Nemetona

Nemetona is a Celtic godess worshipped in Gaul and Britain; she was often accompanied by a consort, Loucetius (or Mars Loucetius, by way of the interpretatio Romana). She is very probably a goddess of the sacred groves where the early Celts worshipped, a protector of what was held holy.

Myth
Unknown.

Cult
Nemetona received votive and dedicatory offerings from her worshippers; otherwise little is known of the specifics of her cult.

Etymology
Nemetona’s name derives directly from the Proto-Celtic *nemeto-, or “sacred grove” and is likely to have been a protector of these holy spaces.

Tribal and other associations
Nemetona was particularly worshipped by the Nemeti or Nemetes, a Germanic tribe with a Celtic name who counted Celtic gods among their deities; Nemetona may well be the eponymous goddess of this tribe. The Nemetes lived near the Rhine river.

Region
Nemetona was worshipped in the north-east of Gaul, in what is now Germany, although there is also a single inscription to her in Bath, England.

Literary evidence
Unknown.

Archaeological evidence
Bath, England; Altrip, Germany; Grosskrotzenburg, Germany; Klein-Winternheim, Germany; Trier, Germany