#moccus

Arduinna is a captivating figure in Celtic mythology, deeply tied to the natural world and specifically associated with boars. As a Gaulish goddess, she embodies the wild, protective spirit of the Ardennes Forest, and her connection to boars highlights her role as a huntress and guardian of the wilderness.

Key Points

Who is Arduinna? She’s a Celtic goddess of the Ardennes Forest in what’s now Belgium, Luxembourg, and northern France, known as a protector of the wild and its creatures.

Boar Connection: Arduinna is often depicted riding a boar, symbolizing her mastery over nature and her role as a huntress.

Pigs or Boars? Her primary link is to boars—wild, fierce animals tied to hunting and war—rather than domesticated pigs, though both share cultural significance in Celtic lore.

Personality: Think of her as a fierce, independent deity, blending nurturing protection with the untamed energy of the forest.

Overview

Arduinna’s name itself hints at her essence—it’s linked to the Gaulish word arduo, meaning "height" or "high," reflecting her dominion over the rugged, forested highlands of the Ardennes. She’s most famously known through Roman interpretations, where she’s equated with Diana, the huntress goddess, suggesting a strong, sovereign figure who commands the wild. Her relationship with boars is central to her identity, painting her as both a companion to these animals and a symbol of their untamed power.

Boars in Arduinna’s World

The boar was a big deal in Celtic culture—think strength, courage, and a bit of ferocity. Arduinna riding a boar (as depicted in a bronze statuette from the region) isn’t just a cool image; it shows her as a goddess who harnesses that wild energy. She likely protected hunters who pursued boars in her forest, ensuring they respected her domain. Unlike Moccus, who’s tied to both pigs and boars with a focus on fertility and abundance, Arduinna’s link is more about the hunt and the raw, natural order. Boars, with their bristly hides and warrior vibes, fit her perfectly—no tame pigs here, just the wild cousins.

Cultural Role

Arduinna was worshipped by the local Gaulish tribes, like the Treveri, who saw her as a guardian of the Ardennes’ bounty—its game, woods, and rivers. Offerings to her might’ve included boar-related items (tusks, hides) or even small sacrifices to keep her favor. Her Roman connection to Diana adds a layer of prestige, suggesting her cult had staying power even as Gaul became Romanized.

Why Boars, Not Pigs?

While pigs were sacred in Celtic mythology (think magical swine from the Other World), Arduinna’s focus on boars aligns with her wild, forested realm. Boars were hunted for food and prestige, their pursuit a test of skill and bravery—qualities Arduinna embodies. Pigs, more tied to settled life and abundance, don’t quite match her untamed vibe, though the broader pig/boar family ties her to Celtic animal reverence.

Detailed Exploration: Arduinna and Her Boar Connection

Historical and Mythological Identity

Arduinna is a Gaulish goddess named after the Ardennes Forest (Arduenna Silva in Latin), a vast woodland spanning modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of France. Her name likely stems from arduo ("height"), tying her to the elevated, rugged terrain she ruled (Wikipedia: Arduinna). Roman writers equated her with Diana, the goddess of the hunt, moon, and wilderness, as seen in interpretatio romana—the practice of syncing local deities with Roman ones (Mythology.net: Arduinna). This suggests Arduinna was a significant figure, revered for her sovereignty over nature.

A key artifact is a bronze statuette from the Ardennes, showing a female figure—presumed to be Arduinna—riding a boar (Wikipedia: Arduinna). This image encapsulates her as a huntress and protector, astride a creature synonymous with the wild.

Boars: Symbolism and Role

In Celtic culture, the boar was a powerhouse symbol:

War and Courage: Boar motifs adorned helmets, shields, and standards (e.g., the Gundestrup cauldron), marking it as a warrior’s emblem (Mythology.net: Arduinna).

The Hunt: Boar hunting was a prestigious, dangerous pursuit, often featured in myths like the tales of Arthur or Fionn mac Cumhaill chasing magical boars (Deity Spotlight: Arduinna).

Nature’s Might: As a forest dweller, the boar embodied the untamed strength Arduinna championed.

Arduinna’s boar-riding imagery suggests she didn’t just oversee these animals—she partnered with them. She might’ve guided hunters, ensuring they honored her forest’s balance, or protected the boars themselves as sacred denizens of her realm.

Pigs: A Lesser Connection?

Unlike Moccus, whose domain includes both pigs and boars with ties to fertility, Arduinna’s focus is narrower. Domestic pigs, linked to abundance and Otherworldly gifts in Celtic tales (e.g., swine from Annwn), don’t appear in her iconography or lore. Her wilderness setting favors the boar’s wildness over the pig’s domesticity, though both animals share a cultural thread of reverence in Gaulish spirituality.

Cult and Worship

Arduinna was likely venerated by tribes like the Treveri, who lived near the Ardennes. Her worship might’ve involved:

Offerings: Boar tusks, hides, or meat left at forest shrines.

Rituals: Hunts dedicated to her, with hunters seeking her blessing for success and safety.

Sites: Natural spots like groves or springs, though no specific temples are confirmed (Old World Gods: Arduinna).

A Roman tale claims Emperor Vespasian’s troops cut down parts of her forest, angering Arduinna—a story that reinforces her as a fierce defender of her domain (Mythology.net: Arduinna).

Comparison to Moccus

While Moccus and Arduinna both connect to boars, their roles diverge:

Moccus: Male, tied to pigs/boars, fertility, and protection; possibly linked to feasts and prosperity.

Arduinna: Female, boar-focused, emphasizing hunting and wilderness; less about abundance, more about nature’s raw power.

This contrast highlights the diversity of Celtic animal deities—Moccus nurtures, Arduinna guards.

Moccus appears to be a male deity. The name itself, derived from the Celtic word for "pig" or "boar," does not inherently indicate gender, but the linguistic and cultural context suggests a masculine identity. Additionally, Moccus was syncretized with the Roman god Mercury, who was male, further reinforcing this interpretation.

However, despite being male, Moccus embodies traits that are often associated with fertility and abundance, which are frequently linked to goddesses in many traditions. This could be why some people might wonder if Moccus had a more fluid or ambiguous divine role. In Celtic religion, gender roles in deities were not always rigid—many gods and goddesses shared overlapping domains, and boars and pigs were linked to both male warriors (as symbols of strength) and female deities (as symbols of fertility and provision).

Despite the suppression of her cult, Arduinna’s memory endures through various forms. Today, one can find a beer named after her, which pays homage to her association with the forests and nature.

Furthermore, an asteroid bears her name, reflecting her celestial presence. Additionally, Arduinna’s existence sheds light on the existence of other lesser-known Celtic goddesses who embodied the spirit of the woodlands and were revered alongside Arduinna by ancient Gaulish communities.

Key Citations

Wikipedia: Arduinna, Gaulish goddess of the Ardennes

Mythology.net: Arduinna, goddess of forest and hunt

Old World Gods: Arduinna, Celtic wilderness deity

Deity Spotlight: Arduinna, Tumblr post

Varaha (Hinduism)

One of the ten avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu, Varaha is depicted as a boar or a man with a boar's head. In this form, Vishnu rescues the Earth (personified as the goddess Bhudevi) from the demon Hiranyaksha, who had submerged it in cosmic waters. Varaha lifts the Earth with his tusks, symbolizing protection and restoration. He is widely revered in Hindu temples and iconography, often depicted with a human body and boar head.

Moccus (Celtic Mythology)

A lesser-known Celtic god associated with pigs and boars, Moccus is linked to the Roman god Mercury through an inscription found in Langres, France, among the Lingones tribe. His name connects etymologically to Celtic words for "pig" (e.g., Old Irish mucc, Welsh moch). Moccus likely represented hunting, prosperity, and possibly fertility, as boars were potent symbols in Celtic culture. Evidence like the Euffigneix statue (a god with a boar relief) suggests his veneration.

Kamapua'a (Hawaiian Mythology)

A demigod in Hawaiian tradition, Kamapua'a is known as the "Pig God." He can shapeshift between human and pig forms and is tied to agriculture, fertility, and wild nature. Born to a human mother and a divine father, he’s a trickster figure who often clashes with the volcano goddess Pele. Commoners revered him for his connection to farming and the land, though he’s not a "god" in the supreme sense.

Artwork by Hawaiʻi Artist Dietrich Varez

Shen Zhu (Chinese/Taiwanese Hakka Tradition)

Not a deity in the traditional sense, "Shen Zhu" (God Pig) refers to pigs ritually fattened in Hakka ceremonies, such as the Yimin Festival in Taiwan. These pigs, raised to enormous sizes, are sacrificed to honor local deities or ancestors, symbolizing abundance and devotion. The practice reflects a cultural veneration of pigs rather than worship of a pig god.

Shen Zhu (Holy Pig), Linkou, North, Taiwan (2020), A shen zhu (holy pig) displayed at a temple festival in Linkou. Photo by Nick Mayo

Freyja and Freyr (Norse Mythology)

In Norse mythology, the Vanir gods Freyja and Freyr are associated with boars. Freyja rides Hildisvíni ("Battle Swine"), a boar with possible magical qualities, while Freyr owns Gullinbursti ("Golden Bristles"), a boar with glowing bristles that pulls his chariot. Boars symbolized fertility, prosperity, and warrior strength, though the gods themselves are not pigs.

Artwork by David Wentworth

Set (Egyptian Mythology)

The Egyptian god Set, associated with chaos and storms, is sometimes linked to pigs or boars in later myths. In one story, he transforms into a black boar to harm Osiris, contributing to the pig’s negative reputation in Egyptian culture. While not a "pig god" per se, this association influenced pork taboos.

Calydonian Boar and Erymanthian Boar (Greek Mythology)

These are not gods but divine agents. The Calydonian Boar was sent by Artemis to punish King Oeneus for neglecting her worship, leading to the famous Calydonian Boar Hunt. The Erymanthian Boar was captured by Hercules as one of his Twelve Labors. Boars in Greek myth often represent chaos or challenges posed by the divine.

Venerated Pigmen and Human-Pig Hybrids

Zhu Bajie (Chinese Mythology)

A major character in the novel Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie ("Pig of the Eight Precepts") is a human-pig hybrid with a pig’s head and human body. Once a heavenly marshal, he was banished to Earth for misbehavior and reborn as a pig-man. While not a god, he’s a beloved figure in Chinese folklore, symbolizing gluttony, loyalty, and redemption. Some folk traditions venerate him informally.

Pigmen in Celtic and Irish Lore

In Irish mythology, swineherds (often semi-divine or magical figures) tend sacred or supernatural pigs. For example, in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, swineherds wield magical powers and prophesy. These figures blur the line between human and pig-like beings, reflecting the pig’s revered status in Celtic society, though they’re not explicitly hybrids.

Varahi (Hinduism)

A goddess in the Hindu Tantric tradition, Varahi is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses) and has a sow’s head on a human body. Associated with the god Varaha, she embodies strength, protection, and fertility. Worshipped in esoteric rituals, she’s depicted wielding weapons and riding a buffalo, symbolizing her fierce nature.

Nachzehrer (Germanic Folklore)

A type of undead creature, the Nachzehrer is not a deity but a folkloric hybrid. It’s said to shapeshift into a pig form after death, devouring its own shroud and spreading plague. While not venerated, it reflects a cultural fascination with human-pig transformations tied to the supernatural.

Orcs and Seeq (Fantasy Settings)

In modern fantasy (e.g., Final Fantasy series), pig-like humanoids like the Seeq or orcish pigmen appear as races. These draw from mythological traditions of pig-associated beings, though they’re not worshipped. They echo older tropes of pigmen as brutish or earthy figures.

Cultural Context and Themes

Symbolism: Pigs and boars often symbolize fertility (due to their large litters), prosperity (as a food source), and strength (boars as fierce warriors). However, they can also represent chaos or impurity, as seen in Egyptian and Judeo-Islamic traditions.

Hybrids: Human-pig hybrids tend to appear in trickster or liminal roles (e.g., Zhu Bajie, Kamapua'a), bridging human and animal realms, often with moral ambiguity.

Veneration: True "pig gods" are rare; more often, pigs are sacred to deities (e.g., Demeter in Greece, Cerridwen in Celtic lore) or used in rituals (e.g., Roman sacrifices, Shen Zhu).

Moccus, also known as Moccos, is a fascinating figure in Celtic and Gaulish mythology, tied deeply to the cultural and spiritual significance of pigs and boars in ancient Celtic society. He emerges as a deity associated with the continental Celtic tribe of the Lingones, whose territory centered around modern-day Langres in northeastern France, near the Seine and Marne rivers. The Lingones were a Gaulish people who also had a presence in northeastern Italy near the Po River, known for their skills in agriculture, weaving, and metalworking.

Moccus is primarily recognized as a boar- or swine-god, a protector of boar hunters and warriors. His name derives from the Gaulish word moccos, meaning "pig" or "wild boar," a root that appears in related Celtic languages like Old Irish mucc (pig), Welsh moch (pigs), and Breton moc'h (pig). This etymology strongly links him to the boar, an animal that held immense symbolic power for the Celts. Boars represented ferocity, strength, and war, but also prosperity and fertility—dual aspects that likely shaped Moccus’s role in the spiritual landscape. Archaeological evidence, like the Euffigneix statue found in the Lingones’ territory, reinforces this connection. The statue, dating to around the 1st century BC, depicts a torc-wearing figure with a large wild boar across his torso, suggesting a divine association with the animal, possibly Moccus himself.

Moccus is known from a single votive inscription from Langres, dated to the late 2nd or 3rd century AD, which identifies him with the Roman god Mercury. The inscription reads: In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) deo Mercur(io) Mocco L(ucius) Mascl(ius?) Masculus et Sedatia Blandula mater ex voto—translating to a dedication "in honor of the divine house, to Mercury Moccus" by Lucius Masclius Masculus and his mother Sedatia Blandula. This blending with Mercury reflects the Roman practice of interpretatio romana, where local deities were equated with Roman gods. Mercury, a god of trade, travel, and communication, might seem an odd match, but in the Gaulish context, Mercury often took on roles tied to fertility, abundance, and the land, which aligns with Moccus’s association with pigs as symbols of prosperity.

Some scholars suggest Moccus’s role extended beyond hunting. He may have been a deity of fertility and vegetation, reflecting the boar’s broader symbolic role in Celtic culture. In Irish mythology, pigs are often linked to the Otherworld, slaughtered and magically reborn in supernatural feasts, hinting at themes of abundance and renewal.

Scholars like Philippe Jouët connect Moccus to the Irish myth Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, where Lugh (the Irish equivalent of the Celtic god Lugus, also tied to Mercury) obtains the pig-skin of Tuis, which can heal any injury. This connection suggests Moccus might have had healing or protective aspects, perhaps safeguarding the land and its people as much as its hunters.

Moccus, the healing druid

The boar’s significance in Celtic culture can’t be overstated. It appeared on Gaulish coins, standards, and altars, often as a divine symbol. In the Lingones’ territory, the reverence for boars is clear from artifacts like the Euffigneix statue and the votive inscription. Some myths even attribute to Moccus the creation of wereboars, or Grondr, as a curse on humans who desecrated forests, transforming them into boar-like creatures to reflect their greed—a narrative that paints him as a god of nature’s vengeance, tied to the forest, vegetation, pestilence, and omens.