Grannus

A partially reconstructed temple of Apollo Grannus at Faimingen (Phoebiana) near Lauingen

Grannus (also Granus, Mogounus,<ref name="mogo"/> and Amarcolitanus<ref name="amarco"/>) was a Celtic deity of classical antiquity. He was regularly identified with Apollo as Apollo Grannus and frequently worshipped in conjunction with Sirona, and sometimes with Mars and other deities.<ref name="SMF"/>

NameEdit

EtymologyEdit

The theonym Grannus is a latinized form of Gaulish Grannos.Template:Sfn The same stem appears in the personal names Grania, Grannia, Grannicus, and Grannica, as well as in the place names Grignols (from an earlier *Granno-ialon 'Grannus' clearing'), Aquae Granni (> Aachen), and Granéjouls.Template:Sfn

Its etymology remains debated. The name could be connected to Proto-Celtic *grand-/grend-, meaning 'beard' (cf. Middle Irish grend, Middle Welsh grann 'chin, beard, cheek', Middle Breton grann 'eyebrow'), although some scholars have pointed that the god is never actually portrayed with a beard. Old French grenon ('small beard'), Old Spanish greñon ('beard') and Occitan gren ('moustache') are derived from an earlier *grennos, that is supposed to be Gaulish, but the vocalism is difficult to reconcile with the other forms.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

An alternative etymology connects the name to a reconstructed form *gra-snó- (< *g^whr-snó-), which could be related to Proto-Celtic *g^wrīns-/g^wrens-, meaning 'heat' (cf. Middle Irish grīs 'heat, glow, embers', Middle Welsh gwres 'heat [of the sun, fire], passion, lust').Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Scholar Jürgen Zeidler contends that this would be a "probable reference to the sun's heat and its healing properties".Template:Sfn In early twentieth century scholarship, the theonym was often compared with the Old Irish grían ('sun'),Template:Sfn which, according to linguist Ranko Matasović, should be derived from Proto-Celtic *g^wrensā (> Primitive Irish *g^wrēnā).Template:Sfn

EpithetsEdit

At Monthelon, Grannus is called Deus Apollo Grannus Amarcolitanus<ref name="amarco">Template:CIL</ref> ("The one with a piercing or far-reaching look"<ref>Zeidler, Jürgen, "On the etymology of Grannus", Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, Volume 53 (1), de Gruyter. 2003, p. 86.</ref>), and at Horbourg-Wihr Apollo Grannus Mogounus.<ref name="SMF">Patrice Lajoye. Un inventaire des divinités celtes de l’Antiquité. Société de Mythologie Française. See also the inventory's introduction. Template:In lang</ref><ref name="mogo">Template:CIL</ref>

In all of his centres of worship where he is assimilated to a Roman god, Grannus was identified with Apollo,<ref name="SMF"/> presumably in Apollo's role as a healing or solar deity. In Trier, he is identified more specifically with Phoebus as Apollo Grannus Phoebus.<ref>Template:CIL</ref><ref name="SMF"/>

Centres of worshipEdit

File:CarolusThermen02.JPG

Hot springs such as those at Aquae Granni (today's Aachen) are thought to have been dedicated to Grannus.

File:Grand amphitheatre vgen.jpg

The amphitheatre in Grand, dedicated to Apollo. The name of Grand has been linked to Grannus.

One of the god's most famous cult centres was at Aquae Granni (now Aachen, Germany). Aachen means ‘water’ in Old High German, a calque of the Roman name of "Aquae Granni".<ref name="Aachen">Dr. Rita Mielke. History of Bathing. Aachen.</ref> The town's hot springs with temperatures between 45 °C and 75 °C lay in the somewhat inhospitably marshy area around Aachen's basin-shaped valley region.<ref name="Aachen"/> Aachen first became a curative centre in Hallstatt times.<ref name="Aachen"/>

According to Cassius Dio, the Roman Emperor Caracalla (188 AD to 217 AD) unsuccessfully sought help from Apollo Grannus—as well as Aesculapius and Serapis—during a bout of physical and mental illness, visiting the god's shrine and making many votive offerings; Dio claims that the gods refused to heal him because they knew Caracalla's intentions to be evil.<ref>Cassius Dio, Roman History 78.15.</ref> Caracalla's visit to the shrine of ‘the Celtic healing-god’ Grannus was during the war with Germany in 213.<ref>CIL VI 2086; IvEph 802</ref>Template:Citation needed

FestivalEdit

A 1st century AD Latin inscription from a public fountain in Limoges mentions a Gaulish ten-night festival of Grannus (lightly Latinized as decamnoctiacis Granni):

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}(edit)<ref>AE 1989: 521; AE 1991: 1222.</ref>

Translation: "The vergobretus Postumus son of Dumnorix gave from his own money the Aqua Martia ("Water of Martius [or Mars]", an aqueduct<ref>Laurent Lamoine, Le pouvoir local en Gaule romaine, Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2009, pp. 114-115.</ref>) for the ten-night festival of Grannus".Template:Citation needed

Divine entourageEdit

File:Autel d'Apollon Grannus et Sirona, Baumberg (Allemagne).jpg

Altar to Apollon Grannus and Sirona, Baumberg (Germany)

The name Grannus is sometimes accompanied by those of other deities in the inscriptions. In Augsburg, he is found with both Diana and Sirona;<ref>Template:AE</ref> he is again invoked with Sirona at Rome,<ref>Template:CIL</ref> Bitburg,<ref>Template:CIL</ref> Baumberg,<ref>Template:CIL</ref><ref name="SMF"/> Lauingen,<ref>Template:CIL</ref> and Sarmizegetusa (twice).<ref>Template:AE</ref> At Ennetach he is with Nymphs,<ref>Template:CIL</ref> at Faimingen with Hygieia and the Mother of the Gods,<ref>Template:CIL</ref> and at Grand with Sol.<ref name="SMF"/> A votive altar at Astorga invokes him after "holy Serapis" and "the many-named Isis", and before "the unvanquished Core and Mars Sagatus".<ref>Template:AE. The dedicant is Julius Melanius, an imperial governor.</ref><ref name="SMF"/>