Litavis

Litavis (also known as Litauis,Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” "The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews". 26 May 2007 .] Litaui, Litauia,Koch, John T. “ [http://www.biab.ac.uk/online/results1.asp?ItemID=20105 Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?] ” "Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group" 9 (1991): 17–27.] ^,Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .] and LlydawAnwyl, Edward, M.A.. " [http://dimplemoon.com/Main/Dbooks/CelticReligion/Title.html Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times] ". London: Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., 1906. “Chapter 5: The Humanized Gods of Celtic Religion” .] ) is a goddess in Celtic mythology worshiped by the ancient Gauls. Her name is in inscriptions found at Aignay-le-Duc and Mâlain of the Côte-d'Or, France, where she is invoked along with the Gallo-Roman god Mars Cicolluis and may be his consort.Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” "Celtnet: Nemeton". 26 May 2007 .] Also, a Latin dedicatory inscription from Narbonne (which was in the far south of Gaul), France, bears the words “MARTI CICOLLUI ET LITAVI” (“Mars Cicolluis and Litavis”).Koch, John T. “ [http://www.biab.ac.uk/online/results1.asp?ItemID=20105 Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?] ” "Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group" 9 (1991): 17–27.] ^,Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 22 May 2007 .]

“Litavis” may come from the reconstructed proto-Celtic root *"līto"- (“feast”), from which comes the Middle Cymric "llitho" (“to feed”); this can lead her name to be interpreted as “She Who Feeds,” so she may represent a mother deity. She may also be the tutelary deity of ancient Brittany, which is called “Llydaw” in Cymric (Welsh).Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” "Celtnet: Nemeton". 26 May 2007 .]

In Latin texts, Brittany or Llydaw is given as “Letavia” ("quae antiquitus letauia sive armorica uocata est" [“which was anciently called Letavia or Armorica”] Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” "The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews". 26 May 2007 .] ^,Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” "Celtnet: Nemeton". 26 May 2007 .] from the Chronicle of Robert de Torigni and "in partes letaniae quae pars est armoricae siue britanniae minoris" [“in the regions of Letania, which is a part of Armorica or Little Britain”] from the Life of Saint Goulven, showing the common confusion of "u"/"v" and "n" in medieval manuscripts).Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” "The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews". 26 May 2007 .] “Letavia” may be derived from “Litavis,” making the region mean the “Land of Litavis” or the “Land of She Who Feeds [Us] ,” which may be interpreted as the “Land of Plenty.”Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” "Celtnet: Nemeton". 26 May 2007 .]

Alternatively, “Letavia” or “Letauia” may be derived from *"lēto"- (earlier *"leito"-, “gray”) or *"lāto"- (“broad”), with the derivational suffix *-"auā", making it mean “Gray Place” or “Broad Place.” The name is related to the Vedic earth goddess “Prthvi” (Vedic for “the Divinized Earth,” from an Indo-European word meaning “the broad one”Koch, John T. “ [http://www.biab.ac.uk/online/results1.asp?ItemID=20105 Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?] ” "Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group" 9 (1991): 17–27.] ^,Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .] ) and the Greek name "Plataia", which would make “Letavia/Letavis” “She Who Is Broad/Vast,” also suggesting that Letavis is a mother or earth goddess.Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” "The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews". 26 May 2007 .] “Litaui(a)” and “Prithvi” may come from Proto-Indo-European *"pelt"-, a suffixed form of *"pele"- or *"pla"-Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .] ^,Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” "Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language". Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).] (“flat” or “broad”Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” "Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language". Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).] ), from which came Latin "planus" (“plane”) and Greek "palamē" (“flat hand”)Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” "Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language". Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).] and may also have led to Germanic *"felthuz",Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .] thus leading to Old English and Middle English "feld" (akin to German "feld" and Dutch "veld"), then to English “field”Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” "Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language". Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).] ; therefore, “Litavi(a)” and “Prthvi” may also mean “the [Great] Field.”Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” "LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives". 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .]

References

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General

* [http://www.maryjones.us/jce/litavia.html “Litavia”] — article in "Jones’ Celtic Encyclopedia" by Mary Jones
* [http://www.arbre-celtique.com/encyclopedie/litavis-1208.htm “Litavis”] — Litavis in the will of Lingon (in French); [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=www.arbre-celtique.com/encyclopedie/litavis-1208.htm automatic Google translation into English]
* [http://www.melegnano.net/celti/francel01l047.htm Etymological translations] of “Litanus,” “Litaui/Litavi,” “Litauis/Litavis,” etc. by Patrick Cuadrado (in French); [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=www.melegnano.net/celti/francel01l047.htm automatic Google translation into English]