> Yes, rivers had to be flattered, fed and appeased. But if you >worship a
>river as a deity (say, Dea Sequana, Tamesis or the like), >from the
>linguistic point of view it is the hydronym, not the theonym, >which is
>primary. River names, at least in Europe, are in most cases >simple
>epithets describing the visual appearance ("White", "Shining", "Dark") or
>other "secular" properties or the >river
("Winding", "Swift", "Running", "Flowing", "Strong", "Stony", "Muddy",
">Salmon-bearing", etc.). What I mean is that when an IE name was chosen
>for a river, the choice was motivated chiefly by the way the river >looked
and behaved in physical terms, no matter if it was worshipped >or not.
>
You are probably correct in your assessment of the majority of cases, but I
still think that there are some rare cases where a pre-existing divinity
(like *Dan-u-, for example) was attached to different bodies of water as IE
culture spread out from its epicenter.
> I think we can all agree, after Chris's explication, that the name
> >Danuvius and other Celtic river names with the element *danu- (Don,
> >Donwy, Rhone, and why not Eridanus, difficult as it is to associate >this
>name with any particular river) were originally variations on the >Swift
>(River); and it seems likely that the cognate-looking Iranian >element
>meaning 'river' was an epithet turned into a common noun. The >relation of
>the river name to that of the goddess Danu remains unclear >to me.
I think that it is still unclear to most. We know that the Gaulish goddess
Danuuio was at least once paired with "Jupiter" in Gaulish inscriptions
(noting that the Celtic Jupiter was not exactly the same as the Roman
Jupiter - he was definitely associated with the sky, wheels, and thunder
[Jupiter is called Taranus "thunder" = Thorr], but was not leader of the
Celtic pantheon as Roman Jupiter or Greek Zeus was - though he may have been
father to the Gauls, for Taranus is also glossed as Dis Pater, whom the
Gauls believed they were descended from, according to Caesar). Her Welsh
counterpart Don[wy] was believed to be paired with Beli [contrary to popular
belief, Beli is not likely to represent Apollo Belenus, but rather *Belgios
- an eponymous father of the Belgae who settled in Britain in the first few
centuries BC).
It is probably best to fully examine the Vedic Danu and Greek Danae for
parallels with Irish Donand (usually styled *Danu) and Welsh Don(wy). The
definite parallel that immediately comes to mind is strong associations with
water (Vedic Danu and Welsh Donwy) and being the mother of important
gods/heroes (Danu/Danae/Donand/Don[wy]). More work definitely needs to be
done.
-Chris
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