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Magalus
A Gaulish God, also known as Magalos: He who Leads
Magalus (Magalos) is a Gaulish god known from a single inscription found at Séraucourt, France. He may be a hunter deity, a 'leader of the hunt'. |
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Gaul: He who Leads
Magalus is known from a single inscription found at Séraucourt, Meuse, France. Beyond the name nothing is known of this deity. However, the dame is derived form the reconstructed proto-Celtic root *maglo- (noble, chief) and gives a meaning something like 'The Chieftain', 'He who Leads'.
Interestingly, in in volume 21 of his work, The History of Rome, Titus Livius (Livy) states that a Celtic tribe, the Boii, offered to show Hannibal the way across the Alps. One of the envoys from the Boii was a 'petty prince' called Magalus. Of course, 'Magalus' in this context could simply be a title, signifying 'leader', 'chieftain' alterntively it could indicate that Magalus was a personal name in usage during the first century BCE.
This deity's femail equivalent, Magla is given as the consort of Silvanusl, by analogy Maglus may be a hunter deity, and the leadership aspect of the name refers to the leadership of the hunt.
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