View source for Lugus

{{Short description|Celtic deity}}
{{good article}}
{{For|the Philippine municipality|Lugus, Sulu}}

[[File:PenalbaDeVillastar.jpg|thumb|250px|The long dedication to Lugus from [[Peñalba de Villastar]]]]

'''Lugus''' (sometimes '''Lugos'''<ref name=MacKillopLugus>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James |last=MacKillop |title=Lugos, Lugus, Lugoves (pl.) |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |edition=Online |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-3091 }}</ref> or '''Lug'''<ref name=Deyts/>{{rp|123}}) is a [[Celtic god]] whose worship is attested in the [[epigraphic]] record. No depictions of the god are known. Lugus perhaps also appears in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] sources and medieval [[Insular Celts|Insular]] mythology.

Various dedications, concentrated in [[Iberia]] and dated to between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, attest to the worship of the god Lugus. However, these predominately describe the god in the plural, as the '''Lugoves'''. The nature of these deities, and their relationship to Lugus, has been much debated. Only one, early inscription from [[Peñalba de Villastar]], [[Spain]] is widely agreed to attest to Lugus as a singular entity. The god Lugus has also been cited in the etymologies of several Celtic personal and place-names incorporating the element "Lug(u)-" (for example, the Roman settlement [[Lugdunum]]).

[[Julius Caesar]]'s description in his ''[[Commentaries on the Gallic War]]'' of an important pre-Roman [[Gaul]]ish god (whom Caesar [[interpretatio romana|identified]] with the [[Roman god]] [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]) has been interpreted as a reference to the god Lugus. Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury has been examined against Insular sources, as well as the prominence of "Lug(u)-" elements in Gaulish place-names. A prominent cult to Mercury in [[Roman Gaul]] may provide more evidence for this identification.

Lugus has also been connected with two figures from medieval Insular mythology. In [[Irish mythology]], [[Lugh]] is an important and supernatural figure. His description as a skilled artisan and founder of [[Lughnasa|a harvest festival]] has been compared with Gaulish Mercury. In [[Welsh mythology]], [[Lleu Llaw Gyffes]], a protagonist of the Fourth Branch of the ''[[Mabinogi]]'', is a more minor figure, but is linked etymologically with Irish Lugh. He perhaps shares with the Lugoves an association with [[shoemaking]].

The reconstruction of a pan-Celtic god Lugus from these details, first proposed in the 19th century by [[Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville]], has proven controversial. Criticism of this theory by scholars such as [[Bernhard Maier]] has caused aspects (such as a pan-Celtic festival of Lugus on 1 August) to be abandoned, however scholars still defend the reconstruction.

==Etymology==
The etymology of Lugus's name has been the subject of repeated conjecture, but no single etymology has gained wide acceptance.<ref name=Delamarre/>{{rp|211}}

The most commonly repeated etymology derives the name from [[proto-Indo-European]] *{{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|lewk-|leuk-}} ("to shine"). This etymology is closely tied to proposals to identify Lugus as a [[solar god]]. However, Garrett Olmsted has pointed out that this derivation poses phonological difficulties. [[Proto-Celtic]] {{lang|cel-x-proto|lug-}} cannot develop from proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|leuk-}}, according to the known [[Proto-Celtic language#Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European|sound changes between the two languages]].<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|181–183}} {{ill|Carlos Jordán Cólera|ca|Carlos Benjamín Jordán Cólera}} has noted that this root would result in Irish {{lang|mga|Luch}}, rather than the attested Irish {{lang|mga|Lugh}}.<ref name=JordanColera>{{cite journal |url=https://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/26/22/40beltranetal.pdf |title=Novedades epigráficas en Peñalba de Villastar (Teruel) |last1=Jordán Cólera |first1=Carlos |last2=Marco Simón |first2=Francisco |last3=Beltrán Lloris |first3=Francisco |journal=Paleohispánica |volume=5 |pages=911–956 }}</ref>{{rp|918}}

{{ill|Heinrich Wagner (linguist)|de|Heinrich Wagner (Linguist)|lt=Heinrich Wagner}} and [[Erich Hamp]] have proposed that the name derives from a proto-Celtic word meaning "oath" (either {{lang|cel-x-proto|lugiom}} or {{lang|cel-x-proto|leugh-}}). [[John T. Koch]] has taken this hypothesis up, and proposed that the early Irish oath ''[[tongu do dia toinges mo thúath]]'' is a suppressed oath to Lugus.<ref name=Koch>{{cite journal |last=Koch |first=John Thomas |title=Further to ''tongu do dia toinges mo thuath'', &c. |journal=Études Celtiques |volume=29 |date=1992 |pages=249–261 |doi=10.3406/ecelt.1992.2008 }}</ref>{{rp|252}}<ref name=Olmsted/>{{rp|244}} [[A. G. van Hamel]] and Maier proposed a derivation from proto-Celtic {{lang|cel-x-proto|lugus}} ("lynx"), perhaps used allusively to mean "warrior", but an article by [[John Carey (Celticist)|John Carey]] found the evidence for the existence of such a word in proto-Celtic lacking.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carey |first=John |date=2010 |chapter=Celtic ''*lugus'' "lynx": A Phantom Big Cat? |title=Celtic Language, Law and Letters: Proceedings of the Tenth Symposium of Societas Celtologica Nordica |editor-first=F. |editor-last=Josephson |series=Meijerbergs Arkiv för Svensk Ordforskning |location=Göteborg |pages=151–167 }}</ref><ref name=Watson>{{cite book |title=Religious Acculturation and Assimilation in Belgic Gaul and Aquitania from the Roman Conquest until the End of the Second Century CE |url=https://archive.org/details/bar-international-series-alasdair-watson-religious-acculturation-and-assimilatio |last=Watson |first=Alasdair |date=2007 |publisher=BAR Publishing |location=Oxford |doi=10.30861/9781407300368 |isbn=978-1-4073-0036-8 }}</ref>{{rp|66}} Other etymologies derive "Lugus" from the name of the [[Norse god]] [[Loki]],<ref name=Delamarre/>{{rp|211}} proto-Celtic {{lang|cel-x-proto|luc-}} ("mouse" or "rat"),<ref name=Coe>{{cite book |last=Coe |first=Paula Powers |chapter=Manwydan's Set and Other Iconographic Riffs |title=Heroic poets and poetic heroes in Celtic tradition: A Festschrift for Patrick K. Ford |editor1-first=Joseph Falaky |editor1-last=Nagy |editor2-last=Jones |editor2-first=Leslie Ellen |url=https://archive.org/details/heroicpoetspoeti0000unse |url-access=registration |date=2005 |location=Dublin |publisher=Four Courts Press |pages=42–54 |isbn=978-1-85182-849-4 }}</ref> and [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] {{lang|xtg|lougos}} ("raven").<ref name=deVries/>{{rp|53}}

==Linguistic evidence==
===Epigraphy===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Text 
!Image
!Context
!Language
!Citation
!Comments
|-
|{{lang|la|LUGOVIBUS / SACRUM / L(UCIUS) L(ICINIUS?) URCI/CO(M) COLLE/GIO SUTORU/M D(ONUM) D(EDIT)}}
|[[File:CIL II, 2818 in Nicolas Rabal, Soria.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on an altar. Found in the Roman city of [[Uxama Argaela]], near [[Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma|Osma]], [[Province of Soria|Soria]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}}
|[[Latin]]
|{{CIL|2|2818}}
|Translated, the inscription reads "Consecrated to the Lugoves. Lucius L(icinius?), of the Urcici donated it on behalf of the College of Shoemakers".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}} Connected to a trait of Welsh Lleu, discussed below.<ref name=Hutton>{{cite journal |title=Medieval Welsh Literature and Pre-Christian Deities |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |pages=57–85 |journal=Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies |volume=61 |date=2011 }}</ref>{{rp|71}}
|-
|{{lang|la|DIBUS M(AGNIS ?) / LUCOBO(S) AVE }}(or {{lang|la|NE) / T?ORIA AVITA / E? / CON EX VISU / CONSULENTIB(US)}}{{efn|1=This reading follows [[Jürgen Untermann]].<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}} A large number of other readings have been given, collected in an article by [[Ana María Vázquez Hoys]].<ref name=VH>{{cite journal |last=Vázquez Hoys |first=Ana María |title=La estela de la confusión: ''CIL'' II 6338v y los fantasmas |doi=10.5944/etfii.25.2012.10289 |journal=Espacio, Tiempo y Forma |volume=25 |date=2012 |issue=25 |pages=207–244|s2cid=163035647 |url=http://e-spacio.uned.es/fez/view/bibliuned:ETFSerieII-2012-25-6050 }}</ref>{{rp|214–216}}}}
|
|Inscribed on a stele. Found in {{ill|Peña Amaya|es}}, [[Burgos]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}}<ref name=VH/>{{rp|212}}
|Latin
|''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' [https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/epi_url.php?s_sprache=en&p_publication=CIL+02%2C+06338v II, 6338v]
|This poorly preserved  inscription has been interpreted by [[Jürgen Untermann]] as a dedication to the Lugoves made, as a result of a vision, by a person with the [[cognomen]] Avita. Above the inscription is an [[ithyphallic]] figure with his arms outstretched (in [[orant]] position).<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}}<ref name=VH/>
|-
|{{lang|la|LUGUBO / ARQUIENOB(O) / C(AIUS) IULIUS / HISPANUS / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO)}}
|
|Inscribed on an altar. Found in the church of San Martín de Liñarán in [[Sober, Lugo|Sober]], [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|212}}
|Latin
|{{abbr|''IRPL''|Arias Vilas, F.; Le Roux, P.; Tranoy, A. (1979) Inscriptions romaines de la province de Lugo. Paris.}} [https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/epi_url.php?s_sprache=en&p_edcs_id=EDCS-11901713 67]
|Translated, the inscription reads "To the Luguves Arquieni, with all merit. Caius Iulius Hispanus in fulfilment of a vow".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|212}}
|-
|{{lang|la|SACRUM / LUCOUBU / ARQUIENI(S) / SILONIU(S) / SILO / EX VOTO}}
|[[File:Ara aos Lugoves.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on an altar. From the town of Sinoga in [[Rábade]], [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|211}}
|Latin
|{{abbr|''IRPL''|Arias Vilas, F.; Le Roux, P.; Tranoy, A. (1979) Inscriptions romaines de la province de Lugo. Paris.}} [https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/epi_url.php?s_sprache=en&p_edcs_id=EDCS-11901714 68]
|Translated, the inscription reads "Dedicated to the Lucouves Arquieni. Silonius Silo in fulfilment of a vow".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|211}}
|-
|{{lang|la|LUCOBO / AROUSA(BO?) / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO) / RUTIL[IA] / ANTIANIA}}
|
|Inscribed on an altar. Found in a 2nd-century CE religious building in the city of [[Lugo]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|209}}
|Latin
|{{AE|2003|00951}}
|Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucoves Arousae, with all merit, Rutilia Antiania, in willing fulfilment of her vow".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|209}}
|-
|{{lang|la|LUC(OBO) GUD/ AROVIS? / VALE[RIUS?] / CLEM[ENS?] / V(OTUM) L(IBENTER) S(OLVIT)}}
|
|Inscribed on an altar. Found in a 2nd-century CE religious building in the city of [[Lugo]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|209}}
|Latin
|{{AE|2003|00952}}
|Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucoves Gudarovi(?), Valerius (?) Clemens (?) in willing fulfilment of his vow".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|209}}
|-
|{{lang|la|[LUCU]BU / ARQ(U)IE / NIS [---] / IULIU(S) [---] V(OTUM) S(OLVIT)}}
|
|Inscribed on an altar. Found in {{ill|San Vicente de Castillón|es}}, [[Province of Lugo|Lugo]], Spain.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|212}}
|Latin
|''[[BRAH]]'' [https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/epi_url.php?s_sprache=en&p_edcs_id=EDCS-74200325 1971 185].
|Translated, the inscription reads "To the Lucuves Arquieni(...) Iulius (...) in fulfilment of a vow".<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|212}}
|-
|{{lang|la|RUFINA / LUCUBUS / V(OTUM) S(OLVIT) L(IBENS) M(ERITO)}}
|
|Inscribed on a stele. Found in [[Nemausus]] (Roman [[Nîmes]]), [[Gard]], France.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}}
|Latin
|{{CIL|12|3080}}
|
|-
|{{lang|la|LUGOVES}}
|[[File:CIL XIII, 5078 in Blavignac, Histoire de l'architecture sacrée.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on a [[Corinthian order|Corinthian capital]]. Found in the Roman city of [[Aventicum]], near [[Avenches]], [[Vaud]], [[Switzerland]].<ref name=Tovar/>{{rp|594}}
|Latin
|{{CIL|13|5078}}
|[[Karl Zangemeister]] suggested that the inscription referred to the figure originally set on the capital.<ref name=Tovar/>{{rp|594}}
|-
|{{lang|xtg|ΛΟΥΓΟΥϹ}} (translit.: {{transliteration|xtg|lougous}})
|
|Inscribed on a ceramic dish. Found in the {{ill|Oppidum de l'Ermitage|fr}}, in [[Alès]], [[Gard]], France.<ref name=G-159>''[[Recueil des inscriptions gauloises|RIG]]'' I [https://riig.huma-num.fr/documents/GAR-01-04 G-159] via ''Recueil informatisé des inscriptions gauloises''.</ref>
|[[Gaulish]]
|''[[Recueil des inscriptions gauloises|RIG]]'' I [https://riig.huma-num.fr/documents/GAR-01-04 G-159]
|The inscription is probably an ownership mark, so at most records a [[theophoric personal name]].<ref name=G-159/>
|-
|{{lang|xtg|[...] bissiet lugedessummiiis luge / dessumíis lugedessumiis luxe}}
|[[File:M0120 D 2000-1-870 01.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on a lead tablet. Found in [[Chamalières]], [[Puy-de-Dome]], France.<ref name=L-100/>
|Gaulish
|''[[Recueil des inscriptions gauloises|RIG]]'' II.2 L-100
|At the end of the [[Chamalières tablet]] inscription, {{lang|xtg|luge dessumiis}} is repeated three times. This feature is very difficult to interpret, but {{ill|Karl-Horst Schmidt|de}} has interpreted it as an incantation of Lugus (in the singular). This interpretation has not been widely accepted.<ref name=L-100>''[[Recueil des inscriptions gauloises|RIG]]'' II.2 L-100 in Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2002). ''Recueil des inscriptions gauloises. II, fasc. 2, Textes gallo-latins sur instrumentum''. Paris: Éd. du CNRS. pp. 269-280.</ref><ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|88}}
|-
|{{lang|xce|ENIOROSEI / VTA.TIGINO.{{zwsp}}TIATVMEI / TRECAIAS.{{zwsp}}TOLVGVEI / ARAIANOM.{{zwsp}}COMEIMV / ENIOROSEI.{{zwsp}}EQVOISVIQVE / OGRIS.{{zwsp}}OIOCAS.{{zwsp}}TO.{{zwsp}}GIAS.{{zwsp}}SISTAT.{{zwsp}}LVGVEI.{{zwsp}}TIASO / TOGIAS}}{{efn|1=There are several readings of this inscription, but this reading follows Untermann, who gives the following variants: {{lang|xce|LVGVES}} for {{lang|xce|LVGVEI}} and {{lang|xce|OLOCAS}} for {{lang|xce|OIOCAS}}.<ref name=Untermann/>{{rp|624}}}}
|[[File:Juan Calbre, Peñalba de Villastar K3.3.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on a rock. Found at the site of [[Peñalba de Villastar]], in [[Villastar]], [[Aragon]], Spain.<ref name=Untermann/>{{rp|624}}
|[[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]]
|''[[Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum|MLH]]'' IV K.3.3
|This inscription, which dates to the 1st century BCE and is among the longest found in the Celtic sanctuary of Peñalba de Villastar, is very obscure in its meaning. No definite translation of this text has been established, but the majority of scholars hold that {{lang|xce|to luguei}} is to be interpreted as a dedication to Lugus (in the [[dative]] singular).<ref name=JordanColera/>{{rp|914}}<ref name=Untermann>{{cite book |last=Untermann |first=Jürgen |title=Monumenta linguarum Hispanicarum IV: Die tartessischen, keltiberischen und lusitanischen Inschriften |date=1997 |publisher=Reichert |location=Wiesbaden }}</ref>{{rp|626}}{{efn|1=Not all agree with this interpretation. Carlos Jordán Cólera interpreted {{lang|xce|luguei}} as "through an oath". [[Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel]] has argued against Jordán Cólera's hypothesis.<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|131–132}} Untermann's suggested alternate reading, {{lang|xce|lugues}}, would give the name in the nominative plural, but (as Francisco Marco Simón points out) this is at odds with word {{lang|xce|to}} before it, which appears to be in the dative.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|214}}}}
|-
|{{lang|txr|l.o.C(o).o.P(o).{{zwsp}}n.i.i.a.r.{{zwsp}}a.P(o).o [...]}}{{efn|1=This article only give the transliteration of this inscription, which is written in the [[Southwest Paleohispanic script]]. The reading given here follows José A. Correa.<ref name=Correa/>{{rp|206}} Untermann gives a different reading.<ref name=Untermann/>{{rp|208}}}}
|[[File:I tarteso.jpg|150px]]
|Inscribed on a stele. Found in the {{ill|Roman necropolis of Fonte Velha|pt|Necrópole romana de Fonte Velha}}, in [[Bensafrim]], [[Lagos, Portugal|Lagos]], [[Portugal]].<ref name=Correa/>{{rp|203–204}}<ref name=Untermann/>{{rp|204}}
|[[Tartessian language|Tartessian]]
|''[[Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum|MLH]]'' IV J.1.1
|The beginning of this inscription has been interpreted by José A. Correa as referring to Lugus in the dative plural ({{lang|xtg|Locobo Niirabo}}).<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|213}}<ref name=Correa>{{cite journal |first=José A. |last=Correa |title=Nota a la inscripción tartesia ''GM'' II |journal=Archivo Español de Arqueología |volume=54 |issue=143 |date=1981 |pages=203–209 |id={{ProQuest|1302116860}} }}</ref> {{ill|Jürgen Zeidler|de}} has expressed scepticism about this reading.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |title=Review: Celtic from the West |last=Zeider |first=Jürgen |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011.09.57/#_ftnref6 |date=September 2011 }}</ref>
|-
|}

A number of dedications to Lugus, dating between the 1st century BCE and 3rd century CE, have been found in Continental Europe.<ref name=Sagredo/>{{rp|190}} This epigraphic data is concentrated in [[Iberia]]; only a small number of inscriptions are known from Gaul, and none are known from Britain or Ireland.<ref name=Tovar/>{{rp|593–594}} A peculiarity of this data is that the singular of Lugus's name is rarely recorded.<ref name=MarcoSimon>{{cite journal |last=Marco Simón |first=Francisco |date=2006 |title=The cult of the ''Lugoves'' in Hispania |journal=Acta Archaeologica |volume=57 |issue=1–3 |pages=209–218 |doi=10.1556/aarch.57.2006.1-3.15 }}</ref>{{rp|215}} There is consensus that a [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] inscription from Peñalba de Villastar features the singular.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|353–354}} A minority interpret the Gaulish-language [[Chamalières tablet]] as invoking singular Lugus.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|354}}<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|214}} The singular is inscribed on a ceramic [[sherd]] from {{ill|Oppidum de l'Ermitage|fr}}, but this is probably a [[theophoric name]] and not a reference to the god Lugus.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|353}}<ref name=G-159/> Many Celtic gods are referenced both in the plural and the singular,{{efn|1=Arbois de Jubainville was aware of this and compared Lugus/Lugoves to the pairs Deo Vitiri/Dibus Vitiribus and Deo Mounti/Dis Mountibus known from [[Roman Britain]].<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|355}} [[Joshua Whatmough]] points out that this feature is common to Gaul as well, where plural dedications to Mercury, [[Epona]], and [[Silvanus (mythology)|Silvanus]] are known.<ref name=Whatmough>{{cite book |title=The Dialects of Ancient Gaul: Prolegomena and Records of the Dialects |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1970 |last=Whatmough |first=Joshua }}</ref>{{rp|196}}}} but in dedications to Lugus the plural form ("Lugoves" or "Lucoves"{{efn|1=Garrett Olmsted explains the form "Lucoves" as a result of "the tendency to confuse the [[Voice (phonetics)|voice]]d and [[Voicelessness|unvoiced]] series,
particularly ''c'' and ''g'', [...] most frequent in Spain and [[Aquitania]]".<ref name=Olmsted/>{{rp|309}}}}) predominates.<ref name=Olmsted>{{cite book |title=The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans |last=Olmsted |first=Garrett S. |date=2017 |edition=Revised |url=https://www.academia.edu/38135817 |location=Tazewell, Virginia }}</ref>{{rp|309}}

The nature of the Lugoves, and their relationship to Lugus, has been much debated.<ref name=Sagredo>{{cite journal |title=Los Testimonios Epigraficos de LVG en Hispania |last1=Sagredo |first1=L. |last2=Hernández Guerra |first2=L. |url=https://www.academia.edu/33866674 |journal=Memorias de Historia Antigua |volume=17 |date=1996 |pages=179–202 }}</ref>{{rp|179}} The epigraphic record is equivocal as to the gender of these deities. The epithet {{lang|la|Arquienob(o)}} (attested at San Martín de Liñarán) has masculine gender, whereas the epithets {{lang|la|Arousa(bo)}} (attested on an altar from [[Lugo]]) and possibly {{lang|txr|Niirabo}} indicate the feminine.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|215}} [[Henri Gaidoz]] contended that plural deities were minor in the Celtic pantheon, and that therefore Lugus could not have been the chief god of the Celts. Arbois de Jubainville and [[Joseph Vendryes]] argued that the Celts invoked even major gods (such as [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]) in the plural.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|354–355}} Some scholars have tried to explain the multiplicity of the Lugoves through traits of Irish Lugh or Welsh Lleu.<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|214}}<ref name=deVries/>{{rp|51–52}} [[Marie-Louise Sjoestedt]], for example, pointed out that Lugh was one of triplets.<ref name=Watson/>{{rp|83}} Maier has argued that the obscurity of the nature of the Lugoves limits the value of the epigraphic record as evidence for pan-Celtic Lugus.<ref name=MaierCaesar>{{cite journal |last=Maier |first=Bernhard |title=Is Lug to be Identified with Mercury (''Bell. Gall.'' VI 17, 1)? New Suggestions on an Old Problem |journal=Ériu |volume=47  |date=1996 |pages=127–135 |jstor=30007440 }}</ref>{{rp|128}} Krista Ovist argues against this point.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|353–355}}

===Proper names===
The element "lug(u)-" appears frequently in Celtic proper names. In many of these cases, an etymology involving the deity-name Lugus has been proposed.<ref name=Evans/>{{rp|219}}<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|132}} Celtic personal names with this element include Lug, Lugaunus, Lugugenicus, [[Lugotorix]], Luguadicos, Luguselva, and Lougous.<ref name=Evans/>{{rp|220}} A number of cognate names are known from Irish [[Ogham inscription]]s, for example, Luga, Lugudecca (perhaps, "serving the god Lugus"<ref name=Matasović>{{cite book |first=Ranko |last=Matasović |title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic |url=https://archive.org/details/matasovic-etymological-dictionary-of-proto-celtic |volume=9 |location=Leiden / Boston |series=Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series |publisher=Brill |date=2009 }}</ref>{{rp|248}}), Luguqritt (perhaps, "poet like Lugus"<ref name=Zeidler/>{{rp|221}}), and Luguvvecca.<ref name=Evans/>{{rp|220}} Some ethnic names have been connected with Lugus, for example the [[Lugi]] in [[Scotland]]<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|58}} and the {{ill|Lugones (tribe)|gl|lt=Lugones}} in [[Asturias]].<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|63}} Place-names connected with Lugus include Lugii, Lougoi, Lougionon, Lugisonis, and Lugnesses.<ref name=Evans/>{{rp|221}} Lucus Augusti (modern-day [[Lugo]]) is the site of a Roman sanctuary with dedications to the Lugoves;<ref name=MarcoSimon/>{{rp|216}} its name may be derived from the deity-name Lugus, though it could simply be Latin for "grove of Augustus".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/6505899 |title=The Place Names of Ancient Hispania and its Linguistic Layers |last=García Alonso |first=Juan Luis  |journal=Studia Celtica |pages=213–244 |volume=35 |date=2001 }}</ref>{{rp|219}} The name of [[Luguvalium]] (modern-day [[Carlisle]]) is sometimes glossed as "wall of Lugus", but may instead derive from a personal name.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|fn 4}}<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|213}}

[[File:France map Lambert-93 topographic-ancient Roman roads.svg|thumb|[[Lugdunum]] (modern-day [[Lyon]]) at the heart of [[Roman Gaul]]]]

Since Arbois de Jubainville argued for the connection, the place-name "Lugdunum" has frequently been connected etymologically with Lugus. The most famous known by this name is [[Lugdunum]] (modern-day [[Lyon]]) in the region of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]],{{efn|1=The Roman province, which stretched from [[Saône]] to [[Brittany]], took its name from the city.<ref name=Whatmough/>{{rp|483}}}} a [[Roman colony]] and among the most important cities of Roman Gaul.<ref name=Lambert/>{{rp|244–245}} The etymology of this place-name has been the subject of much conjecture. Following Arbois de Jubainville, the most widely held hypothesis analyses the name as {{lang|xtg|Lugus}} + {{lang|xtg|dunum}} ("fort"),{{efn|1=Gaulish {{lang|xtg|dunun}} or {{lang|xtg|dunum}} has the meaning "'citadel, fortified enclosure, mount".<ref name=Delamarre>{{cite book|first=Xavier |last=Delamarre |title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental |date=2003 |location=Paris |edition=2nd |publisher=Éditions Errance }}</ref>{{rp|154–155}}}} that is, "the fortress of Lugus".<ref name=Evans/>{{rp|219–220}} Many other etymologies have been given.<ref name=Whatmough/>{{rp|483–484}} An ancient etymology derives it from a Gaulish word for raven.{{efn|1=This etymology, reported in the 2nd-century text ''[[De fluviis]]'', is given as part of a founding legend of Lugdunum/Lyon: two founders with Gaulish names observe ravens over a hill, and decide to found a city there, deriving its name from {{lang|xtg|lougos}} ("raven") + {{lang|xtg|dunun}} ("hill"). The gloss of {{lang|xtg|dunun}} is correct, but the supposed Gaulish word {{lang|xtg|lougos}} is a ''[[hapax legomenon]]'' and has no clear cognates in other Celtic languages, though Zeidler has proposed a derivation from proto-Indo-European.<ref name=Zeidler>{{cite journal |first=Jürgen |last=Zeidler|title=Review: Maier, Bernhard: ''Die Religion der Kelten''|volume=55 |issue=1 |date=2007 |pages=208–230 |doi=10.1515/ZCPH.2007.208 |journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie }}</ref>{{rp|215–216}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blom |first=Alderik H. |title=Endlicher's Glossary |journal=Études Celtiques |volume=37 |date=2011 |pages=159–181 |doi=10.3406/ecelt.2011.2332 }}</ref>{{rp|170}}}} Attempts have been made to analyse it as {{lang|xtg|*lugus}} ("luminous" or "clear") + {{lang|xtg|dunum}} ("hill"), bolstered by a medieval etymology which gives the gloss {{lang|la|mons lucidus}} ("shining mountain").<ref name=Hofeneder3>{{cite book |title=Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen |volume=3 |last=Hofeneder |first=Andreas |date=2011 |location=Wien |publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften |url=https://archive.org/details/9783700169970-gesamt-2 }}</ref>{{rp|131}}<ref name=Evans>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=D. Ellis |title=Gaulish Personal Names: A Study of Some Continental Celtic Formations |location= Oxford |publisher= Clarendon Press |date=1967}}</ref>{{rp|219–220}}

The place-name Lugdunum is attested, in its cognate forms, as the name of as many as twenty-seven locations.<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|132}}{{efn|1=[[Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h]] lists 27 places connected with this name. He classifies 20 as certain, 5 as probable, and 2 as doubtful.<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|132}} [[Alfred Holder]] gives a shorter list of 16 in his ''Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz''.<ref name=Lambert/>{{rp|244}}}} Apart from Lyon, there is Lugdunum Convenarum (modern-day [[Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges]]), [[Lugdunum Batavorum]] (near [[Leyden]]), Lugdunum Remorum (modern-day [[Laon]]), two Welsh places named Din Lleu (the order of the elements reversed),<ref name=Lambert>{{Cite book|last=Lambert|first=Pierre-Yves|title=New approaches to Celtic place-names in Ptolemy's Geography|date=2005 |location=Madrid|publisher=Ediciones Clásicas|isbn=978-8478825721|editor-last=de Hoz|editor-first=Javier|pages=215–251|chapter=The place names of Lugdunensis [Λουγδουνησία]|editor-last2=Luján|editor-first2=Eugenio R.|editor-last3=Sims-Williams|editor-first3=Patrick}}</ref>{{rp|244–245}} and two cities of unclear location in [[North East England]] and [[Germania Magna]].<ref name=Hofeneder3/>{{rp|509–510}} The wide range and abundance of these place-names has been used to argue for the importance of Lugus.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|355–356}} Whatever the etymology, not all of these place-names must owe themselves a Celtic root. Lugdunum/Lyon was a major city, and other locations may have borrowed the name. Some two-thirds of the cognate place-names are attested only from the 10th century on; we know that Lugdunum Remorum had an older, native name (Bibrax) which was displaced in the 6th century.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|129–130}}

==Caesar and Gaulish Mercury{{anchor|Gaulish Mercury}}==
[[File:Autel de Cernunnos, sculpture, 1er siècle.jpg|thumb|Altar from [[Reims]] to [[Apollo]], [[Cernunnos]], and Mercury]]
''[[Commentaries on the Gallic War]]'' is [[Julius Caesar]]'s first-hand account of the [[Gallic Wars]] (58 to 50 BCE). In giving an account of the customs of the Gauls, Caesar wrote the following:
{{blockquote
|{{lang|la|Deum maxime Mercurium colunt. Huius sunt plurima simulacra: hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt, hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem, hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur. Post hunc Apollinem et Martem et Iovem et Minervam. De his eandem fere, quam reliquae gentes, habent opinionem.}}<ref>{{Perseus|Hirt.|Gal.|6.17}}</ref>
The god they reverence most is Mercury. They have many images of him, and they regard him as the inventor of all arts, the god who directs men on their journeys, and the most powerful helper in trading and getting money. Next to him they reverence [[Apollo]], [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], and [[Minerva]], about whom they have much the same ideas as other nations.<ref>{{cite book |title=Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul |url=https://archive.org/details/caesarconquestof00hand |url-access=registration |date=1981 |first=S. A. |last=Handford |publisher=Penguin Books }}
</ref>{{rp|33–34}}
}}

Caesar here employs the device of ''[[interpretatio romana]]'', in which foreign gods are equated with those of the Roman pantheon.{{efn|1=The equation of a Roman god with a foreign god was made on the basis of their perceived similarity, but, in practice, a clear equivalent was often absent, so one common trait or sphere of activity sufficed to justify the equivalence.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|203}}}} With very few exceptions, Roman writings about Celtic and Germanic religion employ ''interpretatio romana'', but the equations they made varied from writer to writer. This makes identifying the native gods behind the Roman names very difficult.<ref name=Hofeneder1>{{cite book |title=Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen |volume=1 |last=Hofeneder |first=Andreas |date=2005 |location=Wien |publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften }}</ref>{{rp|203–204}} Indeed, if their information was confused or their intention was propagandistic, reconstruction of native religion is next to impossible.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|206–207}}

Caesar contrasts Gaulish Mercury with the other gods of the Gauls, insofar as he is the god about whom they do not have "much the same ideas" as the Romans. The Romans associated Mercury with trading and travel, but they did not think of him as "inventor of all arts".<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|132}} Another difference is suggested by the order in which the gods are presented: Mercury is given primacy, whereas the Romans considered [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] the most important deity.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|206}} Moreover, Mercury's role as guide of souls to the underworld (an important aspect of the god for the Romans) goes unmentioned in this passage. Caesar elsewhere ascribes to the Gauls a belief in [[metempsychosis]], which may have precluded Gaulish Mercury from this function.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|134}}{{efn|1=Indeed, {{ill|Gerhard Bauchhenss|de|Gerhard Bauchhenß}} has pointed out that depictions of Mercury are very rare on Gallo-Roman tombs, suggesting that this aspect of Mercury was never assimilated into Gaulish religion.<ref name=Bauchhenss/>{{rp|547}}}}

The first Celtic god to be identified as Caesar's Gaulish Mercury was [[Teutates]].{{efn|1=[[Teutates]], one of the few Celtic gods known by his native name in Roman literature, has been a candidate for the identity of Gaulish Mercury since medieval commentators on [[Lucan]]. This identification was reasserted in the 17th century by [[Elias Schedius]] and was repeated through most of the 18th and 19th centuries. In modern times, this identification has received the support of {{ill|Jean-Louis Brunaux|fr}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jean-Louis |last=Brunaux |title=Les Gaulois |series=Guides Belles Lettres Des Civilisations |date=2005 |publisher=Les Belles Lettres |location=Paris }}</ref>{{rp|200–201}}<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|127}}}} This identification was widely accepted until the late 19th century, when Arbois de Jubainville proposed that Lugus lay behind Caesar's description. Arbois de Jubainville pointed to the prominence of "Lug(u)-" elements in Gaulish place-names, and a possible festival of Lugus at Lugdunum/Lyon (discussed below). He also drew comparison between Irish Lugh's epithet {{lang|mga|Samildánach}} ("master of all arts") and Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury as "inventor of all arts".<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|127}} Maier has criticised this identification on the basis that "inventor of all arts", though not a Greco-Roman belief about the god Mercury, is a common [[literary topos]] in Roman descriptions of foreign religions. He also casts doubt on the possibility that an epithet like this, not otherwise attested in the epigraphic record, could have survived into medieval Irish literature.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|132–134}}

A confusing aspect of Caesar's description of this cult is his reference to the "many images" of Gaulish Mercury; specifically he uses the word {{lang|la|simulacra}}, a word which had the connotation of [[cult image|worshipped idols]] for Roman authors.<ref name=Kiernan>{{cite book |title=Roman Cult Images: The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2020 |first=Philip |last=Kiernan |doi=10.1017/9781108766555 |isbn=978-1-108-76655-5 }}</ref>{{rp|40}} Archaeological evidence of anthropomorphic cult images is scant before the Roman conquest of Gaul.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|205}} The testimony of some Roman authors suggests the Gauls did not produce images of their gods, though [[Lucan]] describes the Gauls as having wooden idols.<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|39–40}} [[Salomon Reinach]] suggested that Caesar meant to draw a comparison between [[aniconic]] monuments to Gaulish Mercury and the [[herm (sculpture)|herm]]s (aniconic monuments to [[Hermes]], Mercury's Greek equivalent) he knew from Rome, but this is an unlikely use of the word {{lang|la|simulacra}}.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|205–206}}<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|42}}

[[File:Moccus inscription, CIL XIII, 05676.png|thumb|Inscription from [[Langres]] {{lang|la|deo [[Moccus|Mercur(io) Mocco]]}} ("to Mercury of the Swine")]]

Certainly, after Caesar's conquest of Gaul, depiction and worship of Mercury was widespread.{{efn|1={{ill|Paul-Marie Duval|fr}} estimated that two-thirds of all monuments in the Roman world dedicated to Mercury have been found in Gaul.<ref name=Tovar/>{{rp|593}}}} More images of Mercury have been found in Roman Gaul than those of any other God,<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|131}} but these representations of Mercury are conventional, and show no discernible Celtic influence.<ref name=Bauchhenss/>{{rp|537}} Epigraphic material does reveal some bynames of Mercury peculiar to Gaul, thought to be suggestive of native gods.<ref name=Bauchhenss>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Gerhard |last=Bauchhenss |title=Mercurius in den Nordwestprovinzen |url=https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20VI-1%20Kentauroi%20et%20Kentaurides-O%C4%B1ax/page/n369 |encyclopedia=[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae]] |volume=6 |location=Zurich / Munich |publisher=Artemis |date=1992 |pages=537–54 }}</ref>{{rp|537}} An inscription from [[Langres]] attests to a ''[[Moccus|Mercur(io) Mocco]]'' ("Mercury of the Swine"), perhaps Lugus.<ref name=LeDuc/>{{rp|98}} Other epithets—connecting Mercury with heights, particular Gaulish tribes, and the emperor [[Augustus]]—have been thought to be suggestive of Lugus.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|101–102}}<ref name=Olmsted/>{{rp|316–318}} The epigraphic record has not produced any epithets portraying Mercury as inventor or master of arts.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|134}}

==Depictions==
[[File:Silver cup with Gallic divinities (Lyon Mus Gall-Rom 2004.0.02) 04.jpg|thumb|The [[Lyon cup]]]]

No images of Lugus are known.<ref name=Deyts>{{cite book|last= Deyts |first= Simone |date= 1992 |title= Images des dieux de la Gaule |location= Paris |publisher= Editions Errance }}</ref>{{rp|23}}<ref name=LeDuc>{{cite book |last=Le Duc |first=Gwenaël |chapter=Existe-t-il des représentations du dieu Lugh? |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Carey |editor2-first=John T. |editor2-last=Koch |editor3-first=Pierre-Yves |editor3-last=Lambert |title=Ildánach Ildírech: A Festschrift for Proinsias Mac Cana |publisher=Celtic Studies Publications |location=Andover / Aberystwyth |date=1999 |pages=97–99 }}</ref>{{rp|97}} However, a number of figures have been proposed to represent Lugus. [[Lyon cup|A Gallo-Roman silver cup from Lyon]] is decorated with a number of figures, including a human counting money next to a raven. [[Pierre Wuilleumier]] identified the human figure as Mercury/Lugus, whereas {{ill|J.-J. Hatt|fr|Jean-Jacques Hatt}} identified the raven as Apollo/Lugus.<ref name=Deyts/>{{rp|143}} Paula Powers Coe argued that the depiction of Mercury on [[commons:File:Autel de Cernunnos, sculpture, 1er siècle.jpg|an altar from Reims]] could be Lugus, as a rat (Gaulish {{lang|xtg|lucot}}) is depicted above Mercury, perhaps punning on Lugus's native name.<ref name=Coe/>{{rp|45}} Arguing from an association between Irish Lugh and pigs, {{ill|Gwenaël Le Duc|fr}} has proposed that the [[Euffigneix statue]] (of a Gaulish boar-god) is a representation of Lugus.<ref name=LeDuc/>{{rp|99}}

==Later mythology==
===Lugh in Irish mythology===
[[Lugh|Lugh Lamfhota]] (literally, "Long-armed Lugh") is an [[Irish mythology|Irish mythological]] figure from the [[Mythological Cycle]] and the [[Ulster Cycle]]. He is portrayed as a leading member of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], a supernatural race in medieval Irish literature often thought to represent [[euhemerized]] pre-Christian deities. Alongside [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]] and [[Cú Chulainn]] (Lugh's supernatural son), he is one of the three great heroes of the Irish mythological tradition.<ref name=MacKillopLugh>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James |last=MacKillop |title=Lug Lámfhota |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |edition=Online |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-3067 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James |last=MacKillop |title=Tuatha Dé Danann |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |edition=Online |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-3684 }}</ref> The Irish celebrated [[Lughnasa]], a [[harvest festival]] which fell on 1 August and which, according to Irish tradition, was established by Lugh in honour of his foster mother.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James |last=MacKillop |title=Lughnasa  |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |edition=Online |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-3087 }}</ref>

Arbois de Jubainville made the connection between Lugh and Lugus.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|69–70}} He adduced two connections between Irish Lugh and Celtic Lugus. Firstly, he drew attention to the (above discussed) correspondence between Lugh's epithet {{lang|mga|Samildánach}} ("master of all arts") and Caesar's description of Gaulish Mercury.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|127}} Secondly, he pointed out that an annual [[Sanctuary of the Three Gauls|''concillium'' of the Gauls]] in Lugdunum/Lyon, instituted in 12 BCE in honour of the emperor [[Augustus]], fell on exactly the same day as Lughnasa. He suggested that both must ultimately derive from a Celtic festival in honour of Lugus.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|130}}<ref name=Drinkwater/>{{rp|111}} Recent scholarship has tended to dismiss this as a coincidence.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|515}} There are a number of reasons 1 August may have been chosen for a festival in honour of Augustus: [[Roman calendar#Later reforms|the month bore his name]]<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|130}} and the date was the anniversary of his political victory over [[Mark Antony|Antony]] and [[Cleopatra]].<ref name=Drinkwater>{{cite book |title=Roman Gaul: The Three Provinces, 58 BC - AD 260 |location=Oxford / New York |last=Drinkwater |first=J. F. |publisher=Routledge |date=2014 }}</ref>{{rp|111–113}} Maier has pointed out that the Continental Celts used a [[lunar calendar]], whereas the Irish used a [[solar calendar]], so continuity of a seasonal festival would be unlikely.<ref name=MaierCaesar/>{{rp|130}}

===Lleu in Welsh mythology===
[[File:Jesus-College-MS-111 00370 185v (cropped) Math fab Mathonwy .jpg|thumb|The opening lines of the Fourth Branch of the ''[[Mabinogi]]'']] 
[[Lleu Llaw Gyffes]] (literally, "Lleu of the Skillful Hand" or "Steady Hand") is one of the protagonists of the Fourth Branch of the ''[[Mabinogi]]'', a set of Welsh stories compiled in the 12th-13th centuries. He is a prince whose story culminates in him becoming ruler of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]].<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|68}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James |last=MacKillop |title=Lleu Llaw Gyffes |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |edition=Online |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-3002 }}</ref> Though not depicted as other than human, Lleu is depicted with extraordinary or magical skills, like many other characters in [[Welsh mythology]].<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|75}} Lleu (or characters similar to him) appears in other works of medieval Welsh literature. Notable examples are Lluch Llavynnauc (Lluch "of the Striking Hand" or Lluch "Equipped with a Blade") in ''[[Pa gur]]''; Lluch Lleawc (Lluch "the Death Dealing") in ''[[Preiddeu Annwn]]''; and Llwch Llawwynnyawe (Lluch "of the Striking Hand") in ''[[Culhwch and Olwen|Culhwch]]''.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|69}}

[[John Rhys]] was the first to relate Lleu to Lugus, which he did in 1888. Rhys drew a comparison between an episode in the ''Mabinogi'', wherein Lleu and his foster father [[Gwydion]] produce gold-ornamented shoes, and the inscription from Uxama Argaela, where the Lugoves are invoked by a group of shoemakers. This parallel has received a mixed reception.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|70–71}} [[Joseph Loth]] felt that the episode was minor and the conclusion extravagant.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Loth |first=Joseph |title=Le Mabinogi de Math vab Mathonwy d'aprés W. J. Gruffydd et la mèthode en celto-mythologie |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6473497q/f288 |journal=Revue Celtique |volume=46 |date=1929 |pages=272–300 }}</ref>{{rp|297–299}} [[Jan de Vries (philologist)|Jan de Vries]] agreed with Rhys, and further argued that the "Lugoves" in this inscription were Lleu and Gwydion.<ref name=deVries>{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Jan |title=Keltische Religion |date=1961 |url=https://archive.org/details/keltischereligio0000vrie |url-access=registration |location=Stuttgart |publisher=W. Kohlhammer }}</ref>{{rp|52}}

===Lugus-Lugh-Lleu?===
Though the stories told of Lleu and Lugh do not show many similarities,<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|75}} comparisons have been drawn between epithets of Lleu and Lugh: Lleu is {{lang|wlm|Llaw Gyffes}} ("of the Skillful Hand") and Lugh is {{lang|mga|Samildánach}} ("master of all arts"); Lleu is {{lang|wlm|Llawwynnyawe}} ("of the Striking Hand") and Lugh is {{lang|mga|Lonnbémnach}} ("of the Fierce Blows").<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|71}} [[Ronald Hutton]] points out that medieval Welsh and Irish literature are known to have borrowed superficially from each other (for example, the similar in name but dissimilar in character Welsh [[Manawydan fab Llŷr]] and Irish [[Manannán mac Lir]]). This would suffice to explain the common epithets.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|75}}

[[Welsh language|Welsh]] Lleu and [[Irish language|Irish]] Lugh are both linguistically correct as [[reflex (linguistics)|reflex]]es of a Gaulish or [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] name Lugus.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|70}} Hutton notes that a medieval borrowing cannot explain the linguistic relationship between Lugh and Lleu. For the names to be cognate, their common origin must be prior to the respective sound changes [[Phonological history of Old Irish|in Irish]] and [[Brittonic languages#Sound changes|in Welsh]].<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|75}} Jessica Hemming argues that, insofar as Lugus is entirely absent from the epigraphic record in Britain and Ireland, the etymology is questionable.<ref name=Hemming>{{cite book |last=Hemming |first= Jessica |chapter=Ancient tradition or authorial invention? The 'mythological' names in the Four Branches |editor-first=Joseph Falaky |editor-last=Nagy |title= Myth in Celtic literatures |volume=6 |location= Dublin |publisher= Four Courts Press |date=2007 |pages=83–104 }}</ref>{{rp|102}}

==Reconstruction==
[[File:Portrait of Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville.jpg|thumb|[[Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville]]]]
The god Lugus was first reconstructed by Arbois de Jubainville in his monumental {{lang|fr|Le cycle mythologique irlandais et la mythologie celtique}} (1884). Arbois de Jubainville linked together Irish Lugh, Caesar's Gaulish Mercury, the toponym Lugdunum, and the epigraphic evidence of the Lugoves. By 1888, Sir [[John Rhys]] had linked Lugus with Welsh Lleu.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|70–71}} Initial criticism of this theory (for example, from [[Henri Gaidoz]]) gave way to what Ovist has described as "uncritical affirmation" of the existence of a pan-Celtic god Lugus.<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|66}} Over the 20th century, the theory was further elaborated.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|71}} The long inscription from Peñalba de Villastar was first published in 1942 and, by the 1950s, it had been identified as a unique dedication to Lugus in the singular.<ref name=Tovar/>{{rp|595}}<ref name=JordanColera/>{{rp|914}} In a 1982 article, [[Antonio Tovar]] cited Lugus as an exemplar of the unity of ancient Celtic culture. Few other Celtic gods could be said to be attested in Gaulish, Insular, and Iberian sources.<ref name=Tovar>{{cite journal |last=Tovar |first=Antonio |date=1982  |title=The God Lugus in Spain |journal=Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies |volume=29 |pages=591–599 }}</ref>{{rp|592–593}}

Early doubts about Lugus were raised by Pierre Flobert (in the 1960s) and Stephanie Boucher (in the 1980s).<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|206}} However, scepticism about the god only entered the mainstream in the 1990s, coinciding with a wave of scepticism about the unity of the ancient Celts.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|72}} The most important of these critiques was mounted by Bernhard Maier, in his 1996 article "Is Lug to be Identified with Mercury?".<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|72}} As well as criticising the identification of Caesar's Gaulish Mercury with Irish Lugh, Maier cast doubt on the value of the previously adduced epigraphic and toponymic data from Continental Europe. As Ovist put it, Maier "in effect, question[ed] the very existence of Continental Lugus".<ref name=Ovist>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |publisher=University of Chicago Divinity School |last=Ovist |first=Krista L. |date=2004 |title=The Integration of Mercury and Lugus: Myth and History in Late Iron Age and Early Roman Gaul |id={{ProQuest|305095727}} }}</ref>{{rp|353}}

Scepticism about the existence of Lugus has not become consensus.<ref name=Hutton/>{{rp|73}} Recent monographs on the god by Krista Ovist (2004) and Gaël Hily (2012) have reaffirmed and elaborated on Arbois de Jubainville's reconstruction.<ref name=MaierHily>{{cite journal |last=Maier |first=Bernhard |title=Review: Hily, Gaël: ''Le dieu celtique Lugus'' |journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie |volume=61 |issue=1 |date=2014 |pages=253–255 |doi=10.1515/zcph.2014.018 }}</ref>{{rp|253–255}} The strength of the epigraphic and toponymic evidence has been marshalled in defense of the hypothesis by scholars such as Ovist and Zeidler.<ref name=Zeidler/>{{rp|221}}<ref name=Ovist/>{{rp|355}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Arbois de Jubainville, Henry d' (1884) ''Le cycle mythologique irlandais et la mythologie celtique''. Paris: E. Thorin.
* Boucher, Stephanie (1983) "L'image de Mercure en Gaule" in ''La patrie gauloise d'Agrippa au VIème siècle''. Lyon: Les Belles Lettres. pp.&nbsp;57–69.
* Flobert, Pierre (1968) "Lugdunum, une étymologie gauloise de l’empereur Claude (Sénèque, Apoc. VII, 2, v. 9-10)" ''Revue des études latines'' 46: 264-280.
* Goudineau, Christian (1989) "Les textes antiques sur la fondation et sur la topographie de Lugdunum” in ''Aux origines de Lyon''. Lyon: Alpara. pp.&nbsp;23-36.
* Guyonvarc'h, Christian-Joseph (1963) "Notes de toponymie gauloise. 2. Répertoire des toponymes en LVGDVNVM" ''Celticum''. 6: 368-376.
* Hily, Gaël (2012) ''Le dieu celtique Lugus''. Rennes: Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique.
* Maier, Bernhard (2001) ''Die Religion der Kelten: Götter - Mythen - Weltbild''. Munich: C. H. Beck.
* Rhys, John (1888) ''Lectures on the origin and growth of religion as illustrated by Celtic heathendom''. London: Williams and Norgate.

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Celtic mythology topics}}
{{Gaulish-Brythonic mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Celtic gods]]
[[Category:Arts gods]]
[[Category:Mercurian deities]]