Travalaha

Travalaha or Travalaeha is the name of a Germanic goddess , which is only documented in inscriptions from a fragment of a possible votive stone that was found in Cologne and dates from the Roman Empire.

Discovery and Inscription

During archaeological excavations in 1974 in the planum of a former Roman manor ( villa rustica ) in Cologne-Raderthal , the inscription stone was found next to rubble as backfilling of a well. The stone is in the possession and depot of the Roman-Germanic Museum in Cologne .

The fragmented square stone (44–47 × 37 × 35.5 cm) is an altar stone, or its base or the base of a statuette stone whose respective upper part (gable, cornice, statue) is broken off and lost. There is a dowel hole in the middle of the break-off edge.

The inscription runs directly on this edge as a preserved second and third line. It is disturbed due to the course of the demolition edge (picture link) and executed in simple capitalis . The introductory letters TR are damaged and the A after the sequence AVAL can only be read through the beginnings of both slashes, a conicable following E can be plausibly reconstructed due to the eruption of material. Thus Hartmut Galsterer creates the inscription as:

"[Deae] / Travala [e] / hae"

"The goddess Travala [.] Ha"

An exact chronological assignment or dating is not possible due to the location in situ . At most, according to Galsterer, an obvious time estimate of the construction and manufacture of the stone can be determined in connection with the settlement of the areas on the outlying roads of the CCAA (city wall) . In addition, according to Galsterer, there is the general observation of votive stone finds in the vicinity of the Villa rustica in the province of Germania inferior. The area in the south of the CCAA has been increasingly populated since the 2nd century and later came under pressure from Germanic invasions. ( see: The CCAA as the capital of the Prov. Germania inferior and crisis in the 3rd century. )

Surname

Hartmut Galsterer leaves open an interpretation of the otherwise unknown goddess. According to him, it is difficult to see that the stone in its fragmented tradition appears without parallel evidence, without iconographic references and donor inscription form in order to be able to draw conclusions about the nature of the goddess. He also rules out an etymological interpretation. He merely points out that the Travalaha, comparable to the Nehalennia and Sunuxal, can be a "tribal goddess" in the Germania inferior .

Rudolf Simek proceeds differently, who defines the name as clearly Germanic and uses the runic evidence of the (personal) name þrāwija from the Swedish rune stone from Kalleby ( þrawijan haitinaR was ) from the 4th / 5th. Century compares. He therefore places Travala (e) ha as a deverbial derivation from ārāwijan to urnordic þrāwō , in German “ to sehn ”. He therefore interprets the name of the Travalaha as the "longed-for goddess", whose function remains indefinite.

literature

Brigitte Galsterer, Hartmut Galsterer : The Roman stone inscriptions from Cologne (I Cologne²). (= Kölner Forschungen 10), with the participation of Stefan Breuer, Bettina Goffin, Michael Herchenbach, Stefan Meusel, Sabine Schmall and Stefan Schrumpf. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-8053-4229-2 , p. 184 no.205.
Frank Heidermanns : Etymological dictionary of Germanic primary adjectives. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1993, ISBN 3-11-013666-X (for a fee from de Gruyter Online).
Lydia Klos: Runestones in Sweden. Studies on installation site and function. (= Real Lexicon of Germanic Antiquity - Supplementary Volumes 64). Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (eds.), De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021464-2 , pp. 285-290; here 288f.
John McKinnell , Rudolf Simek , Klaus Düwel : Runes, Magic and Religion. A sourcebook. (= Studia Medievalia Septentrionalia 10) Fassbaender, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-900538-81-6 , p. 163.
Hermann Reichert : Lexicon of Old Germanic Names , Volume I, Part 1: Text Volume, Part 2: Register. (= Thesaurus Palaeogermanicus , 1,1,2) With the collaboration of Wilibald Kraml and Robert Nedoma. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1987–1990, ISBN 978-3-7001-0931-0 , ISBN 978-3-7001-1718-6 , part 1 p. 714, part 2 p. 624.
Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 442.

Web links

Image of the stone

Remarks

↑ Krause / Jankuhn ( The rune inscriptions in the older Futhark. V&R, Göttingen 1966, no. 61, p. 139) translate: "He was called to long back (for the grave) (the possible revenant)." cultural science Discussion and criticism: Elmer H. Antonsen : Runes and Germanic Linguistics. (= Trends in linguistics: Studies and Monographs; 140). Mouton De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2002, ISBN 3-11-017462-6 , pp. 190-192.
↑ Heidermanns: p. 625f. as an adjective "stubborn" from Germ. þrawa- .

[1] Krause / Jankuhn ( The rune inscriptions in the older Futhark. V&R, Göttingen 1966, no. 61, p. 139) translate: "He was called to long back (for the grave) (the possible revenant)." cultural science Discussion and criticism: Elmer H. Antonsen : Runes and Germanic Linguistics. (= Trends in linguistics: Studies and Monographs; 140). Mouton De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2002, ISBN 3-11-017462-6 , pp. 190-192.

[2] Heidermanns: p. 625f. as an adjective "stubborn" from Germ. þrawa- .