Hludana (or Dea Hludana) is a Germanic goddess attested in five ancient Latin inscriptions from the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

and

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

, all dating from 197–235 AD. Three of these inscriptions come from the lower Rhine (; ; ), one from Münstereifel () and one from

Beetgum Bitgum ( nl, Beetgum) is a village in Waadhoeke municipality in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. It had a population of around 792 in January 2017. History Before 2018, the village was part of the Menameradiel municipality. Bitgum g ...

, Frisia (). The name appears as ''Hluθena'' on the Iversheim inscription from Münstereifel, and as ''Hlucena'' on that from Monterberg in the lower Rhine. The name is abbreviated in an inscription from

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

on the lower Rhine ('' ud.''); it appears as ''Hludana'' in the inscriptions from

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the wor ...

(lower Rhine) and Beetgum. The Beetgum inscription, dedicated by a group of fishermen, originally accompanied a carving of a seated goddess, of which only the bottom can now be seen. On etymological grounds, the name Hludana is closely related to Old Greek κλυδων and κλυδωνα (''kludoon(a)'' 'high waves, rough water') and the Ancient Greek-derived

Euroclydon Euroclydon (or in Latin: Euroaquilo) is a cyclonic tempestuous northeast wind which blows in the Mediterranean, mostly in autumn and winter. It is the modern Gregalia (Gregale) or Levanter. From the Ancient Greek word ''eurokludōn'' �ὐρο� ...

, meaning a violent north-eastern wind. The

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Walther Kuhn suggested that it might be derived from

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

's spouse Kleito, as mentioned in

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's dialogues. There is no proven connection between Hludana and

Holda "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (als ...

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...

suggested in ''Deutsche Mythologie'' that Hludana was to be identified with the Norse earth-goddess Hlóðyn.

References

{{Reflist Germanic goddesses Germanic deities