> From: Ingegerd Holand [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> If you consult Miranda Green's books on Celtic and Romano-Celtic mythology
> (or probably any other encyclopedia of a similar sort), you'll find a lot
> about the personification and cult of the river Seine from pre-Christian
> times. It does indeed seem like a perfect example of the Christian church
> appropriating a long-established cult - as far as I remember, the
> Romano-Celtic god connected with the river was also called Sequanus.
>
The goddess who is associated with the river Seine is Sequana and
she is thought to have preceded the Romano-Celtic period. By and large,
goddesses, not gods, are associated with rivers in Celtic mythology and
iconography, although gods may be associated with springs, especially in a
healing capacity. For example, there was the Gaulish god, Grannos, who was
conflated with Apollo in the Roman period. In his healing capacity, Grannos
was associated with the healing facility at Grand. Miranda Green's essay,
"The Celtic Goddess as Healer" in _The Concept of the Goddess_ (ed.
Billington & Green) summarizes the evidence for the association of Celtic
goddesses with rivers and healing springs. It does not address the role of
river goddesses as sources of poetic inspiration.
It's interesting that the goddess Sequana seems to have been
replaced by a male saint, St. Seine. We also see Apollo Grannos being
replaced by a female, Ste. Libaire.
Francine Nicholson
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