Nodons

Nodons , also Nodens , is an ancient Celtic god revered in Britain . He is described as the god of healing, water and dogs. Votive inscriptions attest to his worship in Lydney Park in what is now Gloucestershire .

Adoration

The sanctuary in Lydney Park is believed to have been built in honor of Nodon based on the archaeological finds there. In addition to votive offerings bearing the name of Nodon, a bronze statue was found depicting a chariot drawn by four horses on which a man with a club is standing, and a monument on which a man kills a fish. This monument also bears the inscription with the name Nodons. Furthermore, a bronze dog and a destroyed mosaic of fish figures were discovered - albeit without being assigned a name. Nodons is also mentioned on a votive plaque with a picture of a dog.

Additional dedicatory inscriptions were found in Cockersand Moss ( City of Lancaster ) in the county of Lancashire ; However, these are now considered lost.

interpretation

There have been attempts to derive the name Nodon from the Gothic , using niutan “to reach, to get” and nuta “fisherman, hunter, catcher” as a basis. Furthermore, etymological parallels to the Irish legendary figure and deity Nuada and the Welsh figure Nudd are drawn. Recurring attributes such as a silver hand (Nuada and Nudd) to Nodon's bronze hand support this suspicion.

Nodons was still equated with Mars according to the Interpretatio Romana . Other sources also attest to an equation with Silvanus . JRR Tolkien was commissioned to prepare a treatise on the interpretation of names in connection with the excavation, which was appended to the report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman, and Post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire on the archaeological Site was added.

literature

Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. Tosa Verlag, Vienna 2004.
Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .

Web links

roman-britain.org (English). Detailed information about the inscriptions in Lydney Park.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 250 f.
^ The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [1] , The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [2]
^ ^A ^b ^c Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. P. 255 f.
↑ The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [3]
↑ The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [4] , The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [5]
↑ Mortimer Wheeler, Tessa Verney Wheeler: Report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman, and Post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire (= Reports of the Research Committee . No. 9 ). Oxford University Press, Oxford 1932, OCLC 5866363 , Appendix: The Name “Nodens” by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

[BMa-1] Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 250 f.

[RIB1-2] The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [1] , The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [2]

[SBr-3] A ^b ^c Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. P. 255 f.

[4] The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [3]

[5] The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [4] , The Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) [5]

[6] Mortimer Wheeler, Tessa Verney Wheeler: Report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman, and Post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire (= Reports of the Research Committee . No. 9 ). Oxford University Press, Oxford 1932, OCLC 5866363 , Appendix: The Name “Nodens” by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.