Editing Grannus

{{Short description|Water deity}}
[[File:Lauingen Apollo-Grannus-Tempel.jpg|right|thumb|A partially reconstructed temple of Apollo Grannus at Faimingen (''Phoebiana'') near [[Lauingen]]]]
'''Grannus''' (also ''Granus'', ''[[Mogons|Mogounus]],''<ref name="mogo"/> and ''Amarcolitanus''<ref name="amarco"/>) was a Celtic deity of [[classical antiquity]]. He was regularly identified with [[Apollo]] as '''Apollo Grannus''' and frequently worshipped in conjunction with [[Sirona (goddess)|Sirona]], and sometimes with [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and other deities.<ref name="SMF"/>

==Name==
===Etymology===
The [[theonym]] ''Grannus'' is a latinized form of Gaulish ''Grannos''.{{Sfn|Zeidler|2003|pp=82–83}} The same stem appears in the personal names ''Grania'', ''Grannia'', ''Grannicus'', and ''Grannica'', as well as in the place names ''Grignols'' (from an earlier *''Granno-ialon'' 'Grannus' clearing'), ''Aquae Granni'' (> ''[[Aachen]]''), and ''Granéjouls''.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=183}}

Its etymology remains debated. The name could be connected to [[Proto-Celtic]] *''grand''-''/grend-'', meaning 'beard' (cf. Middle Irish ''grend'', Middle Welsh ''grann'' 'chin, beard, cheek', Middle Breton ''grann'' 'eyebrow'), although some scholars have pointed that the god is never actually portrayed with a beard. Old French ''grenon'' ('small beard'), Old Spanish ''greñon'' ('beard') and Occitan ''gren'' ('moustache') are derived from an earlier *''grennos'', that is supposed to be Gaulish, but the vocalism is difficult to reconcile with the other forms.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=183}}{{Sfn|Zeidler|2003|pp=78–80}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=166}}

An alternative etymology connects the name to a reconstructed form *''gra-snó''- (< *''g<sup>w</sup>hr-snó''-), which could be related to Proto-Celtic ''*g<sup>w</sup>rīns-''/''g<sup>w</sup>rens-'', meaning 'heat' (cf. Middle Irish ''grīs'' 'heat, glow, embers', Middle Welsh ''gwres'' 'heat [of the sun, fire], passion, lust').{{Sfn|Zeidler|2003|pp=82–83}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=147}} Scholar Jürgen Zeidler contends that this would be a "probable reference to the sun's heat and its healing properties".{{Sfn|Zeidler|2003}} In early twentieth century scholarship, the theonym was often compared with the Old Irish ''grían'' ('sun'),{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=183}} which, according to linguist [[Ranko Matasović]], should be derived from Proto-Celtic *''g<sup>w</sup>rensā'' (> [[Primitive Irish]] ''*g<sup>w</sup>rēnā'').{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=147}}

===Epithets===
At [[Monthelon, Saône-et-Loire|Monthelon]], Grannus is called ''Deus Apollo Grannus Amarcolitanus''<ref name="amarco">{{CIL|13|02600}}</ref> ("The one with a piercing or far-reaching look"<ref>Zeidler, Jürgen, "On the etymology of Grannus", Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, Volume 53 (1), de Gruyter. 2003, p. 86.</ref>), and at [[Horbourg-Wihr]] ''Apollo Grannus [[Mogounus]]''.<ref name="SMF">Patrice Lajoye. [http://www.mythofrancaise.asso.fr/mythes/themes/divcelt2.htm Un inventaire des divinités celtes de l’Antiquité]. Société de Mythologie Française. See also the inventory's [http://www.mythofrancaise.asso.fr/mythes/themes/divcelt1.htm introduction]. {{in lang|fr}}</ref><ref name="mogo">{{CIL|13|05315}}</ref>

In all of his centres of worship where he is assimilated to a [[Roman deities|Roman god]], Grannus was [[Interpretatio romana|identified]] with [[Apollo]],<ref name="SMF"/> presumably in Apollo's role as a healing or solar deity. In [[Trier]], he is identified more specifically with [[Phoebus]] as Apollo Grannus Phoebus.<ref>{{CIL|13|03635}}</ref><ref name="SMF"/>

==Centres of worship==
[[File:CarolusThermen02.JPG|right|thumb|Hot springs such as those at Aquae Granni (today's [[Aachen]]) are thought to have been dedicated to Grannus.]]
[[File:Grand amphitheatre vgen.jpg|right|thumb|The amphitheatre in [[Grand, Vosges|Grand]], dedicated to Apollo. The name of Grand has been linked to Grannus.]]
One of the god's most famous cult centres was at Aquae Granni (now [[Aachen]], Germany). Aachen means ‘water’ in [[Old High German]], a [[calque]] of the Roman name of "Aquae Granni".<ref name="Aachen">Dr. Rita Mielke. [http://www.aachen.de/EN/ts/100_taking_a_cure/100_99/index.html History of Bathing]. Aachen.</ref> The town's hot springs with temperatures between 45&nbsp;°C and 75&nbsp;°C lay in the somewhat inhospitably marshy area around Aachen's basin-shaped valley region.<ref name="Aachen"/> Aachen first became a [[spa|curative centre]] in [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt times]].<ref name="Aachen"/>

According to [[Cassius Dio]], the Roman Emperor [[Caracalla]] (188 AD to 217 AD) unsuccessfully sought help from Apollo Grannus—as well as [[Aesculapius]] and [[Serapis]]—during a bout of physical and mental illness, visiting the god's shrine and making many [[votive offering]]s; Dio claims that the gods refused to heal him because they knew Caracalla's intentions to be evil.<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' 78.15.</ref> Caracalla's visit to the shrine of ‘the Celtic healing-god’ Grannus was during the war with Germany in 213.<ref>CIL VI 2086; IvEph 802</ref>{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==Festival==
A 1st century AD Latin inscription from a public fountain in [[Limoges]] mentions a Gaulish ten-night festival of Grannus (lightly Latinized as ''decamnoctiacis Granni''):

:{{lang|la|italic=no|<small>POSTVMVS DV[M]</small>}}
:{{lang|la|italic=no|<small>NORIGIS F</small>(ilius) <small>VERG</small>(obretus) <small>AQV</small>}}
:{{lang|la|italic=no|<small>AM MARTIAM DECAM</small>}}
:{{lang|la|italic=no|<small>NOCTIACIS GRANNI D</small>(e) <small>S</small>(ua) <small>P</small>(ecunia) <small>D</small>}}(edit)<ref>''[[L'Année épigraphique|AE]]'' 1989: 521; ''AE'' 1991: 1222.</ref>

Translation: "The [[vergobret]]us Postumus son of Dumnorix gave from his own money the ''Aqua Martia'' ("Water of Martius [or Mars]", an aqueduct<ref>Laurent Lamoine, ''Le pouvoir local en Gaule romaine'', Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2009, pp. 114-115.</ref>) for the ten-night festival of Grannus".{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

==Divine entourage==
[[File:Autel d'Apollon Grannus et Sirona, Baumberg (Allemagne).jpg|thumb|Altar to Apollon Grannus and [[Sirona (goddess)|Sirona]], Baumberg ([[Germany]])]]
The name Grannus is sometimes accompanied by those of other deities in the inscriptions. In [[Augsburg]], he is found with both [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] and [[Sirona (goddess)|Sirona]];<ref>{{AE|1992|01304}}</ref> he is again invoked with Sirona at [[Rome]],<ref>{{CIL|06|00036}}</ref> [[Bitburg]],<ref>{{CIL|13|04129}}</ref> [[Baumberg]],<ref>{{CIL|03|05588}}</ref><ref name="SMF"/> [[Lauingen]],<ref>{{CIL|03|11903}}</ref> and [[Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa|Sarmizegetusa]] (twice).<ref>{{AE|1983|00828}}</ref> At [[Mengen, Germany|Ennetach]] he is with [[Nymph]]s,<ref>{{CIL|03|05861}}</ref> at [[Lauingen|Faimingen]] with [[Hygieia]] and the [[Cybele|Mother of the Gods]],<ref>{{CIL|03|05873}}</ref> and at [[Grand, Vosges|Grand]] with [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]].<ref name="SMF"/> A votive altar at [[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]] invokes him after "holy [[Serapis]]" and "the many-named [[Isis]]", and before "the unvanquished [[Persephone|Core]] and [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] [[Sagatus]]".<ref>{{AE|1968|00230}}. The dedicant is Julius Melanius, an [[Procurator (Roman)#As governors|imperial governor]].</ref><ref name="SMF"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{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}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Zeidler |first=Jürgen |year=2003 |title=On the etymology of Grannus |journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=77–92 |doi=10.1515/ZCPH.2003.77 |issn=0084-5302}}

==Further reading==
* Hofeneder, Andreas; Hainzmann, Manfred, and Mathieu, Nicolas. “Apollon Grannos – Überlegungen Zu Cassius Dio 77, 15,5–7”. In: ''Théonymie Celtique, Cultes, Interpretatio - Keltische Theonymie, Kulte, Interpretatio''. Edited by Andreas Hofeneder and Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel, 1st ed. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2013. pp.&nbsp;101–112. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv8mdn28.10.

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Grannus}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}
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[[Category:Celtic gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]
[[Category:Fire gods]]
[[Category:Water gods]]
[[Category:Gods of the ancient Britons]]