Toutatis or Teutates is a
Celtic god
The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon ...
who was worshipped primarily in ancient
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 ...
and
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
.
His name means "god of the tribe",
and he has been widely interpreted as a tribal protector.
[Paul-Marie Duval (1993). ''Les dieux de la Gaule.'' Éditions Payot, Paris. ] According to Roman writer
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
, the Gauls offered
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
s to him.
Name and nature
''Toutatis'' (pronounced in
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
)
[Pierre-Yves Lambert (2003). ''La langue gauloise.'' Éditions Errance, Paris.] and its variants ''Toutates'',
''Teutates'', ''Tūtatus'' and ''Toutorīx'',
comes from the Gaulish Celtic root ''toutā'', meaning 'tribe' or 'people' (compare
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''tuath'' and
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''tud'').
A literal meaning would thus be "god of the tribe".
A similar phrase is found in
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...
, which mentions the
oath
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...
formula ''tongu do dia tongas mo thuath'', roughly "I swear by the god by whom my tribe swears".
Bernhard Maier
Bernhard Maier (born 1963 in Oberkirch (Baden), Oberkirch, Baden) is a German professor of religious studies, who publishes mainly on Celtic studies, Celtic culture and religion.
Maier studied comparative religion, comparative linguistics, Celtic ...
proposes that his name derives from an older *''teuto-tatis'', with the meaning 'father of the tribe', although he notes that this etymology is uncertain.
It is believed ''Toutatis'' was a title for the
tutelary gods
Tutelary may refer to:
* Patron saint, or tutelary saint
* Tutelary deity
See also
* Tutoring
Tutoring is private academic support, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject ...
of various tribes.
Miranda Aldhouse-Green
Miranda Jane Aldhouse-Green, (''née'' Aldhouse; born 24 July 1947) is a British archaeologist and academic, known for her research on the Iron Age and the Celts. She was Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University from 2006 to 2013. Until ...
suggests that ''Toutatis'' was an epithet or description for Celtic tribal protector-gods, rather than a name.
Paul-Marie Duval suggests that each tribe had its own ''Toutatis''; he further considers the Gaulish Mars the product of syncretism with the Celtic ''Toutatis'', noting the great number of indigenous epithets under which Mars was worshipped.
Evidence
![TOTATESVoingt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/TOTATESVoingt.jpg)
Inscriptions
Inscriptions dedicated to him have been found in
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 ...
(e.g. at
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
and
Vaison-la-Romaine
Vaison-la-Romaine (; oc, Vaison) is a town in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
Vaison-la-Romaine is famous for its rich Roman ruins and mediaeval town and cathedral. It is also unusual in ...
in France, and
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
in Germany),
in
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
(e.g. at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Old Carlisle
Old Carlisle is a village in the civil parish of Westward in the Allerdale district of Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its ...
,
Castor and
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
),
in
Noricum
Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...
, and in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
among other places.
[Listing for Toutatis](_blank)
from www.arbre-celtique.com. Some of these inscriptions combine his name with other gods such as
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
,
Cocidius
In Romano-British religion, Cocidius was a deity worshipped in northern Britain. The Romans equated him with Mars, god of war and hunting, and also with Silvanus, god of forests, groves and wild fields. Like Belatucadros, he was probably worshippe ...
,
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, and
Mercurius
Mercury (; la, Mercurius ) is a major god in Roman religion and mythology, being one of the 12 Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divinati ...
.
Written evidence
Toutatis is one of three Celtic gods mentioned by the Roman writer
Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...
in his epic poem
''De Bello Civili'' or ''Pharsalia''.
Written in the
first century AD, it names Toutatis,
Taranis
In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube r ...
and
Esus
Esus, Hesus, or Aisus was a Brittonic and Gaulish god known from two monumental statues and a line in Lucan's '' Bellum civile''.
Name
T. F. O'Rahilly derives the theonym ''Esus'', as well as ''Aoibheall'', ''Éibhleann'', ''Aoife'', and ...
as three gods to whom the Gauls offered
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
s.
In the 4th century
commentary
Commentary or commentaries may refer to:
Publications
* ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee
* Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...
on Lucan, ''
Commenta Bernensia {{Short description, 10th-century manuscript
The ''Commenta Bernensia'', also known as the Bern scholia, are commentaries or marginal notes in a 10th-century manuscript, Cod. 370, preserved in the Burgerbibliothek of Berne, Switzerland.
The comment ...
'', an author added that sacrifices to Toutatis were
killed by drowning, and likened Toutatis to Mars or Mercury.
In his
third-century work ''
Divinae Institutiones
''Institutiones Divinae'' (, ; ''The Divine Institutes'') is the name of a theological work by the Christian Roman philosopher Lactantius, written between AD 303 and 311.
Contents
Arguably the most important of Lactantius's works, the ''Divin ...
'', Roman writer
Lactantius
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Cr ...
also names Toutatis as a Gaulish god to whom sacrifices were offered.
TOT finger rings
![Silver Tot ring](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Silver_Tot_ring.jpg)
A large number of
Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...
finger rings inscribed with the name "TOT", thought to refer to Toutatis, have been found in eastern Britain, the vast majority in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, but some in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
and
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
. The distribution of these rings closely matches the territory of the
Corieltauvi
The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a ''civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were b ...
tribe. In 2005 a silver ring inscribed ''DEO TOTA'' ("to the god Toutatis") and ''
TERE
Tere may refer to:
* Abigail Tere-Apisah (born 1992), Papua New Guinea tennis player
* Tere A. Zubizarreta
* Tere Glassie (born 1977), Australian rugby league football player
* Tere Marichal (born 1956)
* Tere O'Connor (born 1958), American danc ...
FELIX'' (
se this ring
SE, Se, or Sé may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Sé'' (album), by Lúnasa, 2006
* Se (instrument), a traditional Chinese musical instrument
Businesses and organizations
* Sea Ltd (NYSE: SE), tech conglomerate headquartered in Singapore
...
happily") was discovered at
Hockliffe
Hockliffe is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire on the crossroads of the A5 road which lies upon the course of the Roman road known as Watling Street and the A4012 and B5704 roads.
It is about four miles east of Leighton Buzzard. Near ...
, Bedfordshire. This inscription confirms that the ''TOT'' inscription does indeed refer to the god Toutatis.
In 2012 a silver ring inscribed "TOT" was found in the area where the
Hallaton Treasure
The Hallaton Treasure, the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins, was discovered in 2000 near Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England, by volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group. The initial find was made by Ken Wallace on 19 N ...
had been discovered twelve years earlier. Adam Daubney, an expert on this type of ring, suggests that Hallaton may have been a site of worship of the god Toutatis.
Popular culture
*Toutatis is often sworn, 'By Toutatis', by the Gauls in the ''
Asterix
''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...
'' franchise.
*In Bluey 2x23 “Queens”, Bandit yells ‘By Toutatis’ while attacking.
See also
*
Interpretatio Romana
''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Gr ...
*
Germanic Mercury
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
*
4179 Toutatis
4179 Toutatis, provisional designation , is an elongated, stony asteroid and slow rotator, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo asteroid and Alinda asteroid groups, approximately 2.5 kilometers in d ...
References
Further reading
* Clémençon, Bernard; Ganne, Pierre M. "Toutatis chez les Arvernes: les graffiti à Totates du bourg routier antique de Beauclair (communes de Giat et de Voingt, Puy-de-Dôme)". In: ''Gallia'', tome 66, fascicule 2, 2009. Archéologie de la France antique. pp. 153–169.
OI: https://doi.org/10.3406/galia.2009.3369; www.persee.fr/doc/galia_0016-4119_2009_num_66_2_3369
* Lajoye, Patrice; Lemaître, Claude. "Une inscription votive à Toutatis découverte à Jort (Calvados, France)". In: ''Etudes Celtiques'', vol. 40, 2014. pp. 21–28.
OI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.2014.2423; www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_2014_num_40_1_2423
*M. Almagro‐Gorbea, A. J. Lorrio Alvarado, ''Teutates: el héroe fundador'', Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia, 2011
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Celtic gods
War gods
Tutelary gods