Matunus

Matunus , Latinized form of Matun (n) os , is a Celtic (bear -?) God who was worshiped in Britain and Gaul .

etymology

Its name goes back to the ancient Celtic word * matu- “good, cheap” or “bear” (see old Irish math , “bear”, but also old Celtic * mati , old Irish maith , “good”, synonymous with Kymrian mad ) and is also included in the name of the Lingon city ​​of Andematunum (now Langres , France ). The transition from * matu- to math can be explained with the use of a taboo name for the bear (see German "Bär" - actually "the brown one"). An interpretation of Matunus as "(God of) good days" is therefore also possible. The competing i strains ( * mati- ) and u strains ( * matu- ) were later divided up in such a way that the former was given the meaning "good" and the latter the meaning "bear".

Dedicatory inscription and mythology

A military unit of the Roman army, the Cohors Primae Lingonum Equitata , which consisted primarily of lingons, was also stationed in Bremenium ( High Rochester , Northumberland ). A shrine with an inscription was found here around 1715.

It is believed that Matunus was mainly worshiped as a god by the Lingons. Since Matunus can mean "(big) bear", as with Artaios, a function as bear god can be assumed. He is also counted among the Celtic bear deities together with the goddess Artio and Andarta .

In the medieval Welsh tales of the fourth branch of the Mabinogi occurs Math ( "Bear, son of the little bear") as one of the main characters in appearance and in the Irish Lebor Gabála Érenn ( "The Book of land invasions of Ireland") is from the people of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("people of the goddess Danu") the speech, to whose followers a magician named Mathgen ("son of the bear") belongs. Whether and to what extent there is a connection between these two figures and the ancient Celtic bear god Matunus has not been clarified with certainty.

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Celtic religion
• Celtic mythology

literature

• Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
• Eric Birley : The Deities of Roman Britain. In: Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase (Hrsg.): Rise and decline of the Roman world : History and culture of Rome in the mirror of recent research. Part 2: Principat, Volume 18: Religion (Paganism: The Religious Conditions in the Provinces), Part 1. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1986, pp. 3–112, here pp. 70 f.
• Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 228.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 713 f.
2. ^ Garrett S. Olmsted: The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans. Archaeolingua Alapítvány, Budapest 1994, ISBN 3-85124-173-8 , p. 433. (for the Gallic language area)
3. ↑ The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [1] = CIL VII, 995 Deo Matuno / pro salute / M (arci) [A] ur [eli 3] / [6] / bono generis / humani impe / rante C (aius ) [Iulius] / [Marcus] leg (atus) / Aug (usti) pr (o) pr (aetore) posuit / ac dedicavit / c (uram) a (gente) Caecil (io) Optato trib (uno)
4. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 228.