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Vernostonus
A Brythonic god: Alder's Groan
Vernostonus is a Brythonic god known from a single inscription found at Ebchester, England where he is associated with the Celtic warrior god, Cocidius. He probably represents a warrior god, associated with death and resurrection. |
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Bryth: Alder's Groan
Vernostonus is a god known from a single inscription found at Vindomora, the Roman Fort of Ebchester, Durham, England. This inscription [RIB 1102] reads DEO VERNOSTONO COCIDIO VIRILIS GER V S L (To the god Vernostonus Cocidius, Virilis Germanus willingly fulfilled his vow). The equating of Vernostonus with warrior deity Cocidius is interesting, especially as Cocidius is used here as an epithet of Vernostonus.
Was Vernostonus a warrior deity? It is impossible to say for certain, though this does seem likely. It also seems unlikely that Vernostonus represents a Germanic deity (as many commentators have suggested); for the name is purely Celtic and an interpretation of its meaning can be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements: *werno- (alder, which gives the modern Cymric gwern) and *stono- (groan). Thus Vernostonus is 'The Alder's Groan'.
In Cymric mythos, Gwern is one of the characters in the Mabinogion. His uncle, Brân, whose tree symbol is also the alder is a god of death and resurrection. Indeed, gwern is also the Cymric for 'marshland' which in its waterlogged form, with the world reflected in its surface, is considered a gateway to the netherworld. Thus it may be that Vernostonus Cocidius is a combination of a warrior deity and a netherworld deity. A god of battle death and of the departed spririt's final resting place.
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