Geniscus is a deity who appears in a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

Saint Eligius Saint Eligius (also Eloy, Eloi or Loye; french: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660 AD) is the patron saint of goldsmiths, other metalworkers, and coin collectors. He is also the patron saint of veterinarians, the Royal Electrical and Mechani ...

along with Neptune,

Orcus Orcus ( la, Orcus) was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. In the later tradition, he was conflated with Dis Pater. A ...

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...

and Diana. These are all, the Christian homilist says, " demons" who should not be believed in or invoked. The warning implies cult activity for these deities in the northern parts of

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

into the 7th century. Geniscus may be a form of reference to the

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

, the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

tutelary deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...

; in Gaul, the Genius is often hooded ('' Genius Cucullatus'') and appears either singly or in a group of three. In another sermon in the same period, the Geniscus appears in the company of witches (''

striae Stretch marks, also known as striae () or striae distensae, are a form of scarring on the skin with an off-color hue. Over time they may diminish, but will not disappear completely. Striae are caused by tearing of the dermis during periods of r ...

'') and other entities in whom "rustics" believe:

19th century

The 19th-century fascination for

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, antiquarianism, the supernatural, and lost religions drew attention to even the obscure Geniscus. The Irish folklorist

Thomas Crofton Croker Thomas Crofton Croker (15 January 1798 – 8 August 1854) was an Irish antiquary, best known for his ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music. ...

accepted a

derivation Derivation may refer to: Language * Morphological derivation, a word-formation process * Parse tree or concrete syntax tree, representing a string's syntax in formal grammars Law * Derivative work, in copyright law * Derivation proceeding, a proc ...

of ''geniscus'' from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''genius'' and in his chapter on

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

declared the ''geniscus'' "a real Elf, or spirit of light." Croker further connected ''geniscus'' to the ''geniciales feminae'' named by

Hincmar Hincmar (; ; la, Hincmarus; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Ea ...

, a 9th-century

archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese a ...

, who identified the ''geniciales'' as '' lamiae''. During the same period Jacob Grimm classed the ''geniciales'' among the "daemonic elvish beings, who appeared in woman's shape and did men kindnesses," and who participated in elf-dance: "To christian zealots all ''dancing'' appeared sinful and heathenish, and sure enough it often was derived from pagan rites, like other harmless pleasures and customs of the common people, who would not easily part with their diversion at great festivals." Grimm connects these dances to bonfires. Geniscus is mentioned in the 1876 historical fiction ''Dante and Beatrice from 1282 to 1290: A Romance'' by

Elizabeth Kerr Coulson Elizabeth Kerr Coulson (1819 – 23 January 1876) was an English novelist who published under the pseudonym Roxburghe Lothian. Her two-volume work of historical fiction, ''Dante and Beatrice from 1282 to 1290: A Romance'', was published only thre ...

, writing under the pseudonym Roxburghe Lothian. Coulson recounts at length the Christian prohibitions that a

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

called The Hermit must enforce, then segues into practices deemed tolerable: Whether she used the ''Vita'' of St. Eligius directly or another source such as Croker, Coulson preserves the collocation of Geniscus with Minerva and Orcus (here OuragusThis is a rather learned allusion on the part of the author, as ''Uragus'' is a form given by

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

as the original from which Orcus derived; see ''Actes del IXè Simposi de la Secció Catalana de la SEEC St. Feliu de Guíxols, 13–16 d'abril de 1988: Treballs en honor de Virgilio Bejarano'' (Barcelona, 1991), p. 18
online.
/ref>). She either innovates or draws on traditions pertaining to the cult of the ''Genii'' by making Geniscus the "helper" of Orcus.

References

{{Reflist Folklore Gaulish gods Gallo-Roman religion