The River-Goddess in Celtic Traditions: Mother, Healer and Wisdom Purveyor

International audienceThis paper explores the tradition of Celtic river-goddesses in Ireland, Britain and Gaul through the lens of various sources: the vernacular literature of early medieval Ireland, recorded from the 7th c. AD; the proto-historic and Gallo-Roman/Romano-British archaeological data of Gaul and Britain (places of devotion, epigraphy and iconography); along with the etymology of the divine names under study and the survivals in folklore. After examining the divinisation of water in pre-Celtic and Celtic times (the deposition of hoards of objects in watery places; divine hydronyms – deva, divonna, bandae – and the belief in a female water-dwelling divinity), the various data relating to river-goddesses in the British Isles and on the Continent will be presented and analyzed. Finally, the functions of river-goddesses as providers of wisdom, healers and mothers purveying life and death will be explored. This paper thus attempts to establish connections and similarities, and thereby reconstruct a common pattern of Celtic beliefs as they relate to female river-deities