Celtic Gods: The Galuish Goddess, Bibracte (Noble Beaver)

Bibracte
A Gaulish Goddess: Noble Beaver

Bibracte is a goddess known from two inscriptions found in France (Gaul) where she was the titular goddess of the town of Bibracte and may have been a protective goddess of the town, with a water aspect.



Synonyms:
Gaul: Noble Beaver

Bibracte is a goddess known from three inscriptions found at Autun, Saône-et-Loire, France. These inscirptions [CIL XIII 02651; CIL XIII 02652; CIL XIII 02651] all invoke deae Bibracti (the goddess Bibracte). This region of Gaul was the homeland of the Aedui tribe; probably the largest and most powerful of the Gaulish tribes. On mount Beauvray they had their largest and most powerful oppidium (fortified town). It is here that, in 52 BCE Vercingetorix was named the leader of the anti-Roman Gaulish coalition and it is here, after the defeat of the siege of Alesia that Julius Caesar completed the writing of his de Bello Gallico (on the Gallic Wars). A few decades after the Roman conquest, Bibracte was abandoned in favour of Autun, 25 kilometres from Mont Beuvray. This would make Bibracte the tutelary goddess of the town of Bibracte, and possibly of the wider region (her name survives in the name of Mont Beuvray and explains why her cult continued in Atun even after the abandonment of Bibracte.

Unfortunately, almost nothing survives of Bibracte's cult save the goddess' name. This, however, can be interpreted on the basis of the reconstructed proto-Celtic lexicon as being derived from the elements: *bebru- (beaver) and *akro- (high, noble) which would suggest that Bibracte is the 'Noble Beaver'. In terms of the placename *-acti also refers to a place or an oppidium. Thus Bibracte is the 'place of the goddess Bibracte'. The import of this goddess may well be because of the marshy area below mount Beauvray which was one of the town of Bibracte's defences. Could flooding due to beaver dam building have been one of the reasons for Bibracte's impregnability? It's certianily an intriguing possiblity and explains why the town and its tutelary deity were both named after the aquatic mammal. Could Bibracte have been a protextrix or the town, with a storng water aspect to her cult? It's certainly an intriguing possibility.



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