An Etymologist's look at Celtic Mythology.

Continuing on after my recent course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Celtic mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names. Some of these would have been understood by Boudica.

Caturix is of Gaulish origins and means either 'battle king' or 'battle lord'.

Cunomaglus is the Celtic version of Apollo, his name meaning 'hound lord'.

Grannus gets his name from the Proto-Celtic granno, an element which combines with others to speak of the sun, its heat, and its healing properties.

Virotutis is another with associations with Apollo, this name has been interpreted as 'benefactor of humanity'.

Ancasta may be from the Proto-Celtic kasto 'swift' which would also fit with her association with the river Itchen.

Andrasta is the goddess invoked by Boudica in her fight against the Romans, with a name meaning 'indestructible' or 'unconquerable' perhaps she hoped for more than annhiliation for her Iceni tribe.

Divona means 'divine', unsurprisingly, and is derived from the Gaulish deous 'god'.

Bricta is from brixta the Gaulish word for 'magic', this goddess is one of many associated with springs.

Litavis is 'the broad one', an earth-goddess who seems to have been very popular in Gaul.

Rosmerta, a goddess of fertility and abundance, takes the element smert 'provider' or 'carer', and adds the prefix for 'great'.

Sabrina, the goddess associated with the river Severn, has virtually no other reference. Some consider her to be the same person as Hafren, a legendary British princess who drowned in the Severn.

Sirona was lauded chiefly in the area drained by the Danube, her name coming from Proto-Celtic ster with the suffix no or 'belonging', thus the name referring to her as 'stellar' or 'astral'.

An Etymologist's look at Greek Mythology.

After recently completing a course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Greek mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names.

Ares does not come across as Mr Nice Guy in the Wonder Woman story, and neither does he get a good review from the etymologist for this name comes from the Greek are, the Ionic form of the Doric ara meaning 'bare, ruin, curse'.

Hades, while the origin is not completely certain, it is generally though this comes from the Proto-Greek awides and thus 'the unseen one'.

Hera has several explanations, with 'mistress', 'air', 'beloved', and even 'cow-eyed' being offered. Perhaps 'uncertain' would be the best offering.

Hermes is thought to come from the Greek herma and thus means 'stone heap'.

Zeus is seen in the Proto-Indo-European culture as Djeus 'the sky father'.

Hyperion quite simply means 'he who walks on high', although often given as simply 'the god above'.

Helios is from the word for 'the sun' in Proto-Indo-European seh u-el.

Perses isfrom the Ancient Greek pertho meaning 'to sack, to ravage, to destroy'.

Uranus, and I have saved the best until last, for this rather unpleasant fellow, correctly known as Ouranos, who ended up being seen as so awful he gave his name to the metal uranium which, as we all know, is a source of radiation, is linked with words such as Sanskrit varsa 'rain'; Hittite yarsa 'fog, mist' and Greek oureo 'to urinate'.