1. Meaning of Name: Olmsted gives us “She Who Prolongs”, or “She Who is Prolonged”, however, this etymology is not generally accepted by other scholars.¹ Bernard Mees, however, states that Her name “does not have an obvious Celtic etymology – instead it looks rather Classical”.² Green attempts to derive it from Hecate.³
2. Pronunciation: Er-UH-cu-rah, with the “u” like in “Put”..
3. Other Names and Epithets: There are numerous variant spelling of Her name, including Aericura, Ericura, Eraecura, Erecura, Herecura, Herequra, Hericura, Aecurna, Aecorna, and Aeqorna.⁴
4. Interpretatio Romana: Two inscription differ in their identifications. One, from Brenztal suggests Persephone, but another, from the Roman province of Numidia, outside the Celtic sphere, suggests Terra Mater and the Phrygian Goddess Cybele.⁵
5. Irish Equivalent: None of which I am aware.
6. Indo-European Equivalent: None given by scholars, but the Interpretatio Romana would suggest Kolyo, Goddess of Death and the Underworld, and Dhéghōm Mātr, the Earth Goddess.⁶
7. Realm: Andernadâ, Underworld Goddess par excellence.
8. Iconography: Olmsted described her usual appearance as seated, holding a basket of fruit.⁷ Green describes Her similarly, but does say that her companion, Dis Pater, is depicted with a three headed dog, while She is shown with a key, both clear Underworld symbolism.⁸
9. Significance: Heracurâ is pretty clearly a Goddess of the Underworld and of death. She is a part of a couple with the Romano-Gaulish Dis Pater, and invoked in funerary inscriptions. She also combines a fertility/prosperity aspect, which Mees does not find surprising in view of the fertility aspects of Persephone.⁹ Green compares Heracurâ to the Greco-Roman Hecate, and even wonders if the names are related.¹⁰ Olmsted notes that dedications to Dispater and Heracurâ are geographically complementary to those of Sucellus and Nantosueltâ. Each occupy distinct regions where the others are not found, suggesting that the two divine couples may be regional variants of one another.¹¹