Cathubodua ( cel-x-proto, Katu-bodwā, "battle

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

") is the name of a

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 Switze ...

battle

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes ...

Etymology

Cathubodua is the name of a

derived from a single inscription at

Mieussy Mieussy (; frp, Myeûfi) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is a traditional Alpine farming village in the Vallée du Giffre, around 35 kilometers east of Geneva. The area is known for it ...

Haute Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is An ...

, eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which actually reads ATHVBODVAE AVG SERVILIA TERENTIA S L M. The text's restitution as ''Cathubodua'' depends on the assumptions that an initial C has been lost and that the personal names ATEBODVAE, ATEBODVVS and ATEBODVI in 3 other inscriptions in modern Austria and Slovenia are unrelated. In the Gaulish language, the name Cathubodua is believed to mean ''battle-crow''. Etymological lexical forms reconstructed in the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...

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’. Nonetheless it is this second element *''bodwā'' which appears to be the Proto-Celtic root of the later form of the name

Badhbh In Irish mythology, the Badb (Old Irish, ), or in Modern Irish Badhbh (, )—also meaning "crow"—is a war goddess who takes the form of a crow, and is thus sometimes known as Badb Catha ("battle crow").http://www.dil.ie/5114 ''badb'', Author: ...

. The masculine form *''bodwos'' ('fighting') developed in

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...

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

{{Celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish goddesses War goddesses