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.
Ingegerd H.
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Dato: 20. september 1999 16:54
Emne: Re: FEAST 19 September
> Sequanus (or Seine), abbot (c. 580): Built a monastery near the source
> of the river Seine, and civilized the people in the area (who were
> cannibals).
I'm no hagiographer, but this sounds suspiciously like the
personification of a pre-Christian cult, which, I believe, commonly
focused on the sources of rivers, the river giving its name to the
saint, rather than vice versa, as Butler claims.. And by "cannibals"
presumably Celts are meant. Can anyone shed more light on this?
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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