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Damona

 

Gaulish goddess, the usual consort of Borvo and worshipped with him in the shrine at Bourbonne-les-Bains (north-eastern France); when Borvo is known as Bormanus, his consort is Bormana. Polyandrous, she is also the consort of Apollo Moritasgus in Gaulish Several commentators have seen suggestions of the cult of the cow in her worship.

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In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus. Mary Jones interprets Damona's name as "Divine Cow" based on its resemblance to damos or "cow".[1] She has sometimes been linked with the Irish goddess Boand on the basis of this bovine association. Van Andringa describes Damona and Bormana as the patron deities of the hot springs at Bourbonne-les-Bains and Saint-Vulbas, respectively.[2] Some seventeen inscriptions dedicated to Damona have been recovered, including nine from Bourbonne-les-Bains and four from Bourbon-Lancy, both spa towns in eastern France. In one inscription from Saintes, she has the epithet Matubergini.[3]

References

  1. ^ Mary Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia. Cf. also the Proto-Celtic—English lexicon, which glosses damos as "cow".
  2. ^ William van Andringa (2002). La religion en Gaule romaine : Piété et politique (Ier-IIIe siècle apr. J.-C.) Editions Errance, Paris. p.165
  3. ^ Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Editions Errance, Paris. pp.36-7.

 
 
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Bormana
Borvo
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Celtic Mythology. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Copyright © James MacKillop 1998, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Damona" Read more