Celtic Gods: The Gaulish god, Cnabetius (The Shearer)

Cnabetius
A Gaulish God: The Shearer

Cnabetius is a Gaulish god known from the south-west of Germany and though associated with Roman Mars by conflation he seems to have been a 'protector of the flock'.



Synonyms:
Gaul: The Shearer

Cnabetius is a god known from several inscriptions in the south-west of modern Germany, the north-west of ancient Gaul. One of the main inscriptions (CIL XIII 06572) found at Osterburken, Baden-Würtemberg, Germang reads: Paterio cornice(n) Mar(ti) Cnabetio vot(um) r(eddidit) l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito) (The ancestral horn-blower, Mars Cnabetius willingly, gladly and deservedly fulfilled his surrender). Further inscriptions have been found as Tholey, Saarland, Germany (CIL XIII 04507) where Mars Cnabetius is invoked along with the Genius Locus and Iupiter Optimus Maximus. This deity is also known from Hüttigweiler, Saarland, Germany where the god is invoked as Cnabetius. The final inscription to this deity was found at Erbstetten, Baden-Würtemberg, Germany (CIL XIII 06455) which reads In hon[orem] [d(omus) d(ivinae)] Marti C[n]abetio sim[u]lac[r]um Cartsrcon(?) v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito) (the home of the divine Mars Cnabetius this likeness [provided by] Cartsrcon willingly, gladly and deservedly in fulfilment of a vow).

The association of Cnabetius with Roman Mars by Interpretato Romano is interesting, indicating that this deity was a martial god. This is even more interesting given the only likely etymology for the god's name. In that it can only be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic element knab-ĩje/- (to shear) which also yields the modern Cymric cenifio thus Cnabetius is 'The Shearer'. But the mention of the cornice(n) (ie the battle horn) in the Osterburken inscription indicates that the function of this 'shearer' is more like that of a shepherd or herdsman. The 'protector of the flock and the shearer of the enemy'.



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