LITAVIS

'Litavis' (also known as 'Litauis,'Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” ''The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews''. 26 May 2007 . 'Litaui,' 'Litauia,'^[1],[2] and 'Llydaw'^[3]) is a goddess in Celtic mythology worshiped by the ancient Gauls. Her name is in inscriptions found at Aignay-le-Duc and Mâlain of the Côte-d'Or, France, where she is invoked along with the Gallo-Roman god Mars Cicolluis and may be his consort.^[4] Also, a Latin dedicatory inscription from Narbonne (which was in the far south of Gaul), France, bears the words “MARTI CICOLLUI ET LITAVI” (“Mars Cicolluis and Litavis”).^[1],[6]
“Litavis” may come from the reconstructed proto-Celtic root
★ ''līto''- (“feast”), from which comes the Middle Cymric ''llitho'' (“to feed”); this can lead her name to be interpreted as “She Who Feeds,” so she may represent a mother deity. She may also be the tutelary deity of ancient Brittany, which is called “Llydaw” in Cymric (Welsh).^[4]
In Latin texts, Brittany or Llydaw is given as “Letavia” (''quae antiquitus letauia sive armorica uocata est'' [“which was anciently called Letavia or Armorica”]Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” ''The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews''. 26 May 2007 .^,[4] from the Chronicle of Robert de Torigni and ''in partes letaniae quae pars est armoricae siue britanniae minoris'' [“in the regions of Letania, which is a part of Armorica or Little Britain”] from the Life of Saint Goulven, showing the common confusion of ''u''/''v'' and ''n'' in medieval manuscripts).Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” ''The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews''. 26 May 2007 . “Letavia” may be derived from “Litavis,” making the region mean the “Land of Litavis” or the “Land of She Who Feeds [Us],” which may be interpreted as the “Land of Plenty.”^[4]
Alternatively, “Letavia” or “Letauia” may be derived from
★ ''lēto''- (earlier
★ ''leito''-, “gray”) or
★ ''lāto''- (“broad”), with the derivational suffix
★ -''auā'', making it mean “Gray Place” or “Broad Place.” The name is related to the Vedic earth goddess “Prthvi” (Vedic for “the Divinized Earth,” from an Indo-European word meaning “the broad one”^[1],[2]) and the Greek name ''Plataia'', which would make “Letavia/Letavis” “She Who Is Broad/Vast,” also suggesting that Letavis is a mother or earth goddess.Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. “Britanny/Llydaw.” ''The Cyberhome of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews''. 26 May 2007 . “Litaui(a)” and “Prithvi” may come from Proto-Indo-European
★ ''pelt''-, a suffixed form of
★ ''pele''- or
★ ''pla''-^[2],[13] (“flat” or “broad”^[13]), from which came Latin ''planus'' (“plane”) and Greek ''palamē'' (“flat hand”)^[13] and may also have led to Germanic
★ ''felthuz'',^[2] thus leading to Old English and Middle English ''feld'' (akin to German ''feld'' and Dutch ''veld''), then to English “field”^[13]; therefore, “Litavi(a)” and “Prthvi” may also mean “the [Great] Field.”^[2]

Contents

References

Specific

General

References

Specific

1. Koch, John T. “Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?” ''Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group'' 9 (1991): 17–27.
2. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .
3. Anwyl, Edward, M.A.. ''Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times''. London: Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., 1906. “Chapter 5: The Humanized Gods of Celtic Religion” .
4. Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” ''Celtnet: Nemeton''. 26 May 2007 .
5. Koch, John T. “Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?” ''Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group'' 9 (1991): 17–27.
6. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 22 May 2007 .
7. Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” ''Celtnet: Nemeton''. 26 May 2007 .
8. Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” ''Celtnet: Nemeton''. 26 May 2007 .
9. Evans, Dyfed Lloyd. “Litavis: A Gaulish Goddess (She Who Feeds).” ''Celtnet: Nemeton''. 26 May 2007 .
10. Koch, John T. “Ériu, Alba, and Letha: When Was a Language Ancestral to Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?” ''Emania: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group'' 9 (1991): 17–27.
11. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .
12. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .
13. Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” ''Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language''. Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).
14. Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” ''Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language''. Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).
15. Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” ''Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language''. Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).
16. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .
17. Guralnik, David B., Editor in Chief. “Field.” ''Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language''. Second College Edition. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 1986. ISBN 0-671-41809-2 (indexed), ISBN 0-671-41807-6 (plain edge), ISBN 0-671-41811-4 (pbk.), and ISBN 0-671-47035-3 (LeatherKraft).
18. Gwinn, Christopher. “Re: Litavi.” ''LISTSERV 15.0: OLD-IRISH-L Archives''. 31 Dec. 2000, 13:48:19 −0500. L-Soft. 26 May 2007 .

General

★ “Litavia” — article in ''Jones’ Celtic Encyclopedia'' by Mary Jones

★ “Litavis” — Litavis in the will of Lingon (in French); automatic Google translation into English

★ Etymological translations of “Litanus,” “Litaui/Litavi,” “Litauis/Litavis,” etc. by Patrick Cuadrado (in French); automatic Google translation into English