Exploring Our Gods and Goddesses – Coventina

Often times Heathens focus primarily on Viking Age Scandinavia, followed by Anglo-Saxon England, and more rarely continental Germanic Europe during the Migration Era, and the earlier Iron Age during contact with the Roman Empire. But they tend to overlook Roman occupied England for exploration. Yet there’s a wealth of information to be found that can show insights into who heathens were venerating. There is no such thing as a pure Germanic heathen religion, polytheism allows for deities from other traditions to be syncretized by others. Through war, trade, alliance, slavery, and personal interactions there’s always levels of blending and interaction. As such, to my mind, regardless of the origin of a deity, if they’re worshipped (especially on a documented scale by ancient Germanic heathens), those deities can and should become part of our heathen tradition too. With the understanding that to truly understand any power, learning as much as you can about the mysteries and cosmological nuance the deity had in his or her culture of origin is necessary to understand the deity.

As part of my explorations into Roman era Britain, we see Germanic worship to Coventina, a local Romano-British Goddess. We know thanks to numerous inscriptions found in the archaeological record that she was worshipped by Roman military auxiliary units from specific Germanic tribes (Batavians, Frisiavones, Cuberni) as attested along Hadrian’s Wall. These were erected by Germanic soldiers serving in the Roman Army. We have other inscriptions to the Goddess that came from individuals, including a couple we know were also Germanic heathens (Maduhus, Crotus). While we only definitively know she was worshipped at Fort Brocolitia there are some other sites that have been theorized to be connected with her too.

Fort Brocolitia

Fort Brocolitia ‘Badger Holes’ (now near Carrawburgh in Northumberland, England) was one of the Roman Empire’s forts along Hadrian’s Wall. The location is found between the major forts of Cilurnum (Chesters) and Vercovicium (Housesteads) on desolate seeming moorland, a bit west of Newcastle-on-the-Tyne.

While there’s been some finds through the years, the key excavation began in 1876 by John Clayton. In addition to the eponymous fort to house military troops, there was also a vicus (small civil settlement), a bath house, and three key sacred sites: a Mithraeum (the best preserved one in all of England, with three altars found erected to Mithras), Coventina’s Sacred Well, and an open air Nymphaeum for local water spirits (including most likely Coventina as she is represented with iconography like a nymph, and some of the votive inscriptions literally address her as a nymph too). Nymphaeums were sanctuaries for water nymphs, and in communities they were often used as a wedding venue.

According to the website Roman Britain: “All three of these temples are associated with a small tributary stream of Meggie’s Dene Burn, which issues from a spring consecrated to Coventina and runs beside the fort past the Mithraeum and the Nymphaeum to the south-west, to empty into the River South Tyne near the Stanegate fort at Newbrough, three miles to the south.”

Here is a photo from 2010 of the site where Coventina’s Well is located, the tall grassy brush shows the boggy area that had developed around it.

Since the above photo was taken in 2010, access to the Well has been improved upon with a stile granting easier access from the Mithraeum to the Well, a path added so visitors can approach the area near the well. Though it remains mostly overgrown and boggy, my understanding is that the well is on private owned land, not public land like the rest of the fort. Meaning English Heritage has not put up signs for the Well like they have elsewhere at the fort. Many a visitor has lost their shoes in the mud, and barb wire was set up along some of the walls around the Well. So take your time if you’re able to visit.

What you can’t see in these photos is the site layout of the sanctuary for Coventina’s Well.

Among the altars to Coventina we also see altars to Minerva in the area (RIB 1542 & 1543), Fortuna (RIB 1536 & 1537), and even a broken depiction of Aesculapius (plus votive dog figures we think were for him). Mercury (who we know was syncretized with Odin as exhibited elsewhere as Mercurius Cimbrianus, Mercurius Hranno) is on an inscription. The Germanic God Vheterus (aka Huiteribus RIB 1549, or Veteris RIB 1548) is mentioned. The Celtic God Belatucader is also represented in a found inscription. He appears to be a Romano-Celtic syncretization with the god Mars, as there are several inscriptions to Mars Belatucadrus found around England. We also see inscriptions to the Matraes, and the genius loci.

At the neighboring Fort Vercovicium (Housesteads) on the wall, we have inscriptions to the Germano-Celtic goddesses the Alaisiagae (comprised of the following Goddesses: Beda, Baudihille, Fimmilena, and Friagabis). Only two are named (Baudihillia and Friagabis) on the inscription (RIB 1576) erected by a Germanic mercenary unit known as Hnaudifridus. Another inscription refers to the Alaisiagae but not specific names for the Goddesses (RIB 1594) erected by Frisian soldiers. There’s also an inscription to Mars Thingso (RIB 1593) naming the Alaisiagae goddesses Beda and Fimmilena. Mars Thingso is believed to be a Romano-Germanic syncretization between the Roman God Mars and Germanic God *Thingaz/Tiwaz/Tyr and the Alaisaige seem to be connected to his cultus. Thingso is a theonym, most likely pointing to the God’s connection over oaths, legal proceedings and justice at Thing assemblies. All along the wall we have numerus inscriptions to the Mothers (MATRIBVS), which echoes similar practices to the more than 1000 documented votive stones erected to the Matronae (analogous to the idis/disir) in the Rhineland by Germanic and Celtic soldiers serving in the Roman Empire. I point these other examples out merely to showcase that there is a great deal of information proving archaeologically Germanic worship of deities in Roman era Britain. This is a wealth of information about Germanic worship between the two neighboring forts of Brocolitia and Vercovicium, less than 5 miles (8 km) apart.

Coventina’s Well

Coventina’s sacred site at Fort Brocolitia was an open air sanctuary, artifacts at the site suggest peak usage between the second and fourth centuries during the Iron Age. Researchers discovered intentional engineering that constructed a walled area (11.6m x 12.2m / 38ft x 40 ft) and in the center of the walled enclosure there is a rectangular basin pool (2.6m x 2.4m / 8.5 ft x 7.9 ft) that collected the spring water (which comes to the surface as a dolerite dyke in the carboniferous limestone connected to Meggie’s Dene Burn). It stands out for being a rare example of a west-facing door/entry at a Romano-Briton temple in Britain. This sacred pool, has been named Coventina’s Well.

Based on how objects were found in the well during the 1876 excavation by Clayton, we believe in the late Roman period (circa 388 CE) the well was sealed, with stones placed over it, and the holy site decommissioned with votive altars and other objects seemingly placed into the Well, added to the earlier votive offering deposits. The “sanctuary” may have been closed possibly due to the implementation of the Theodosian Code which began criminalizing polytheistic religious activity in the Roman Empire. During the Clayton excavations robbers came and took some of the artifacts (especially items like coins or made of metals that could be melted), most of the remaining found artifacts are housed and on display at the nearby museum at Chesters Fort.

For years Coventina’s Well has been a boggy area, the decommissioning of the holy site centuries ago, and later construction made the Roman-era well inaccessible and the area flooded under water, turning the area of land around it into a bog. The vegetation blocks much of the view, most of the site remains bogged today. According to visitor reports there’s wildflowers found around her Well: blue summer wildflowers known as brooklime (Veronica beccabunga) which loves bogs, and yellow wildflowers known as Blood-drop Emlets (formerly known as Mimulus luteus, but re-classified as Erythranthe lutea). This later flower originates from South America, but was introduced to Britain in the 19th Century. Some modern pagans and polytheists use those flowers (or some they find similar in their own areas) in offerings, and as design elements and accents in depictions of her.

At Coventina’s Well this triptych was discovered. In the triptych the depictions here seem to have the female figures holding a cup aloft, and in their other hand holding some sort of vessel with water streaming forth from the vessel. It is not explicitly inscribed with the Goddess Coventina’s name, leading to the theories that all 3 female figures are Coventina (which echoes threefold aspects of some other Celtic deities), or it’s her paired with two handmaidens/nymphs, or all three are nymphs, and thus it may have originally resided at the nearby nymphaeum but was deposited in Coventina’s Well when the religious sites were shut down. The imagery is similar to one of the votive altars (see below, RIB 1534) where we see a female figure understood thanks to an inscription to be the Goddess Coventina rendered in a style similar to nymphs found elsewhere in the Roman world. We also see 3 female figures/nymphs on a frescoe in Kent at the Roman Villa of Lullingstone that may be another site of possible worship to her (more on that further below in the “Coventina’s Cultic Reach” section).

Found Offerings to Coventina

Among the archaeological record we have found what we believe are the cultic offerings to the Goddess. Including brooches in the form of ‘discs, wheels, or solar symbols” scholar G.L. Irby-Massie suggests in his book, Military Religion in Roman Britain:

“these wheels might connect Conventina to the solar wheel god, vanquisher of dark forces, possibly as his consort. The well itself probably linked Conventina to the underworld, a goddess of death, a vanquisher of death. The evidence points to a predominantly military cult: soldiers worshipped the goddess, and wheel votives imply a vanquishing deity.“ G. L. Irby-Massie, Military Religion in Roman Britain

Other deposited offerings appear to be a brooch of a running deer, rings & votive pin jewelry (jet, pearls, silver, gold), beads, over 13,000 coins (copper, silver, gold), ceramic vessels, a bronze mask, bronze heads, figures especially of horses (and occasionally some other animals), shoes, and two head-scratching outliers: a bronze age axe hammer and half a skull (the skull believed deposited after the holy sanctuary was shut down). I recommend reading Albion and Beyond‘s Coventina article, which is a well researched article from Romano-British polytheists including insights to Brittonic belief and cultic praxis with scholarly attributions. Something they point out is that at other sites nearby along Hadrian’s wall we find heads in wells, that in combination of the bronze heads and partial skull found in Coventina’s Well are perhaps related to the ancient Celtic head cult. Thus, the suggestion that Coventina’s cultus may also have ties to the dead, which may explain why the spring opens unusually to the west (the direction of the setting sun has long been generally connected to death).

In the ceramic jar deposited offering shown above with a head, there’s a possibility that is meant to be a depiction of the Goddess Coventina.

Votive Inscriptions

The inscriptions to Coventina address her as “Sanc[ta]” (Holy, Sacred), “Augusta” (Revered), “Nymphae” (Nymph), “Deae” (Goddesses), and “Matribus” (Mothers). Augusta was most commonly used within the Roman Empire with the Goddesses in the Capitoline Triad, which are Juno and Minerva. The Goddess Fortuna also has some examples of being addressed as such too, and there are some other exceptions. The fact we have the term Augusta used with Coventina, is an unusual outlier of religious tradition (especially in Britain), thus it probably hints at the cultic importance for which she was treated among her worshippers in the area where she had influence. According to scholar Allason-Jones, she is the only Goddess not in the Capitoline Triad addressed as Sancta in all of the extant inscriptions found to date in Britain. The term Matribus would be similar to the Matronae/Idis/Disir of heathen cosmology. The Mothers had a major cultus in the Rhineland which we see especially among Celtic and German troops serving in the Roman military. We’ve discovered more than 1000 votive altars to the “Mothers” in the Rhineland. So Coventina being addressed as such, even if in England and not in the Rhineland, suggests (to me at least) the major cultic prevalence she had, even if only in select locale(s).

Within the Roman Empire, the empire often required those under their dominion to step up and fulfill a military need. They had several auxiliary units from different Germanic tribes serve in cohorts (of around 480 men) for a typical 20 year period. As it relates to the Goddess Coventina, we know that there were definitely Germanic troops from mainland Europe who were shipped across to England, then traveling to their assigned posting, in this case they were stationed at Fort Brocolitia along Hadrian’s Wall, with a cultic site to the Goddess Coventina just outside the fort and an incredibly short walk away.

DE CONVETI VOT RETVLIT MAVS OPTIO CHO P FRIXIAV
“to the goddess Convetina. Mausaeus, optio of the First Cohort of the Frixiavones, paid his vow“ [RIB 1523]

This would be the Germanic tribe we know of as the Frisiavones who we first encounter along the Gallia Belgica border in what we’d consider as southern areas of the Netherlands today. Roman sources talk about two similarly named tribes the Frisiavones and the Frisii, the later tribe known as the Frisians are more likely derived from the Frisii, but it’s a bit unclear.

Another altar stone made from sandstone has both an inscription and one of the most likely depictions of the Goddess Coventina. Here she is depicted reclining on a stream bank or perhaps a plant (like a water lily leaf, or oak leaf). Some look at the wildflowers that grows at her sacred site and may have been interpreted into a representation carved in the votive altar (as suggested by R. S. O.Tomlin in Britannia Romana Roman inscriptions and Roman Britain).

DEAE COV{V}ENTINAE /T D COSCONIA /NVS PR COH /I BAT L M
“To the Goddess Coventina, Titus D[unclear, possibly Domitius] Cosconianus, Prefectus of the First Cohort of Batavians, freely and deservedly (dedicated this stone).” [RIB 1534]

There’s another Batavian inscription that has been found elsewhere nearby:

COVVEN[ ̣ ̣ ̣] AELIVS TE[ ̣] TIVS P[ ̣ ̣ ̣] COH I BAT V S L M
“To Coventina Aelius Tertius, prefect of the First Cohort of Batavians, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.” [RIB 1535]

The Batavi are a Germanic tribe traditionally fond among the Dutch Rhine delta. Tacitus tells us the tribe were accomplished horseman and swimmers, a skill that Dio Cassius tells us was used during the Battle of the River Medway in 43 CE. I speculate, if they had such skill with swimming, that they may have had a special affinity for divinities tied to water, such as Coventina. We also have votive inscriptions from them (RIB 1544 & RIB 1545) proving they venerated Mithras while stationed at the fort, too.

Another inscription to the Goddess follows:

DEAE COVENTINE COH I CVBERNORVM AVR CAMP ESTER V P L Ạ
“To the goddess Coventina for the First Cohort of Cubernians Aurelius Campester joyously set up his votive offering.” [RIB 1524]

The Cuberni (or Cugerni) were a Germanic tribe that lived near Xanten (in modern eastern Germany), the tribe’s descendants most likely ended up among the Franks.

There are other inscriptions at the fort that show us what military units were present, we see other Germanic, Gallo-Germanic, or Gallic units represented in various inscriptions found around the area of the fort. Some of the inscriptions were funerary, some on votive altars, some of the inscriptions were about building or construction. While they do not specifically and definitively connect Coventina and these other tribal troops, (i.e. there’s no inscription connecting the goddess and tribe in the same item beside the afore mentioned inscriptions quoted above). The fact these other tribes are present, makes it likely those other Germanic troops troops from Tungrorum (Germania Inferior or what we think of as east Belgium and the south east Netherlands), the Germanic tribe of the Nervi from Northern Gaul, etc. probably also venerated Coventina while they were there.

As an aside, the Tungrians (one thousand strong) erected a votive stone (RIB 1580) to Hercules (who was syncretized with Donar/Thor) at the neighboring Fort Vercovicium. They also dedicated an inscription to Mars (RIB 1591), the site also had an inscription to Mars Thingsus (RIB 1593), who is believed to be a Romano-Germanic syncretization of Mars and *Thingsaz/Tiwaz/Tyr.

We also have an inscription to the Goddess we think comes from the Cohors Quintae Raetorum.

DEAE COVENTINE P[…]ANVS ML CHO [.] [.] TTOIN […] [.] VOTVM […] BES ANIMO R ET POSIVIT
“To the goddess Coventina P[…]anus, soldier of the … Cohort, willingly paid his vow and set this up.” [RIB 1529]

This inscription is theorized to originate from an individual in an unit of Alpine soldiers from Raetia (areas that link to modern Austria, and eastern areas of Switzerland). The origins of the tribe are a bit unclear, but by the time they came into contact with Rome they are generally believed to have been Celtic. But there may have been some Germano-Celtic syncretization prior to Roman contact.

GENIO HVVS LO CI TEXAND ET SVVE VEX COHOR II NERVIOR VM
“To the Genius of this place the Texandri and Suvevae (?), members of a detachment from the Second Cohort of Nervians, (set this up).” [RIB 1538]

The Texandri were a Germanic people from between the Scheldt and Rhine rivers, which makes sense that they’re with the Nervii who came from Northern Gaul (areas in modern times we associate with Central and Eastern Belgium and North France). Tacitus and Strabo both describe the Nervians as being of Germanic descent. Suvevae must also be a tribal group, likely Germanic, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s supposed to be the Suebi. While this inscription wasn’t specifically to Coventina, it was on an altar dedicated to the Genius Loci, which may have meant her at that site.

D M D TRANQVIL A SEVERA PRO SE ET SVI S V S L M
“To the Goddess Mother of the Gods. Tranquila Severa for herself and her family willingly and deservedly fulfilled her vow.” [RIB 1539]

We don’t know if this was specifically meant for Coventina. Since it lacks her name, it could be meant for a Goddess like Cybele/Magna Mater, or point to something more Brittonic, or perhaps it was for Coventina and thus it may be a hint to an important role she held cosmologically. We have more generalized votive inscriptions for the Mothers (Matribvs, Matraes) found at the site too, such as:

MATRIBVS ALBINIVS QVART MIL D
“To the Mother Goddesses. Albinius Quartus, a soldier, dedicated this.” [RIB 1540]

MATRIBVS COM MVN [ ̣ ̣ ̣]
“To the Mother Goddesses everywhere abiding … ” [RIB 1541]

The Germanic Individuals With Worship To Coventina

In addition to inscriptions representative of Germanic auxiliary units in the Roman Army, we also have examples of named, individual Germanic heathens who are venerating Coventina: Maduhus, and Aurelius Crotus/Crotus. Maduhus is a self professed family man. In my mind’s eye I see a father carrying a child on their shoulders. It’s amazing sometimes how one word of description can bring a person to life beyond words to read. We have multiple inscriptions to Coventina from what appears to be the same German man, Crotus. It’s possible that we have a case of two soldiers with the same/similar name Aurelius Crotus and Crotus, but there’s also the chance that it shows repeat veneration by a Germanic heathen. We don’t know what the vows detailed, for any of these inscriptions, and yet it’s clear the Goddess was entreated and relied upon.

DEAE NIMFAE COVENTINE MADVHVS GERMPOS PRO SE ET SV V S L M
“To the goddess-nymph Coventina. Maduhus, a German, set this up for himself and his family, willingly and deservedly fulfilling his vow.” [RIB 1526]

DIE COVENTINE AVRELIVS CROTVS GERMAN
“To the goddess Coventina, Aurelius Crotus, a German, (fulfilled his vow).” [RIB 1525]

DEAE COVETINE CROTVS VT LBES S[.]LVI PRO M SA
“To the goddess Covetina I, Crotus, willingly fulfilled my vow for my welfare.” [RIB 1532]

Other Individuals With Worship To Coventina

DEAE SANC COVONTINE VINCENTIVS PRO SALVTE SVA V L L M D
“To the holy goddess Covontina, Vincentius for his own welfare as a vow gladly, willingly, and deservedly dedicated this.” [RIB 1533]

[ ̣ ̣]MPHAE COVENTINAE [ ̣ ̣ ̣]TIANVS DEC[ ̣]RI [ ̣ ̣ ̣] SLE[ ̣]V [ ̣ ̣ ̣] M
“To the Nymph Coventina …]tianus, decurion, … deservedly [fulfilled his vow].” [RIB 1527]

DEAE CONVENTINAE BELLICVS V S L M P
“To the goddess Conventina, Bellicus set this up, willingly and deservedly fulfilling his vow.” [RIB 1522]

In addition to several votive altars and inscriptions to the Goddess, we have also found two ceramic thuribles or incense burners (RIB 1530 & 1531). Thurible 1530 merely bears the name of the maker: Saturninus Gabinius. Who we see made the other thurible 1531 too.

COVETINA AGVSTA VOTV MANIBVS SVISSATVRNINVS FECIT GABINIVS
“For Covetina Augusta, Saturninus Gabinius made this votive offering with his own hands.” (RIB 1531)

Of particular note in this inscription is the fact Coventina is addressed as Augusta. A title usually not given to non-major Roman Goddesses. According to scholar Allason-Jones, she is the only Goddess not part of the Capitoline Triad (Juno, Minerva) addressed as either Augusta (RIB 1531), or Sancta (RIB 1533) in all of the inscriptions found to date in Britain.

Coventina’s Cultic Reach

The only definitively, 100% certain area we know had a cultus to the Goddess Coventina is at her sacred sanctuary at Fort Brocolitia along Hadrian’s Wall. However there is some suggestive speculation of multiple other possible areas with cultic importance to her: some from Britain, and others from mainland Europe.

Of particular interest in England as a potential secondary cultic site to Coventina is Vagniacis (or Springhead), near Dartford, Kent. The website Roman Britain provides context for the site:

At the heart of Springhead, at the head of the River Ebbsfleet, was a pool fed by eight natural springs, an unusually large number that made the site sacred to the Celts, who began settling there around 100BC. They called the site Vagniacis (‘the place of marshes’). Excavation revealed a 600-metre ceremonial way, sacred pits filled with animal remains and pots, as well as numerous coins.

Of particular interest is the similar layout from Fort Brocolitia’s sacred pool dedicated to the Goddess Coventina with Vagniacis‘ sacred pool at Temple Number Three. The Roman Britain website details the complex:

This rectangular structure with 3 ft. thick flint walls measures 29 ft. by 19 ft. 4 ins. across the outer edges and lies within the temenos just north of Temple#1. The construction date suggested by sealed pottery is sometime around 150-60AD. It is thought that this structure did not constitute a temple as such, but was perhaps a sacred pool. Thousands of pottery sherds including Antonine ‘samian’, 2nd-century Castor ware and early-3rd century coarse ware found scattered about the clay floor of the structure are thought to have been votive in nature.

Approximately 6.8 miles (11km) away from Vagniacis is the Roman villa of Lullingstone. The villa was built where it faced the river to the east, and may have been used as a palace for Governors. it is suspected that the busts of governors Pertinax, and Publius Helvius Successus were found at the site. The basement of the villa appears to have been originally used as a pagan shrine, whose layout and external access is suggestive of those outside the family having access to the cult space. It also contains a frescoe that may just hint about who was venerated there.

The frescoe appears to be of a trio of nymphs (evocatively similar to the stone carved votive stone with a trio of nymphs found at Coventina’s Well), one of them standing prominently (one mostly obscured due to damage, the other visible but damaged as well. Below we see the badly deteriorated original frescoe, paired with an oil painting recreation by A. J. Rook. Her head has what looks like some sort of plant behind her, perhaps (if it is a depiction of Coventina) it’s meant to evoke the plant she holds upright from the stone carving on her altar at Brocolitia, maybe one of the native wildflowers that grow by her waters. Plants can after all be a guide in nature to help people find water.

In the 4th century we see part of the space transition into being a Christian Chapel or home church, one of the earliest known in Britain. We see Christian paintings added, and early Christian symbols like the chi-rho monogram (☧).

Outside of the aforementioned sites in England (the undisputed site of veneration near Fort Brocolitia, and the possible cultic site near Kent), there’s some other interesting tidbits of information that may hint at her elsewhere within England & Scotland.

There’s some other hints in etymology of place names and local English folklore. There’s some speculation that her name may be connected to the place name of Coventry (a district within the area known as Coundon). Today the Sherbourne river runs through Coventry, but the older name for the body of water, was the Cune. The word couan, means “where the waters meet”, and may be a root connecting places with the documented Goddess Coventina of waters. There’s even speculation that the last part of the Goddess’ name may tie to the Tyne river too. We also have an interesting local legend:

“One local legend states that the Roman general Agricola stopped here, built an encampment on Barr’s Hill and named the nearby settlement Coventina. The interest of this legend lies in the fact that Coventina, a Celtic Romano water goddess, was virtually unknown in this country until her only shrine was discovered at Carrawburgh in Yorkshire in the 1890s. Coventina, being a water goddess, would have been at home in Coventry with its rivers, pools and springs: she was depicted naked or half naked holding a plant and pouring water from a jug or urn. An ancient coin-like object was discovered near the Priory Mill in New Buildings in the last century. This had on one side, a woman pouring water from a jug, and on the other a naked woman with a flower at her feet. It is possible that this has some connection with the legend.” David McGrory, Coventry History and Guide (1993).

According to tehomet.net, the preceding image is an oak wood carving homed in the collection at the Banff Museum in Scotland. The carved icon is believe to have once resided at Banff Monastery (1321-1559), and as such it predates the arson that destroyed the monastery in flames in 1559. There’s been some speculation it may be a representation of Coventina, but Nymph iconography and well or spring Goddesses exist beyond merely Coventina, so while it may be her, it could just as easily be another deity. Both among the Celts and Germans (and yes the Romans as well), there are many Goddesses who were often tied to water, especially at sacred wells and springs. Sulis was the Goddess tied to Aquae Sulis (or Bath, England), she was worshipped as the syncretized deity Sulis Minerva. We found a statuary depiction of Minerva in the deposits at Coventina’s Well, as well as two votive altars (RIB 1542 & 1543). Minerva had a water worship connection in Romano-Briton England, so seeing her present at Coventina’s Well isn’t surprising. Elsewhere we see Belisama through interpretatio romano tied to the Goddess Minerva. We also see the goddess Arnemetia (Arnomecta) worshipped at Aquae Arnemetiae, another town known for their baths. But while I’m not saying the above carved depiction is Sulis, Coventina, Arnemetia, or some other water related deity like Belisama, Ancasta, etc., I’m just pointing out the fact that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the female figure’s identity in the carving. I will say that it looks like she’s holding a vessel and perhaps some sort of plant. If so, that does seem somewhat familiar to the reclined carving on Coventina’s inscribed votive altar. Enough so, I can’t dismiss the possibility entirely either.

If we hop over the English channel and look to mainland Europe we do have 3 different sites around parts of historic Galicia where we might have votive inscriptions to Goddesses, theonyms we believe are a different variation of her name. The comparative study between the Galician and British inscriptions was established by S. Lambrino in La déesse Coventina de Parga (Galice)+ Revista de la Facultad de Letras and systematized by J. M. Blázquez in Religiones primitivas de Hispania (for anyone wanting to explore that more). When it comes to possible mentions to Coventina in Spain, we look to the book Inscriptions romaines de la province de Lugo (from Arias, F./Le Roux, P./Tranoy, A). According to the book we know that a granite altar was found in 1918 in a field in Os Curveiros near the Guitiriz spa, with the inscription: “Cohve/tene / er(—) n(—)” (IRL n157) and in the same provincial region of Lugo, Spain in 1929 at a vineyard in Santa Cruz de Loio there’s another granite altar bearing an inscription that was found: “Cuhve(tenae) / Berral/ogecu / ex voting / Flavius ​​/ Valeria/n[us]” (IRL n158). Both examples are now housed in the regional Lugo Museum. The speculation is that the theonyms of Cohvetene and Cuhvetenae, are Coventina.

There’s another theorized veneration to her mentioned in Ralph Häussler’s book, La religion en Bretagne . We think the theonym Convertina inscribed by the Celtic people of Narbo (now Narbonne) in southern France is another variant name for the water goddess Coventina of Fort Brocolitia.

Musings on Coventina

There is no doubt that Coventina is a Goddess of water, specifically fresh spring water. Springs would seem to ancient humans to be miracles bubbling up with life giving waters in a landscape for flora, fauna, and humanity. As such she is a Goddess of life as well. A Goddess of fresh spring water would also be tied to some extent to both agriculture as well as tied to civilization, because you would never think to cultivate even a small area for farmland, or build a home or community in an area lacking fresh water.

Albion and Beyond’s article summarizes the research on possible etymological explorations that tease at more than a place where waters meet, but also mercantilism. Their article also explores possible theorized connections with death beliefs. As I am not an expert on Celtic beliefs, I’d rather let the owners of the site, who are Brittonic and Romano-British polytheists speak to that. The authors of the site wrote of Coventina, “Mythically, Coventina may have welcomed souls within Her watery domain and transported them or held them until they were ready for their journey west. Perhaps Coventina looks through her west-facing door, out to the isle of the dead and defeats death; just as the sun setting in the west is swallowed by the ocean, Coventina may have been seen to swallow the dead and allowed them to be reborn from Her watery depths.” So, I highly recommend you hop to that article to read more.

If we look to the petroglyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age at places like Tanum in Sweden. Academic researcher and curator at the National Museum of Denmark, Flemming Kaul notes that many of the solar boat imagery in the boats (representative of an actual boat believed to have been part of a votive offering of weapons, tools, a sacrificed horse and more found in the bog at Hjortspring Mose), shows travel to the west interpreting it as the day, in the same way as we see the sun moves from east to west on the southern sky. The opposite movement is night. We can take that further and theorize that the left to right journey represents life from birth through death. 

Flemming Kaul has shown (1998; 2004) a convincing path to an evidence-based interpretation of the Bronze Age iconography of southern Scandinavia. In short, he has discovered how circle motifs on bronze razors in more than 50 instances appear in combination with ships sailing in a specific direction, towards the right, while they are never seen together with ships sailing towards the left – except in one case where both a ship sailing right and one sailing left are present (Kaul 2004, 242; Kaul 2020). Through this observation, and by including the Trundholm chariot, whose golden side is similarly visible when it is moving towards the right, he puts forward a direction-based thesis that offers to explain the Bronze Age people’s conception of the sun’s daily movement across the sky (ibid.) (fig. 2). The strength of this interpretation is that it goes beyond mental connections and gut-feelings, as the statistical testimony of the motifs on the razors, and the corresponding logic of the Trundholm chariot, serve as a foundation for Kaul’s reasoning. — Mikkel Christian Dam Hansen’s Interpreting a Bronze Age motif – Revisiting the hand signs of southern Scandinavia

Thinking of the offerings found in Coventina’s Well, the sheer number of coins evokes the concept we have today of tossing a coin into a wishing well. A practice I suspect is based off of when people used to gift coins in offering, like the more than 13,000 coins found in Coventina’s Well. In 2022 The Bavarian town of Germering announced they had found a 3,000 year old Bronze Age “Wunschbrunnen” (Wishing Well) full of cult relics no doubt deposited in ritual offering. Included in it were ceramic vessels (bowls, cups, pots, i.e. items that could hold water), jewelry (amber beads, metal bracelets, cloak pins), animal tooth, wooden scoop, metal spirals, etc. Despite the distance between the sites and difference in time between the sites there are some similarities in the act and types of the offering deposits.

While I think it’s fairly clear Coventina is ultimately a Celtic Goddess, confirmed to be clearly part of Romano-Briton polytheism, the fact that we have so much confirmed veneration among Germanic tribal members as well, means that there had been some level of syncretization, and she should be considered as a Goddess beloved by some of those heathens who had been exposed to her. Based on the typical numbers for cohorts of German auxiliary units in the Roman Empire (approximately 480 in each cohort) and the 4 stone inscriptions informing us certain German cohort units had venerated her with a votive inscription, tells me we have a minimum of around 1,920 German soldiers clearly represented as being part of cultic acts to her. In all likelihood that number is probably over the centuries when the fort was active, representative of well over many thousands of German soldiers who probably had some praxis to her.

I am left wondering if maybe the Germanic cohorts saw her similarly to Nerthus. Nerthus is a Germanic Goddess attested in Tacitus’ Germania, who when talking about the Germanic tribes of the Reudingi, Aviones, Anglii, Varini, Eudoses, Suarini and Nuitones, describes them as being distinguished by their:

…common worship of Nerthus, that is, Mother Earth, and believes that she intervenes in human affairs and rides through their peoples. There is a sacred grove on an island in the Ocean, in which there is a consecrated chariot, draped with cloth, where the priest alone may touch. He perceives the presence of the goddess in the innermost shrine and with great reverence escorts her in her chariot, which is drawn by female cattle. There are days of rejoicing then and the countryside celebrates the festival, wherever she designs to visit and to accept hospitality. No one goes to war, no one takes up arms, all objects of iron are locked away, then and only then do they experience peace and quiet, only then do they prize them, until the goddess has had her fill of human society and the priest brings her back to her temple. Afterwards the chariot, the cloth, and, if one may believe it, the deity herself are washed in a hidden lake. The slaves who perform this office are immediately swallowed up in the same lake. Hence arises dread of the mysterious, and piety, which keeps them ignorant of what only those about to perish may see.
— A. R. Birley translation of Tacitus’ Germania

We don’t know if the other Germanic tribes venerated her or not. So we can’t directly link them to any tribal member we know who was at Fort Brocolitia. But holy processionals weren’t limited to just Nerthus, we also have late textual evidence in Flateyjarbok of processional wagons used in connection to other deities, like the Gods Freyr and Lytir. Ögmundar þáttr dytts (found within Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta) also tells us of a wagon processional where a priestess accompanied an idol of Freyr in a wagon. In the Vita Karoli Magni, we’re told that the Merovingian King Childeric III, every year went in an oxen drawn two wheeled wagon to the public assembly.

If we look back to the Nordic Bronze age there’s a number of wagon artifacts that have been found, such as the Trundholm Sun Chariot that depicts a horse drawn wagon carrying the sun, and ritual wagons. Denmark’s National Museum has a website with some information on the wagons, and includes examples on display in their museum in Copenhagen, such as the Dejbjerg wagons which were bogged in offering. There was also another recent discovery in the Karanovo grave find. There’s several such examples that have been found across the archaeological record in what we’d think of today as modern Denmark and Germany. These were not simple wagons, but rather were heavily ornamented, oftentimes with metal worked figures in iron or bronze. They were clearly special, and not a sort of everyday type of wagon. Lots of wagon wheels have been found in bogs even when the rest of the wagon is long since dissolved, and others were also included as part of the grave goods for important figures.

So could the solar themed brooches, sometimes represented in the way wagon wheels look on artifacts, point to a similar connection by the Germans and their love of Nerthus with this different Goddess? A sacred concept tying water to the cycle of life and death? Or did they see connections with other Goddesses? We see other watery connections among Germanic Goddesses in the lore. In Grímnismál, with Sökkvabekkr believed to mean sunken bank (possibly also alluded to as nes Ságu (or Saga’s Headland as referenced in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I), a place where cool waves flow, where Odin drinks with the Goddess Sága. We also see the Goddess Frigg connected with wetlands, as her dwelling is in Fensalir (sources: Völuspá & Gylfaginning), or Fen Hall. A fen is a marshy or boggy wetland with a peat ecosystem, sometimes also called a mire. In Heathen cosmology one of the most significant bodies of water (referenced in Völuspá, & Hávamál) is Urðarbrunnr, where the Norns (Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld) reside, the waters nourish the world tree Yggdrasil.

Aldhouse-Green suggests that Coventina and the west opening of her sanctuary (towards the direction of death) may have connections to death in the Goddess’ role and function, especially with the wheel symbolism in some of the votive offerings. Perhaps she transported the dead. I’m reminded of how in depictions of religious processionals, the Nordic Bronze Age objects like the solar wheeled Trundholm Sun Chariot (1400 BC) and Kivik’s King Grave petroglyphs both are theorized to represent death beliefs. On the Kivik’s King Grave we have petroglyphs that look like two omega Ω symbols turned on their sides, with the opening facing west like Coventina’s Well unusually faced west.

In the archaeological record we have the Nordic Bronze Age item, we’ve called the Trundholm Sun Chariot, which was found in Odsherred (Denmark), alongside other offerings in a bog. The chariot’s wheels are solar crosses, which we find across the archaeological record (on some of the stones on the Kivik’s King Grave, on solar crosses found near Zurich, the Balkåkra Ritual Object (and the nearly identical counterpart the Hasfalva Disc), petroglyphs from Tanum in Sweden, and so many more). The item depicts a Sun in a horse drawn chariot. One side was clearly enhanced with gold adornments and gildings, and the other side was kept intentionally dark. Both sides feature swirls as a design element. Archaeologist Klavs Randsborg presents a theory that it represents an astronomical calendar of synodic months (as published in his article “SPIRALS! Calendars in the Bronze Age in Denmark” in the Adoranten journal).

There are different theories for the dual sided nature of the sun disc from the Trundholm Sun Chariot. One theory is the dark side represents a connection to the underworld. Another is that the dark side represents night, especially considering we have lore that the moon was also pulled in a horse-drawn chariot, or perhaps the dual nature of the sun disc is a division of the year into two seasons: summer and winter. Randsborg’s theory looks at the swirls as representative of a synodic calendar splits the sun disc sides into day and night. “The reference is to the Sun-calendar on the day-side, and to the Moon-calendar on the night-side of the Sun Chariot, which seems the perfect calculation.”

The story of Sunna driving a horse drawn chariot with the sun, appears to derive from the major solar Nordic Bronze Age cultus. I mention this because I could see how a Germanic heathen at Hadrian’s Wall might see some similarities with solar symbolism and life/death cycles to what already would be familiar to them. If we look to the petroglyphs from Tanum (Sweden) we see what appears to be a life/death cycle in boats during the Bronze Age (this may explain the origins of later boat burials, or graves outlined with stones in a boat shape we see later on in Scandinavia.

Wagons appear often in Norse myths (the Norse, being derived from Northern Germanic tribes). Thor travels in a wagon drawn by a pair of goats, Freyr has a boar pulled cart, Freya has a cart pulled by cats, Njord in the Codex Regius is called the God of the Wagon (vagna guð). One of the sacred symbols of Indo-European cultures is the swastika (understood to be a solar symbol, like a solar cross wheel). How does one symbol seemingly appear over so many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere? Well one theory posited is that it may have simply come from observation of the stars in the Northern Hemisphere. The North Star or Pole Star, also known as Polaris is visible year round from anywhere on earth North of the equator (assuming clear skies). The star (or the constellation it’s part of Ursa Minor) has been a key component for navigation by land and sea for multiple millennia. Near Polaris is the constellation of Ursa Major, written about by Ptolemy in 2nd Century CE. It’s main seven stars comprise what we call the Big Dipper today, and in other cultures was called the Plough, The Great Chariot, The Seven Seers (from the Hindu Sapta Rishi Mandal). As an aside, think of the Trundholm Sun Chariot and those solar cross wheels and now think of the name of some of these constellations: Chariot and Wagons have been found with solar cross wheels.

Like most cultures, the Germanic Tribes had their own star lore. One of the major constellations was the Wagon. We’re not precisely certain what stars it refers to, but the widely accepted supposition is it ties to the Big Dipper stars and thus the swastika symbol. Sometimes it’s called Thor’s wagon, but it is also called Odin’s Wagon in the Sigrdrífumál (Reið Rôgnis or Rognir’s Wagon, Rognir is a heiti for Odin), and Odin’s Wagon is referenced in kennings plus later recorded folklore. (To learn more on Germanic star lore, check out Eysteinn’s Lexicon of Kennings Analytical Glossary, Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology, as well as Cleasby & Vígfusson’s An Icelandic-English Dictionary).

Ancient peoples were definitely aware of our night sky. Elsewhere from areas in the Nordic Bronze Age, such as from archaeological finds from Bornholm (Denmark) we even find the star constellation of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) rendered via carved cup marks inside the chamber of the passage grave Jættedal, and we find Orion rendered at Madsebakke (also on Bornholm).

The constellation of Ursa Major when viewed in the Northern Hemisphere seemingly throughout the course of the year rotates around the pole star (or the North Star known as Polaris). The sense of this rotation is like a pinwheel being blown slowly over the course of a year.  Ursa Minor in it’s dipper like appearance similarly rotates around that center pole. So the swastika symbol as it appears globally is believed to derive from Ursa Major (Big Dipper) or possibly Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper).

Interpretation of the swastika symbol deriving from the Wagon Constellation, in conjunction with the Trundholm Sun Chariots (and its dual sides: one golden, one dark) gives us a concept of cyclical return and perhaps life and death. The sun sets in the west, but come morning it has returned to rise in the east. Celtic cultures and Germanic cultures both derive from Bronze Age sun cultuses. For Britons, living on an island, where both the west, and east is over water, might there be a concept of water tied to memory? Of keeping the souls till they moved on? In Germanic belief we have Mimir’s well (the well of memory and wisdom), Urd’s well (the well of life, as it waters the World Tree), and death’s well (rooted to the realm for the dead), all three wells rooted to the world tree and the 9 worlds of Heathen cosmology.

The story of Mimir’s Well is one of sacrifice for wisdom. Odin gives his eye to the well, and now those who drink from the well (including Mimr and Odin) are said to imbibe wisdom. During the Aesir (gods like Odin, Thor, Frigg) war with the Vanir (gods like Freyr, Freya, Njord), Mimir is beheaded. This results in Odin using ‘charms and herbs’ to prevent rot of the head, enabling Odin to carry Mimir’s head around to talk with Mimir for counsel. It is said that after being beheaded, Mimir now has the ability to divulge wisdom from other worlds. Mentions to aspects of this story can be found primarily in the Poetic Edda, and Heimskringla. So here in Germanic belief we have a God of Wisdom and Memory who has a well, and is beheaded. Might that have echoes of the Celtic head cult?

We actually have a petroglyph from Bohuslän, Östergötland (Sweden) that combines solar wagon with solar ship imagery. We think the Germanic Migration Era & Viking Age tradition of boat shaped graves, and actual boat graves derives in part from Bronze Age life and death beliefs combining solar boats and solar chariots with life and death beliefs. Drunertos from Albion and Beyond mentions an article on death beliefs (and boats) for Gaulish and Proto-Germanic peoples at Jonas Jacobson’s article on the afterlife.

So in the Germanic areas, water and sun has long been tied. The famous Oseburg Ship Burial has a tapestry showing a religious, possibly funerary processional (which may echo some content from Kivik’s King Grave) with wagons, but found within a boat.

Not only do myths tell us that horses pulled the sun chariot, but In the Germanic tradition, and seen also among the Scandinavian sources horses were incredibly sacred. Tacitus’ Germania describes them as being milk-white–and similar to the sanctuary we see centuries later at Thrandheim–the equines were housed in sacred groves where they were never used for the purposes of riding or working the land. Horses in Germania were described as being more sacredly close to the Gods then even their priests; somehow these horses were in the Gods’ confidence. For this reason horses were used to divine the will of the Gods. They were yoked to a special sort of chariot and their behavior observed. In the neighboring Slav culture we also see horses used in divination as well (but via a different method). We have even older evidence of an active cultic presence connected with horses in even the Bronze Age, and we see in the law codes in Europe (ex: Gragas) during the period of Christian conversion that the eating of horse-flesh was forbidden because it had ties to heathen religious tradition. We see in the Historia ecclesiasstica Islandiæ that Christian priests were forbidden from attending horse-fights as well (most likely for a similar reasoning). Horses had not only a divine connection, but also have a role in the agricultural cycle as well. In Norse Myth horses also pull the chariots that draw not only the Sun, but the Moon as well through the sky.


So from a perspective of Germanic belief and the preceding Bronze Age culture(s) we see ties of horses, solar cultus with wagon, boats, water, life and death. Celtic and Germanic peoples long had interaction. So might some of the Bronze Age solar cultus and Germanic belief be echoed in sweet ripples of reverberation at the Brythonic Coventina’s Well? (at least in part with the well water having received solar iconography offerings, as well as horse figure offerings)? I think this is grounds for food for thought, but something I’d like to see a perspective from a Celtic/Brythonic polytheist familiar with their cosmological world view and beliefs.

Modern Devotions to Coventina

On the off chance some sites I’ve linked to disappear in the future, I wanted to encapsulate some modern poems and prayers created by today’s pagans and polytheists who venerate the Goddess Coventina, they follow with attribution in quotation below.

From Albion & Beyond:

Rise O Western Queen,
Accompanied by your enduring attendants,
And yourself.
Pour out wisdom from your cups,
Break the drought we suffer under,
Let us taste the sweet streams,
And be divinely supplied.
We raise our cups to your Western Throne!
We pour out praise from our mouths,
Having tasted the sweet streams,
Our praise is divinely supplied.
You have given so that we may give.
Praise to you, Coventina, three and one, 
Western Queen and source of wisdom.

From Greg Hill:

For Coventina
Who brings us otherworld water
Budding through earth and stone
Into our world of dry words:
Liquid whispers of something deeper.

From Order of the White Moon, here is a modern pagan mini ritual written by Tranquility Fearn:

Needed:
Body of water such as fountain or even a bowl of water.
Coin

Cast your circle as you would normal do. Surround yourself with a protective circle of light. Feel the calm peace and protection of the circle. Close your eyes and picture yourself walking down to river where Coventina’s Shrine is. You are carrying your offering to Coventina. There is something you wish to ask of Coventina. Think of what this is. You are now at Coventina’s Shrine. Here you see a well and an altar to her. Say the following chant three times:

Coventina, Goddess of the River;
This I call to you.
I give now this offering;
For the magick that you do.

Toss in your offering to Coventina into the well (fountain or bowl of water).

From Paul Sandover of Druidry.org:

Ancient Coventina, sweet goddess
of  sacred springs and holy wells,
your waters emerge joyfully
from the dream of darkness.
Your pure and sparkling essence
manifests in the light of day.

Lady of the living waters,
I gladly welcome
your wonderful gifts
of refreshment and healing,
and your kind blessings.
Which grace both body and soul.

An offering is reverently placed
upon your flowing altar.
And my open heart
feels your loving magic,
sanctity and gentle inspiration.

May your waters always flow,
blessing the living land
with your abundant beauty.

I have also crafted an invocation and prayer to her:

Hail Coventina,
May you bless us with
percolating memories
arising from sweet,
fresh depths.

Cleansing,
healing,
calming,
nourishing,
in your murmuring ripples
which sustain us.

Thirst-quencher,
life-giver,
revive and
sustain us.

Notes:

In antiquity spelling conventions were not necessarily standardized, so what we see in inscriptions reflects phonetic variation from dialect and culture, and thus a deity might have multiple attested ways of spelling their name. In this case with the Goddess Coventina we have what we believe is a Celtic theonym being translated into Latin (with different phonetics to Celtic, or Germanic languages) and rendered. Across the inscriptions to this water Goddess we see her name spelled: Covontine, Covetina, Coventinae, Conventinae, Conveti, Conventina, Covventinae, Covven… , Coventine, Covetine at the Fort Brocolitia site alone. At the possible Galicia sites we have examples of theonyms rendered as Cuhvetenae, Cohvetene near Lugo, Spain and as Convertina in Narbonne, France that we think refer to the same Goddess Coventina of Fort Brocolitia.  

Coventina is the popular way her name is rendered today, in part I think because the general pagan community likes the fact the word ‘coven’ appears in her name. Based on modern personal gnosis, some modern pagans treat her as the Goddess of the Covens. Scholars use a variety of the attested theonyms and their spellings.

Fort Brocolitia (sometimes rendered Procolitia) has a nearby car park/parking lot for visitors, the site is very much in ruins. Other areas of the fort have made an effort to be accessible and informational to visitors, but the Well has been left more scruffy, and quite boggy. I believe it’s because the land where the well is, is not owned by English Heritage, but privately owned. If you’d like to get an idea for how some of the buildings would have been like when in use, visit Vindolanda for reconstructions from the period.


Online Resources:

• All translations for the inscriptions comes from the Roman Inscriptions of Britain database (RIB)
• Albion and Beyond’s Coventina article (which is a well researched article with works cited from Romano-British polytheists spotlighting Celtic nuance and story, is also accompanied with a lovely modern prayer)
• Eric Edward’s The Goddess Coventina of Northumbria
• Paul Sandover has a brief entry on Coventina, of particular note is a modern prayer/poem for the Goddess.
• Greg Hill has a blog entry from his visit, and a modern prayer to the Goddess.
• Order of the White Moon is a modern pagan website, with modern prayers, and even a mini ritual to the Goddess.
• Tehomet.net has a number of photos of artifacts and the fort site, links to devotional rites and prayers from modern pagan groups, maintained by a pagan, and a collection of other information.
• Senobessus Bolgon is a website focused on the modern community surrounding Gaulish Polytheism, with in-depth, well-researched articles.
• The Roman Britain website provides a great deal of well researched overview especially of the Roman military (including auxiliary units) in Britain.
• The Megalithic UK website has photos of how the site appears in modern times
• English Heritage oversees artifacts from the fort, many are on display via the Clayton Collection at Chesters Roman Fort & Museum
• Heritage Gateway website which cross-references over 60 different research resources and databases for historic sites in England.
• The National Museum of Denmark explains some Bronze Age petroglyphs solar boat symbolism with cyclical beliefs.
• I wrote a deep dive on Sun Worship in Northern Europe to explore sun cultus in Nordic Bronze Age and among the Germanic/Norse. Including boats, horses, and more.
• I also wrote on The Importance of the Religious Processional in the Northern Tradition, which dives into wagons.

For Further Reading:

These books were sourced among some of the above online resources, I copy/pasted them here in case the above links stop working at some point in the future. Plus added some other resources too of interest, including some for exploring Roman Galicia.

• Aldhouse-Green, M., 2004. Gallo-British deities and their shrines. A Companion to Roman Britain, pp.193-219.
• Aldhouse-Green, M.J. (2018). Sacred Britannia: the gods and rituals of Roman Britain. London; New York: Thames & Hudson.
• Allason-Jones, L., 1996. Coventina’s Well. The Concept of the Goddess, pp.107-119.
• Année Epigraphique, París. [Abbreviated AE above]
• Archaeologia Aeliana.  4th Series.  XXVI.  21.
• Archaeologia  Aeliana.  4th Series.  XXIX.  36.
• Arias, F./Le Roux, P./Tranoy, A. Inscriptions romaines de la province de Lugo, París, 1979 [Abbreviated IRL above]
• Blázquez, J.M. Religiones primitivas de Hispania. I. Fuentes literarias y epigráficas, Roma, 1962 [Abbreviated RPH]
• Bourgeois, C. (1991): Divona I. Divinités et ex-voto du culte gallo-romain de l’eau, París.
• Clayton, J. (1878): The Temple of the Goddess Coventina at Procolitia, London.
• Collingwood, R. G. & Wright, R. P.  (1965).  The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Clarendon Press, Oxford. [Abbreviated RIB]
• Corbitt, J. H.  (1958).  The Goddess Coventina and her Well at Carrawburgh, Northumberland.  Archaeology News.  6 (5).
• Corpus de Inscripcions romanas de Galicia II. Pontevedra, 1994. [Abbreviated CIRG II]
• Dechelette, J. (1910): Manuel d’archéologie prehistorique, celtique et gallo-romaine. II,1. Age du bronze, París.
• Diez de Velasco, F. (1987): Balnearios y divinidades de las aguas termales en la Península Ibérica en época romana, Madrid.
• Diez de Velasco, F. (1997): Termalismo y religión. La sacralización del agua termal en la Península Ibérica y el norte de Africa en el mundo antiguo (en prensa).
• Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III – VIII), trans. C. H. Oldfather. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.
• Dodge, E.J., 2020. ORPHEUS, ODIN, AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN UNDERWORLD: A RESPONSE TO BRUCE LINCOLN’S ARTICLE “WATERS OF MEMORY, WATERS OF FORGETFULNESS” (Doctoral dissertation, University of Houston).
• Encarnação, J. d’, Divindades indígenas sob o dominio romano em Portugal, Lisboa, 1975. [Abbreviated DIP]
• Espérandieu, E. Inscriptions latines de la Gaule Narbonnaise, París, 1929. [Abbreviated ILGN]
• Ferris, I. (2021). Visions of the Roman North: Art and Identity in Northern Roman Britain. Oxford Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.
• Gascou, J. Inscriptions latines de Narbonnaise III. Aix-en-Provence (Gallia supl. XLIV), París, 1995. [Abbreviated ILNIII ]
• Garcia, J.M. Religiões antigas de Portugal. Fontes epigráficas, Lisboa, 1992 (citado por el número de la inscripción). [Abbreviated RAP]
• Gómez Moreno, M. Catálogo monumental de España. Provincia de Salamanca, Madrid, 1967. [Abbreviated CMES]
• Green, M. (1992): Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Londres
• Green, M.  (1986).  The Gods of the Celts.  Bramley Books, Surrey.
• Green, M.  (1995).  Celtic Goddesses, Virgins, Mothers.  British Museum Press, London.
• Guyonvarc’h, C. (1959): *Notes d’étimologie et de lexicographie celtique et gauloise: le problème du Borvo gaulois, mot ligure ou celtique?+ Ogam XI, 164-170.
• Hispania Antiqua Epigraphica, suplemento a AEA, Madrid, 1950-1969.
• Iglesias, J.M. (1993): *Las fórmulas en las inscripciones latinas votivas de la Hispania Romana: ensayo lógico-estadístico+ HAnt 17, 279-320.
• Lambrino, S. (1953): *La déesse Coventina de Parga (Galice)+ Revista de la Facultad de Letras (Lisboa) 18, 74-87
• Monteagudo, L. (1947): *From Roman Galicia. Ara de Parga dedicated to Conventina+ AEA 20, 68-74 RAP 
• Häussler, Ralph. La religion en Bretagne
• Hutton, R. (2013). Pagan Britain. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.
• Irby-Massie, G.L. (1999). Military religion in Roman Britain. Leiden; Boston: Brill.
• Kaul, Flemming. The Sun, the Ship and the Horse in Nordic Bronze Age Iconography in Petroglyphs and on Bronze Objects.
• Kaul, Flemming, 1987, Sandagergård. A late Bronze Age Cultic Building with Rock Engravings and Menhirs from Northern Zealand, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica vol. 56, 1985, pp. 31-54, Copenhagen.
• Kaul, Flemming, 1998, Ships on bronzes: a study in Bronze Age religion and iconography. Text. National Museum of Denmark. Copenhagen.
  Kaul, Flemming, 2004, Bronzealderens religion. Studier af den nordiske bronzealders ikonografi. Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab. Copenhagen.
• Kaul, Flemming, 2006, Kulthuset ved Sandagergård og andre kulthuse – betydning og tolkning. In: Kulthus & dödshus – det ritualiserede rummets teori og praktik, edited by M. Anglert, M. Artursson and F. Svanberg, pp. 99-111, Stockholm.
• Kaul, Flemming, 2010, Hjulkorset – et enkelt, men mangetydigt symbol. Fund & Fortid 2010, nr. 2, pp. 34-39.
• Kaul, Flemming, 2020, The Possibilities for an Afterlife. Souls and Cosmology in the Nordic Bronze Age. Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 118, pp. 185-202. Berlin/Boston.
• Koch, J.T. (2006). Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Oxford: Abc-Clio.
• MacLeod, S.P., 2006, January. A Confluence of Wisdom: The Symbolism of Wells, Whirlpools, Waterfalls and Rivers in Early Celtic Sources. In Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium (pp. 337-355). Dept. of Celtic Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University.
• Medrano, M.M./Díaz, A. (1987): *Las instalaciones balnearias romanas de Fitero+ Primer Congreso General de Historia de Navarra vol.2 (Príncipe de Viana, Anejo 7, 1987) 491-501.
• Millán, I. (1965): *Conjeturas etimológicas sobre los teónimos galaicos: I Edovio+ AEA 38, 50-54.
• Monteagudo, L. (1947): *De la Galicia romana. Ara de Parga dedicada a Conventina+ AEA 20, 68-74.
• Palacios F F., Chapter 9 ‘The theonym *Conventina’ in R Haeussler and King, A. (2017). Celtic religions in the Roman period: personal, local, and global. Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales; Havertown, Pa: Celtic Studies Publications.
• Rebuffat, R. (1991): *Vocabulaire thermal. Documents sur le bain romain+ Les thermes romains. Actes de la table ronde organisée par l’EFR (1988), Roma, (Collection EFR n1142), 1-34.
• Ross, Anne (1974). Pagan Celtic Britain: Studies in iconography and tradition. London, UK: Sphere Books Ltd. pp. 161–162.
• Sigroni, C. (2022). (Apollo) Grannus: What’s in a Name? [online].
• Simón, F.M., 2005. Religion and religious practices of the ancient Celts of the Iberian Peninsula. E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies, 6(1), p.6.
• Tomlin, R.S.O. (2018). Britannia Romana Roman inscriptions and Roman Britain. Oxford Philadelphia Oxbow Books.
• Peréx, M. J. (ed.) TERMALISMO ANTIGUO. I Congreso Peninsular, Actas (Arnedillo, 3-5 octubre 1996). de Velasco, Francisco Diez. “TERMALISMO Y RELIGIÓN: CONSIDERACIONES GENERALES“ pp. 95-103.
• Valent, Dušan. “The Death-Sun and the Misidentified Bird-Barge: A Reappraisal of Bronze Age Solar Iconography and Indo-European Mythology”. Zborník Slovenského národného múzea – Archeológia. 2021.
• Vázquez Saco, F./Vázquez Seijas, M. Inscripciones romanas de Galicia II. Provincia de Lugo, Santiago, 1954. [Inscriptions are listed as IRG II #.]
• Vives, J. Inscripciones latinas de la España romana, Barcelona, 1971. [Abbreviated ILER]

UPDATED

• May 11, 2024 with Mimir’s myth of his beheading and the well. added link to death beliefs (and boats) for Gaulish and Proto-Germanic peoples at Jonas Jacobson’s article on the afterlife.
• July 5, 2025: Updated broken link to Greg Hill’s blog.

A trio of feminine spirits on my home office altar. They are without faces, but they are far from faceless. I may imagine them to have specific or changing visages depending on my particular devotions. They might be Norns, or a trio of Goddesses, or representations of all that is divinely feminine.

#Pagan #Heathen #InterfaithHeathen #altar #devotion #Norns #Goddesses #DivineFeminine #Dísir #Godposts

December 24th is Mōdraniht!

This festival is exclusively about honoring mothers and the Divine Feminine. You can bring loving, nurturing Mother energy into your sacred space with our Natural Menalite Goddess Stones.

https://bit.ly/3ttNxwn
#DivineFeminine #Mother #Norse #Goddess #Ancestors #Ritual #Offering #Disir #Festival #Magick

Valkyries aren’t your “babes”

Women are sadly accustomed to being sexualized to ridiculous extremes, seemingly everywhere. For those of us who (aren’t imbecilic womanizing wannabes that) identify with the religious practices surrounding Northern Tradition Polytheism, we know that women held (and should still hold) power and respect.

Despite such a rich background, it never ceases to amaze me the ridiculous attitudes that propagate within our religion, carry-overs of bigotry and sexism from the culture at broad. Some will refer to these men as Bro-satru, typically characterized by those who play fight and talk of being warriors and being waited on hand and foot by valkyries who are little more in their minds than mead-bearing tavern wenches around for eye-candy and pleasure toys. (insert heavy sarcasm and eye-rolling here): Like they’re so amazed by your warrior prowess they’ll just fuck you right there: Hardcore! In the mead-hall.

A prime example is a “valkyrie decor plaque” I recently stumbled upon in an ecommerce shop online. Since I think it’s pretty reprehensible, ignorant, and just plain tacky, I am NOT publicizing where I found it, let alone the name of the artisan behind it. Clearly we see a dehumanized woman, her only worth is in her breasts and between her thighs. She can’t have a face or head because then that means she has a brain and she starts to become a real representation of a human being with arms and legs. Limbs she can use to avoid or fight the warrior-wanna-bes who have no idea what it means to sacrifice a limb, let alone a life to protect their community including the women who they should have been raised to respect as far more than sex objects. This plaque is nothing more than a masturbatory visual aid for use.

Not only is that an insult to women, it’s an insult to the valkyrie, and an insult to the religion. While we might have a few references to marriage rites where a hammer was used to help bless a woman for fertility in the marriage, the valkyrie are not connected to Thor, nor were they connected to fertility in women. Yet incongruously in this depiction,there’s a giant mjollnir right there on the form.

And while this plaque doesn’t depict it, another depiction of valkyries in art that shows up often is that of female warriors wearing “boob armor” which would kill them with one good blow: a solid thunk to the boob armor would force the metal divet between their breasts to impact the sternum most likely causing it to fracture, and bone splinters would then pierce the heart and lung. Good armor is designed to not just block penetration of a weapon or minimize the impact of a crushing blow, but also is designed to redirect the blow. Boob armor essentially redirects the blade to a perfect kill shot. They weren’t going around in mid-riff exposing skimpy chainmail bikinis either. And of course horned or winged helmets would throw off a person’s balance, so they’re impractical in combat. I grow so weary of seeing them as accoutrements in artistic depictions. They would simply put be dressed like the men. In clothing functional to the task at hand and weather, in armor equally functional.

The word valkyrie is composed of two Old Norse words. The first valr means ‘corpses on the battlefield’ and the second kjosa means ‘to choose,’ thus the word valkyrie means ‘those who choose the slain.’ Most of the valkyrie are named for various weapons and accessories of warfare. These aren’t ‘babes’ these are female powers who very much could kill you. They are specifically connected to Odin (and as such are religious figures), though as part of their function they delivered chosen battle slain to both Odin and Freyja. One of the Valkyrie is identified as Eir. We’re not 100% sure if this is the same Eir identified as a Goddess of healing elsewhere, many modern-day practitioners have had personal gnosis that put her in the role of a battlefield medic who administers triage in a crisis. She might be able to save you, or she may just grant you mercy in your suffering at the end of your life, which on a battlefield could have been the coup de grâce thus connecting her to functions a Valkyrie might be connected with related to the battle-slain, or in a more modern setting this might point to some of her function also tied to things like the palliative administration of painkillers to ease suffering for the dying. Again, not really a Goddess I’d want feeling disrespected if I found myself grievously injured on a battle field.

Please note there is nothing, anywhere that says all the battle-slain go to Odin or Freyja. We don’t really know Their criteria for accepting warriors to their halls, but when Freya gets half the slain who are chosen for the halls, do you really want a reputation of not respecting women and then finding yourself facing a Goddess? Whether you end up with her, Odin, or one of the other deities (many of which are Goddesses) that we know of who plays host to the dead (Ran, Gefjon, Hel, etc.)

In addition to Freya’s roles in connection to both warriors and skill with magic, we also have other female figures doing non-typical “female gender roles”: the Goddesses of Hlin and Syn who guard: the former the guests, the later the hall. Two female Powers do this, not males. Skadhi is fiercely independent, a skilled archer who has no problem standing before the Holy Powers and demanding Her due. There’s the Goddess Sigyn whose name etymologically renders as victory girlfriend and who has a kenning of incantation-fetter. Plus there’s the Friisian battle Goddess Baduhenna (attested in Tacitus), and then the Germanic Goddess Sandraudiga, whose name is suggested to mean “she who dyes the sands red”. She is attested by a stone inscription near the site of a temple found in what today is near the village of Rijsbergen, in the North Brandt region of the Netherlands. Also in the area of the Rhine delta we have a votive stone dedicated to Vagdavercustis, whose name is suggested to mean “Proctectress of War-Dancers.” There’s also the goddess Hariassa, attested on a since lost votive stone dated to the 2nd century in Cologne, Germany. Analysis on the etymology of her name yields possible connections to war.

Skjaldmær or shield-maidens, pop up from time to time in the lore. These are not religious figures, merely women tied to warfare. In Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum we have a description of Viking women who “dressed themselves to look like men, and devoted almost every instant of their lives to the pursuit of war…” these fierce women “offered war rather than kisses” and “assailed men with their spears whom they could have melted with their looks.” He liked to liken these to the Amazon warriors of Greek Myth. Scholar Birgit Strand discusses Saxo Grammaticus’ fascination in depth in her book “Women in Gesta Danorum”. Adam of Bremen recounts as he chronicles the Hamburg-Bremen archdiocese that an area near lake Malaren in a northern region of Sweden was inhabited by war-like women. Unfortunately he doesn’t expand upon that rather brief mention.

If we look to the archaeological finds of this culture we find numerous iconographic representations of what appear to be female figures depicted with weapons and armor: swords, shields, spears, helmets. These icons have been found on textiles, brooches, and even as figurines. Below is one such female figure with sword and shield discovered in 2012 in modern-day Harby, Denmark.

We’re discovering that grave sites attributed to males based solely on what was in the grave with them have been proven to be wrong on multiple occasions. The archaeologists saw something that equated to their preconceived notions of masculinity and gender roles and without examining the bones in detail labeled them as male. A study in England reexamined 14 graves and found six of them were really female remains. One of the sites in question was from the Repton Woods burial site, “(d)espite the remains of three swords being recovered from the site, all three burials that could be sexed osteologically were thought to be female, including one with a sword and shield,” says the study. Just recently one of the most famous warrior finds, the Birka Warrior from the Birka find in Sweden, has been re-identified as female. There’s also been other graves recently re-identified as female too. And there have been other known burials of women that have weapons with them as well: the Kaupang Burial in Norway, Gerdrup in Denmark, Nennesmo in Sweden, Klinta in Sweden, Bogovej in Denmark, Marem in Norway, Heslerton graves, North Yorkshire in England. For further reading, volume 8 of the Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia details many other such burials.

Now some scholars like Judith Jesch vehemently argue against these being representative of a female warrior presence, and that the weapons may have signified something other. While this is true, I think it’s a disservice to assume that there was no fighting women when presented with what we find across the numinous beings (Freya, valkyries, etc.), archaeological artwork, burial graves, and textual accounts in lore that yes women fought. Well respected scholar Neil Price also argues in support of there having been shield-maidens. The question is simply, we don’t know how widespread it was, and we need to be careful not to equate every weapon in a grave as meaning automatically that the interred dead (whether male or female) was a warrior.

It is an unfortunate truth, that most of the “lore” that speaks of this culture was penned by Christians, who have long been known to have a prejudiced view against women (thanks to their religious beliefs involving Eve), and they’d be far less likely to write about women in their tales. That being said the sagas are full of accounts of women taking up arms. In the Greenland Saga Leif Erickson’s pregnant half-sister Freydis took up a blade to fight off skraelings (the term used to describe the indigenous peoples of North America & Greenland). Now while there is no attestation she was a shield-maiden in the tale, the fact remains we have a woman who defended herself and family with a blade. Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum describes how women were part of the fighting force mustered by the Danes at the Battle of Bravellir. An Irish tenth century text describes a Viking fleet led by the female warrior Inghen Ruaidh. In the late 960s the Rus under leadership of Sviatoslav I of Kiev waged war in the Balkans (Bulgaria) at the encouragement of the Byzantine Empire. After the Kievan Rus controlled the area for a couple of years, the once allies ended up fighting one another. The historian Ionnes Scylitzes (aka John Skylitzes) records that women fought in the battles, and that among the defeated Varangians at the Siege of Dorostolon in 971, a number of armed women were found among the slain, much to the shock of the victorious Byzantine forces. In Procopius’ History of the Gothic War of 535-552 AD, there’s the tale of the “Island Girl” (unfortunately her name does not survive in the account, but we know she was an Anglian princess), who after being jilted post betrothal led a fleet of 400 ships and 100,000 men against her ex-fiancée King Radigis of Jutland, and won. Some other women who we see fighting: Aethelflaed (also known as “The Lady of Mercia”) daughter of Alfred the Great, Gurith daughter of Alvid, Hervor (who later adopts the name Hervardr while seeking vengeance for her father), Hethna, Kahula, Olga widow of Igor of Russia, Queen Aethelburgh the destroyer of Taunton, Queen Gudit, Rusilla, Salaym Bint Malham, Sela, Stikla, Thordis, Thyra the Queen of Denmark, Vebiorg, Visna, & Wafeira.

There’s more references in some of the heroic sagas, or fornaldarsogur: Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar, Sigurds Saga, Volsung Saga, etc. In Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, the female warrior Hervor who seeks to reclaim an ancestral sword of her line. “May your ribs writhe with worms, may your barrow be an anthill where you rot, unless you speak with me, sons of Arngrim, all girt with battle-gear, keen blades at your sides and bright spears stained with blood. Death has made you cowards, but I have kin-right here. I come for the sword made by Dvalin. Why should dead hands hold the blade?” She led her own fleet, and was a major influence of Tolkien’s in the creation of his character of Eowyn. Now while the heroic sagas are factually inaccurate, I find it hard to believe these tales were invented wholesale without some sort of pre-existing cultural reference to fighting women. In Hrolfs saga Gautrekssonar, we meet Thornbjorg, who “spends her girlhood pursuing the martial arts”. Her father, King Eirikr of Sweden provides her with men and lands. She changes her name to the masculine Thorbergr, adopts male dress and is even called a king. While some may latch onto this as perhaps an example of transgenderism, we need to be careful how we analyze and assign modern labels to the historical context of a different culture.

In the old lawbook Grágás, one of the six sections of code was known as the “Wergild Ring List” and it included reference for the payment of wergild to Skjoldmø (shield maidens) in 840 CE.  The Grágás as a legal code, would be revised as attitudes changed, led in part by the cultural clash from Christianity. By the time of the late 13th Century the Grágás would have rules where women were specifically barred from becoming chieftains, barred from carrying weapons, and they couldn’t appear like a man (i.e. dressed in men’s clothes, or with shaven, short hair). Now it seems to me, to make a law against something, you first had instances of the very things you’re barring. Case in point certain things like the eating of horse flesh was outlawed because it had been a pre-Christian custom of heathen religious rites. One interesting note in the Grágás there was another lawcode allowing for a mandatory exception for a “ring-woman” an unmarried woman who has to take up the tasks of a man because she lacks a father, brother, son to do so. Of course as soon as she was wed, her husband would be expected to take on those “manly” duties she’d been managing. This suggests to me, in the combined context of everything else, that culturally there was a tradition of women fighting. Plus it echoes some aspects of Thornbjorg/Thorbergr’s story.

There appear to be other references to shield-maidens as mentioned in the encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok among some of the other Germanic peoples: including the tribes of the Goths, Cimbri and Marcomanni.

We also have the valkyrie Hildr (whose name means battle), who has the power to resurrect the dead in the never-ending battle of never ending battle of Hjaðningavíg, a tale found in these sources:  Gesta Danorum, Ragnarsdrápa, and in Skáldskaparmál, Skíðaríma, and Sörla þáttr. It may possibly be alluded to in the poems Deor (Old English), Háttalykill inn forni (Old Norse), Kudrun (Middle High German), and Widsið (Old English). There’s even a late medieval alternate version seemingly preserved in the Judeo-German poem Dukus Horant. There’s even an 18th century folk ballad called Hildina, that comes to us from the Shetland Islands that seems to allde to it as well. We also think it’s depicted in the archaeological record on the image stones found in Gotland (Sweden): the Smiss (I) Stone, and the Stora Hammars I stone.

Just as we have stories of the einherjar in Valhalla battling daily to be revived, and to repeat the cycle. we have the story of Hjadningavíg (an eternal combat of warriors) where there is a battle, the dead are revived, and it repeats. But usually the central figure is feminine, a chieftain’s daughter, or possibly Freya.

Now, valkyries do seem to have some aspects in the lore that appear to be part of the much greater disir tradition (which were the numinous ‘Matrons’ and who had specific rites dedicated to them), of which other roles such as the Norns and the weaving of fates, fylgja, seeresses (volvas which were magicoreligious figures in a community) and prophecy interconnect. To my mind all this points back to how women were revered by the Northern Tradition peoples as being holy, imbued with magical power, and with a special ability to prophecy, a reverence which endured from ancient Germania and through history into Scandinavia until the rise of Christianity. So while the nuances of the complete role of the valkyries, and the exact nature and prevalence of shield-maidens may be long contested by scholars, it doesn’t negate the fact that women were respected. And sexualizing them as headless torsos is absolutely abhorrent. So when you see such ridiculousness call it out. This is not normal, but rather harmful. Nor should we ever find the attitude women are only good for brewing and serving the mead, or to be sexualized objects only ever acceptable within our religious traditions.

P.S. For those guys out there that don’t need this education, but have common sense and treat women with respect: Thank you.