Tarvos Trigaranus or Taruos Trigaranos is a divine figure who appears on a

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

panel of the Pillar of the Boatmen as a bull with three

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...

perched on his back. He stands under a tree, and on an adjacent panel, the god

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 ...

is chopping down a tree, possibly a willow, with an axe. In the

Gaulish language 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 ...

, ''taruos'' means "bull," found in

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 writte ...

as ''tarb'' (/tarβ/), in Modern Irish/Gaelic as ''tarbh'' and in

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 peopl ...

as ''tarw'' (compare "bull" in other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, D ...

such as Latin ''taurus'' from Greek "ταύρος" or Lithuanian ''taŭras''). ''Garanus'' is the crane (''garan'' in Welsh,

Old Cornish Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, k ...

and Breton; see also '' geranos'', the ritual "crane dance" of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

). ''Treis'', or ''tri-'' in compound words, is the number three (cf. Irish ''trí'', Welsh ''tri''). A pillar from

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

shows a man with an axe cutting down a tree in which sit three birds and a bull's head. The juxtaposition of images has been compared to the Tarvos Trigaranus and Esus panels on the Boatmen monument. It is possible that statues of a bull with three horns, such as the one from Autun (

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

, France, anciently ''Augustodunum'') are related to this deity.Green 1992 pp. 93-94.

Notes

References

* Delmare, Xavier (2003) ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (2nd ed.) Paris: Editions Errance. * Green, Miranda J. (1992) ''Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend''. London: Thames & Hudson. * MacCulloch, John A. (1996) ''Celtic Mythology''. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publications.

External links

The three-horned bullDutch language site telling the story about the battle between Esus and Tarvos Trigaranus
Gaulish gods Animal gods {{Celt-myth-stub

See also

Notes

References

External links