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Nassania
A Gaulish and Brythonic Goddess: The Flowing One
Nassania is a Gaulish and Brythonic goddess known from a single inscription found at Nassogne, Belgium. She is also the patron goddess of the Nassogne and of Loch Ness, Scotland. She is a river goddess and a patronness of flowing water. |
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Gaul,Bryth: The Flowing One
Nassania is a goddess known from a single inscription at the town that still bears her name, Nassogne, Belgium. The Nassogne river that flows near the town also bears the Goddess' name. Indeed, in 690 CE this river was recorded as Nassania fons (The Spring of Nassania).
Nassania' name has been interpreted in several ways, though they all have similar connotations and are derived from the reconstructed proto-Indo-European lexical elements *ned-as (river) or nat-so- (flowing) with the feminine ending -a and can be interpreted as the name of a river goddess rendered as 'the flowing one'.
Interestingly, in Adamnan's sixth century 'Life of St Columba', a river with a cognate name , fluvium Nesam is mentioned, as is the source of that river ad lacum fluminis Nisae. Both river and lake bear a cognate to the name of Gaulish Nassania and indicates that the goddess may also have been known in Scotland. It should also be noted that Lacum Nisae (of the Lake of Nassania) is probably the same as modern Loch Ness.
If you would like to try the foods of the time of the ancient Celts, then why not have a look at the ancient recipes section of this site. For the foods of the time when some of these tales were written down, take a look at the Medieval recipes section of the site and, in particular, the recipes from The Forme of Cury.
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