Celtic Gods: The Gaulish and Brythonic god, Matunus (Spirit of the Bear)

Matunus
A Gaulish and Brythonic God: Spirit of the Bear

MAtunus is a Gaulish god known from the name of the Gallo-Roman city, Ande-matunnum (Langres, France) as well as a single inscription found at High Rochester, England. He is one of the classic Celtic bear gods and may be a mage deity, similar to Math fab Mathonwy.



Synonyms:
Gaul: Spirit of the Bear

The Gallic god Matunus has a name derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic lexical element Matu- (bear) and brings with it the connotation 'Sprit of the Bear'. Matunus, a Latin form of the Celtic Matunos, has a variant, Matunnos, which provides the second term for the Gallo-Roman name of the city of Langres: Ande-matunnum. Andematunnos would have signified 'great bear.' Andematunnum, then, is the fortress of the great divinized bear.

Matunus is also known from a shrine inscription at BREMENIUM, High Rochester, Northumberland (RIB 1265), which reads: DEO MATVNO PRO SALVTE M AVRELI ... ... BONO GENERIS HVMANI IMPERANTE G IVLIVS MARCVS] LEG AVG PR PR POSVIT AC DEDICAVIT C A CAECIL OPTATO TRIB

As one of the Celtic bear gods, along with Artaius, Artio and Arthur, there is an ancient Celtic legnd which says that the bear-gods will arise from hibernation and come to the aid of their people when called. This may be the origin of similar myths surrounding king Arthur. Matunus' name is also very similar to the figure of Math fab Mathonwy, one of the main figures in the Mabinogi of Math fab Mathonwy. The similarity between the two names may well imply a shared etymology and may indicate a link between the bear and the mage-god.



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