Abandinus was a theonym used to refer to aCeltic god ormale spirit worshipped inGodmanchester inCambridgeshire during theRomano-Celtic period.[1]
Abandinus is represented in Britain on a single altarstone. He is unknown throughout the rest of theRoman Empire and is therefore thought to have been a local god of the Roman fort atGodmanchester inCambridgeshire, possibly associated with either a natural spring or a stream in the neighbourhood.[2]
The Roman fort atGodmanchester, a strategic site onErmine Street at the crossing of theRiver Great Ouse, is thought to have been calledDurovigutum.[3] The god is known only from an inscribed bronze feather, very likely some sort of votive object, dedicated to him.[3]The inscription on the bronze feather reads:
"DEO ABANDINO VATIAVCVS D S D"
- ‘To the god Abandinus, Vatiacus dedicates this out of his own funds’.[3]
Thesemantics of thetheonym are unknown. All the same,linguistic knowledge ofProto-Celticlexis permits a narrowing of the likely possibilities of the theonym's semantics. The name could be interpreted as an extended form of a stem composed ofProto-Celtic elements deriving fromProto-Indo-European roots *ad- ‘to’[4] + either *bʰend- ‘sing, rejoice’[5] or *bʰendʰ- ‘bind’.[6] Along these lines, the name would mean ‘(the god) who sings to (something/someone)’ or ‘(the god) who binds (something/someone) to (something/someone).’
However, it is also possible to see the name as an extended form of a variant form of theProto-Celtic word *abon- ‘river,’ derived from theProto-Indo-European root *ab-, *h₂eb- ‘water, river’.[7] The shorter element *abo- likely existed in theProto-Celtic hydronomy as a word for ‘river’ or ‘water.’ It is evident in Romano-Celtic as an unspecific variant name for the rivers flowing into theHumber, documented asAbus. This element developed inModern Welsh asaber- meaning ‘river estuary’. This *abo- element could have been the source of theAb-- element in the theonymAbandinus. So the name can also be analysed as *Ab-Andinus ‘Andinus of the River,’Andinus being atheonym attested elsewhere in the ancientRoman Empire.
