Celtic Gods: The Gaulish God, Sunuxsalis (Great Lord of Night)

Sunuxsalis
A Gaulish God, also known as Sunucsallis, Sunuxalis, Sunxalis: Great Lord of Night

Sunuxsalis (Sunucsallis, Sunuxalis, Sunxalis) is Gaulish god known from eleven inscriptions, all found in Germany. Interpretation of this god's name suggest he was a deity of darkness, a psychopomp.



Synonyms: Sunucsallis, Sunuxalis, Sunxalis
Gaul: Great Lord of Night

Sunuxsalis is a god known from eleven inscriptions found in Germany. Dedications to this deity having been found at: Bonn (AE 1931, 28), Cologne (CIL XIII 08248), Cornelimünster (AE 1958, 14), Eschweiler (CIL XIII 07858, 12011), Embken (CIL XIII 07912), Heimbach (CIL XIII 12004) and Hoven (CIL XIII 07917). The problems encountered with rendering this deity's name from Gaulish into Latin is evident from the number of variants of the name. As Sunucsallis the god is known from Zülpich in Germany, whereas as Sunuxalis he is known from Remagen (CIL XIII 07795) and finally as Sunxalis he is known from Neuss (CIL XIII 08546), again in Germany.

However, despite the large number of dedications to this deity he remains a mysterious figure and his attributes are thus-far unknown. The god's name can be interpreted using the reconstructed proto-Celtic lexicon as being derived from the elements *su- (good,very) and *noxtV- (night) giving an interpretation of 'Greal Lord of Night'; suggesting that this deity might have been viewed as a psychopomp.



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