Vihansa

Vihansa is the name of a Germanic goddess written on a bronze tablet found in Sint-Huibrechts-Hern, near Tongeren in modern Belgium.

Name

There is general agreement among scholars that the theonym is Germanic, and it likely belongs specifically to the Tungrian dialect or language. Vihansa is probably as Latinized form of the compound *wiha-ansu-, meaning 'holy deity'.[1]

Dedication

The inscription was engraved by centurion Q. Catius Libo Nepos, who dedicated his shield and spear to the goddess Vihansa, probably after returning to his homeland from a military service:[2][3]

Vihansae / Q(uintus) Catius Libo Nepos / centurio leg(ionis) III / Cyrenaicae scu/tum et lanceam d(onum) d(edit)

— Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) 13, 03592.

References
  1. Neumann 1999, p. 126.
  2. Raepsaet-Charlier, Marie-Thérèse (1995). "Municipium Tungrorum". Latomus. 54 (2): 361–369. ISSN 0023-8856. JSTOR 41537302.
  3. Raepsaet-Charlier, Marie-Thérèse (2017). "Multiculturalisme et multilinguisme dans la cité des Tongres à l'époque romaine". Meertaligheit dan ooit, Tijdschrift van de Alumni Letteren Leuven. 7. pp. 119–125.

Bibliography
  • Neumann, Günter (1999), "Germani cisrhenani — die Aussage der Namen", in Beck, H.; Geuenich, D.; Steuer, H. (eds.), Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3110164381


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