Editing Alaisiagae

{{Short description|Name or epithet of Germanic goddesses}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2013}}
In [[Romano-British culture]] and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[polytheism]], the '''Alaisiagae''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|l|i|ə|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|ˌ|dʒ|iː}} (possibly "dispatching terrors" or "all-victorious") were a quartet of Celtic and Germanic goddesses deifying victory.

==Centres of worship==
The Alaisiagae were [[list of Celtic deities|Celtic deities]] and [[list of Germanic deities|Germanic deities]] who were worshipped in [[Roman Britain]], altar-stones raised to them having been recovered in the [[United Kingdom]] at Vercovicium ([[Housesteads Roman Fort]]) at [[Hadrian's Wall]] in [[England]].

Another centre of worship was perhaps the town of [[Bitburg]], near the German-Belgian border, which was called “Beda Vicus,” which although Latin derives from the Celtic "Village of Beda."{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}.

== Votive inscriptions ==
=== First inscription ===
One of the votive inscriptions to these goddesses reads:
: DEO MARTI THINCSO ET DVABVS ALAISAGIS BEDE ET FIMMILENE ET N AVG GERM CIVES TVIHANTI VSLM
: "To the god Mars Thincsus and the two Alaisagae, Beda and Fimmilena, and the divine spirit of the emperor, the German tribesmen from Tuihantis willingly and deservedly fulfill their vow."

Mars Thincsus is correlated with the Germanic war-god [[Týr]]. The latter was associated with oath-taking and the [[Thing (assembly)|Thing]], a local assembly of free men. Political issues were discussed, judicial decisions were made, and religious rites were held there.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lincoln|first=Bruce|date=1998|title=Rewriting the German War God: Georges Dumézil, Politics and Scholarship in the Late 1930s|journal=History of Religions|volume=37|issue=3|pages=187–208|doi=10.1086/463502 |jstor=3176605|s2cid=153810415 }}</ref> Scherer suggests that they came from the district of Twenthe (hence, the mention to "''cives Tvihantis''") in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|title=RIB 1593. Altar dedicated to Mars Thincsus, the Alaisiagae, and the Divinity of the Emperor|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/1593|website=Roman Inscriptions of Britain}}</ref>

=== Second inscription ===
The second inscription reads:

: DEABVS ALAISIAGIS BAVDIHILLIE ET FRIAGABI ET N(umini) AVG(usti) N(umerus) HNAVDIFRIDI V(otum) S(olvit) L(ibens) M(erito)
: "To the goddesses the Alaisiagae, Baudihillia and Friagabis, and to the Divinity of      the Emperor the unit of Hnaudifridus gladly and deservedly fulfilled its vow."<ref>{{Cite web |title=RIB 1576. Altar dedicated to the Alaisiagae and to the Divinity of the Emperor {{!}} Roman Inscriptions of Britain |url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/1576 |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=romaninscriptionsofbritain.org |language=en}}</ref>

==Syncretism==
The goddesses called the Alaisiagae are named on altar-stones found in shrines along Hadrian's Wall: Beda, Baudihille, Fimmilena, and Friagabis. These Celtic goddesses had parallels with similarly named Frisian goddesses who may have arrived on Germanic soil via Gaulic France. These goddesses are not known to be [[Roman mythology|Roman]]. Beda may have been an abbreviation for [[Ricagambeda]] since the two names share similar [[semantics]]. The Romanized Celtic soldiers who served along Hadrian’s Wall more than likely introduced the Alaisiagae to their Roman counterparts, thus spreading worship of these goddesses of victory.

==Archeological setting==
The altar stones of the Alaisiagae were recovered in the Temple of Mars at Vercovicium. This roughly circular temple was found on top of Chapel Hill a little to the south of the fort, its walls of undressed stone facing with an earth and rubble infill enclosed an area measuring about 17¼ ft. across. The insubstantial foundations indicate that the superstructure was at least half-timbered.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

The temple was built in the early-3rd century upon the ruins of a rectangular workshop in the ''vicus'' which had been destroyed during the barbarian incursions of AD196. It contained altars dedicated by the commanders and men of all three units known to be stationed at Vercovicium to the god Mars Thincsus, the Romanized aspect of a [[Teutons|Teutonic]] god, a common occurrence among the Roman auxiliary units. Various altars have been found at this site dedicated to Mars and/or to the Celto-Germanic goddesses Alaisiagae; named on one altar as Beda and Fimmilena, on another as Baudihille (Boudihillia) and Friagabis.

==Etymology==
'''Boudihillia''' can be derived from the [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] ''*Bōud-ī-hīlījā '' meaning 'victory's fullness.'
'''Beda''' is derived from the Proto-Celtic ''*Bed-ā'' meaning 'burial.'
''' Alaisiagae''' is derived from the Proto-Celtic ''*Ad-lājsījā-agai'' meaning (in the [[wikt: illative|illative]]) 'sending fears,' plausibly a byword for a notion of “dispatching terrors” (q.v. [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/PCl-MoE.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060114133008/http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf |date=2006-01-14 }} [http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/MoE-PCl.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514141136/http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/MoE-PCl.pdf |date=2011-05-14 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20060211181501/http://www.indo-european.nl/cgi-bin/query.cgi?root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cceltic]).

==Sources==
*[[British Museum]], [[London]], England.
*Carlisle Museum, [[Cumbria]], England.
*Lancaster museum, [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], England.
*Newcastle Museum of Antiquities, [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], England.
*Penrith Museum, [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]], England.
*[[Housesteads Roman Fort|Vercovicium]] Roman Museum, Housesteads, [[Northumberland]], England.
*York Castle Museum, [[York]], England.

==References==
<references />

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Goddesses of the ancient Britons]]
[[Category:Celtic goddesses]]
[[Category:Germanic goddesses]]
[[Category:Death goddesses]]
[[Category:War goddesses]]
[[Category:Germanic deities]]