Editing Taranis (section)

{{Short description|Celtic god of thunder}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:RIG G-27, Sagnier 1887.jpg|thumb|alt=Altar to Taranis|Altar from [[Orgon]], France with a [[Gaulish]] inscription recording an offering to Taranis.]]
'''Taranis''' (sometimes '''Taranus''' or '''Tanarus''') is a Celtic [[thunder god]] attested in literary and [[epigraphic]] sources.

The Roman poet [[Lucan]]'s epic ''[[Pharsalia]]'' mentions Taranis, [[Esus]], and [[Teutates]] as gods to whom the [[Gauls]] sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Celtic gods under their native names in a Latin text has been the subject of much comment. Almost as often commented on are [[Commenta Bernensia and Adnotationes Super Lucanum|the scholia to Lucan's poem]] (early medieval, but relying on earlier sources) which tell us the nature of these sacrifices: in particular, that the victims of Taranis were burned in a hollow wooden container. This sacrifice has been compared with the [[wicker man]] described by [[Caesar]].

These scholia also tell us that Taranis was perhaps either [[interpretatio romana|equated by the Romans]] with [[Dis Pater]], Roman god of the underworld, or [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], Roman god of weather. Scholars have preferred the latter equation to the former, as Taranis is also equated with Jupiter in inscriptions. Both identifications have been studied against Caesar's lapidary remarks about the Gaulish Jupiter and [[Gaulish Dis Pater]].

The equation of Taranis with Jupiter has been reason for some scholars to identify Taranis with the "wheel god" of the Celts. This god, known only from iconographic sources, is depicted with a [[spoked wheel]] and the attributes of Jupiter (including a thunderbolt). No direct evidence links Taranis with the wheel god, so other scholars have expressed reservations about this identification.

Various inscriptions attest to Taranis's worship, dating between the 4th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. Scholars have drawn contrary conclusions about the importance of Taranis from the distribution of these inscriptions.