Tribal Gods: Many ancient writers appear to refer to a deity named variously Toutatis, Teutates, Teutenus, Toutiorîxs, and so on. The deity, often called a war-God, is variously identified with Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Apollo. In fact, the term, Toutatîs in the plural, refers to the Gods of tribes and localities. Tribal cults were ubiquitous in ancient Gaul. Every tribe and locality had one, though not all are known today. The list that follows, taken from Miranda Green’s Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend is, again, meant to be a sample, and not comprehensive.

A. Lenus: The great healer God of the Treveri, worshipped near Trier in modern Germany. Pilgrims came from very far to worship at his sanctuary and be healed of their illnesses, but he was always first and foremost a Treverian deity.¹

B. Cocidius: A local British war and hunting God, worshipped near Hadrian’s Wall.²

C. Luxovius: The local deity of Luxeuil, Haute-Saóne, France.³

D. Albiorix: Tribal God of the Albici, in Vaucluse, southern France.⁴

E. Vasio: Local God of Vaison-la-Romaine, a town in the lower Rhône valley, in modern France.⁵

F. Vosegus: Local God of the Vosges mountains, in eastern Gaul.⁶

G. Loucetius: Tribal God of the Vangiones. His name refers to “lightning”, so Loucetius may be another name for Taranis.⁷

Territorial Goddesses: The classification of Toutodêwâs is modern, and my own coinage, taken from Gaulish “Toutâ”, meaning “tribe, chiefdom, small state”, and “dêwâ”, meaning “Goddess.” It refers to the local Goddesses extremely common in Celtic religion, personifications of places and regions, often associated with particular tribes, and even more often associated with the river running through a particular territory. I am also including in this category certain minor Goddesses of particular types of animals and similar things. While not worshipped in only one place, neither was their worship widespread. The list that follows is by no means exhaustive. It is merely a few examples for purposes of illustration.

A. Sequanâ: The local Goddess of the River Seine in modern France. She had a healing shrine at the source of the river. The duck was sacred to her.¹

B. Souconnâ: The local Goddess of the River Saóne, in France.²

C. Sabrinâ: The local Goddess of the River Severn, in Britain.³

D. Adsallutâ: The local Goddess of the River Saan, in modern Austria.⁴

E. Brîctiâ: The local Goddess of the River Breachin, in modern France. The name also means “magic”.⁵

F. Abnobâ: The local Goddess of the Black Forest. Identified with Diana.⁶

G. Arduinnâ: The local Goddess of the Ardennes forest, in modern Belgium. Depicted riding a boar, and also identified with Diana.⁷

H. Artio: The Goddess of bears. Worshipped near Bern, Switzerland, and near Trier, Germany. I suspect that she may also have influence in the forests of Central Florida, given the number of bears that live here.⁸

I. Bibractis: Goddess of Bibracte, capital of the Aedui tribe, now Mont Beuvray, in France.⁹

J. Genava: Local Goddess of Geneva, Switzerland.¹⁰

K. Nemetonâ: Tribal Goddess of the Nemetes, a Celto-Germanic tribe inhabiting today’s Black Forest region. She was also the protector of the Nemeton, the Gaulish temple space. She may be the origin of the Irish Goddess Nemhain.¹¹

1. Meaning of Name: Olmsted suggests “He Who Gives Renewal” “The Youth”, “The Child”, and several other possible translations. Green very tentatively suggests “Wealthy One” or “Cloud Maker”.¹
2. Pronunciation: NAWD-ens, the “s” is almost a “ts” sound.
3. Other Names and Epithets: The name was also spelled Nodents, Noudonts, and various other ways. He may also be connected to Olmsted’s reconstructed proto-Celtic divinity Nectonios.²
4. Interpretatio Romana: Mars and Silvanus.³
5. Irish Equivalent: Nuada.⁴
6. Indo-European Equivalent: If he can be connected to Olmsted’s Nectonios, then he is also equivalent to Xákwōm Népōt, the “Nephew of the Waters”, and the “God of Fiery Water”.⁵
7. Realm: Given the Celtic associations of the sea, probably Andernados/Underworld God, but his solar associations may suggest otherwise.
8. Iconography: Olmsted notes that he is depicted with dogs, and tritons holding anchors. A hollow bronze arm is found in his temple at Lydney, in Britain, which may indicate that, like the Irish Nuada, he had a metal hand, or it might be a votive dedication from a worshiper wishing to have his arm healed. Olmsted also notes one depiction of him as “a sort of sun-God holding a sort of whip or flail in his right hand and driving toward the spectator in a four-horse chariot.⁶
9. Significance: Kodratiev regards Nodens as a name of the “Celtic Mars”. This has been followed by significant numbers of Gaulish Polytheists, but there is little in the other scholarly literature or in Nodens’ iconography to bear it out. He is quite different from other versions of the “Celtic Mars”, and seems more like a British version of Grannus. It should be noted that the temple at Lydney is the only temple to Nodens known. He is not apparently known on the Continent. Dáithi Ó hÓgáin believes Nodens to have been a British healing and sea God whose cult was introduced into Ireland, giving rise to the Irish Nuada.⁷

1. Meaning of Name: In a rare burst of humor, Kondratiev writes that the name Maponus meant “Superboy, essentially!” Green is more pedestrian, translating the name as “Divine Youth”, or “Divine Son”. Mackillop gives us “Great Son”.¹
2. Pronunciation: Map-AWN-us, with the “a” like the “u” in “Gus”, and the “u” like the “u” in “put”.
3. Other Names and Epithets: The Welsh Mabon ap Modron is a later reflection of him. In the Chamaliers Inscription, Maponus Arveriiatis is invoked.²
4. Interpretatio Romana: Apollo.³
5. Irish Equivalent: Angus mac Óg⁴
6. Indo-European Equivalent: None exactly.
7. Realm: Andernados/Underworld God
8. Iconography: He is shown in several guises. In one inscription, he appears as Apollo the cithera player. In another, he is shown with a hunting Goddess. He has some healing springs associated with him.⁵
9. Significance: Maponus is a God of youth, as his name suggests. He appears to have associations with hunting. The Chamaliers Inscription suggests that he is primarily an Underworld figure, who could be invoked for magic. The story of Mabon ap Modron gives us an elaborate story of his birth, in which he is born to a Goddess, probably Eponâ, but then disappears on the third day after his birth. The Gods search for him. During the search, they are advised by a stag, a boar, an eagle, and finally a salmon, who tells them where to find him in the Underworld. So he is rescued and returned to the Gods. Kondratiev regarded him as a Dying and Reborn God, who is born every year at the Winter Solstice, and dies every autumn, thus personifying the cycle of the year. In conversations in the Gaulish Polytheism Community, Christopher Scott Thompson suggested that Maponus may, by virtue of having been raised in the Underworld, serve as an intermediary between humans and the class of unpleasant Underworld spirits known as Anderoi.⁶

1. Meaning of Name: Both Olmsted and Mackillop assert that the name means either “eye” or “sun” or both. Green is content to say that the name is “linked philologically with the sun”.¹
2. Pronounciation: SUL-is, with the “u” like in “put”.
3. Other names and Epithets: Olmsted gives us Solimara, Sulevia, Sulevias, Suleviae, Sulevis, and Idennica. Noémi Beck disputes this association of the Suleviae, asserting that the etymology of their name is not in fact related to Sulis, and that they should not be linked to her.²
4. Interpretatio Romana: Famously Minerva.³
5. Irish Equivalent: Grian, the Sun.⁴
6. Indo-European Equivalent: Sawélyosyo Dhugeter, the Sun Goddess.⁵
7. Realm: Ueronadâ/Upper World Goddess.
8. Iconography: Sulis is depicted as a typical Romano-Celtic Minerva. She is famously worshipped in the healing shrine at Aquae Sulis, modern Bath, England.⁶
9. Significance: Sulis is the Sun Maiden, and also a major healer. As another deity of Fire in Water, hot springs are associated with her. It should be noted that inscriptions to her are very largely found in Britain. It is possible that she is a British deity, and that she was not known on the Continent. If so, this would suggest that the Ancient British had a Sun-Maiden, Sulis, while the Continental Gauls had a Sun-God, Grannus.⁷

1. Meaning of Name: Not known. Olmstead tentatively suggests “supporter”.¹
2. Pronunciation: AWG-myaws.
3. Other Names and Epithets: None
4. Interpretatio Romana: Hercules.²
5. Irish Equivalent: Oghma.³
6. Indo-European Equivalent: None. Note that the common Neopagan identification of Oghma and Ogmios with the Vedic Fire God Agni has no scholarly support of which I am aware.
7. Realm: Andernados/Under World God
8. Iconography: The Roman poet describes Hercules depicted in Gaul with his Classical lion skin and club, but as an old man drawing behind him a band of men attached to him by thin, gold chains linking their ears with his tongue.⁴
9. Significance: Ogmios is the God of Eloquence, but also of strength, a deity patronizing both intellectual and physical pursuits. He is, however, a deity often invoked in Gallo-Roman cursing tablets, which make clear that He was a servant of the Chthonic Gods, with a dark and dangerous aspect.⁵