Belenus
Belenus is a Gallic deity mentioned by Tertullian and Herodian. Some scholars have postulated that Abellio is the same name as Apollo, and that the deity is the same as the Belis or Belenus mentioned by Tertullian and Herodian. Otto Rahn identified the worship of Abellio in the Pyrenees with the Latinized form of Belenus-Apollo whom he equated with Lucifer.
↻ synthesized from 4 sources
When
- First attested
- 300 BCE
- Attested period
- -300 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Mentioned by Tertullian and Herodian.
Relationships
- consort of
- Belestis
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Some scholars have postulated that Abellio is the same name as Apollo, who in Crete and elsewhere was called Abelios (Greek Αβέλιος), and by the Italians and some Dorians Apello, and that the deity is the same as the Gallic Apollo mentioned by Caesar, and also the same as the Belis or Belenus mentioned by Tertullian and Herodian.”
#16299 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Suggestions in early modern scholarship also included comparison with the Celtic god Belenus, however this is now widely rejected by contemporary scholars.”
#25817 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“In Romano-Celtic tradition Belenus (traditionally derived from a Celtic root *belen- ‘bright’, although other etymologies have been convincingly proposed ) is found chiefly in southern France and northern Italy.”
#26096 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Tertullian, writing in c. 200 AD, identifies Belenus as the national god of Noricum. Belenus was an important god at Iulium Carnicum (modern Zuglio), a town close to the border with Noricum inhabited by the Celtic Carni.”
#40879 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat