- Taranis
In
Celtic mythology Taranis was the god ofthunder worshipped inGaul , Britain andHispania and mentioned, along withEsus andToutatis , by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem "Pharsalia " as a Celtic deity to whom sacrificial offerings were made. [M. Annaeus Lucanus. "Pharsalia ," [http://worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/poetry/Pharsalia/chap1.html Book I] .] He was associated, as was thecyclops Brontes (‘thunder’) inGreek mythology , with the wheel and may have received human sacrifices. Many representations of a bearded god with a thunderbolt in one hand and a wheel in the other have been recovered from Gaul, where this deity apparently came to be syncretised with Jupiter. [Paul-Marie Duval. 2002. "Les Dieux de la Gaule." Paris, Éditions Payot.] He is likely connected with the Anglo-Saxon godÞunor , the NorseThor , the CelticAmbisagrus (likely from Proto-Celtic *Ambi-sagros = "Encircling-strength"), the IrishTuireann , and the Roman Mars. The name Taranis has not yet been recovered from Gaulish inscriptions, but similar variants have, such as Taranucno-, Taranuo-, and Taraino-. [Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl. 2001. "Répertoire des dieux gaulois." Paris, Éditions Errance.]Etymology
The reconstructed
lexis of theProto-Celtic language as collated by theUniversity of Wales [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf] suggests that the name is likely to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Celtic *"Toranos". This Proto-Celtic word means ‘thunder.’ In present day Welsh "Taranu" means 'to thunder'.Taranis, as a personification of thunder, is often identified with similar deities found in other Indo-European pantheons. Of these,
Thor and the Hittite god "Tarhun" (see alsoTeshub ) contain a comparable "*PIE|tor-" element. The Thracian deity names "Zbel-thurdos", "Zbel-Thiurdos" also contain this element (Thracian "- thurd(a)" "to push, to crash down"). Others have different etymologies, e.g. *PIE|Perkwunos ,Brontes andIndra .References
*Ellis, Peter Berresford, "Dictionary of Celtic Mythology" (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): ISBN 0-19-508961-8
*MacKillop, James. "Dictionary of Celtic Mythology". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
*Wood, Juliette, "The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art", Thorsons Publishers (2002): ISBN 0-00-764059-5Works cited
External links
* [http://www.mythome.org/celtic.html Celtic Gods and Associates]
* [http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/bl_taranis.htm Images of Taranis]
* [http://www.paralumun.com/celticgod.htm Celtic Gods]
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