Verbeia
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In ancient Celtic polytheism, Verbeia was a goddess worshipped in Roman Britain. She is known from a single altar-stone dedicated to her at Ilkley (RIB 635). She is considered to have been a deification of the River Wharfe.[1]
An image of a woman (also from Ilkley) may represent the goddess: she is depicted with an overlarge head and schematic features; she wears a long, pleated robe and she has two large snakes, represented as geometric zig-zags, which she grasps, one in each hand.
[edit] Etymology
The name 'Verbeia' may be related to the Proto-Celtic *wera-beja meaning 'rain-strike' or *werbā- 'blister' [1]. The name may also be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wer-bh ‘bend, turn’ and related to English swerve [2]. If the Proto-Indo-European root *wer-bh is the source, the name Verbeia would mean ‘she who bends and turns’ which might have referred to the meandering of the river.
[edit] Sources
- Manor House Museum, Ilkley, Yorkshire, England.
- Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1997
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[edit] References
- ^ Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1997
