Editing Alaunus

{{short description|Gaulish god}}
{{about|the Gaulish god}}

'''Alaunus''' or '''Alaunius''' ([[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]: ''Alaunos'') is a [[Gallo-Roman religion|Gaulish god]] of healing and prophecy {{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}. His name is known from inscriptions found in [[Lurs, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]] in [[Southern France]]<ref>Where it appears in Greek in the dative case: {{lang|grc|Αλανειουι}}, ''Alaneioui''.</ref> and in [[Mannheim]] in western [[Germany]]. In the latter inscription, Alaunus is [[interpretatio graeca|used as an epithet]] of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]].<ref>''L'Arbre Celtique''. "[http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomdiv=Alaunus Alaunus]" and "[http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php?nomdiv=Alaunius Alaunius]".</ref> The feminine form ''Alauna'' (from an earlier *''Alamnā'') is at the origin of many place-names and [[hydronyms]] across Europe,{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=37}} including the Roman-era names of [[Valognes]] in [[Normandy]], [[Alauna Carvetiorum|Maryport]] and [[Alavana|Watercrook]] in [[Cumbria]], [[River Alyn]] in [[North Wales]], [[Alcester]] in [[Warwickshire]], [[Ardoch fort|Ardoch]] in [[Perthshire]], and [[Learchild]] and the [[River Aln]] in [[Northumberland]].{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

== Name ==
The Gaulish [[theonym]] ''Alaunos'' stems from a [[Proto-Celtic]] form reconstructed as *''Alamnos''. The etymology remains uncertain. It has been traditionally derived from the root *''al''- ('feed, raise, nurture'), and compared with the Latin ''alumnus'' ('nursling') and with names of rivers such as ''Almus'' in [[Moesia]], ''[[River Yealm|Yealm]]'' (*''Almii'') in England, or ''[[Alme (river)|Alme]]'' in [[Westphalia]]. *''Alamnos'' could thus  be translated as 'the Nourishing One'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=37}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=30|ps=: "The Gaul. toponym ''Alaunos'' and hydronym ''Alauna'' are usually derived from the same root, but like most etymologies of toponomastic elements, this is also uncertain."}}

A Gallic tribe named ''[[Alauni]]'' (Αλαυνοί) is also attested in [[Noricum]], and linguist [[Xavier Delamarre]] has argued that the root ''alǝ''-, meaning 'to wander', "would suit river names as much as ethnic ones". In this view, *''Alamnos'' may be compared with the Celtic stem *''alamo''- ('herd'; cf. Old Irish ''alam'', Welsh ''alaf''), and the [[ethnonym]] ''Alauni'' rendered as the 'errants' or the 'nomads', contrasting with the name of the ''Anauni'' ('the Staying Ones').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=37}}

==See also==
*[[Alauna (disambiguation)]]
*[[List of solar deities]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|year=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}
*{{Cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004173361|author-link=Ranko Matasović}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*Ellis, Peter Berresford, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''(Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): {{ISBN|0-19-508961-8}}
*Wood, Juliette, ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art'', Thorsons Publishers (2002): {{ISBN|0-00-764059-5}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Alaunus}}
*[http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf Proto-Celtic &mdash; English lexicon]

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Gaulish gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Oracular gods]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]