Tarvos Trigaranus
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Tarvos Trigaranus or Taruos Trigaranos<ref>The Latin alphabet did not distinguish between U and V.</ref> is a divine figure who appears on a relief panel of the Pillar of the Boatmen as a bull with three cranes perched on his back. He stands under a tree, and on an adjacent panel, the god Esus is chopping down a tree, possibly a willow, with an axe.<ref>Green 1992 pp. 93-94.</ref>
In the Gaulish language, taruos means "bull,"<ref>Delmarre 2003 pp.291-292.</ref> found in Old Irish as tarb (/tarβ/), in Modern Irish/Gaelic as tarbh and in Welsh as tarw (compare "bull" in other Indo-European languages such as Latin taurus from Greek "ταύρος" or Lithuanian taŭras). Garanus is the crane (garan in Welsh, Old Cornish and Breton; see also geranos, the ritual "crane dance" of ancient Greece).<ref>The English word "crane" derives from the Germanic *krana(n); Delmarre 2003 p. 175).</ref> Treis, or tri- in compound words, is the number three (cf. Irish trí, Welsh tri).<ref>Compare Tricorii ("the three troops"), and Trinox ("three nights") in the Gaulish calendar of Coligny; Delmarre 2003 pp.301-302.</ref>
A pillar from Trier shows a man with an axe cutting down a tree in which sit three birds and a bull's head. The juxtaposition of images has been compared to the Tarvos Trigaranus and Esus panels on the Boatmen monument.<ref>MacCulloch 1996 pp.157-158.</ref> It is possible that statues of a bull with three horns, such as the one from Autun (Burgundy, France, anciently Augustodunum) are related to this deity.<ref>Green 1992 pp. 93-94.</ref>
The Saturnian moon Tarvos is named after Tarvos Trigaranus, following a convention of naming members of its moon group after Gallic mythological figures.<ref name="Gazetteer"> Template:Cite web </ref>
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[edit]- Delmare, Xavier (2003) Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (2nd ed.) Paris: Editions Errance. Template:ISBN
- Green, Miranda J. (1992) Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. London: Thames & Hudson. Template:ISBN
- MacCulloch, John A. (1996) Celtic Mythology. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publications. Template:ISBN