Magicians had a strong hold on many Celts. Even long
aft er being absorbed into the Roman Empire, Celtic peasants
practiced the old magic of their ancestors. Th e Romans re-
garded magical practices as dangerous because a magician
might develop a cult following that could cause trouble. Th e
rebellion of 53 b.c.e. may have been sparked in part by sha-
mans or magicians stirring up notions of freedom among the
Celts. In (probably) 60 c.e. a Roman army attacked the island
of Anglesey, off the coast of Wales, and annihilated the Druids
living there. Th e island was perhaps the last remaining center
for Druidic education and had been the scene of numerous
human sacrifi ces; the Druids seem to have made themselves
troublesome by encouraging revolt against the Romans. At
that moment Queen Boudicca of the Icenians of Britain led
a revolt that nearly drove the Romans out of England. Th e
source of her power among the Britons seems to have been
her status as a sorceress.
Over 200 names of Celtic gods have been discovered, and
historians are far from sorting them out. Some gods seem to
have had several names, while other names seem to belong to
individual local gods. For the Celts religion was a matter of
locality, because each area had its own gods of the land and
water. Th ese gods sometimes reappear in medieval tales—for
example, the Lady of the Lake and Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot
of the Lake) in the legends of King Arthur—revealing their
powerful long-term hold on people’s imaginations.
It is likely that sun gods and earth goddesses were wor-
shipped throughout the lands of the Celts. Th e sun god was
oft en represented by wheels, and carts in eastern Europe
seem to have become symbols of the sun’s movement through
the sky. Spoked wheels appear to have been included in sacri-
fi ces to the gods. Domestic goods were sacrifi ced to the earth
goddess, who seems to have been in charge of the fertility of
the soil. She was sometimes celebrated in spring festivals. Sky
gods were common and tended to be represented by a ham-
mer, which was associated with thunder.
Associating other gods with specifi c aspects of the world
is diffi cult, because Celtic gods and goddesses tended to be
good at doing everything. For instance, the god Lenus of
northern Gaul was associated with the Roman war god Mars
by Caesar, but Lenus was a healing god as well as a warrior.
Lugos of Gaul and Ireland was associated with the Roman
messenger god Mercury by Caesar, but Lugos was also a good
warrior. His mate, Rosmeta, represented abundance and
was symbolized by buckets of wine. Danu was celebrated by
many Celts as a fertility goddess. A goddess known through-
out Gaul and among southern European Celts was Badhbh,
perhaps the most terrifying of Celtic gods. Many Celtic gods
were shape-shift ers—that is, they could change into animals
or even human beings—and Badhbh could change into a
crow. In that form she fl ew over battlefi elds, waiting to feast
on the souls of the dead; she could carry souls from life to
the otherworld. Celtic warriors were mindful of her and took
care not to off end her. She waited at river crossings for war-
riors to pass by and knew which ones would die that day.
Regional gods and goddesses of note include Sequana,
the goddess of the Seine River. At the headwaters of the Seine,
her water could heal people. Sulis was a goddess at the site of
present-day Bath, England. Another deity who was good at
almost everything, she off ered healing and retribution.GERMANIC AND SCANDINAVIAN RELIGIONS
Even less is known of the religions of the Germanic and Scan-
dinavian peoples before the era of the Vikings than is known
of Celtic religion, mostly because literate observers such as
Greeks and Romans had far fewer contacts with them than
with the Celts. Th e early Scandinavians may have had an earth
goddess or a fertility goddess at the center of their religious
beliefs. She granted her followers prosperity that was repre-
sented by displays of wealth. Th e peoples of northern Europe
may have had a war god at the center of their beliefs. When
they and the Scandinavians mixed, creating the Germanic
peoples known to history, they may have had a fundamental
confl ict between their religious views, with the worshippers
of the war god regarding the lavish wealth of the earth god-
dess as immoral and wasteful.
Over time the diverse Germanic peoples evolved a com-
promise religion that became the foundation for the Norse
beliefs known from Viking sagas. Th e gods of the worshippers
of the earth goddess became known as the Vanir, whereas
the gods of the worshippers of the war god became known
as the Aesir. Th eir compromise manifested itself in a myth
about a war among the gods. Th e war god and his followers
tried to kill a giantess who could not die, and she endured
terrible tortures because of their eff orts. Perhaps taking pity
on her, the Vanir came to her rescue and fought the Aesir.
Th e Vanir possibly represented healing and mercy. Th e gods
reached a stalemate in their battle and then made a treaty.Iron Age horned helmet (150–50 b.c.e.), from the river Th ames at
Waterloo Bridge, London, England; horns were oft en a symbol of the
gods in diff erent parts of the ancient world, suggesting that this was
a ceremonial helmet made for a god. (© Th e Trustees of the British
Museum)
religion and cosmology: Europe 851