Editing Arduinna

{{Short description|Celtic hunting goddess}}
{{redirect|Arduina|the asteroid|394 Arduina|the plant genus|Carissa|the other plant genus|Kundmannia}}
[[File:Statuette-d'Arduinna.jpg|thumb|Bronze statuette of the Celtic goddess Arduinna riding a wild boar.]]
In [[Gallo-Roman religion]], '''Arduinna''' (also Arduina, Arduinnae or Arduinne) was the [[eponymous]] [[Tutelary deity|tutelary goddess]] of the [[Ardennes]] Forest and region, thought to be represented as a huntress riding a [[boar]] (primarily in the present-day regions of [[Belgium]] and [[Luxembourg]]). Her cult originated in the Ardennes region of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. She was [[Interpretatio graeca#Interpretatio romana|identified with]] the [[Roman mythology|Roman]] goddess [[Diana (goddess)|Diana]].<ref>Some of Diana's attributes have then been reflected to Arduina: "In Celtic mythology Arduina is the goddess of woodlands, wild life, the hunt and the moon." (Ramesh Chopra, ed. (2005) ''Academic Dictionary Of Mythology'', ''s.v.'' "Arduina").</ref>

==Depictions==
In ''The Gods of the Celts'', [[Miranda Aldhouse-Green|Miranda Green]] states that some depictions of Arduinna show her riding a [[boar]].<ref>Green, ''Gods of the Celts'', 1986, p.&nbsp;180; the connection is also made in popularized guidebooks such as B.G. Walker (1991), ''Woman's Dictionary of Symbol and Sacred Objects'' (San Francisco: Harper) and J.C. Cooper (1992) ''Symbolic and Mythological Animals'' (London).</ref>  However, Simone Deyts<ref>Deyts, Simone (1992) ''Images des Dieux de la Gaule'' (Images of the Gods of Gaul). Paris: Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-067-5}}</ref> notes that the bronze Gallo-Roman statue of a woman in a short belted tunic, riding a boar [[sidesaddle]] and holding a knife, conserved in the [[National Archaeological Museum (France)|Musée des antiquités nationales]], [[St-Germain-en-Laye]],<ref>The bronze is illustrated in Boucher, S. (1976) ''Recherches sur les Bronzes Figurés de Gaule Pré-romaine et Romaine'' (Research on the Bronze Figures of Gaul, Pre-Roman and Roman). Paris, Ecole Français de Rome, fig. 292, or [http://www.bridgemanart.com/search?filter_text=Arduinna&x=29&y=16 Bridgeman archives: Arduinna] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528025442/http://www.bridgemanart.com/search?filter_text=Arduinna&x=29&y=16 |date=2013-05-28 }})</ref> bears no inscription, and was simply assumed to be Arduinna by the 19th century [[antiquarian]] who discovered it—perhaps because the modern symbol of the Ardennes region is also a boar.<ref>Deyts 1992, pp.&nbsp;46–47.</ref> Another such bronze, from the collection of [[Richard Payne Knight]], has been in the [[British Museum]] since 1824; it is traditionally identified as "Diana".<ref>British Museum, [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=423686&partid=1&searchText=boar&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&images=on&orig=%2Fresearch%2Fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&currentPage=21 illustration and description.]</ref> Both bronze statuettes are now headless.

==Inscriptions==
Arduinna is directly attested from two inscriptions:
* [[Düren (district)|Düren]], Germany: ''deae Ardbinnae'' ({{CIL|13|07848}}; the object in question is an altar)
* Rome, Italy: ''Arduinne'' ({{CIL|6|00046}}; this is an inscribed relief, on which the name ''Arduinne'' has also been read as ''Saturno'')

==Etymology==

The name Arduinna derives from the [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] ''arduo-'' meaning height.<ref>Delamarre, Xavier & Lambert, P. Y. (2003). ''Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise'' (Dictionary of the Gaulish Language). 2nd edition. Paris, Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-237-6}}, p.&nbsp;51).</ref>  Also Latin: ''Ardua-'' steep. It is also found in several placenames, such as the Ardennes Woods (''Arduenna silva'') and the [[Arden, Warwickshire|Forest of Arden]] in England, in personal names ''Arduunus'' and ''Arda'' — the latter from coinage of the [[Treveri]]<ref>''RIG''-4, 36-43</ref> — and the Galatian ''Αρδή''. The name ''Arduenna silva'' for "wooded heights" was applied to several forested mountains, not just the modern Ardennes: it is found in the départements of [[Haute-Loire]] and [[Puy-de-Dôme]] and in the French commune of [[Alleuze]].<ref>Delamarre (2003), pp.&nbsp;51–52.</ref>

It has also been suggested that the [[gemination]] ''-nn-'' is typical to a language of the [[Belgae]],<ref>e.g. M.Gysseling, De Vroegste geschiedenis van het Nederlands: een taalkundige benadering in ''Naamkunde'' '''2''', 1970, p157-180</ref> being different from Celtic and thus suggesting a ''[[Nordwestblock]]'' etymology, which, generally speaking, is also assumed to be closer to [[Germanic languages|Germanic]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}

==Historical references==
In 585, [[Walfroy]] (Wulfilaich) preached to the local population of [[Villers-devant-Orval]] in the Ardennes to persuade them to abandon the worship of Diana. On the hill near [[Margut]], there was, according to [[Gregory of Tours]], a large stone statue of Diana where people would worship. Worshippers would also sing chants in Diana's honour as they drank and feasted. After some difficulties, Walfroy and his followers succeeded in pulling down the statue, which they demolished with hammers.<ref>Gregory of Tours, ''[[Gregory of Tours#History of the Franks|History]] VIII''.15.</ref>

==Legacy==
The [[Asteroid belt|Main belt]] [[asteroid]] [[394 Arduina]], discovered on 19 November 1894, is named for Arduinna.

The French-Belgian television series ''[[Black Spot (TV series)|Black Spot]]'', set in the Ardennes, features a group of eco warriors named the Children of Arduinna (''Les Enfants d'Arduinna'').<ref>{{cite news |title=5 bonnes raisons de regarder la série Zone blanche, tournée dans les Vosges |url=https://www.lunion.fr/id133789/article/2020-02-25/5-bonnes-raisons-de-regarder-la-serie-zone-blanche-tournee-dans-les-vosges |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=L'Union |date=25 February 2020 |language=fr}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}
* Colbert de Beaulieu, Jean-Baptiste & Fischer, Brigitte (1998) ''[[Recueil des Inscriptions gauloises]]'' (RIG) '''4:''' ''les légendes monétaires''. Paris, Editions du CNRS
* ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum]] (CIL)'', volume 6, Italia
* ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)'', volume 13, Tres Galliae
* Green, Miranda (1986) ''The Gods of the Celts''. Stroud, Sutton Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7509-1581-1}}

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Gaulish goddesses]]
[[Category:Nature goddesses]]
[[Category:Tutelary goddesses]]
[[Category:Ardennes]]
[[Category:Diana (mythology)]]

[[pt:Arduina]]