Trebaruna
Lusitanian deity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Names
Her name also appears as Trebarune, Trebaronna, Trebarone, Trebaronne and Trebaroni.[1][2][3]
Spanish historian José María Blázquez Martínez also lists the following name attestations for the deity:[4]
- Trebarona (Coria)
- Trebarune (Findão)
- Trebaroune (Lardosa)
- Trebarouna (Idanha-a-Nova)
- Triborunni (Cascais)
- Debaroni muceaicaeco (Aveledas)
Etymology
Her name could be derived from the Celtic *trebo ('home') and *runa ('secret, mystery').[5] Spanish philologist Antonio Tovar suggested that, like the first part of name Trebopala, this goddess could have been connected to the community.[6] Jürgen Untermann states that the names of this deity are found in the dative case, suggesting a nominative form like *Trebaru or *Trebaro.[7]
Epigraphic evidence
Tovar listed three inscriptions wherein their name is attested: one from Idanha-a-Velha, a second from Coria and the third from Lardosa.[8]
Two small altars dedicated to this goddess were found in Portugal, one in Roman-Lusitanian Egitania (current Idanha-a-Velha) and another in Lardosa. The Tavares Proença Regional Museum in Castelo Branco now contains the altar from Lardosa. It was located in an area where the people from a Castro settlement founded a Roman-Lusitanian villa. This altar used to hold a statue of the goddess which has since been lost. Nevertheless, it still preserves this inscription: TREBARONNE V(otum) S(Olvit) OCONUS OCONIS f(ilius) which translates as: Oconus, son of Oco, has fulfilled the vow to Trebaruna.[9]
A name Trebarune (probably in the dative case) also appears on the inscription of Cabeço das Fráguas as a divinity receiving a sacrifice of a sheep.
In an inscription from Fundão in Portugal, a deity Trebarune is invoked by a Toncius Toncetani:[10]
- Ara(m) pos(uit) Toncius Toncetani f(ilius) Icaedit(anus) milis Trebarun(a)e l(ibens) m(erito) v(otum) s(olvit)
José d'Encarnação lists an inscription from the Roman villa of Freiria (Cascais) (found on August 27, 1985), where a Triborunnis is invoked - a possible reference to this deity.[11] The component Tribo- he interprets as cognate to PIE *treb-.[12][13]
A more recent inscription from Capera is a dedicatory epigraphy by a person named Marcus Fidius to Augusta Trebaruna.[14]
Possible role
José Leite de Vasconcellos suggested that Trebaruna was a war goddess, since he found a second votive altar by the same person (Toncius Toncetami), dedicated to Roman goddess Victoria.[15]
Based on a possible etymology of her name, it seems she was a protector or protectress of property, home, and families.[16] In the same vein, Olivares Pedreños cited positions by d'Arbois de Jubainville and Lambrino that interpret her as a protectress of the group or tribe.[17]
Legacy
Following the announcement in 1895 by José Leite de Vasconcelos of the discovery of Trebaruna as a new theonym, a poem celebrating this was published which likened Trebaruna to the Roman Victoria.[18] She has recently[19] become, among neopagans, a goddess of battles and alliances.[20] The Portuguese metal-band Moonspell composed a song called "Trebaruna" which is a celebration of the goddess.
