A) Solitary Rosmerta (central and north Gaul)

1) Etymology of her name

The goddess name Rosmerta, mentioned in about thirty inscriptions from Gaul and Germania Superior, is undeniably Celtic. The etymologists agree on the meaning of her name, which is composed of the intensive prefix ro- (*pro) signifying ‘very’, ‘great’,⁷⁷⁰ and of the element –smertā, ‘distribution’ - a noun of action in –tā - based on the verbal theme *smer-, ‘to distribute’, ‘to give’, ‘to attribute’, denoting bounty and supply.⁷⁷¹ Duval explains that this root expresses “the idea of prediction and provision, of preparing and precautions to take, […] of destiny regulated by Providence.”⁷⁷² Her name has been glossed in various ways, such as ‘the Highly Foresighted’,⁷⁷³ ‘the Very Attentive’,⁷⁷⁴ ‘Goddess of Plenitude’,⁷⁷⁵ the most appropriate one being ‘the one who gives or distributes’, i.e. ‘the Great Purveyor or Provider’.⁷⁷⁶ Her name therefore evokes her primary role of land-goddess supplying her people with all the natural products necessary for them to survive. As for Anwyl’s etymology*, who proposes Rosmerta, ‘the Exceedingly Brilliant One’, from smert ‘shining’, it is definitely inaccurate and irrelevant.⁷⁷⁷

It is significant that Rosmerta is cognate with other names of gods and goddesses, based on the same root smerto-, smero-, for it indicates the importance and antiquity of a cult devoted to divinities of ‘supply’ and ‘foresight’. In addition to Atesmerta and Cantismerta, such is the case with the gods Smertrios (‘the Purveyor’), venerated in France, Austria, Germany and Great Britain,⁷⁷⁸ Smertus (Jupiter) honoured in Grignan (Drôme) and Escovilles-Sainte-Camille (Yonne),⁷⁷⁹ and Smertu-litanus (Mars) (‘The Large Purveyor’) - with litanos, ‘vast’, ‘large’-, known from an inscription found in Möhn (Germany).⁷⁸⁰