Vellaunus: a Gaulish god (God of Libation)

Celtic Gods: The Gaulish God, Vellaunus (God of Libation)

Vellaunus

A Gaulish god: God of Libation

Vellaunus (Vellaunos) is a Gaulish god known from two inscriptions, both found in France and Wales. In the first he is associated with Roman Mercury and in the second with Roman Mars. He seems to have been the titular deity of he Catuvellauni tribe (the Warriors of Vallaunos) and he may also have been a god of trade.

Synonyms:
Gaul: God of Libation

Vellaunos is a god known from two inscriptions. The first of these comes from Hières, Isère, France where the god is invoked as deo Mercurio Victori Ma[g]niaco Ve[l]launo and is an epithet of victorius Mercury Magniacus. In the second inscription, from from Venta Silurum (The Market Town of the Silures) in Caerwent, Gwent reads: DEO MARTI LENO SIVE OCELO VELLAVN ET NVM AVG M NONIVS ROMANVS OB IMMVNITAT COLLEGNI D D S D GLABRIONE ET HOMVLO COS X K SEPT (For the god Mars Lenus or Ocelus Vellaunus and the Spirit of the Emperor, Marcus Nonius Romanus, due to the privileges granted him by the guild [of magistrates], dedicated this out of his own funds, ten days before the Kalends of September when Glabrio and Homulus were consuls). Thus Vellaunus would seem to be an epithet of the deity Mars Ocelus.

These two inscriptions seem to provide us with something of a contradiction, with Vellaunus being used as an epithet for both Mercury, the Roman patron of merchants and Roman Mars, a warrior deity. However, Mars was originally an agrarian deity; the god of fertility and vegetation and the protector of cattle and this ancient association between the two deities would make sense in the context of Caerwent which was a market settlement and might indicate that it had once been an important cattle market.

Etymologically, the name Vellaunus is related to the name of the goddess, Icovellauna, the name of the Cymric hero, Caswallon and the Catuvellauni tribe. The name Vellaunos can be interpreted as being derived from the Celtic ending -una/-unus (which generally stands for a divinity); which leaves us only with the interpretation of the vella- component. Assuming standard linguistic drift from Brythonic Cassivellauni to Cymric Caswallon then the second element in the name can be derived from the modern Cymric gwall (talking mutation into account) which would suggest that the form vella- means something like 'to pour' or 'to serve'. Thus Vellaunos' name can be interpreted as 'The Pouring God' or the 'God of Libation'. The element 'Kat' in the tribal name Catuivellauni means 'battle' thus the Cattivellauni are 'The Warriors of Vellaunus' which suggests that Vellaunus might have had a dual function. As a tribal deity he was a warrior god, whith the libation in his name being that of shed blood. But he may also have been an agrarian deity, and as such was the provider of libation and plenty.

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