Celtic Theonymy at the 14th F.E.R.C.AN. Workshops. Review of the book: Matijević, K. (Ed.). (2016). Kelto-Römische Gottheiten und ihre Verehrer. Akten des 14 F.E.R.C.AN.-Workshops, Trier 12–14 Oktober 2015. Rahden: VML Vlg Marie Leidorf. 296 p.

Abstract

Ancient inscriptions containing divine names and religious terms are of the utmost importance for the appreciation of Celtic religion in its various forms. These sources have never been systematically documented and analysed, which constitutes the goal of the F.E.R.C.AN. project launched in 1998 by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. For the time being, a number of publications have been produced on the outcome of the F.E.R.C.AN. workshops, in which new findings and etymologies, terminological problems, several questions concerning the sociology of religion, and methodological issues are discussed. In a nutshell, some preliminary results of the F.E.R.C.AN. project are: a more nuanced view of all the elements contained in the votive formulae; the distinction between theonyms and epithets; the identification of several layers of theonyms; and the detection of theonymical synonyms (the so-called interpretatio Romana). This review deals with most of the questions addressed by the participants of the Trier workshop in 2015, highlighting a number of specific etymological and methodological issues.

Keywords

• Celtic religion
• Celtic languages
• Latin epigraphy
• Indo-European language reconstruction
• theonymy