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| In [[:Category:Celtic mythology]] '''Taranis''' was the god of thunder worshipped in Gaul and Britain and mentioned, along with [[Essus]] and [[Toutatis]], by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem ''Pharsalia'' as a Celtic deity to whom sacrificial offerings were made. [http://worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/poetry/Pharsalia/chap1.html Book I].
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| He was associated, as was the [[cyclops]] [[Brontes]] (‘thunder’) in [[:Category:Greek mythology]], with the wheel and may have received human sacrifices. Many representations of a bearded god with a thunderbolt in one hand and a wheel in the other have been recovered from Gaul, where this deity apparently came to be syncretised with [[Jupiter]]. He is likely connected with the Anglo-Saxon god Þunor, the [[:Category:Norse mythology|Norse]] [[Thor]], [[Ambisagrus]], the [[:Category:Irish mythology|Irish]] [[Tuireann]] and the Culdee saint Taran. The name Taranis has not yet been recovered from Gaulish inscriptions, but similar variants have, such as '''Taranucno-''', '''Taranuo-''', and '''Taraino-'''.
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| ==Etymology==
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| The reconstructed lexis of the Proto-Celtic language as collated by the University of Wales [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 *''Toranos''. This Proto-Celtic word means ‘thunder.’ In present day Welsh ''Taranu'' means 'to thunder'.
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| Taranis, as a personification of thunder, is often identified with similar deities found in other Indo-European pantheons.
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| Of these, [[Thor]] and the Hittite god ''Tarhun'' (see also [[Teshub]]) contain a comparable ''tor-'' element.
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| The Thracian deity names ''Zbel-thurdos'', ''Zbel-Thiurdos'' also contain this element Thracian ''- thurd(a)'' "to push, to crash down").
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| Others have different etymologies, e.g. [[Perkwunos]], [[Brontes]] and [[Indra]].
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| ==References==
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| *Ellis, Peter Berresford, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): ISBN 0-19-508961-8
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| *MacKillop, James. ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
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| *Wood, Juliette, ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art'', Thorsons Publishers (2002): ISBN 0-00-764059-5
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| ===External links===
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| *[http://www.mythome.org/celtic.html Celtic Gods and Associates]
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| *[http://www.paralumun.com/celticgod.htm Celtic Gods]
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| *[http://www.daire.org/names/deities.html Some Major Celtic Gods and Goddesses]
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| {{wikipedia}}
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| [[Category:Celtic mythology]]
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