Anvallus was a Gaulish god, known from several public inscriptions at Augustodunum (Autun). Two Latin inscriptions on altars were dedicated by gutuatres in requital of vows; both such dedications began with the formula Aug(usto) sacr(um).CIL XIII:11225.CIL XIII:11226. The title gutuater is typically understood to mean 'priest';Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, p184. the gutuatres have at times been taken to be Romanized continuations of the druids.Monique Clavel-Lévêque (1989). Puzzle Gaulois: les Gaules en mémoire : images, textes, histoire, Volume 396. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté, p423. These altars were both discovered in 1900 on the site of Autun's railway station, along with a Greek-style helmet of thin bronze that would have been left there as a votive offering.J.-G. Bulliot (1901). "Découverte de deux inscriptions romaines et d'un casque votif à Autun." Bulletin monumental. Retrieved from Gallica on 2011-06-03.
The third text mentioning a name similar to Anvallus was a Gaulish text found on a limestone cartouche: LICNOS · CON TEXTOS · IEVRV ANVALONNACV · CANECOSEDLON ·CIL XIII:2733. According to P.-Y. LambertP.-Y. Lambert (2003). La langue gauloise. Errance, Paris. and J.-P. Savignac,J.-P. Savignac (2000). Merde à César. La différence. this stone commemorated the dedication of a kind of seat or throne by a person named Licnos Contextos. The seat was dedicated to a sanctuary of Anvalos, in the interpretation of P.-Y. Lambert; Delmarre gives the translation "Licnos Contextus dedicated to Anvalonnacos the (golden?) seat".In the original, “Licnos Contextos a dédié à Anvalonnacos le siège (d’or ?)”. Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, p331.
The god's name has been analyzed as a composition an-ualos, of which the second root has been understood to mean 'sovereign' or 'prince', and the first 'without' or 'not'.Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Errance, Paris, pp43, 305. The name might therefore be understood as 'without a sovereign', i.e. inferior to none.
References