Aernus

Aernus was a theonym used for a god in the Lusitanian and Gallaecian pantheons.^[1] The use of this theonym was confined to worship in the vicinity of Bragança.^[2] Around this area, a number of inscriptions to a god hailed by this name have been recorded.^[3] One inscription, found in Castro de Avelãs, Bragança,^[4] was dedicated by the ‘ordo Zoelarum,’^[3] and this leads Tranoy^[5] and Roux^[6] to conclude that this god was probably the protector of the Zoelae.^[6] Another inscription was also found in Castro de Avelãs,^[7] while yet another was found in Malta in Macedo de Cavaleiros, also in the District of Bragança.^[8] While epigraphic evidence for Aernus is scarce, its concentration in a reduced territory in association with homogeneous aspects of material culture indicates to Olivares^[9] a homogeneity in the cultural area of the Zoelae. The meaning of the name is still unknown but compare the Proto-Indo-European roots *aper- ‘behind, at the back’ and *āpero- ‘bank’^[10] with the regular phonological developments in Celtic.