Celtic / Roman Lenus Mars is named in Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) together with the more Germanic triad of the Xulsigiae in an inscription from the temple district Irminenwingert . A connection between these Xulsigiae and the Celtic goddesses of the Suleviae , which are documented in the Upper Rhine region, Moselle, Britain and the city ​​of Rome , is assumed. Because of this finding, however, some researchers have also assigned them to the Germanic sphere (see also chapter "Celtic-Germanic interfaces"). In the last few decades the Suleviae have also been associated with the healing and spring goddess Sulis, who is venerated in Bath .

With all the names of gods, functions, cult forms and inscriptions handed down by ancient authors, however, it is not necessary to presuppose an already existing custom for the pre-Roman times.

Regional lore

The Celticum :
dark - original settlement area, light - maximum extent

The mainland Celticum and Britain (excluding Wales , Cornwall and Scotland ) almost exclusively handed down a functional division of the deities influenced by the ancient authors from Greece and Rome . A separation of the originally Celtic ideas and the later defined identification with the classical gods is hardly possible. For example, when Caesar on the Mercurius -Verehrung in Gaul writes:

Most of the illustrations exist of him, they consider him the inventor of all arts, the guide on paths and journeys, and they attribute the greatest power in money matters and business to him ... (b. G. VI, 17)

thus a large number of local mainland deities and their functions are assigned to a single Roman god. The Roman god of war Mars has almost twice as many Celtic epithets as Mercurius, but it is precisely with these two classical gods that the intermingling of the functions of trade, travel, craft and war, and even fertility, is evident. The Interpretatio Gallica , as a counterpart to the Interpretationes Romana and Graeca, represents Greek / Roman deities under the name and image of local Celtic gods. It is often difficult to differentiate in which direction these identifications were made in individual cases.

Island- Celticum :
Ireland (green)
Scotland (blue)
Wales (yellow)
Isle of Man (red)
Cornwall (orange)
Aremorica (purple)

In Ireland , the mythological tales recorded by monks are the basis of knowledge about the ancient deities. There was no Interpretatio Romana here, as Ireland was never occupied by the Romans. Especially the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("The Book of the Lands of Ireland") from the early 9th century, names in its report on the waves of immigration the Túatha Dé Danann , the "tribes of the goddess Danu", a family of gods that are then assigned in the Christian sense magical heroes mutated. The expression Trí Dé Daná ("The three gods of the Danu"), with which the three children of the Danu - Brian , Iuchar and Iucharba - are referred to. The three craft gods Goibniu , Credne and Luchta as well as the Túatha members Dagda , Lugh and Ogma are also referred to as Trí Dé Daná . The name of Dagda in particular is translated as "the good God", even if there are etymological ambiguities. Other mythical figures explicitly mentioned as deities are the Morrígan , which can be traced back to the ancient Celtic goddess Rigani , and the sea god Manannan mac Lir . From the Fomori people , the kings Elatha and Indech both have the patronymic (father's name) mac Dé Domnann ("the son of the god Domnu "). However, there is no clear assignment of functions to the Irish deities in the sense of the Interpretatio Romana . Attempts by Georges Dumézil and his students to construct a division of functions among the immigrants from the Lebor - the Fomori as fertility gods, the Firbolg as gods of war - are today rejected by a majority. Another controversial classification comes from d'Arbois de Jubainville, who sees the dark deities of death in the Fomori and the luminous deities of life in the Túatha Dé Danann.

For Scotland , Wales , Cornwall , the Isle of Man and Brittany ( Aremorica ), which is populated from the British Isles, what has been said above applies even more, because here only a few heroic myths have survived that were recorded from the early Middle Ages and therefore the old gods of the Reinterpretation into mythical, magical hero figures had to give way. In contrast to Ireland, this happened in the above-mentioned regions without the influence of the monasteries, which did not function as places of written tradition. Apart from Brittany, there was also no reinterpretation of the old gods into classical gods, since this region was not occupied by the Romans - except for a negligibly short period of time.

Deities and functions

Holy stone for the Matronae Vacallinehae from Weyer

The type of mother goddess ( Matres, Matrae, Matronae ) is common throughout the Celticum. Especially in the Celtic areas of the Roman Empire , more than 1000 such finds were registered between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. These goddesses are ancient fertility, healing and local deities, which presumably have their origins in pre-Celtic, possibly pre-Indo-European times, as some menhir statues might suggest. In Indo-European times, matron worship begins around 36 AD in Italy, can be archaeologically ascertained between 70 and 122 AD in the Rhineland (particularly in the Bonn area ) and ends around 260 AD. Numerous consecration stones of the Matronae Aufaniae ("Generous ancestor") were found in the 1960s near Bonn, those of the Matronae Vacallinehae in the temple district of Pesch near Bad Münstereifel-Nöthen , Euskirchen district . A clear assignment to the Celtic or Germanic culture and language area is difficult, as with many of the Matres, as they were mostly worshiped in the area of ​​a mixed population. In Celtic times they are usually represented as triads in the form of the matronae, which sometimes also personify the three ages. Their main function is that of guardian and tribal goddesses, a transition to the war or battle goddesses is also noticeable in some places (for example in the tribal goddess Brigantia of the North British Brigantes and the "Treverian mothers" among the Treverians in the Trier area). In this capacity, they are also venerated by individual legionaries and entire troops. Conversely, in Ireland the war goddess Badb / Bodb is also referred to with the nickname tuath thíre ("people of the country"), thus for example "landlady".

Taranis-Iuppiter from Le Châtelet de Gourzon, Dépt. Haute-Marne

A father god or god father in the sense of the classical heavenly hierarchy cannot be determined for the Celts. Caesar wrote that the Celts believed they were all descended from Dispater , the Greek Hades . This indicates a connection with the god of death, because the druids see death as the beginning of new life, so that the chthonic god of death also has a fertility function. Dispater is equated in the Lucan Scholias of Bern with Taranis , to whom human sacrifices are also made according to this passage. In another part of the scholia, however, Taranis is equated with Iuppiter , on an inscription in Rome with Heracles . The goddess Aericura is very often placed alongside the Dispater , especially in the east of the Celtic. An example of this is the inscription on a relief from Sulzbach , where Dispater is shown with a scroll. This is interpreted as accounting for those who are to be recalled from life. In the west of the Celtic the god Sucellus is called instead of Dispaters, whom Émile Linckenheld sees as a blacksmith and metal smelting deity because of his mallet attribute , because blacksmithing and smelting are also associated with a chthonic god of death. The goddess Nantosuelta is mentioned as his consort . A double relief near Sarrebourg (now in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Metz ) shows the two deities standing side by side with their attributes. The little house that Nantosuelta carries in her hand on most of the pictures shows her as the patron goddess of the home and wealth. Another main deity is Teutates ("Father of the People"?), Who was worshiped under the name variation Teutanus in the late Celtic oppidum of the Eravisker on today's Gellért Hill in Budapest ( Aquincum ). On the mountain, which the Romans probably called Mons Teutanus , an altar stone for Teutanus , who identified with the Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, was erected annually on June 11th from the 2nd to the 3rd century AD by the Duoviri of Aquincumer Colonia has been. In the Lukan scholias, however, he is consistently equated with Mercurius, on some ancient inscriptions with Mars. For Ireland, the Dagda is assumed to be the father deity, who can destroy life and donate it again with his forked club. He is therefore also seen as the god of death and fertility.

As mentioned above, the gods of death or death partly overlap with the father gods, but there are also some gods of death in the narrower sense. In Ireland, Donn and, with reservations, Goll mac Duilb and Tigernmas are included here. Donn is also nicknamed Fírinne , because the "Dead Mountain" Cnoc Fírinne in County Limerick is assumed to be its seat . Another version names the island of the dead Tech nDuinn ("House of Donn", the island of The Bull on the western tip of the Beara Peninsula ) as his seat, where all deceased come. With Goll and Tigernmas only the chthonic relationships to the “ Other World ” are a clue to see them as gods of death. The one-eyed (mismatch shows magical potency) Goll as King of Mag Mell , Tigernmas as the founder of gold mining in Ireland (gods of the dead were almost always gods of wealth) and because of his death to Samhain , where he took three quarters of the Irish population with him. The mainland Celtic god Ogmios is even more uncertain , although the description in Lukian of Samosata (Hercul. I) brings him close to the Greek Charon . To classify all deities associated with the other / underworld as gods of the dead is certainly inadmissible, just as the sacrificial shafts and sacrificial pits, which are widespread throughout the Celticum, can not be associated with a dead god cult of the locally venerated deity (see also Viereckschanze ).

In addition to those already mentioned, a large number of craft deities have been handed down, which illustrates the importance of craft for the Celts. The Trí Dé Daná in Ireland are the reason why the Túatha Dé Danann are also seen as the "tribe of the gods with the craftsmanship". Lugh in particular is emphasized as the bearer of this function both on the mainland and on the islands, which can also be read on an inscription in Osma , Soria province in Hispania Tarraconensis : “In the name of the shoemaker's guild, LL Urcico made the shrine a gift to the Lugoves ". The name Lugoves is interpreted as a triadic term of Lugus , this god was thus worshiped as a trinity, or at least as a duality. Lugh's Irish nickname (sam) ildánach means typically "the gifted one". The Cymric name for Lugh is Llew Llaw Gyffes and this is referred to in the Welsh triads as "one of the three divine / golden cobblers".

Some of the blacksmith gods are also seen as healing gods. Especially with the local deities, the source sanctuaries are always to be seen as their place of worship, as with the Suleviae , Grannus , Sequana , Bormo and Damona . In the Roman name of Aachen , Aquae Granni , a "health resort of the Lower Germanic army", the god of healing Grannus can be found. In Ireland it is again a member of the Túatha, namely the doctor of the gods Dian Cecht with his life-giving source.

The war and battle deities also played a major role among the Celts; among the Greek and Roman authors, the reference to the “typically Celtic” willingness to fight of this people is a recurring literary cliché.

... because at that time the Tyche ( the Greek goddess of fate ) had a kind of plague-like, contagious war rage come over the Gauls.

One of the attributes of the god of war in Britain is almost always a horn ornament on the head, usually ram, goat or bull horns, but no antlers as with Cernunnos . Some of the gods and goddesses already mentioned here are also to be seen as gods of war; if not already mentioned in this function, excerpts are also included: In Ireland, in addition to Badb / Bodb, the goddesses Morrígan , Nemain and Ernmas , in Britain Andraste , on the continent Esus, equated with Mars, and the goddess Nemetona . Whether the fighting demonesses like Scáthach from Alba ( Scotland ) are to be counted among the war gods is controversial. In Lebor Gabála Érenn , the Irish call the war noise, which is significant for battle among all the Celts, a divine invention of Túatha Dé Danann .

Cernunnos on the Nautae Parisiaci column

It is not possible to clearly distinguish whether there were actual animal deities or whether these were particularly close relationships with certain animals that are assigned to the deity by means of corresponding attributes. Cernunnos is depicted with (deer?) Antlers - on the pillar of the Nautae Parisiaci and probably also on the Gundestrup cauldron . Andarta and Artio refer to the bear by their name (old Celtic * artos ). The pig, in particular the boar, is the mount of the goddess Arduinna , the name of the god Moccus is probably derived from the Irish mucc or Welsh mochyn (both = "pig"). The goddess name Damona is associated with the Irish dam ("ox"), the Tarvos Trigaranus is the "bull with the three cranes" in connection with the god Esus. Badb / Bodb is derived from the Irish * bodua ("crow"). Horse goddesses are the Gallic Epona and the Welsh Rhiannon , who was originally understood as a deity. Animal masks in fertility rituals are also an indication of a connection to the gods.

Celtic-Germanic interfaces

Older relationships (from the pre- Iron Age ) between Celts and Germanic peoples cannot be identified in terms of linguistic history, from the late Hallstatt and Latène periods onward , peaceful and warlike contacts were assumed, which can be seen from common roots of words. A Celtic-Germanic cultural association of the North Sea area can also be linguistically fixed, as can the Kessel cult, which occurred equally in both peoples' daily life and in mythology. It is assumed that the mother goddesses (see above with the Xulsigiae / Suleviae and the Matronae Vacallinehae ) were originally Celtic and were adopted by the Teutons in the form of the girl-woman-matron triads. Other gods that have not yet been named and whose assignment is controversial are Arvernus , Baldruus , Cimbrianus , Gebrinius , Magusanus and the goddesses Aericura and Vercana .

See also

literature

  • Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
  • Helmut Birkhan: Post-ancient Celtic reception. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 .
  • Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology , Tosa Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 9783854928461 .
  • Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter, Düsseldorf et al. 1991, ISBN 3-530-70014-2 , pp. 290 ff. (2nd edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 ).
  • Miranda J. Green, Sandra Billington (Eds.): The Concept of the Goddess . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-19789-9 .
  • Miranda J. Green: The Druids . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2001, ISBN 3-8289-0737-7 .
  • Miranda J. Green: The Gods of Roman Britain (Shire Archeology Series). Shire Publication, Aylesbury 2003, ISBN 0-85263-634-2 .
  • Miranda J. Green: The Gods of the Celts . Sutton Publishing, Stoud 1997, ISBN 0-7509-3479-4 .
  • Proinsias Mac Cana: Celtic Religion. An overview . In: Lindsay Jones (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Religion , 2nd A., Vol. 3 (2005), ISBN 0-02-865736-5 , pp. 1478-1497.
  • Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
  • Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-48234-1 .
  • Bernhard Maier: Small lexicon of names and words of Celtic origin. CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-49470-6 .
  • Joseph F. Nagy: Celtic Religion. History of Study. In: Lindsay Jones (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Religion , 2nd A., Vol. 3 (2005), ISBN 0-02-865736-5 .
  • Ludwig Pauli: Celtic popular belief. Amulets and special burials on the Dürrnberg near Hallein and in Central Europe in the Iron Age . Beck, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-406-00498-9 .
  • Anne Ross: The Druids. Preachers of immortality . Tempus Publishing Ltd., Stroud, Gloucestershire 2004, ISBN 0-7524-2576-5 .
  • Anne Ross: Pagan Celtic Britain. Studies in iconography and traditions . Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1967; various new editions, including Academy Chicago Publ., Chicago, Ill. 1997, ISBN 0-89733-435-3 . Review by CS Littleton.
  • Rudolf Thurneysen : The Irish hero and king saga up to the seventeenth century. Hall 1921.
  • Jan de Vries : Celtic Religion . (The Religions of Mankind 18), Stuttgart 1961 / Reprint Edition Amalia, Bern 2006, ISBN 3-905581-20-5 .

Web links

Portal: Mythology  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the topic of mythology
Commons : Celtic Deities  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
  • Karl Prumm (SJ), Karl Prümm SJ: Religious history manual for the area of ​​the early Christian environment . Gregorian Biblical BookShop, 1954 ( preview in Google Book Search).
  • Bernhard Maier: The Celts: their history from the beginning to the present (=  Beck's historical library, series “Early Peoples” ). CH Beck, 2000, ISBN 978-3-406-46094-4 ( preview in Google book search).
  • Johann Figl: Handbook of Religious Studies: Religions and their central themes . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003, ISBN 978-3-7022-2508-7 ( preview in Google book search).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: On the reading and interpretation of Gallic inscriptions . Innsbruck 1989
  2. ↑ a b c Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . Keyword: Gods and Goddesses , p. 146 f.
  3. ↑ Bernhard Maier: Small lexicon of names and words of Celtic origin. P. 69.
  4. ↑ a b c d Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 73 f.
  5. ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero: Philippicae, et Orationes per Fonteio. 13.30: “An vero istas [sc. Gallorum] nationes religione iuris iurandi ac metu deorum immortalium in testimonis dicendis commoveri arbitramini? " ( Online in the Google book search)
  6. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 464 f.
  7. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 582 f.
  8. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 83 f.
  9. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 89 f.
  10. ^ Joseph F. Nagy: Celtic Religion. History of Study. P. 1483.
  11. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. P. 41.
  12. ↑ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . Chapter: The Celtic gods and goddesses according to their functions , p. 491 ff.
  13. ↑ AE 1924, 00016 ; Edith Mary Wightman. Roman Trier and the Treveri , Praeger, London 1970/71, p. 213.
  14. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . Pp. 581 ff., 618, 624; Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . Pp. 303-304.
  15. ^ Gaius Iulius Caesar, Johann Christoph Held ( transl . & Comm.): Caii Julii Caesaris Commentarii de bello Gallico . Seidel, 1839, p. 223 ( preview in Google book search): Deum maxime Mercurium colunt; huius sunt plurima simulacra, hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt, hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur.
  16. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Pp. 491 f., 593.
  17. ^ Johann Figl: Handbuch Religionswissenschaft: Religions and their central topics . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003, ISBN 978-3-7022-2508-7 , pp. 226 ( preview in Google Book search).
  18. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 459 f.
  19. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The legend book of the Welsh Celts. The four branches of the Mabinogi . Dtv Munich, April 1999, ISBN 3-423-12628-0 , p. 108 f.
  20. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 265 f.
  21. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 513 ff.
  22. ↑ e.g. at Le Mas d'Azaïs Montlaur and Le Mas Capelier (both in the Aveyron Dep.  , France )
  23. ^ M. Siebourg: The matron cult at the Bonn Minster. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 138, 1933, pp. 103 ff.
  24. ↑ as an example: CIL VII, 221 [Deab (us) Ma] trib [us] / M (arcus) Ingenui / us Asiati [cus] / dec (urio) al (ae) II As [t (urum)] / [ v (otum)] s (olvit) l (aetus) l (ibens) m (erito) - from Ribchester (Bremetennacum) in Lancashire , Roman province of Britannia
  25. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Teutons and Celts up to the end of Roman times. Austrian Academy of Sciences , phil.-hist. Kl. 272, Vienna 1970, pp. 492, 518.
  26. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 549 ff.
  27. ↑ “A Father God is God in his essence, but also Father - for example of another God, of a hero or of a human being (like CúChulainn a son of Lug). A father of gods is a father who brings forth gods; he does not necessarily have to be a god himself, but could also be a titan , as occurs in ancient mythology. With the Celts we don't know that exactly, that's why this formulation leaves both open. ”(Helmut Birkhan, October 2011).
  28. ^ Gaius Iulius Caesar: De bello Gallico VI, 18.
  29. ^ CIL VI, 139 Diti / Patri // Hercu / li // Ti (berius) / Claudius / Spend [on] // Valeria / Frontis
  30. ↑ CIL XIII, 6322 I (n) h (onorem) d (omus) d (ivinae) d (eae) s (anctae) Aericur (ae) et Diti Pat (ri) / Veter (ius) Paternus et Adi () Pater (n / A)
  31. ^ A b Joseph F. Nagy: Celtic Religion. History of Study. P. 1485.
  32. ^ Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology , p. 247 f.
  33. ^ Zsolt Mráv : Castellum contra Tautantum. To identify a late Roman fortress. In: Ádám Szabó , Endre Tóth (ed.): Bölcske. Roman inscriptions and finds - In memoriam Sándor Soproni (1926-1995) Libelli archaeologici Ser. Nov. No. II. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-9046-83-3 , p. 354.
  34. ^ Attila Gaál: Bölcske fortlet. In: Zsolt Visy (ed.): The Roman army in Pannonia. Teleki Lázló Foundation 2003, ISBN 963-86388-2-6 , p. 176.
  35. ^ Sándor Soproni : Előzetes jelentés a bölcskei késő római ellenerőd kutatásáról. (Preliminary report on the research into the late Roman counter-fortress in Bölcske.) In: Communicationes Archaeologicae Hungariae 1990 . Budapest 1991, pp. 133-142, here: p. 142.
  36. ↑ Rudolf Thurneysen: The Irish hero and king saga up to the seventeenth century. P. 479.
  37. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 555 ff.
  38. ↑ Kuno Meyer : The Irish god of the dead and the island of the dead. In: Special volume 32 of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences , Berlin 1919, p. 542.
  39. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Pp. 505, 732.
  40. ^ Klopstock / Gronemeyer / Beck: Works and Letters: historical-critical edition: (Hamburg Klopstock edition), Section II, Letters; 8, 1783-1794; 2, apparatus, commentary, appendix . Ed .: Helmut Riege. Walter de Gruyter, 1999, ISBN 978-3-11-014281-5 , p. 850 ( preview in Google Book Search).
  41. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 593 ff.
  42. ↑ CIL II, 2818 Lugovibus / sacrum / L (ucius) L (icinius?) Urci / co (m) colle / gio sutoru / md (onum) d (edit)
  43. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 618 ff.
  44. ↑ Herbert Nesselhauf, Harald von Petrikovits: A Weihaltar for Apollo from Aachen-Burtscheid. In: Bonner Jahrbuch 67, 1967, p. 268 ff.
  45. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 634 ff.
  46. ^ Polybios : Historíai , II, 20. In: Volume 49 of Langenscheidtsche Bibliothek of all Greek and Roman classics in newer German sample translations . Langenscheidt, 1925.
  47. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 696 ff.
  48. ^ Joseph F. Nagy: Celtic Religion. History of Study. P. 1487.
  49. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 571.
  50. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 321.
  51. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 937.
  52. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 813.
  53. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture . P. 519.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on November 15, 2011 in this version .