Vagdavercustis
{{short description|Germanic goddess}}
File:Weihestein Vagdavercustis.JPG
Vagdavercustis is a Germanic goddess known from a dedicatory inscription on an altar found at Cologne (Köln), Germany.{{harvnb|Neumann|1999|p=126|ps=: "Den Forschungsstand muß man hier als unbefriedigend bezeichnen. Doch ist jedenfalls die germanische Herkunft des Namens wahrscheinlich, was für unsere Fragestellung wichtig ist."}} The stone dates from around the 2nd century CE and is now in a museum in Cologne.
Name
The meaning of the name remains unclear. The element Ver-custis may be interpreted as the root wer- ('man') attached to the verbal noun *kusti- ('choice'; cf. Old Icelandic mann-kostr 'male virtue'), but the meaning of the suffix or epithet Vagda is uncertain.{{Sfn|Neumann|1999|p=126}}
Cult
The inscription appears on the front of the altar above a carved relief of five male figures carrying out a ritual. The officiant in the center is wearing a toga and has his head covered (capite velato). He extends his hand toward an altar in order to burn incense, a box of which is held by a boy to the left. Behind them is an aulos-player, whose music would be intended to "drown out inauspicious noises." The figure between the aulist and the officiant is worn and reveals little. The fifth, to the far right, is bearded and wearing a garment that is not a toga; he carries something slung over his right shoulder.Janet Huskinson, Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire (Routledge, 2000), p. 248.
The inscription reads as follows:
::Deae
::Vagdavercusti
::Titus Flavius
::Constans Praef
::Praet EMV
Roughly translated into English, the inscription can be read as:
::To the Goddess
::Vagdavercustis,
::Titus Flavius
::Constans, Prefect
::of the Praetorians, [dedicated this] in his distinguished memory.""EMV" is a conventional abbreviation for "egregiae memoriae vir," see [http://www.chlt.org/sandbox/perseus/harper/page.3741.a.php Peck, Harry Thurston. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York:Harper and Brothers, 1898]
The altar was dedicated by a Roman citizen,As indicated by the use of the tria nomina; see Roman naming conventions. and the iconography is that of a traditional Roman sacrifice,Compare the relief of Marcus Aurelius sacrificing before the Temple of Capitoline Jove. but Vagdavercustis was most likely a native Germanic or Celtic goddess.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040517025945/http://www.geocities.com/reginheim/forgottengods.html Ansuharijaz (2003) Forgotten Gods, on the Reginheim website.] It was not unusual, and perhaps even customary, for Roman officials in the provinces to honor local gods as a way to maintain local goodwill.Huskinson, Experiencing Rome, p. 261. There is some evidence that Vagdavercustis was worshipped by the Batavians (a Germanic tribe reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area that is currently the Netherlands) in the regionFor a map, see [https://www.livius.org/a/1/germania/germinf_map.gif Livius.org.] between the present-day Netherlands and Cologne (Köln).{{Cite web |url=http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/lehre/HKIV-Arbeiten/Brandt-Ohrmann-Schmitt/einheimisch/Vagdavercustis.html |title=Religiöse Kulte im römischen Köln: Vagdavercustis |access-date=2006-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051202004840/http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/lehre/HKIV-Arbeiten/Brandt-Ohrmann-Schmitt/einheimisch/Vagdavercustis.html |archive-date=2005-12-02 |url-status=dead }}
The paucity of evidence pertaining to Vagdavercustis has led to abundant interpretations of her significance. Trees are depicted on the side panels of the altar, suggesting a vegetative function.Miranda Green, Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art (Routledge, 1989, 1992), p. 40 (Green takes Vagdavercustis as a Germanic deity). She may be related to Virtus, the Roman god of military virtue. Other than a votary inscription dedicated by a Batavian auxiliary in Pannonia, no dedications to the goddess have been found outside Lower Germany.{{cite journal |last1=Richmond |first1=Ian A |last2=Gillam |first2=J P |title=The Temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh |journal=Archaeologia Aeliana |date=1951 |volume=29 |issue=4 |page=50 |doi=10.5284/1060141 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3212035 |access-date=9 November 2024}} The name has been taken to mean "protectress of war dancers," with Vagdavercustis characterized as a war goddess.Michael Speidel, Ancient Germanic Warriors: Warrior Styles from Trajan's Column to Icelandic Sagas (Routledge, 2004), p. 102, citing Jan de Vries, Religionsgeschichte II, 1957, 325.
References
= Bibliography =
- {{Citation|last=Neumann|first=Günter|title=Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht|year=1999|editor-last=Beck|editor-first=H.|chapter=Germani cisrhenani — die Aussage der Namen|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te3fDzkb3uAC&pg=PA107|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3110164381|editor2-last=Geuenich|editor2-first=D.|editor3-last=Steuer|editor3-first=H.}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311021235/http://www.mysticwicks.com/photoalbum/displayimage.php?pos=-2449 photo of altar]