Taranis (sometimes Taranus or Tanarus) is a Celtic

thunder god Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder deity, the creator or personification of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-Europea ...

attested in literary and

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

sources. The Roman poet

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

's epic ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'' (, neuter plural), is a Latin literature, Roman Epic poetry, epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the Caesar's civil war, civil war between Ju ...

'' mentions Taranis,

Esus Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources. The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...

, and

Teutates Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a tribal deity. The Roman poet Lucan's ...

as gods to whom the

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Celtic gods under their native names in a Latin text has been the subject of much comment. Almost as often commented on are the scholia to Lucan's poem (early medieval, but relying on earlier sources) which tell us the nature of these sacrifices: in particular, that the victims of Taranis were burned in a hollow wooden container. This sacrifice has been compared with the

wicker man A wicker man is a type of effigy. The Wicker Man or Wickerman may refer to: * ''The Wicker Man'', a 1973 British horror film ** ''The Wicker Man'' (film series), which includes this film ** ''The Wicker Man'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album f ...

described by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

. These scholia also tell us that Taranis was perhaps either equated by the Romans with

Dis Pater Dis Pater (; ; genitive ''Ditis Patris''), otherwise known as Rex Infernus or Pluto, is a Roman god of the underworld. Dis was originally associated with fertile agricultural land and mineral wealth, and since those minerals came from undergrou ...

, Roman god of the underworld, or

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, Roman god of weather. Scholars have preferred the latter equation to the former, as Taranis is also equated with Jupiter in inscriptions. Both identifications have been studied against Caesar's lapidary remarks about the Gaulish Jupiter and

Gaulish Dis Pater In Book 6 of his ''Commentaries on the Gallic War'', Julius Caesar refers to a Gaulish god whom the druids believed that all the Gauls were descended from. He does not give this god's name, but (following the practice of ''interpretatio romana'') ...

. The equation of Taranis with Jupiter has been reason for some scholars to identify Taranis with the "wheel god" of the Celts. This god, known only from iconographic sources, is depicted with a spoked wheel and the attributes of Jupiter (including a thunderbolt). No direct evidence links Taranis with the wheel god, so other scholars have expressed reservations about this identification. Various inscriptions attest to Taranis's worship, dating between the 4th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. Scholars have drawn contrary conclusions about the importance of Taranis from the distribution of these inscriptions.

Name

Etymology and development

Taranis's name derives from

proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

("thunder"), which in turn derives from the

proto-Indo-European root The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words to carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the langu ...

("to thunder"). Through the proto-Celtic etymon, the theonym is cognate with words for thunder in

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

(),

Old Breton Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of ...

(),

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh (, ) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh (). Literature and history Middle Welsh is ...

(), and (as a loan word into a non-Celtic language) the

Gascon dialect Gascon ( , , ) is the vernacular Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety of larger Occitan macrolanguage, although some authors consider it a separate language due to hindered mutual ...

of French (). During the development of Celtic, the word for thunder seem to have undergone a metathesis (transposition of syllables) from to . The question of whether the

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

altar (discussed below) should be read as attesting to an unmetathesised form of the god's name, Tanaris, was for a long time controversial. However, the discovery of a dedication to ("Jupiter Tanaris") in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

confirms that such a form did exist.

Thunder god

The association with thunder, suggested by the etymology of Taranis's name, is confirmed by his equation with Jupiter. Taranis's name corresponds etymologically to that of the Germanic god

Donar Thor (from ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Beside ...

(i.e., Thor). Peter Jackson has conjectured that the theonyms Taranis and Donar (as well as perhaps the epithet Tonans of Jupiter) originated as a result of the "fossilization of an original epithet or

epiklesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from , ) refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in religious contexts. The term was borrowed into the Ch ...

" of the

proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

thunder god *Perkʷūnos.

Calvert Watkins Calvert Watkins ( /ˈwɒtkɪnz/; March 13, 1933 – March 20, 2013) was an American linguist and philologist, known for his book '' How to Kill a Dragon''. He was a professor of linguistics and the classics at Harvard University and after retirem ...

compared Taranis's name with the name of the Hittite weather god

Tarḫunna Tarḫunna or Tarḫuna/i was the Hittite weather god. He was also referred to as the "Weather god of Heaven" or the "Lord of the Land of Hatti". Name Tarḫunna is a cognate of the Hittite verb ''tarḫu-zi'', "to prevail, conquer, be pow ...

. However,

John T. Koch John Thomas Koch (born 1953) is an American academic, historian, and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory, and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ...

pointed out that an etymology linking the two theonyms would reverse the order of the metathesis (so that Taranis precedes Tanaris) and therefore compromise the proto-Indo-European etymology.

Lucan and the scholia

Lucan

Lucan's ''Pharsalia'' or ''De Bello Civili'' (''On the Civil War'') is an epic poem, begun about 61 CE, on the events of

Caesar's civil war Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Julius Caesar and Pompey. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the Republic on his expected ret ...

(49–48 BCE). The passage relevant to Taranis occurs in "Gallic excursus", an

epic catalogue An epic catalogue is a long, detailed list of objects, places or people that is a characteristic of epic poetry. Examples *In the ''Iliad'': **Catalogue of Ships, the most famous epic catalogue **Trojan Battle Order *In the ''Odyssey'', the catal ...

detailing the rejoicing of the various Gaulish peoples after Caesar removed his legions from Gaul (where they were intended to control the natives) to Italy. The passage thus brings out two themes of Lucan's work, the barbarity of the Gauls and the unpatriotism of

. The substance of the last few lines is this: unspecified Gauls, who made human sacrifices to their gods Teutates, Esus, and Taranis, were overjoyed by the exit of Caesar's troops from their territory. The reference to "Diana of the Scythians" refers to the human sacrifices demanded by Diana at her temple in Scythian Taurica, well known in antiquity. That Lucan says little about these gods is not surprising. Lucan's aims were poetic, and not historical or ethnographic. The poet never travelled to Gaul and relied on secondary sources for his knowledge of Gaulish religion. When he neglects to add more, this may well reflect the limits of his knowledge. We have no literary sources prior to Lucan which mention these deities, and the few which mention them after Lucan (in the case of Taranis, Papias alone) rely on this passage. The secondary sources on Celtic religion which Lucan relied on in this passage (perhaps

Posidonius Posidonius (; , "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (), was a Greeks, Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, historian, mathematician, and teacher native to Apamea (Syria), Apame ...

) have not come down to us. This passage is one of the very few in classical literature in which Celtic gods are mentioned under their native names, rather than identified with Greek or Roman gods. This departure from classical practice likely had poetic intent: emphasising the barbarity and exoticness the Gauls, whom Caesar had left to their own devices. Some scholars, such as de Vries, have argued that the three gods mentioned together here (Esus, Teutates, and Taranis) formed a divine triad in ancient Gaulish religion. However, there is little other evidence associating these gods with each other. Other scholars, such as Graham Webster, emphasise that Lucan may as well have chosen these deity-names for their

scansion Scansion ( , rhymes with ''mansion''; verb: ''to scan''), or a system of scansion, is the method or practice of determining and (usually) graphically representing the Metre (poetry), metrical pattern of a line of Poetry, verse. In classical poetr ...

and harsh sound.

Scholia

Lucan's ''Pharsalia'' was a very popular school text in late antiquity and the medieval period. This created a demand for commentaries and

scholia Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...

dealing with difficulties in the work, both in grammar and subject matter. The earliest Lucan scholia that have come down to us are the ''Commenta Bernensia'' and ''Adnotationes Super Lucanum'', both from manuscripts datable between the 9th and 11th centuries. Also important are comments from a

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

codex (the ''Glossen ad Lucan''), dating to the 11th and 12th centuries. In spite of their late date, these scholia are thought to incorporate very ancient material, some of it now lost. The ''Commenta'' and ''Adnotationes'' are known to contain material at least as old as

Servius the Grammarian Servius, distinguished as Servius the Grammarian ( or ), was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries o ...

(4th century CE). Below are excerpts from these scholia relevant to Taranis: The first excerpt, about the sacrifice to Taranis, comes from a passage in the ''Commenta'' which details the human sacrifices offered each of to the three gods (persons were suspended from trees and dismembered for Esus, persons were drowned in a barrel for Teutates). This passage, which is not paralleled anywhere else in classical literature, has been much the subject of much commentary. It seems to have been preserved in the ''Commenta'' by virtue of its author's preference for factual (over grammatical) explanation. The ''Adnotationes'', by comparison, tell us nothing about the sacrifices to Esus, Teutates, and Taranis beyond that they were each murderous. The Wicker Man of the Druids crop

The ''Commenta'' tells us that as sacrifices to Taranis, several people were burned in a wooden . The Latin word is translated above as "tub", but it could applied to any hollow container. In various settings, the term could be used to mean a ship's hull, a bath tub, a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, a canoe, or a beehive. Miranda Green linked this sacrifice with the

, the well-known wooden figure in which (according to

and

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

) humans were burned as sacrifices. The ''interpretatio romana'' of Taranis as Jupiter, given by all three commentaries, is otherwise attested in epigraphy, and agrees with our understanding of Taranis as a thunder god. By contrast, the ''interpretatio'' of Taranis as Dis Pater, which only the ''Commenta'' gives, is quite obscure. It is not given in any inscription, and we do not know what Taranis had to do with the underworld. Manfred Hainzmann points out that Dis was associated in Latin literature with the night sky and night thunderstorms.

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

, for example, refers to Dis Pater as the "thunderer of the underworld" (''Thebaid'', 11.209). In the course of giving the ''interpretatio'' of Taranis as Jupiter, the scholiast of the ''Commenta'' mentions that Taranis was "leader of wars". This is an unusual trait to associate with Jupiter rather than

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

(Roman god of war), though the Romans occasionally gave Jupiter martial functions. Hofeneder has associated the comment that Taranis was "appeased with human heads" with this martial function, as the (pre-Roman) Celtic custom of carrying off their foes' heads in battle is well-attested. The scholiast describes a transition from human to animal sacrifice, probably connected to the suppression of human sacrifice in Gaul in the Imperial period. Caesar states in his ''

Commentaries on the Gallic War ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; ), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' (), is Julius Caesar's first-hand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it, Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine year ...

'' that the Gauls regarded a Gaulish god (whom Caesar equated with Dis Pater) as their ancestor. As Taranis is the only Celtic god equated with Dis Pater in ancient literary sources, Taranis has often been a cited as a candidate for

. On the other hand, Caesar also briefly refers to an unnamed Gaulish god who "rules over all the gods" (), and whom he equates with Jupiter. It has been suggested that Taranis is behind this description. The similarity between Caesar's description of Gaulish Jupiter, and the ''Commenta'' description of Taranis as "chief of the heavenly gods" (), has been noted, though this may reflect reliance on Caesar's text or a routine characterisation of the Roman god Jupiter.

Taranis and the wheel god

The wheel god () is a figure of Celtic religious iconography, a god wielding a spoked wheel. The wheel god is often depicted with the attributes of

: thunderbolt, sceptre, and eagle. The spoked wheel was an important religious motif for the Celts. Metal votive wheels (known as ') are known from Iron Age Europe. The ''

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae The ''Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae'' (abbreviated ''LIMC'') is a multivolume encyclopedia cataloguing representations of mythology in the plastic arts of classical antiquity. Published serially from 1981 to 2009, it is the most ex ...

'' lists 15 depictions of the wheel god. Some are statuettes of the god dressed in Gaulish garb, with a wheel in one hand and a thunderbolt in the other. A mosaic from

Saint-Romain-en-Gal Saint-Romain-en-Gal (; ) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is located south of Lyon, on the west bank of the river Rhône. Vienne, Isère is on the opposite bank of the river and the two settlements are linked by a foo ...

shows a woman and a man leaving sacrifices to such a statuette. An obscure scene on the

Gundestrup cauldron The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly decorated silver vessel, thought to date from between 200 BC and 300 AD, or more narrowly between 150 BC and 1 BC. This places it within the late La Tène period or early Roman Iron Age. The cauldron is t ...

perhaps shows a leaping devotee offering a wheel to the wheel god. The so-called

Jupiter column A Jupiter Column ( or ) is a monument belonging to a type widespread in Roman Germania. Description Jupiter Column pillars express the religious beliefs of their time. They were erected in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, mostly near Roman settlem ...

s, religious monuments widespread in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

, are frequently crowned with an equestrian god, who sometimes wields a wheel. Because both were identified with Jupiter, Taranis has been repeatedly equated with the wheel god (for example, by

Pierre Lambrechts Pieter Lambrechts (Laeken, 28 June 1910 – Brussels, 21 June 1974) was a Belgian historian and politician of the Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV). Biography After completing his secondary education at the Royal Athenaeum of Ostend, Lambrechts ...

, , and Anne Ross). However, nothing connects the gods directly. No inscription links Taranis with wheel iconography. Some scholars have rejected this equation. Green rejects it, and argues that the wheel god was a solar deity; naturally identifiable with Jupiter, but distinct from the thunder god Taranis. and both express scepticism in their studies of Jupiter columns in Germany. Árpád M. Nagy described the equation as "probable, but not binding". In any case, the combination of the thunderbolt and wheel as attributes is not unique to one deity:

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

is occasionally depicted with these attributes in the Latin West, and a female deity with a thunderbolt and wheel is known from a statue in

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

Epigraphy

, Inscribed on an object (perhaps a keyhandle) made from staghorn. Found in Sottopedonda, in the

Fiemme Valley 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

, Italy. , ,

Raetic Rhaetic or Raetic (), also known as Rhaetian, was a Tyrsenian language spoken in the ancient region of Rhaetia in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. It is documented by around 280 texts dated from the 5th through the 1st century BC ...

,
FI-1
, The god Taranis (in the form Tarani) is invoked twice in this obscure (perhaps magico-religious) Raetic inscription. Simona Marchesini has argued that the absence of the Celtic final -s suggests "the god's name was well integrated in the Raetic world". , - , (translit. ) , Inscribed on a small

cippus A () was a low, round, or rectangular pedestal set up by the Ancient Romans for purposes such as a milestone or a boundary post. They were also used for somewhat differing purposes by the Etruscans and Carthaginians. Roman cippi Roman cippi w ...

. Found in

Orgon Orgon (; ancient: ''Urgonum'', or ''Castrum de Urgone'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Vaucluse, which follows the ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

, France. , ,

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, ...

, ''

RIG Rig or RIG may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn c ...

''
G-27
, Lejeune offers the translation "Vebrumaros offered Taranus in gratitude (?) the tithe (?)".RIG
G-27
via ''Recueil informatisé des inscriptions gauloises''. Accessed on 16 January 2025. , - , , Inscribed on an altar. Found in Bribir,

, Croatia.'' AE'
2010, 1225
/ref> , , Latin , '' AE'
2010, 1225
, , - , , Inscribed on a terracotta jug. Found near

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

, France.'' AE'
1966, 269
/ref> , , Latin , , Another inscription found nearby () suggests the find-spot was originally a place of religious significance. , - , , Found in Caesarodunum (Roman

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.Skradin Skradin is a small town in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia. It is located near the Krka (Croatia), Krka river and at the entrance to the Krka National Park, from Šibenik and from Split, Croatia, Split. The main attraction of the park, Slapo ...

, Croatia , , Latin , , , - , , Inscribed on a gold

lamella Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

. Found in Baudecet,

Gembloux Gembloux (; ; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants. The total area is 95.86 km2, yielding a population density of 229 inhabitants per ...

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 ...

.''

'' II.2 L-109 in Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2002). ''Recueil des inscriptions gauloises. II, fasc. 2, Textes gallo-latins sur instrumentum''. Paris: Éd. du CNRS. pp. 310-312. , , Latin (perhaps with Gaulish, Greek or Germanic elements) , ''

'' II.2 L-109 , This magico-religious inscription from

Belgic Gaul Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. Before the R ...

is difficult to interpret. Several lines appear to be meaningless

ephesia grammata Ephesia Grammata (, "Ephesian Letters") are Ancient Greek magical formulas attested from the 5th or 4th century BC. According to Pausanias the Lexicographer (Eust. ad Od. 20, 247, p. 1864), their name derives from their being inscribed on the ...

. In arguing that the inscription has Gaulish elements, and Patrizia de Bernardo proposed that line 4 invokes the god Taranis. However,

Pierre-Yves Lambert Pierre-Yves Lambert (born 30 May 1949) is a French linguist and scholar of Celtic studies. He is a researcher at the CNRS and a lecturer at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Celtic linguistics and philology. Lambert is the director of the j ...

proposed the tablet is an Orphic gold tablet, and reads this line as an Orphic formula in Greek. , - , , Inscribed on an altar. Found in

Thauron Thauron (; ) is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography An area of forestry and farming comprising the village and several hamlets situated in the Taurion river valley some south of Gu ...

Creuse Creuse (; or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the east, Cor ...

, France.'' AE'
1961, 159
/ref> , , Latin , , It is uncertain whether is a god name or a personal name. , - , , Inscribed on an altar. Found in

, England. , , Latin , = , This votive inscription to Jupiter Tanarus, by one Lucius Elufrius Praesens from

Clunia Clunia (full name ''Colonia Clunia Sulpicia'') was an ancient Roman city. Its remains are located on Alto de Castro, at more than 1000 metres above sea level, between the villages of Peñalba de Castro and Coruña del Conde, 2 km away f ...

, was one of the

Arundel marbles The Arundel marbles are a collection of stone Roman and Ancient Greek sculptures and inscriptions collected by Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel in the early seventeenth century, the first such comprehensive collection of its kind in England. ...

. The inscription is now badly weathered and illegible, but was read and recorded in the 17th century. The unusual form of the god's name here (Tanarus) has led to repeated suggestions of a misspelling on the part of the engraver or misreading in the original autopsy. However, the discovery of a dedication to in Dalmatia has somewhat obviated these concerns. , - , , Inscribed on an altar. Found in Godramstein, Germany. , , Latin , , , - , , Inscribed on an altar. Found in

Böckingen Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the beginning of the 19th century, Heilbronn became one of the cen ...

, Germany. , , Latin , r\ , , - , .. .., Inscribed on a tablet. Found in

Nicopolis ad Istrum Nicopolis ad Istrum () or Nicopolis ad Iatrum was a Roman and Early Byzantine town. Its ruins are located at the village of Nikyup, 20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria. The town reached its zenith during the reigns of Hadria ...

, Bulgaria. , , Latin , = = , is a personal name. , - A few different forms of the god's name are known from epigraphy. The spelling Taranus, which is much more common than Taranis in epigraphy, is an older form than Taranis. There is the above-discussed un-metathesised form Taranus. There is also Taranuc(n)us ("son/descendant of Taranus"), known from two inscriptions of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

, which attaches a patronymic suffix to Taranis's name. Different scholars have drawn different conclusions about Taranis's importance and the geographical extent of his worship from his epigraphic attestations.

Marion Euskirchen Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

calls the epigraphic evidence "scanty and altogether not unambiguous", which "suggests a rather limited significance of the god within a number of tribal federations". Hofeneder, on the other hand, states that Taranis is "attested surprisingly often" for a Celtic god, a fact which "clearly indicates that he must have been a deity worshipped in large parts of ' and over a long period of time".

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* {{Authority control Gaulish gods Celtic gods Gods of the ancient Britons Thunder gods Jovian deities Human sacrifice Lucan