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 ...

, Bricta or Brixta was a

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

ish

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

who was a consort of Luxovius, god of the waters of

Luxeuil-les-Bains Luxeuil-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté west of Mulhouse in eastern France. History Luxeuil (sometimes rendered Luxeu in older texts) was the Roman Luxovium and contained many ...

(in antiquity, ''Luxovium''). It is highly possible the name is related to

Perchta or (' Bertha'; ), also commonly known as () and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and also Austrian and Slovenian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean 'the bright one' or 'the bearer' (, fr ...

, a later German fairy tale character, usually (though not always) described as an elderly witch queen, who has many regional names and variations amongst the Germanic Alpine peoples and seems to bear random traits associated with both the Celtic Beira/ Cailleach and the Norse/ Germanic Freyja. This would likely make Bricta the same deity as Beira.

Inscriptions

Bricta is recorded in the following inscriptions from Luxeuil-les-Bains : :'' usoio / et Brictae / Divixti/us Cons/tans / v(otum) s(olvit) (ibens) m(erito)'' :"To Lusso(v)ios and Bricta, Divixtius Constans freely and deservedly fulfilled his vow." (CIL 13, 05425) :''Luxovio / et Brixtae / G(aius) Iul(ius) Fir/manus / v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)'' :"To Luxovios and Brixta, Gaius Julius Firmans freely and deservedly fulfilled his vow." (AE 1951, 00231; CIL 13, 05426)

Etymology

This

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, ...

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

is derived from the word ''brixtom'' or ''brixta'' meaning magic. The word also appears on the inscription of

Chamalières Chamalières (; Auvergnat: ) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, central France. With 17,276 inhabitants (2019), Chamalières is the fourth-largest town in the department. It lies adjacent to the west of Clermo ...

. (Delamarre pp. 76–77 with references and comparative etymology)

References

*''Année Epigraphique''; volume 1951. *

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 ...

(CIL), volume 13, ''Tres Galliae.'' * Delamarre, X. (2003). ''Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise.'' 2nd edition. Paris, Editions Errance. Gaulish goddesses Water goddesses {{celt-myth-stub