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Esus, Hesus, or Aisus was a Brittonic and Gaulish god known from two monumental statues and a line in
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 ...
's '' Bellum civile''.


Name

T. F. O'Rahilly derives the theonym ''Esus'', as well as ''Aoibheall'', ''Éibhleann'', ''
Aoife Aoife ( , ) is an Irish feminine given name. The name is probably derived from the Irish Gaelic ''aoibh'', which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the Gaulish name ''Esvios'' (Latinized ''Esuvius'', feminine ''Esuvia''), whic ...
'', and other names, from the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
root *''eis-'', which he glosses as 'well-being, energy, passion'. The personal name ''Esunertus'' ('strength of Esus') occurs in a number of Gallo-Roman inscriptions, including one votive inscription dedicated to Mercury,J. A. MacCulloch (1911). ‘Chapter III. The Gods of Gaul and the Continental Celts.�
''The Religion of the Ancient Celts''.
New York: Dover Publications. .
while other theophoric given names such as ''Esugenus'' ('born from Esus') are also attested. It is possible that the ''
Esuvii The Esuvii (or Esubii; Gaulish: ''Esuuii'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling between the lower Seine and the Loire rivers, in what is now Normandy, during the Iron Age. Name Their tribal name appears to be related to the theonym ''Esus''., s.v. ''E ...
'' of
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 R ...
, in the area of present-day
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, took their name from this deity.Jan de Vries (1954). ''Keltische Religion.'' W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart. p.98
Cited here.
/ref>


Imagery

The two sculptures where Esus appears are the
Pillar of the Boatmen The Pillar of the Boatmen (french: Pilier des nautes) is a monumental Roman column erected in Lutetia (modern Paris) in honour of Jupiter by the guild of boatmen in the 1st century AD. It is the oldest monument in Paris and is one of the earliest ...
from among the Parisii, on which Esus is identified by name, and a pillar from
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley b ...
among the
Treveri The Trēverī (Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fringe ...
with similar iconography. In both of these, Esus is portrayed cutting branches from
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated Plant stem, stem, or trunk (botany), trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondar ...
s with his
axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has man ...
. Esus is accompanied, on different panels of the Pillar of the Boatmen, alongside
Tarvos Trigaranus Tarvos Trigaranus or Taruos Trigaranos is a divine figure who appears on a relief panel of the Pillar of the Boatmen as a bull with three cranes perched on his back. He stands under a tree, and on an adjacent panel, the god Esus is chopping do ...
(the ‘bull with three cranes’),
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth th ...
,
Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
, and other gods.


Written sources

A well-known section in
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 ...
's '' Bellum civile'' (61–65 CE) refers to gory sacrifices offered to a triad of Celtic deities:
Teutates Toutatis or Teutates is a Celtic god who was worshipped primarily in ancient Gaul and Britain. 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.'' Éditio ...
, Hesus (an aspirated form of Esus), and
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 re ...
. M. Annaeus Lucanus (61-65 CE). '' Bellum civile'' I.445. Variant spellings, or readings, of the name Esus in the manuscripts of Lucan include Hesus, Aesus, and Haesus. Among a pair of later
commentators Commentator or commentators may refer to: * Commentator (historical) or Postglossator, a member of a European legal school that arose in France in the fourteenth century * Commentator (horse) (foaled 2001), American Thoroughbred racehorse * The ...
on Lucan's work, one identifies
Teutates Toutatis or Teutates is a Celtic god who was worshipped primarily in ancient Gaul and Britain. 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.'' Éditio ...
with Mercury and Esus with
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosp ...
. According to the Berne Commentary on Lucan, human victims were
sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
d to Esus by being tied to a tree and flogged to death. The Gallic medical writer Marcellus of Bordeaux may offer another textual reference to Esus in his ''De medicamentis'', a compendium of pharmacological preparations written in Latin in the early 5th century and the sole source for several Celtic words. The work contains a magico-medical charm decipherable as
Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient 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, most of Switzerl ...
which appears to invoke the aid of Esus (spelled Aisus) in curing throat trouble.''De medicamentis'' 15.106, p. 121 in Niedermann's edition; Gustav Must, “A Gaulish Incantation in Marcellus of Bordeaux,” ''Language'' 36 (1960) 193–197; Pierre-Yves Lambert, “Les formules de Marcellus de Bordeaux,” in ''La langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance 2003), p.179, citing Léon Fleuriot, “Sur quelques textes gaulois,” ''Études celtiques'' 14 (1974) 57–66.


Interpretations

John Arnott MacCulloch summarized the state of scholarly interpretations of Esus in 1911 as follows: James McKillop cautions that Arbois de Jublainville's identification of Esus with
Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster ( Irish: ''Cú Uladh''), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lu ...
"now seems ill-founded".Cited here
(retrieved 2016-08-17).
Jan de Vries finds grounds of comparison between Esus and
Odin 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, ...
, both being patrons of sailors sometimes associated with Mercury to whom human victims were said to be sacrificed by hanging. Miranda Green suggests that the willow-tree that Esus hews may symbolize "the Tree of Life ..with its associations of destruction and death in winter and rebirth in the spring". She further suggests that the cranes might represent "the flight of the soul (perhaps the soul of the tree)".


In Neo-Druidism

The 18th century Druidic revivalist
Iolo Morganwg Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10 March 1747 – 18 December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encycloped ...
identified Esus with
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
on the strength of the similarity of their names. He also linked them both with
Hu Gadarn Hu Gadarn (''Hu the Mighty'') is a supposed Welsh legendary figure who appears in several of a series of Welsh Triads produced by the Welsh antiquarian and literary forger Iolo Morganwg. These triads, which Iolo put forth as medieval works, presen ...
, writing: This identification is still made in certain Neo-Druidic circles. Modern scholars consider the resemblance between the names Esus and Jesus to be coincidental.


See also

*
Lugus Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gall ...


References


External links


Esus
including photographs and a capitulation of primary and secondary source material.
A contemporary Dutch-language story of struggle between Esus and Tarvos Trigaranus
{{Authority control Agricultural gods Celtic gods Gaulish gods War gods Sacrifice