Editing Vosegus

{{short description|Roman name for the Celtic god of hunting and forestation}}
[[File:Vosegus Inschrift Neustadt Museum Speyer.jpg|thumb|Votive stone for Vosegus (AD 151–230); the text reads ''Vosego / Iulius Vi/tunis v(otum) / s(olvit) l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito)'' ("To Vosegus, Julius Vitunis discharges the vow freely and happily, as is deserved".")]]
'''Vosegus''' ({{IPA|la|ˈwɔ.sɛ.ɡʊs|lang}}; sometimes ''Vosagus'', ''Vosacius'', ''Vosagō'', ''Vosegō'', ''Vogesus'') was a name used in the [[Roman Empire]] for a [[Celtic pantheon|Celtic god]] of hunting and forestation.<ref>[http://www.geologie.uni-freiburg.de/root/people/ex/krecher/Besiedlung.htm ''Geschichte zur frühen Besiedlung des Oberrheingrabens''], Geological Institute of [[Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg]] (German)</ref>

== Description and history ==
On the rare representations that have come down to us, Vosegus is represented with a bow and a shield, and he is sometimes accompanied by a dog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.musees-alsace.org/Pages/Fiche.php?NumMusee=269000115&Langue=En|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108052301/http://www.musees-alsace.org/Pages/Fiche.php?NumMusee=269000115&Langue=En|url-status=dead|title=''Gallo-Roman Exhibition at Langensoultzbach''|archivedate=November 8, 2007}}</ref> He is also associated with a local hunting deity with a piglet under his arm, and sometimes associated with nuts, acorns, and pine cones.<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacKillop|first=James|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/965737514|title=A dictionary of Celtic mythology|date=2016|isbn=978-0-19-880484-0|location=Oxford|oclc=965737514}}</ref> The central area where Vosegus was worshiped was around the [[Mont Donon|Donon]]. On top of a hill there was a temple dedicated to Vosegus.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071025115134/http://www.celtnet.org.uk/gods_v/vosegus.html ''Vosegus - A Gaulish god: The Sower'']}}</ref>

The name is derived from the [[Proto-Celtic]] *''uɸo''- (“sub-, under”) and *''segos'' (“force, victory”).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UK46AQAAIAAJ&dq=segos++vosegus&pg=PA518|title=La grande encyclopédie des lieux d'Alsace: toponymie, étymologie, histoire|first=Michel Paul|last=Urban|date=March 9, 2010|publisher=Nuée bleue|via=Google Books|isbn=9782716507561}}</ref>

Later in [[Gallo-Roman religion]], Vosegus was the [[patron god]] of the [[Vosges Mountains|Vosges]] in eastern [[Gaul]]. His name is attested in about five inscriptions from western [[Germany]] and eastern [[France]], twice in the form ''Vosego Silv(estri)'' and once as ''[[Mercury (god)|Merc(urio)]] Vos(ego)''.<ref>Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl. 2001. ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Editions Errance, Paris.</ref>

==References==
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{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Gaulish gods]]
[[Category:Tutelary deities]]
[[Category:Mountain gods]]
[[Category:Hunting gods]]
[[Category:Vosges]]

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