Arduinna

In Celtic mythology, Arduinna ("Arduina, Arduinnae, Arduinne") was the eponymous goddess of the Ardennes Forest and region, represented as a huntress riding a boar (primarily in the present-day regions of Belgium and Luxembourg). Her cult originated in what is today known as Ardennes, a region of Belgium, Luxembourg and France. She was later assimilated into the Gallo-Roman mythology of goddess Diana.

Depictions

In "The Gods of the Celts", author Green states that some depictions of Arduinna show her riding a boar (Green 1986, p.180). However, Deyts notes that the bronze Gallo-Roman statue of a woman in a short belted tunic, riding a boar sidesaddle and holding a knife (Boucher fig.292, or [http://www.les-ardennes.net/images/photos/arduina.jpghere] ), bears no inscription, and was simply assumed to be Arduinna by the 19th century antiquarian who discovered it - perhaps because the modern symbol of the Ardennes region is also a boar (Deyts 1992, pp.46-47).

Inscriptions

Arduinna is known from two inscriptions:

* Düren, Germany "deae Arduinnae" (CIL XIII 07848)
* Rome, Italy "Arduinne" (CIL VI, 00046)

Etymology

The name Arduinna derives from the Gaulish "arduo-" meaning height (Delamarre p.51). It is also found in several placenames, such as the Ardennes Woods ("Arduenna silva"), in personal names "Arduunus" and "Arda" — the latter from coinage of the Treveri, (RIG-4, 36-43) — and the Galatian "Αρδή". The name "Arduenna silva" for "wooded heights" was applied to several forested mountains, not just the modern Ardennes: it is found in the départements of Alleuze, Haute-Loire and Puy-du-Dôme (Delamarre pp.51-52).

Historical references

In 565, St. Walfroy (Wulfilaïc) preached to the local population of Villers-devant-Orval to persuade them to abandon worship of Arduinna.

References

* Boucher, S. (1976) "Recherches sur les Bronzes Figurés de Gaule Pré-romaine et Romaine" (Research on the Bronze Figures of Gaul, Pre-Roman and Roman). Paris, Ecole Français de Rome.
* Colbert de Beaulieu, Jean-Baptiste and Fischer, Brigitte (1998) "Receuil des Inscriptions gauloises" (RIG) 4: "les légendes monétaires". Paris, Editions du CNRS
* Delamarre, Xavier and Lambert, P.Y. (2003). "Dictionaire de la Langue Gauloise" (Dictionary of the Gaulish Language). 2nd edition. Paris, Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-237-6
* Deyts, Simone (1992) "Images des Dieux de la Gaule" (Images of the Gods of Gaul). Paris Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-067-5
* Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), volume 6, Italia
* Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), volume 13, Tres Galliae
* Green, Miranda (1986) "The Gods of the Celts". Stroud, Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1581-1

External links

* [http://www.les-ardennes.net/decouverte/arduina.php Les Ardennes article (in French); has photo of sculpted goddess riding a boar]
* [http://www.chez.com/ortenpopan/cantons/patreligieux.html Sources of the St. Walfroy link (in French)]
* [http://www.expansions.be/texte.mv?id=137 Expansions lecture (in French)]
* [http://www.les-ardennes.net/decouverte/arduina.php Les Ardennes article (in french)]