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 selectiv ...
, Arduinna (also Arduina, Arduinnae or Arduinne) was the
eponymous
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
tutelary goddess
A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...
of the
Ardennes
The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France.
Geological ...
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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
(primarily in the present-day regions of
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
). 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 Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
. However, Simone Deyts notes that the bronze Gallo-Roman statue of a woman in a short belted tunic, riding a boar sidesaddle 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). 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 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 artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
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 k ...
, has been in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
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 language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...
, 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 is an extinct Celtic languages, 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, ...
''arduo-'' meaning height. Also Latin: ''Ardua-'' steep. It is also found in several placenames, such as the Ardennes Woods (''Arduenna silva'') and the
Forest of Arden
The Forest of Arden is a territory and cultural reference point in the English West Midlands, that in antiquity and into the Early Modern Period covered much of that district: 'This great forest once extended across a wide band of Middle Engl ...
in England, in personal names ''Arduunus'' and ''Arda'' — the latter from coinage of the
Treveri
The Treveri (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Treweroi'') were a Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle (river), Moselle in modern day Germany from around 150 BCE, if not ea ...
— 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 (; 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, Lozère, Canta ...
and
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (; or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2021, it had a population of 662,285.Alleuze.
It has also been suggested that the
gemination
In phonetics and phonology, gemination (; from Latin 'doubling', itself from '' gemini'' 'twins'), or consonant lengthening, 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 b ...
, being different from Celtic and thus suggesting a ''
Nordwestblock
The Nordwestblock (German language, German, "Northwest Block") is a hypothetical Northwestern European cultural region that some scholars propose as a prehistoric culture in the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, far-northern France, and Northern ...
'' 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
Margut () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.
Geography
Access
Margut is a small village of 860 inhabitants located in the canton of Carignan, in the eastern part of the department of Ardennes. Administratively attac ...
, there was, according to
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
, 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.
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
394 Arduina
394 Arduina ('' prov. designation:'' ''or'' ) is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly on 19 November 1894 in Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern Fra ...
, discovered on 19 November 1894, is named for Arduinna.
The French-Belgian television series '' Black Spot'', set in the Ardennes, features a group of eco warriors named the Children of Arduinna (''Les Enfants d'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 ...