Moritasgus

For the stick insect, see Moritasgus stresemanni.

Moritasgus is a Celtic epithet for a healing god found in four inscriptions at Alesia.[1] In two inscriptions, he is identified with the Greco-Roman god Apollo.[2] His consort was the goddess Damona.

Etymology

The name Moritasgus, shared by a 1st-century BC ruler of the Senones,[3] has been analyzed variously. The particle -tasgus has been derived by scholars from a Proto-Celtic stem *tazgo-,[4][5] *tasgos or *tasko- 'badger'.[6][7][8][9] Xavier Delamarre proposed that the complete name means "Sea Badger", from Gaulish mori 'sea' + tasgos (also tascos or taxos), 'badger'.[10] The European badger produced a secretion used in Gaulish medicaments, hence a possible connection with a healing god.[11]

Shrine in Alesia

Alesia was an oppidum of the Celtic Mandubii in present-day Burgundy. A dedication to the gods alludes to the presence of a shrine at the curative spring, where sick pilgrims could bathe in a sacred pool. The sanctuary itself, located near the eastern gate of the town just outside the city wall,[12] was impressive, with baths and a temple. In addition, there were porticoes, where the sick possibly slept, hoping for divine visions and cures.

Numerous votive objects[13] were dedicated to Moritasgus. These were models of the pilgrims and the afflicted parts of their bodies: these included limbs, internal organs, genitals, breasts, and eyes. Surgeons' tools have also been found, suggesting that the priests[14] also acted as surgeons.

Selected bibliography

  • Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997.

References

  1. ^ Jacky Bénard et al., Les agglomérations antiques de Côte-d'Or (Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, 1994), p. 251 online.
  2. ^ CIL 13.11240 and 11241; Bernhard Maier, Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture (Alfred Kröner, 1994, 1997, translation Boydell & Brewer 1997), p. 198 online.
  3. ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 5.54.
  4. ^ Mac an Bhaird, Alan (1980). "Varia II. Tadhg Mac Céin and the Badgers". Ériu. 31: 150–55 [154]. JSTOR 30008220. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
  5. ^ Grzega, Joachim (2001). Romania Gallica Cisalpina: Etymologisch-geolinguistische Studien zu den oberitalienisch-rätoromanischen Keltizismen (in German). Berlin, New York: Max Niemeyer Verlag. p. 240 (entry "*tazgo-"). doi:10.1515/9783110944402.
  6. ^ Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies (in French). Editions Errance. p. 199. ISBN 9782877720892.
  7. ^ Katz, Joshua T. (1998). "Hittite Tašku- and the Indo-European Word for 'Badger.'". Historische Sprachforschung [Historical Linguistics]. 111 (1): 61–82 [68-69]. JSTOR 41288957. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
  8. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (in French). Éditions Errance. p. 291.
  9. ^ Jacques Lacroix (2007). Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux (in French). Errance. pp. 93–94, 96. ISBN 978-2-87772-349-7.
  10. ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (in French). Éditions Errance. pp. 229, 292–293.
  11. ^ See Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), pp. 229, 292–293, and D. Ellis Evans, Gaulish personal names: a study of some Continental Celtic formations (University of Michigan Press, 1967), p. 103. For further discussion, see Tasgetius: Name and badger lore.
  12. ^ James Bromwich, The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France: A Guidebook (Routledge, 2003), pp. 49 and 133 online et passim.
  13. ^ See ex-voto and Milagro (votive) for analogous Christian practices.
  14. ^ The druids were the priesthood of the ancient Celts.

Further reading