Gallo-Roman religion
Gallo-Roman religion is a fusion of the traditional religious practices of the Gauls, who were originally Celtic speakers, and the Roman and Hellenistic religions introduced to the region under Roman Imperial rule. It was the result of selective ...
, Arduinna (also Arduina, Arduinnae or Arduinne) was the
eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
Forest and region, thought to be represented as a huntress riding a
boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
(primarily in the present-day regions of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
). Her cult originated in the Ardennes region of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. She was identified with the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
In ''The Gods of the Celts'', Miranda Green states that some depictions of Arduinna show her riding a
boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
. However, Simone Deyts notes that the bronze Gallo-Roman statue of a woman in a short belted tunic, riding a boar
sidesaddle
Sidesaddle riding is a form of equestrianism that uses a type of saddle which allows female riders to sit aside rather than astride an equine. Sitting aside dates back to antiquity and developed in European countries in the Middle Ages as a way f ...
and holding a knife, conserved in the
Musée des antiquités nationales
The National Archaeological Museum (French: Musée d'Archéologie nationale) is a major French archaeology museum, covering pre-historic times to the Merovingian period (450–750 CE). It is housed in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the '' ...
, St-Germain-en-Laye, bears no inscription, and was simply assumed to be Arduinna by the 19th century
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
who discovered it—perhaps because the modern symbol of the Ardennes region is also a boar. Another such bronze, from the collection of
Richard Payne Knight
Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...
, has been in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
since 1824; it is traditionally identified as "Diana". Both bronze statuettes are now headless.
Inscriptions
Arduinna is directly attested from two inscriptions:
*
Düren
Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a peopl ...
, Germany: ''deae Ardbinnae'' (; the object in question is an altar)
* Rome, Italy: ''Arduinne'' (; this is an inscribed relief, on which the name ''Arduinne'' has also been read as ''Saturno'')
Etymology
The name Arduinna derives from the
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...
''arduo-'' meaning height. It is also found in several placenames, such as the Ardennes Woods (''Arduenna silva'') and the Forest of Arden in England, in personal names ''Arduunus'' and ''Arda'' — the latter from coinage of the
Treveri
The Trēverī (Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fring ...
— and the Galatian ''Αρδή''. The name ''Arduenna silva'' for "wooded heights" was applied to several forested mountains, not just the modern Ardennes: it is found in the départements of
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, ...
and
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label= Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.Alleuze.
It has also been suggested that the
gemination
In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from '' gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...
''-nn-'' is typical to a language of the
Belgae
The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Ju ...
, being different from Celtic and thus suggesting a '' Nordwestblock'' etymology, which, generally speaking, is also assumed to be closer to Germanic.
Historical references
In 585, Walfroy (Wulfilaich) preached to the local population of Villers-devant-Orval in the Ardennes to persuade them to abandon the worship of Diana. On the hill near Margut, there was, according to
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Floren ...
, a large stone statue of Diana where people would worship. Worshippers would also sing chants in Diana's honour as they drank and feasted. After some difficulties, Walfroy and his followers succeeded in pulling down the statue, which they demolished with hammers.Gregory of Tours, ''
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
VIII''.15.
Legacy
The
Main belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
394 Arduina
394 Arduina ('' prov. designation:'' ''or'' ) is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. I ...
, discovered on 19 November 1894, is named for Arduinna.
The French-Belgian television series Black Spot (TV series) features eco warriors named the Children of Arduinna.
References
* Colbert de Beaulieu, Jean-Baptiste & Fischer, Brigitte (1998) ''Recueil des Inscriptions gauloises'' (RIG) 4: ''les légendes monétaires''. Paris, Editions du CNRS
* ''
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...