Celtic Gods: The Gaulish Goddess, Souconna (She [the one] Who Sings)

Souconna
A Gaulish Goddess: She [the one] Who Sings

Souconna is a Gaulish goddess known from both inscriptional and toponymic (place-name) evidence. She is the tutelary goddess of the town Sagone and the river Saône. She seems to be a classic Celtic river goddess.



Synonyms:
Gaul: She [the one] Who Sings

Souconna is a goddess known from both inscriptional and toponymic evidence. Inscriptions dedicated to this goddess having been found at Sagonne in the Cher region of France (CIL XIII 11162) and at Châlon-sur-Saône in the Saône-et-Loire, France (AE 1913, 161). Indeed the name of Sagonne itself is probably derived from the name of the goddess. Perhaps more significantly, the name of the river Saône, a tributary of the Rhône, is also derived from the name of this godddess. Though in pre-Roman times the river was known as the Arar, thus it must have been dedicated to the goddess Sauconna after the Romanization of the province.

Etymologically the name Souconna can be derived from a combination of the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements *sou-(no)- (demonstrative pronoun), *kan(u)- (sing) and the feminine particle -a; thus the name can be interpreted as 'She [the one] Who Sings'. This would be a fitting epithet for a river goddess.



Couldn't find what you were looking for? Search the web:



stefan and zogo small One Million People Campaign
If you can spare $1 then help support this site and change someone's life forever? Learn how and why on the One Million People campaign page. Or donate $10 and get my Guide to Spices or The Recipes of Africa eBooks as a gift for your donation!