Celtic Gods: The Gaulish God, Pipius (he of Domestic Fowl)

Pipius
A Gaulish God, he of Domestic Fowl

Pipius is a Gaulish god known from a single inscription found at Vallauris, France where he may represent the patron deity of chirping birds.



Synonyms:
Gaul: He of Domestic Fowl

Pipius is a Gaulish deity known from a single inscription found at Vallauris, Alpes Maritimes, France (CIL XII 5722). Little is known about this deity and even the name is peculiar. At first glance it would seem to be related to the Latin pipio (to chirp). It has been proposed that a proto-Indo-European root something like *pipero- led to both the Latin pipio and a proto-Celtic root *fifero- which then split into the P-Celtic root *yaro (chicken) which yields the Cymric iâr and the Gaulish iaro and the Q-Celtic *yeirin- which yields the Irish eirín. Thus the name of Pipius may represent the survival of the root form. However, as the word for chicken already exists in Gaulish the form pipi may represent all 'chirping birds' or perhaps all domestic birds and can be interpreted as 'he of the domestic birds' and would therefore fit into the class of deities named after animals, such as Epona (horses), Tarvostrigaranus, Donnotaurus (cattle), Moccus (pigs), Mullo (mules) and Gabrus (goats).



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