Celtic Gods: The Gaulish/Brythonic God, Anextiomarus, The Great Deliverer

Anextiomarus
A Gaulish and Brythonic god: The Great Deliverer

This deity is known from a single inscription found from a sunken vessel recovered from the Tyne Estuary near South Shields, England and is probably a protector deity of travellers of the 'Apollo' type.

Synonyms:
Gaul/Bryth: The Great Deliverer

A Gaulish/Brythonic deity known from an inscription on a bowl recovered from the mud of the Tyne estuary near South Shields.

The vessel seems to have sunk around 180CE, at the peak of a military crisis in Roman Britain. Inscriptions found on objects in the vessel suggest that the troops on the vessel were from the eighth legion and were travelling from Strasbourg, France to bolster the defences of Hadrian's wall. One bowl recovered from the vessel suggests that the soldiers were planning to offer thanks to their favourite deity, Apollo Anextiomarus if they arrived safely.

Their vessel foundered and they were unable to deliver their tribute (presumably to a temple located somewhere along the length of Hadrian’s Wall).

The god's name can be interpreted as being formed from the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements *an(a)- (intensive particle), *exs- (out of), *-ti- suffix converting abstract nouns into verbal roots. These elements all give the meaning 'to take out of' or 'to deliver' and with the element *marō- (large, great) and the Latinized masculine ending -us. This gives us 'The Great Deliverer' as a meaning which makes sense for a god linked with the cult of Apollo and who is appealed to by those in danger. As might be expected for soldiers undertaking a dangerous sea voyage.



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