Litavis (also known as Litauis,[1] Litaui, Litauia,[2],[3] and Llydaw[4]) is a goddess in Celtic mythology worshiped by the ancient Gauls. Her name is found 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 in a context which suggests that she might have been his consort.[5] 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").[2],[3]
Letavia or Letauia may be derived from a Proto-Indo-European root *pelHa- "to spread out flat", via a zero-grade, suffixed formation, *PltHa-wiH, meaning "The Broad One".[6] The name may thus be comparable to the Vedic earth goddess “Prthvi” and the Greek place name Plataia, suggesting that Letavis is a mother or earth goddess.
In Latin texts, Brittany or Llydaw is given as “Letavia” (quae antiquitus letauia sive armorica uocata est [“which was anciently called Letavia or Armorica”][1],[5] 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 the letter n with u or v in medieval manuscripts).[1] "Letavia" may be derived from "Litavis", so the place-name would mean "Land of Litavis".
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