Editing Belenus (section)

==Name==
=== Attestations ===
The [[theonym]] ''Belenus'' (or ''Belinus''), which is a latinized form of the Gaulish ''Belenos'' (or ''Belinos''), appears in some 51 inscriptions. Although most of them are located in [[Aquileia]] ([[Friuli]], Italy), the main centre of his cult, the name has also been found in places where Celtic speakers lived in ancient times, including in [[Gauls|Gaul]], [[Noricum]], [[Illyria]], [[Great Britain|Britain]] and [[Ireland]].{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}}  

Linguist [[Blanca María Prósper]] argues that ''Belinos'' was probably the original form,{{Sfn|Prósper|2017|p=258}} which also appears in the name ''{{ill|Belyn|cy|Belyn o Lŷn}}'' (from an earlier ''Belinos''), a Welsh leader who died in 627 AD.{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}} Known variants include ''Bellinus'' and perhaps ''Belus''.<ref name="MacKillop">{{Harvnb|MacKillop|2004}}, s.v. ''Belenus''.</ref> The deity may also have been known in Ireland and Britain by the variants ''Bel'', ''Beli'', and ''Bile.''{{Sfn|Leeming|2005|p=48}}

===Etymology===
{{wiktionary|Belenus}}
The etymology of ''Belenos'' remains unclear. It has been traditionally translated as the 'bright one' or the 'shining one', by deriving the name from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*bʰelH-'', interpreted as 'white, shining' (cf. <small>Lith.</small> ''báltas'' 'white', <small>Grk</small> φαλός ''phalós'' 'white', <small>Arm.</small> ''bal'' 'pallor', <small>Goth.</small> ''bala'' 'grey'). This theory was encouraged by the ''[[Interpretatio Romana|interpretatio romana]]'' of ''Belenos'' as the 'Gaulish [[Apollo]]', a divinity with sun attributes.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=24–25}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}}

However, this etymology has come under increasing criticism in recent scholarship. [[Xavier Delamarre]] notes that the proposed [[cognate]]s stemming from ''*bʰelH-'' do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather '[pale] white' or 'grey', and suggests that ''Belenos'' may rather derive from the Gaulish stem ''belo''- ('strong, powerful') attached to the suffix -''nos'' ('lord, master'), which would lead to ''Belenos'' as the 'Master of Power'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} Alternatively, [[Peter Schrijver]] has proposed that ''Belenos'' might be an ''o''-stem of the [[Indo-European]] root *''bʰel-'', designating the [[henbane]] (cf. Welsh ''bela'', Germanic *''bel(u)nōn'', Slavic ''*bъlnъ''), a psychoactive plant which was known as ''belenuntia'' in Gaulish and as ''apollinaris'' in Latin.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=24–27}} [[Bernhard Maier]] and [[Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel]] have also argued that the name may derive from a root ''*g<sup>w</sup>elH-'', meaning 'source, spring'.{{Sfn|Maier|1994|p=40}}<ref>{{Citation |last1=de Bernardo Stempel |first1=Patrizia |title=Celtic and Other Indigenous Divine Names Found in the Italian Peninsula |date=2013 |work=Théonymie celtique, cultes, interpretatio - Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, Interpretatio |page=79 |editor-last=de Bernardo Stempel |editor-first=Patrizia |edition=1 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |isbn=978-3-7001-7369-4 |jstor=j.ctv8mdn28.8 |last2=Hainzmann |first2=Manfred |last3=Mathieu |first3=Nicolas |editor2-last=Hofeneder |editor2-first=Andreas}}</ref> According to Šašel Kos, Belenus' "close association with water is confirmed by two dedications to ''Fons B(eleni)'' and by an altar in which Belenus is worshipped together with the Nymphs. Thermal springs are also attested to at Iulium Carnicum."{{Sfn|Šašel Kos|2022|p=228}} The 19th-century attempt to link the root ''bel''- with the Phoenician deity ''[[Baal]]'' is now widely rejected by modern scholars.<ref name="MacKillop" />

=== Related terms ===
A village that is now part of the municipality of Aquileia is still named ''Beligna''.{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}} A tribal leader of pre-Roman Britain was named ''[[Cunobeline|Cunobelinos]]'' (Old Welsh ''Conbelin''), which possibly means 'hound of Belenos', or else 'strong as a dog' if the name is not [[theophoric]].{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=27–28}}<ref name="MacKillop" />{{Sfn|Prósper|2017|p=262}} The Old Welsh personal name ''Liuelin'' (modern ''[[Llywelyn (name)|Llywelyn]]'') goes back to a similar compound *''lugu-belinos'' (either a [[dvandva]] with the names of two deities, or else 'strong as [[Lugus]]').{{Sfn|Prósper|2017|p=262}} The Brittonic variant of the name could be the source of the ''[[Billingsgate]]'' ward in London, although this may be a [[folk etymology]], and possibly of the fountain of ''Belenton'' (now Bérenton) in the [[Brocéliande]] forest in Brittany.{{Sfn|Leeming|2005|p=48}}<ref name="MacKillop" /> The names of the Welsh and Irish ancestor-figures ''[[Beli Mawr]]'' and ''[[Bile (Irish legend)|Bile]]'' may also be related.<ref name="MacKillop" />{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|pp=30–34, 39–40|p=}}

The Gaulish term ''belenuntia'' (Βελενούντιαν), designating the [[henbane]], a hallucinogenic plant also known in Latin as ''apollinaris'', may be a derivative form of ''Belenos''.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=27}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=71}} The variant ''belenion'', cited as a poisonous plant by [[Pseudo-Aristotle]], appears to be the source of the Spanish ''beleño'' ('henbane').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=71}} The Gallo-Roman term ''belisa'' could also have been borrowed into [[Old High German]] as ''bilisa'' (cf. modern German ''Bilsenkraut'' 'henbane').{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}} Henbane was commonly used in antiquity for medicinal purposes, providing further evidence of Belanos' healing attributes.{{Sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=26}} A shallow stone dish found in Saint-Chamas (south of France) and dedicated to ''Beleino'' could thus have been used to hold hallucinogenic substances.{{sfn|Birkhan|2006|p=195}}

According to Delamarre, the name of the goddess ''[[Belisama]]'' appears to be built on a same stem ''bel(o)''- ('strong, powerful') attached to the intensifying suffix -''isama'', and could thus been translated as 'Very Powerful'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}} Schrijver rather links it to a stem for 'henbane', *''beles''-, attached to an unknown suffix -''ma'', and compares the name with the Gaulish theonym ''Belisa-maros''.{{sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=30–31}} The personal name ''[[Bellovesus]]'' can probably be translated as 'Worthy of Power', from ''bello''- ('power') attached to ''uesus'' ('worthy, good, deserving').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=72}}

Spanish scholarship also relates the deity's name to Aquitanian anthroponym ''Belinatepos'' or ''Belanetepos'' (taken to have an equine association), as well as the toponyms Beleño and Beloño.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=El jinete desnudo y la silla de montar de la estela de Iruña (Alava) |first=José Ignacio San Vicente González |last=de Aspuru |journal=Hispania Antiqua |issn=1130-0515 |issue=32 |date=2008 |pages=75, 78 |url=https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/9775}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gricourt |first1=Daniel |first2=Hollard |last2=Dominique |title=Lugus et le cheval |journal=Dialogues d'histoire ancienne |volume=28 |issue=2 |date=2002 |page=136 |doi=10.3406/dha.2002.2475}}</ref>

===Epithets===
In ancient Gaul and Britain, [[Apollo]] was commonly associated with the sun and healing attributes.{{Sfn|Aldhouse-Green|1997|pp=30–31}} He may have been equated with fifteen or more different [[List of Celtic deities|names and epithets]] (including ''Belenus'', ''Vindonnus'', ''[[Grannos]]'', ''[[Borvo]]'', ''[[Maponus]]'', ''[[Moritasgus]]'', among others).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Notes d'histoire des religions: 8. Introduction à une étude de l'Apollon gaulois |last=Le Roux |first=F. |date=1959 |page=216-226 |journal=Ogam |volume=11 |lang=FR}}</ref>{{Sfn|Aldhouse-Green|1997|pp=30–31}}<ref name="Jufer">Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Paris: Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-200-7}}.</ref>

The god was venerated as Apollo Belenus at the curative shrine of [[Sainte-Sabine]] (Burgundy), where he was invoked by pilgrims seeking cures for their sickness. If Belenus is interpreted as meaning 'shining, brilliant', it can be compared to the Celtic epithet ''Vindonnus'' (from *''windo''- 'white'), attached to Apollo as a deity who restored light and vision to people with eye disease at [[Essarois]] (Burgundy).{{Sfn|Aldhouse-Green|1997|pp=30–31}}