The Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula : Part 3 - Arentio - Arentia

Arentio - Arentia

Etymology 

Concerning the third deity of the Lusitanian pantheon, Arentius or Arentio, he is frequently epigraphically associated with Arentia, a combination that sketches a divine couple.

A previous thesis, when the archaeological finds were even scarcer, analysed the etymology of Arentio or Arentia through the prism of Latin, which would then derive from arens, meaning "dry" or "arid". The hypothesis was promptly rejected by its own author, the suffix -entio being more associated with Celtic languages, leaving a gap that was filled much later by Blanca María Prósper's thesis, which suggests a Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eor-, meaning "to be in motion" or "to run". The specialist suggests that these theonyms would derive from a hydronym, thus linking these deities to water.

Epithets

The majority of the epithets given to these deities have an ethnic reference, such as :

Arentio Amrunaeco

A name accepted as being that of a tribe or place name derived from the Ambrones. It designates a Germanic tribe that had invaded the Roman Republic, present in Iberia. Several names in the Iberian Peninsula probably derive from the Ambrones, such as Ambrona, Hambrón and Ambroa. Furthermore, if we look at the chronology, the inscriptions were engraved after the migration of the Ambrones to Hispania. This suggests that these peoples exerted a Germanic influence in a place bearing their name at that time, which today corresponds to the city of Coria, Extremadura.

Arantio Tanginiciaeco

Found in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal. Through the study of Lusitanian anthroponymy, we learn that Tanginus was a very common name, carried by a Celtiberian leader during the Numantine War. This epithet can refer to an individual, a family or a clan, implying that Arentio was invoked in a private context. The same was true for Apollo or Mercury. Another piece of evidence that reinforces Arentius' connection with the private or family setting is the finding of the altar of Zebras at Orca in a domestic context. It was placed near the impluvium, a system for collecting and storing rainwater, placed in the inner courtyard of the villas. 

Caesariciaecus

Caesariciaecus is an epithet that appears without its theonym in an inscription in Martiago, Salamanca. It derives from the cognomen (traditional Roman nickname) Caesarus. Other examples of this kind have been found such as Titriaecius in Torremenga, derived from the cognomen Tritius. Or Arantoniceus, related to the anthroponym Arantonius, and finally Tabaliaenus found in Garases, Asturias, deriving from the cognomen Tabalus.

Arentio Cronisensi

An epithet relating to a place name or to the identification of a tribe, because of its ending in -ensi

Arentiae and Arentio Eburobricis

Here the epithet is plural, as both deities, male and female, are being mentioned. It is again a safe place name, as the ending -bricis refers to the Celtic suffix -brig, which is used in toponyms.

Eburo means yew in the Celtic language, Eburobriga therefore literally means city of yews. Herminius Mons tells us that not far from Fundão, the town where these inscriptions were found, there still exists a village called Teixoso, in the municipality of Covilhã. Teixo means yew in Portuguese and -so is a suffix often used in location names. In fact, the village received this name because of the presence of many yew trees in the area in the past. Moreover, although it is most probably a town unrelated to ancient Eburobriga, it is a testimony to the existence of current and very lively places that were named after trees.

Arentia Ocelaeca and Arentio Ocelaeco

Above all, Jorge de Alarcão's work also informs us that the Ocelenses were one of the Lusitanian tribes distributed in the Beira Interior region in Portugal. On the other hand, these inscriptions were found in Covilhã, the place where the Olcelenses used to live.

Arentiae Equotullaicensi

Although the tullaicensi part of the epithet could perhaps refer to a place name, it has also been suggested that it could be related to the previous part of the former, Equo, which comes from the proto-Celtic *ekwos, meaning "horse". This piece will soon allow us to put the mythical puzzle back together again with brio.

Arentio Niaeteo

Found in Cerezo, in the region of Cáceres in Spain, it would come from the proto-Celtic *natr- meaning "snake". A snake which is, in European paganism, a symbol of ancestors, the umbilical cord, as well as an animal linked to the eternal cycles of nature, as can be seen in the example of the nordic Ouroboros.

The Divine Twins

It is a theme that can be found in many other Indo-European cultural branches and the Iberian Peninsula is no exception. Some examples of the presence of the Divine Twins in our cousins across Europe:

• Perhaps the most popular is the Greek case of the Dioskouroi, the Dioscuri, which literally means "Sons of Zeus". This pair consists of Castor and Pollux, both associated with youth and horses, with the epithet "riders on horseback" for Castor. Homer referred to the Twins as "riders on swift steeds".
• In the Baltic region, the Ašvieniai are found among the Lithuanians, a name meaning 'having (dealing with) horses', also known as Dievo Sūneliai, the 'Little Sons of God'. Similar to the Dieva deli in Latvian mythology, they are also associated with horses. Dievas is the Lithuanian God of Heaven while Dievs is the Latvian equivalent, both cognates of Zeus.

• As for the Germanic world, mentioned in Tacitus's work Germania, in which it is reported that the tribe of the Nahanarvali worshipped the Alcis, a pair of twin brothers whom Tacitus himself compared to Castor and Pollux. It has been suggested that the triad Njörðr, Freyr and Freyja is an evolved version of the cult of the Divine Twins, after no exact equivalent was found. Freyr and Freyja are the twin children of Njörðr, it should be noted that Freyr is sometimes associated with horse cults. However, the comparison does not really match. The works of my comrade O'Gravy tend to prove that Njörð is the God of the Moon cognate to Soma, indeed the Moon was considered the source and mistress of the waters, and that Freyr is a unique Divine Twin. This would make Freyja a Goddess of Dawn, so the cult of the Divine Twins would have evolved in the Germanic world as well as in the Celtiberian world, with one of the twins either withdrawing or being absorbed by the other. In the end, the Moon God is their father in the sense that the Dawn and the Morning Star are born just after the Moon, or that these stars rise from the sea, of which the Moon God is the master.

• In the Anglo-Saxon myth, we find Hengist and Horsa, two legendary figures who would have led the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Great Britain. They are said to be descended from Woden, and their names mean "Stallion" and "Horse" respectively. The comparison of the founding role of these figures with their Latin equivalents, Romulus and Remus, is therefore quite justified.

• Finally in the Vedic culture, whose origin goes back to common ancestors, one can find the Aśvins or Ashvins, whose meaning is similar to the Lithuanian Ašvieniai mentioned above. The Aśvins are no exception, being mentioned as entities, young and vigorous, driving a horse-drawn chariot.

With the etymology of these different interpretations of the same archetype now established, we can now focus on their myths in order to extract more similarities, clues to their functions.

The first recurring theme with these deities is that they are often seen as saviours. Protectors of the sailors in the case of the Dioscuri, they also have the ability to save them from shipwreck and to send favourable winds, or even to help them on the battlefield, as when they intervened in favour of the Locrians in their battle against Crotone. A myth also exists in which they save their sister, Helen, after she was kidnapped by Theseus and Pirithous.

Similar myths can be observed in the case of Aśvins, they have a link to the marine world when they save Bhujyu from drowning after a shipwreck, and their chariorts and steeds are described as coming out of the water. They not only help people and soldiers in battle, but also feature in a myth in which they save the Daughter of the Sun from drowning when she sinks into the sea. In Lithuania the symbols and numbers of the Ašvieniai are used in popular architecture as protection, especially on the tops of roofs, where they protect against evil spirits. Regarding the aforementioned Nordic deities, Njörðr is considered the patron saint of sailors, just like the Greek twins who control winds and tides.

In the light of all these interpretations of the Indo-European common core, it becomes clear that these peoples shared a common matrix, and that these divine archetypes had important functions in the religion of these peoples, whether as founding or saving figures.

Functions

With the meaning of the previous epithets in hand, established thanks to their etymological study, it is now time to define the functions of the Celtiberian deities Arentio and Arentia, based on the previously described parallels. 

In this respect, it is very instructive to observe the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eor- which means "to be on the move" or "to run" as we have previously done; but also the links constantly established between the names of the Divine Twins and the word horse in other Indo-European cultures. This word could moreover come from two proto-Indo-European roots: from *kers on one hand, which means to run, and from which also derives the English word "horse", or from the words *ekwos or ašva on the other hand, which come to us from *h₁éḱwos, "horse". This root could also have its origin in another word that means "fast" or "quick".

However, Prósper, who had suggested this link, thought that the theonyms Arentio and Arentia came from a hydronym, thus making the meaning "to run" a link to the flow of water.

This link is strongly emphasized by the aquatic references perceptible in the other myths: the Dioscuri are the patron saints of sailors while the father of Freyr and Freyja is the Nordic God of the sea, waters and sailors. Moreover, the relationship of Arentio and Arentia with horses is always confirmed by the epithet Equotullaicensi that we have previously examined.

Alarcão, while agreeing on the 'running" meaning of the deities's names, rejects the hypothesis that their names are derived from a hydronym. Rather, he defends the idea that the meaning related to running should be associated with the Lusitanians themselves, warrior peoples who were incredibly fast and agile on the battlefield according to Roman sources. He continues his analysis by suggesting functions related to the domain of warfare, without ruling out the possibility of Arentio and Arentia being polyfunctional deities. He concludes that in times of war they could be invoked for these purposes, but that in times of peace they were considered protectors of tribes, families and lineages as most of their epithets have confirmed.

This analysis brings them once again closer to the other versions of the Divine Twins: protectors of individuals, families or entire tribes, helping on the battlefield, they resonate with the Vedic Aśvins, the Lithuanian Ašvieniai and the Greek Dioskouroi.

Herminius Mons tells us that following the logic of Alarcão, which originally places at the origin of the theonyms of these twin deities a trait specific to the Lusitanians, that is to say their agile prowess on the battlefield, it is probable that they can be considered as founding figures by this tribe. This argument is supported by the fact that the worship of these deities was concentrated in a small area, which makes their veneration almost exclusive to Lusitanians. Indeed, it would be strange to see a foreign tribe worshipping the founding figures of another tribe. If his theory is correct, it would highlight a parallel between the couple Arentio - Arentia and Hengist - Horsa.

And all the more so when one keeps in mind the association of Arentio with snakes, symbols of the forebears, which would make the pair of deities divine ancestral figures. If their name meant "running" in the sense of running waters, a link could be created with the symbolism of the snake, representing the umbilical cord, with the uterus, where the unborn child is immersed in the amniotic fluid. The child comes back to life, which implies reincarnation, and Arentio and Arentia, the founding ancestral figures, are therefore linked to rebirth and ancestors. Arentio then represents the male ancestor, while Arentia represents the female ancestor, the nurturing mother, whom the child must finally symbolically overcome in order to become independent and allow the rebirth of the ancestors within her.

Finally, if one accepts the consideration that places Freyr and Freyja as an evolved or modified version of the cult of the Divine Twins, this makes her the only interpretation of these deities, along with Arentio and Arentia, which has both male and female siblings, both twins being male in all other cultures.

There is also the fact that they can be invoked separately, like Freyr and Freyja, again making them exceptions, all other twins always being invoked as a pair. This implies the possibility that they may have had slightly different functions or archetypes related to their gender.

When interpreting the Divine Twins, one must keep in mind that the "twins" element is not essential, indeed the Welsh, Irish or Nordic myths show only one Divine Twin. The pair Romulus - Remus also shows this particularity in the light of their myth.

Conclusion

From the inscriptions that have survived until our times, and comparative studies of the myths of other cultures, we can conclude that Arentio and Arentia are the interpretation of the Indo-European archetype of the Divine Twin, made by the Lusitanians, one of the most famous Iberian peoples and famous among the authors of the Roman and Hellenic world.

Although often neglected by specialists, the Iberian Peninsula once again provides us with an example of the recurring Indo-European structure. The Divine Twins being a coherent pair of deities found from Portugal to India, we can consider the common traditions of the Europeans strengthened and the influence of Indo-European migrations and invasions in the Indus Valley reconfirmed.

Arentio and Arentia are protective deities of the people, invoked in private and social contexts. In addition, they can help in battles, making them important warrior deities. If Prósper's suggestion is correct, they could also be the patrons of those who navigate or are associated with water in general. The collective memory of a people and their similarity to their gods and goddesses, as superior reflections of the people they brought into the world, are primordial concepts in European paganism. If the theory of Herminius Mons were confirmed, it would serve as a perfect example for these tenets.

Since the Divine Twins are the offspring of the Sky Father in other Indo-European myths, is it possible to affirm that Arentio and Arentia are the children of Reo or Reus, the Sky Father of the Lusitanians? He too has a strong association with the waters, as explained in the previous articles.

You will find the presentation of the other Celtiberian deities in the next parts.

https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/

Juan Carlos Olivares Pedreño, University of Alicante 

Alberto J. Lorrio, Universidad de Alicante Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

https://herminiusmons.wordpress.com/

https://goldentrail.wordpress.com/

Prósper, B. M.: Lenguas y religiones prerromanas del occidente de la Península Ibérica

Alarcão, Jorge de.: A religião de Lusitanos e Calaicos