Lugus is a Celtic god whose worship is attested in the epigraphic record. His nature is uncertain and no depictions of him are known. Lugus perhaps also appears in Roman sources and medieval Insular mythology.
Various dedications, concentrated in Iberia and dated to between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, attest to the worship of the god Lugus. However, these predominately describe the god in the plural, as the Lugoves. The nature of these deities, and their relationship to Lugus, has been much debated. Only one, early inscription from Peñalba de Villastar, Spain is widely agreed to attest to Lugus as a singular entity. The god Lugus has also been connected with the common element "Lug(u)-" in Celtic onomastics and toponymy (for example, in the name of the Roman settlement Lugudunum).
Julius Caesar's description in Commentarii de Bello Gallico of an important pre-Roman Gaulish god (whom Caesar identified with the Roman god Mercury) has been interpreted as a reference to the god Lugus. Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury has been examined against Insular sources, as well as the prominence of "Lug(u)-" elements in Gaulish toponymy. A prominent cult to Mercury in Roman Gaul may provide more evidence for this identification.
Lugus has also been connected with two figures from medieval Insular mythology. In Irish mythology, Lugh is an important and supernatural figure. His description as a skilled artisan and founder of a harvest festival has been compared with Gaulish Mercury. In Welsh mythology, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, a protagonist of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, is a more minor figure, but is linked etymologically with Irish Lugh. He perhaps shares with the Lugoves an association with shoemaking.
The reconstruction of a pan-Celtic god Lugus from these details, first proposed in the 19th century by Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville, has proven controversial. Criticism of this theory by scholars such as Bernhard Maier has caused aspects (such as a Celtic festival of Lugus) to be abandoned, however scholars still defend the reconstruction.
The etymology of Lugus's name has been the subject of repeated conjecture, but no single etymology has gained wide acceptance.
The most commonly repeated etymology derives the name from proto-Indo-European * ("to shine"). This etymology is closely tied to proposals to identify Lugus as a solar god. However, the derivation poses phonological difficulties. has pointed out that it would result in Irish Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Luch, rather than the attested Irish Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Lugh.[1]
and Erich Hamp have proposed that the theonym derives from a proto-Celtic word meaning "oath" (either Celtic languages: lugiom or Celtic languages: leugh-).[2] A. G. van Hamel and Maier proposed a derivation from proto-Celtic Celtic languages: lugus ("lynx"), perhaps used allusively to mean "warrior", but an article by John Carey found the evidence for this etymon lacking.[3] [4] Other etymologies derive the theonym from the name of the Norse god Loki, proto-Celtic Celtic languages: luc- ("mouse" or "rat"),[5] and Gaulish lougos ("raven").
| Text | Image | Context | Language | Citation | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin: LUGOVIBUS / SACRUM / L(UCIUS) L(ICINIUS?) URCI/CO(M) COLLE/GIO SUTORU/M D(ONUM) D(EDIT) | Inscribed on an altar. Found in the Roman city of Uxama Argaela, near Osma, Soria, Spain. | Latin | Translated, the inscription reads "Consecrated to the Lugoves. Lucius L(icinius?), of the Urcici donated it on behalf of the College of Shoemakers". Connected to a trait of Welsh Lleu, discussed below.[6] | ||
| Latin: DIBUS M(AGNIS ?) / LUCOBO(S) AVE (OR NE) / T?ORIA AVITA / E? / CON EX VISU / CONSULENTIB(US) | Inscribed on a stele. Found in, Burgos, Spain. | Latin | CIL II, 6338v | This poorly preserved inscription has been interpreted by Jürgen Untermann as a dedication to the Lugoves made, as a result of a vision, by a person with the cognomen Avita. Above the inscription is an ithyphallic figure with his arms outstretched (in orant position). | |
| Latin: LUGUBO / ARQUIENOB(O) / C(AIUS) IULIUS / HISPANUS / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO) | Inscribed on an altar. Found in the church of San Martín de Liñarán in Sober, Lugo, Spain. | Latin | 67 | Translated, the inscription reads "To the Luguves Arquieni, with all merit. Caius Iulius Hispanus in fulfilment of a vow". | |
| Latin: SACRUM / LUCOUBU / ARQUIENI(S) / SILONIU(S) / SILO / EX VOTO | Inscribed on an altar. From the town of Sinoga in Rábade, Lugo, Spain. | Latin | 68 | Translated, the inscription reads "Dedicated to the Lucouves Arquieni. Silonius Silo in fulfilment of a vow". | |
| Latin: LUCOBO / AROUSA(BO?) / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO) / RUTIL[IA] / ANTIANIA | Inscribed on an altar. Found in a 2nd-century CE religious building in the city of Lugo, Spain. | Latin | Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucoves Arousae, with all merit, Rutilia Antiania, in willing fulfilment of her vow". | ||
| Latin: LUC(OBO) GUD/ AROVIS? / VALE[RIUS?] / CLEM[ENS?] / V(OTUM) L(IBENTER) S(OLVIT) | Inscribed on an altar. Found in a 2nd-century CE religious building in the city of Lugo, Spain. | Latin | Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucoves Gudarovi(?), Valerius (?) Clemens (?) in willing fulfilment of his vow". | ||
| Latin: [LUCU]BU / ARQ(U)IE / NIS [---] / IULIU(S) [---] V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) | Inscribed on an altar. Found in, Lugo, Spain. | Latin | BRAH 1971 185. | Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucuves Arquieni(...) Iulius (...) in fulfilment of a vow". | |
| Latin: RUFINA / LUCUBUS / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO) | Inscribed on a stele. Found in Nemausus (Roman Nîmes), Gard, France. | Latin | |||
| Latin: LUGOVES | Inscribed on a Corinthian capital. Found in the Roman city of Aventicum, near Avenches, Vaud, Switzerland. | Latin | Karl Zangemeister suggested that the inscription referred to the figure originally set on the capital. | ||
| ΛΟΥΓΟΥϹ (translit.:) | Inscribed on a ceramic dish. Found in the, in Alès, Gard, France.[7] | Gaulish | RIG I G-159 | The inscription is probably an ownership mark, so at most records a theophoric personal name. | |
| [...] bissiet lugedessummiiis luge / dessumíis lugedessumiis luxe | Inscribed on a lead tablet. Found in Chamalières, Puy-de-Dome, France. | Gaulish | RIG II.2 L-100 | At the end of the Chamalières tablet inscription, luge dessumiis is repeated three times. This feature is very difficult to interpret, but has interpreted it as an incantation of Lugus (in the singular). This interpretation has not been widely accepted.[8] | |
| ENIOROSEI / VTA.TIGINO.TIATVMEI / TRECAIAS.TOLVGVEI / ARAIANOM.COMEIMV / ENIOROSEI.EQVOISVIQVE / OGRIS.OIOCAS.TO.GIAS.SISTAT.LVGVEI.TIASO / TOGIAS | Inscribed on a rock. Found in the Celtiberian site of Peñalba de Villastar, in Villastar, Aragon, Spain. | Celtiberian | IV K.3.3 | This inscription, which dates to the 1st century BCE and is among the longest found in the Celtic sanctuary of Peñalba de Villastar, is very obscure in its meaning. No definite translation has been established, but it is generally agreed that to luguei is to be interpreted as a dedication to Lugus (in the dative singular).[9] | |
| l.o.C(o).o.P(o).n.i.i.a.r.a.P(o).o [...] | Inscribed on a stele. Found in the, in Bensafrim, Lagos, Portugal. | Tartessian | IV J.1.1 | The beginning of this inscription has been interpreted by José A. Correa as referring to Lugus in the dative plural (Locobo Niirabo).[10] | |
A number of dedications to Lugus, dating between the 1st century BCE and 3rd century CE, have been found in Continental Europe. This epigraphic data is concentrated in Iberia; only a small number of inscriptions are known from Gaul, and none are known from Britain or Ireland. A peculiarity of this data is that the singular of Lugus's name is rarely recorded.[11] There is consensus that a Celtiberian inscription from Peñalba de Villastar features the singular. A minority interpret the Gaulish-language Chamalières tablet as referencing singular Lugus.[11] The singular is inscribed on a ceramic sherd from, but this is probably a theophoric name and not a reference to the god Lugus.[7] Many Celtic gods are referenced both in the plural and the singular, but in dedications to Lugus the plural form ("Lugoves" or "Lucoves") predominates.[12]
The nature of the Lugoves, and their relationship to Lugus, has been much debated.[13] The epigraphic record is equivocal as to the gender of these deities. The epithet Latin: Arquienob(o) (attested at San Martín de Liñarán) has masculine gender, whereas the epithets Latin: Arousa(bo) (attested on an altar from Lugo) and possibly Niirabo indicate the feminine.[11] Henri Gaidoz contended that plural deities were minor in the Celtic pantheon, and that therefore Lugus could not have been the chief god of the Celts. Arbois de Jubainville and Joseph Vendryes argued that the Celts invoked even major gods (such as Mars) in the plural. Some scholars have tried to explain the multiplicity of the Lugoves through traits of Irish Lugh or Welsh Lleu.[11] Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, for example, pointed out that Lugh was one of triplets.[4] Maier has argued that the obscurity of the nature of the Lugoves limits the value of the epigraphic record as evidence for the pan-Celtic Lugus.[14] Krista Ovist argues against this point.
The element "lug(u)-" appears frequently in Celtic proper names. In many of these cases, an etymology involving the theonym Lugus has been proposed. Celtic personal names with this element include Lug, Lugaunus, Lugugenicus, Lugotorix, Luguadicos, Luguselva, and Lougous. A number of cognate names are known from Irish Ogham inscriptions, for example, Luga, Lugudecca (perhaps, "serving the god Lugus"[15]), Luguqritt (perhaps, "poet like Lugus"), and Luguvvecca. Some ethnic names have been connected with Lugus, for example the Lugi in Scotland and the in Asturias. Place-names connected with Lugus include Lugii, Lougoi, Lougionon, Lugisonis, and Lugnesses. Latin: Lucus Augusti (modern-day Lugo) is the site of a Roman sanctuary with dedications to the Lugoves;[11] its name may be derived from the theonym Lugus, though it could simply be Latin for "grove of Augustus".[16] The name of Luguvalium (modern-day Carlisle) is sometimes glossed as "wall of Lugus", but may instead derive from a personal name.[14]
Since Arbois de Jubainville argued for the connection, the place-name "Lugdunum" has frequently been connected with Lugus. The most famous known by this name is Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon) in the region of Gallia Lugdunensis, a Roman colony and among the most important cities of Roman Gaul. The etymology of this place-name has been the subject of much conjecture. Following Arbois de Jubainville, the most widely held hypothesis analyses the name as Lugus + dunum ("fort"), that is, "the fortress of Lugus". Many other etymologies have been given. An ancient etymology derives it from a Gaulish word for raven. Attempts have been made to analyse it as *lugus ("luminous" or "clear") + dunum ("hill"), bolstered by a medieval etymology which gives the gloss Latin: mons lucidus ("shining mountain").[17] [18]
The place-name Lugdunum is attested, in its cognate forms, as the name of as many as twenty-seven locations.[17] Apart from Lyon, there is Latin: Lugdunum Convenarum (modern-day Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges), Latin: [[Lugdunum Batavorum]] (near Leyden), Latin: Lugdunum Remorum (modern-day Laon), two Welsh places named Welsh: Din Lleu (the order of the elements reversed),[19] and two cities of unclear location in North East England and Germania Magna.[17] The wide range and abundance of these place-names has been used to argue for the importance of Lugus. Whatever the etymology, not all of these place-names must owe themselves a Celtic root. Lugdunum/Lyon was a major city, and other locations may have borrowed the name. Some two-thirds of the cognate place-names are attested only from the 10th century on; we know that Latin: Lugdunum Remorum had an older, native name (Bibrax) which was displaced in the 6th century.[14]
Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War) is Julius Caesar's first-hand account of the Gallic Wars (58 to 50 BCE). In giving an account of the customs of the Gauls, Caesar wrote the following:
Caesar here employs the device of interpretatio romana, in which foreign gods are equated with those of the Roman pantheon. With very few exceptions, Roman writings about Celtic and Germanic religion employ interpretatio romana, but the equations they made varied from writer to writer. This makes identifying the native gods behind the Roman names very difficult.[20] Indeed, if (as Maier suggests of Caesar in this passage) their information was confused or their intention was propagandistic, reconstruction of native religion is next to impossible.[14] [20]
Caesar contrasts Gaulish Mercury with the other gods of the Gauls, insofar as he is the god about whom they do not "much the same ideas" as the Romans. The Romans associated Mercury with trading and travel, but they did not think of him as "inventor of all arts".[14] An aspect which has been commented on is the order in which the gods are presented: Mercury is given primacy, whereas the Romans considered Jupiter the most important deity.[20] Not mentioned in this passage is Mercury's role as guide of souls to the underworld, an important aspect of him for the Romans. Caesar elsewhere ascribes to the Gauls a belief in metempsychosis, which may have precluded Gaulish Mercury from this function.[14]
The first Celtic god to be identified as Caesar's Gaulish Mercury was Teutates. This identification was common opinion until Arbois de Jubainville proposed that Lugus lay behind Caesar's description. Arbois de Jubainville pointed to the prominence of "Lug(u)-" elements in Gaulish toponymy, and a possible festival of Lugus at Lugdunum/Lyon (discussed below). He also drew comparison between Irish Lugh's epithet Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Samildánach ("master of all arts") and Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury as "inventor of all arts".[14] Maier has criticised this identification on the basis that "inventor of all arts", if not a Greco-Roman belief about the god Mercury, is a common literary topos in Roman descriptions of foreign religions. He also casts doubt on the possibility that an epithet like this, not otherwise attested in the epigraphic record, could have survived into medieval Irish literature.[14]
Another confusing aspect of Caesar's description of this cult is his reference to the "many images" of Gaulish Mercury; specifically he uses the word Latin: simulacra, a word which had the connotation of worshipped idols for Roman authors.[21] Archaeological evidence of anthropomorphic cult images is scant before the Roman occupation of Gaul.[20] The testimony of some Roman authors suggests the Gauls did not produce images of their gods, though Lucan describes the Gauls as having wooden idols.[21] Some (for example Salomon Reinach) have suggested that Caesar meant to draw a comparison between aniconic representations of Gaulish Mercury and the herms (aniconic depictions of Hermes, Mercury's Greek equivalent) he knew from Rome, but this is an unlikely use of the word Latin: simulacra.[20] [21]
Certainly, after Caesar's conquest of Gaul, depiction and worship of Mercury was widespread. More images of Mercury have been found in Roman Gaul than those of any other God,[14] but these representations of Mercury are conventional, and show no discernible Celtic influence. The epigraphic record does reveal some bynames of Mercury peculiar to Gaul, thought to be suggestive of native gods.[22] An inscription from Langres attests to a Mercur(io) Mocco ("Mercury of the Swine"), perhaps Lugus. Other epithets—connecting Mercury with heights, particular Gaulish tribes, and the emperor Augustus—have been thought to be suggestive of Lugus.[12] The epigraphic record has not produced any epithets portraying Mercury as inventor or master of arts.[14]
No images of Lugus are known.[23] [24] However, a number of figures have been proposed to represent Lugus. A Gallo-Roman silver cup from Lyon is decorated with a number of figures, including a human counting money next to a raven. Pierre Wuilleumier identified the human figure as Mercury/Lugus, whereas identified the raven as Apollo/Lugus.[23] Paula Powers Coe argued that the depiction of Mercury on an altar from Reims could be Lugus, as a rat (Gaulish lucot) is depicted above Mercury, perhaps punning on Lugus's native name.[5] Arguing from an association between Irish Lugh and pigs, has proposed that the Euffigneix statue (of a Gaulish boar-god) is a representation of Lugus.[24]
Lugh Lamfhota (literally, "Long-armed Lugh") is an Irish mythological figure from the Mythological Cycle and the Ulster Cycle. He is portrayed as a leading member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a supernatural race in medieval Irish literature, often thought to represent euhemerized pre-Christian deities. Alongside Fionn mac Cumhaill and Cú Chulainn (Lugh's supernatural son), he is one of the three great heroes of the Irish mythological tradition.[25] [26] The Irish celebrated Lughnasa, a harvest festival which fell on 1 August and which, according to Irish tradition, was established by Lugh in honour of his foster mother.[27]
Arbois de Jubainville made the connection between Lugh and Lugus.[6] He adduced two connections between Irish Lugh and Celtic Lugus. Firstly, he drew attention to the (above discussed) correspondence between Lugh's epithet Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Samildánach ("master of all arts") and Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury.[14] Secondly, he pointed out that an annual concillium of the Gauls in Lugdunum/Lyon, instituted in 12 BCE in honour of the emperor Augustus, fell on exactly the same day as Lughnasa. He suggested that both must ultimately derive from a Celtic festival in honour of Lugus.[14] Recent scholarship has tended to dismiss this as a coincidence. Maier has pointed out that the Continental Celts used a lunar calendar, whereas the Irish used a solar calendar, so continuity of a date would be unlikely.[14]
Lleu Llaw Gyffes (literally, "Lleu of the Skillful Hand" or "Steady Hand") is one of the protagonists of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, a set of Welsh stories compiled in the 12th-13th centuries. He is a prince whose story culminates in him becoming ruler of Gwynedd.[6] [28] Though not depicted as other than human, Lleu is depicted with extraordinary or magical skills, like many other characters in Welsh mythology.[6] Lleu (or characters similar to him) appears in other works of medieval Welsh literature. Notable examples are Lluch Llavynnauc (Lluch "of the Striking Hand" or Lluch "Equipped with a Blade") in Pa gur; Lluch Lleawc (Lluch "the Death Dealing") in Preiddeu Annwn; and Llwch Llawwynnyawe (Lluch "of the Striking Hand") in Culhwch.[6]
John Rhys was the first to relate Lleu to Lugus. Rhys drew comparison between an episode in the Mabinogi, wherein Lleu and his foster father Gwydion produce gold-ornamented shoes, and the inscription from Uxama Argaela, where the Lugoves are invoked by a group of shoemakers. This supposed parallel has received a mixed reception.[6] Joseph Loth felt that the episode was minor and the conclusion extravagant.[29] Jan de Vries agreed with Rhys, and further argued that the "Lugoves" in this inscription were Lleu and Gwydion.[30]
Though the stories told of Lleu and Lugh do not show many similarities,[6] comparisons have been drawn between epithets of Lleu and Lugh: Lleu is Llaw Gyffes ("of the Skillful Hand") and Lugh is Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Samildánach ("master of all arts"); Lleu is Llawwynnyawe ("of the Striking Hand") and Lugh is Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Lonnbémnach ("of the Fierce Blows").[6] Ronald Hutton points out that medieval Welsh and Irish literature are known to have borrowed superficially from each other (for example, the similar in name but dissimilar in character Welsh Manawydan fab Llŷr and Irish Manannán mac Lir). This would suffice to explain the common epithets.[6]
Welsh Lleu and Irish Irish, Middle (900-1200);: Lugh are both linguistically correct as reflexes of Gaulish Lugus.[6] Hutton notes that a medieval borrowing cannot explain the linguistic relationship between Lugh and Lleu. For the names to be cognate, their common origin must be prior to the respective sound changes in Irish and in Welsh.[6] However, Jessica Hemming points out that, insofar as Lugus is entirely absent from the epigraphic record in Britain and Ireland, the etymology is questionable.[31]
The god Lugus was first reconstructed by Arbois de Jubainville in his monumental French: Le cycle mythologique irlandais et la mythologie celtique (1884). Arbois de Jubainville linked together Irish Lugh, Caesar's Gaulish Mercury, the toponym Lugdunum, and the epigraphic evidence of the Lugoves. By 1888, Sir John Rhys had linked Lugus with Welsh Lleu.[6] Initial criticism of this theory (for example, from Henri Gaidoz) gave way to what Ovist has described as "uncritical affirmation" of the existence of a pan-Celtic god Lugus. Over the 20th century, the theory was further elaborated.[6] The long inscription from Peñalba de Villastar was first published in 1942 and, by the 1950s, it had been identified as a unique dedication to Lugus in the singular.[1] In a 1982 article, Antonio Tovar cited Lugus as an exemplar of the unity of ancient Celtic culture. Few other Celtic gods could be said to be attested in Gaulish, Insular, and Iberian sources.[32]
Early doubts about the Lugus hypothesis were raised by Pierre Flobert (in the 1960s) and Stephanie Boucher (in the 1980s).[20] However, scepticism about the god only entered the mainstream in the 1990s, coinciding with a wave of scepticism about the unity of the ancient Celts.[6] The most important of these critiques was mounted by Bernhard Maier, in his 1996 article "Is Lug to be Identified with Mercury?".[6] As well as criticising the identification of Caesar's Gaulish Mercury with Irish Lugh, Maier cast doubt on the value of the previously adduced epigraphic and toponymic data from Continental Europe. As Ovist put it, Maier "in effect, question[ed] the very existence of Continental Lugus".[33]
Scepticism about Lugus has not become consensus.[6] The strength of the epigraphic and toponymic evidence has been martialled in defense of the hypothesis.[33] Recent monographs on the god by Krista Ovist (2004) and Gaël Hily (2012) have reaffirmed and elaborated on Arbois de Jubainville's reconstruction.[34]