Cathubodua (Proto-Celtic: *Katu-bodwā, "battle crow") is the name of a Gaulish battle goddess.

Etymology

Cathubodua is the name of a Gaulish goddess derived from a single inscription at Mieussy in Haute Savoie, eastern France,[1] which actually reads ATHVBODVAE AVG SERVILIA TERENTIA S L M.[2] The text's restitution as Cathubodua depends on the assumptions that an initial C has been lost[3] and that the personal names ATEBODVAE, ATEBODVVS and ATEBODVI in 3 other inscriptions in modern Austria and Slovenia[4] are unrelated.

In the Gaulish language, the name Cathubodua is believed to mean battle-crow.[5][1] Etymological lexical forms reconstructed in the University of Wales' Proto-Celtic lexicon, suggest that the name is likely to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Celtic *Katu-bodwā, a word that could be interpreted as ‘battle-fighting’.[6][7] Nonetheless it is this second element *bodwā which appears to be the Proto-Celtic root of the later form of the name Badhbh. The masculine form *bodwos ('fighting') developed in Gaelic into Bodb.

She appears to be similar to the Irish goddess Badb Catha; under this identification, Badb Catha would foresee the fate of warriors before the battle.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cathubodua". L'Arbre Celtique. 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. W. M. Hennessey (1870). The Ancient Irish Goddess of War.
  3. Pictet, Adolphe (1868). "SUR UNE NOUVELLE DÉESSE GAULOISE DE LA GUERRE". Revue Archéologique. 18: 1–17. ISSN 0035-0737. JSTOR 41733071.
  4. CIL III, 5247; CIL III, 4732; CIL III, 5386; Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Dottin, Georges (1918). La Langue Gauloise, Grammaire, Textes et Glossaire. Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck. p. 235, 244.
  6. "Proto-Celtic—English lexicon" (PDF). Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. University of Wales. 12 June 2012. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2005.
  7. "Project 5: The Celtic Languages And Cultural Identity: A Multidisciplinary Synthesis". The University of Wales. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
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