- Belenus
In
Celtic mythology , Belenus (also Belinus, Belenos, Belinos, Belinu, Belanu, Bellinus, Belus, Bel) was adeity worshipped inGaul , Britain andCelt ic areas ofItaly ,Austria and northernSpain . He hadshrines fromAquileia on theAdriatic toKirkby Lonsdale inEngland .Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). "Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie." Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-200-7.] [www.Roman-Britain.org. [http://www.roman-britain.org/epigraphy/rib_north_england.htm#overborough Roman Inscriptions of Britain] (RIB 611).] His name means "shining one"Fact|date=February 2007 or "henbane god"Peter Schrijver, "On Henbane and Early European Narcotics", "Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie" vol.51 (1999), pp.17-45] and he is associated withheat andhealing . He may be the same deity asBelatu-Cadros .Fact|date=October 2007 In the Roman period he was identified withApollo . His consort wasBelisama .Fact|date=October 2007 His name has been found on around fifty inscriptions. These are mainly concentrated inAquileia andCisalpine Gaul , but also extend intoGallia Narbonensis ,Noricum , and far beyond.Romano-Celtic Apollo
In ancient Gaul and Britain, Apollo may have been equated with fifteen or more different Celtic names and epithets (notably
Grannos ,Borvo ,Maponus ,Moritasgus and others). The solar or healing implications of Belenus (“the brilliant one”Fact|date=February 2007 or “henbane god”) would have encouragedsyncretism with the god Apollo.Other proposed identifications
The Welsh ancestor-deity Beli may be derived from Belenus, although his character and attributes are different.Fact|date=February 2007 The Irish
festival ofBeltaine may also be connected, or may derive from the same Celtic root, "bel-", "shining".Fact|date=February 2007 The Irish mythical figure Bile ("sacred tree") is sometimes linked with Belenus, [ [http://www.shadowdrake.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=81 Associations between the Welsh Beli and the Irish Bile] ] but neither the linguistics nor the myths match.Fact|date=February 2007 19th century attempts to link him with theSemitic deityBaal were even more tenuous and are now rejected. The legendary kingBelinus inGeoffrey of Monmouth 'sHistory of the Kings of Britain is probably also derived from this god. The name of the ancient British kingCunobelinus means "hound of Belenus".References
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