Ancamna
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In Celtic mythology, Ancamna was a water goddess worshipped in Gaul and Britain. She was the consort of Smertios.
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Etymology & Fundamental Nature
The reconstructed lexis of the Proto-Celtic language as collated by the University of Wales [1] (http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf) suggests that the name is likely to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Celtic *Ank-ab(o)-nā. This Proto-Celtic word connotes the semantics of ‘Crooked River.’ This apparent semantic connotation has led Dr. John Koch at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies to suggest that this personality may well personify “meandering freshwater flow”. This theory, if it is correct, would account for the associations with rivers. The name *ank-ab(o)nā presumably developed into Brythonic or Gaulish *Ankabna, being transcribed in Latin as Ancamna.
Parallels?
If the theory is correct that Ancamna is in fact a personification of ‘meandering freshwater flow’, this allow one to draw parallels with such beings as Nantosvelta, Nantosuelta, which may be another name for the same personified aspect of nature.
Bibliography
- Ellis, Peter Berresford, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology(Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): ISBN: 0195089618
- MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0192801201.
- Wood, Juliette, The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art, Thorsons Publishers (2002): ISBN: 0007640595
External Links
[2] (http://www.mythome.org/celtic.html) [3] (http://www.paralumun.com/celticgod.htm) [4] (http://www.daire.org/names/deities.html) [5] (http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf)