Celtic Gods: The Gaulish God, Robur ([Spririt of the] Oak)

Robur
A Gaulish God, also known as Roboris, Robor, Dervos: [Spririt of the] Oak

Robur (Roboris, Robor, Dervos) is a Gaulish God known from a single inscription found at Angoulême, France. He is the spirit of oak trees and may represent a Latinized form of a Gaulish god originally known as Dervos.



Synonyms: Roboris, Robor, Dervos
Gaul: [Spririt of the] Oak

Robur is a deity known from a single inscription found at Angoulême, Charente, France (CIL XIII 01112) where he is invoked with the Genius Locus (spirit of place). The form of the name used is actually Roboris, the genitive case, with root form being reconstructed as Robur, though many Latin words keep the -u- in the genitive case thus the true root form of the name is probably Robor; however without inscriptional evidence we cannot be certain.

The name Robur/Robor is probably derived from the neuter Latin word for oak, rōbur, which, in the genitive form of the inscription would make Roboris: '[Spirit of the] Oak'; the animus of the oak. We may have here an example of a Gaulish deity being Latinized and introduced into the Roman pantheon. If this is the case then Robur could not be the original, native, form of the name. In all the Celtic languages the oak is known as some variant of daur (Irish), dar (Cymric) and the Gaulish form seemed to be der. Thus the original Gaulish form of Robur may have been *Dervos He therefore belongs to the group of Celtic tree deities that includes: Abelio (the god of apple trees), Fagus (Beech), Darona/Daronwy (god(dess) of the oak grove) and Robur (oak)



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