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(Redirected from Apollo Moritasgus) Celic epithet attached to Apollo, signifying a possible healing deity For the stick insect, see Moritasgus stresemanni.

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

Etymology

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

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, 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 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 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 . 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 . 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

Celtic mythology series
Ancient deities of Gaul, Britain and Gallaecia by region
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Celtic wheel
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Taranis
Taranis
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