Celtic Gods: The Celto-Latin god, Danuvius (Way of the Gift or That which is the Gift)

Danuvius
The Celto-Latin God: Way of the Gift or That which is the Gift

Danuvius is a Celto-Latin god known from a number of inscriptions in Cermany, Austria, Switzerland and Croatia and represents the Roman patron deity of the Danube conflated with the Celtic goddess of the Danube, Donau.



Synonyms:
Celto-Latin: Way/Route of the Gift or That which is the Gift

As a Roman deity it could be argued that Danuvius should not be included in this list of Celtic gods. However, as the name is an admixture of Celtic and Latin elements, I think it is appropriate. Danuvius is known from several sources, with inscriptions to this deity being found at Menagen in Germany (CIL III 11804) and Rissitissen in Germany (CIL III 05863), where he is invoked with Jupiter Optimus Maximus. He is also known from Vienna in Austria where he is named along with IOM, Neptune, the Nymphes as well as the Celtic deities Agaunus and Salacea. From Hungary this deiry is known from Alt Ofen (CIL III 03416, 10395) and Ténnye (where he is equated with a local deity, Dravus). A further, fragmentary, inscription that might be dedicated to Danuvius is known from Osijek, Croatia (CIL III 10263). Iconographically Danuvius is known from a relief on Trajan's column, Rome (above left which shows Danuvius gazing as Trajan's legions cross the Danube on a pontoon bridge) and from the obverse of the Trajan denarius (above right). Indeed, this representation is the first instance where a river deity was used as the main character on the reverse of a Roman coin. This represents Trajan's stature as the first (and only) emperor to cross the Danube and permanently conquer the region beyond.

To the Celts, however, the goddess of the Danube was Danu/Donau, a name which is still presenrved in the German 'Donau' and the Cymric 'Donaw'. The name of Danu itself means 'gift' and there are two possible derivations fro Danuvius. The first comes from a possible suffixed from of *dāanu-; *dāanu(w)-yo- (that which is the gift) or it could be Latin via (way) as a postfix to the Celtic danu giving 'way/route of the gift'. However, Danuvia would have sounded feminine to both Celtic and Latin ears and whereas river deities were invariably female to Celts, they were almost always male to Romans hence Danuvia was masculinized to Danuvius, giving the Roman name for the river god.



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