Veraudunus is the name of a Celtic god

Celtic polytheism

Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts...

 known only from two votive inscriptions found in Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

. One of these inscriptions suggests that ‘Veraudunus’ may have been an epithet of the important Treveran

Treveri

The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...

 god Lenus

Lenus

Lenus was a Celtic healing god worshipped mainly in eastern Gaul, where he was almost always identified with the Roman god Mars. He was an important god of the Treveri tribe, who had large sanctuaries at medicinal springs at Trier and the Martberg by Pommern in what is now Germany. Two dedications...

 Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

. In both inscriptions, Veraudunus is invoked along with Inciona

Inciona

Inciona is a little-known Celtic goddess of the Treveran region. Her name is recorded as one of a pair of deities on two votive inscriptions from Luxembourg....

.

On the large stone slab from Mensdorf

Mensdorf

Mensdorf is a small town in the commune of Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 765....

 on the Widdebierg

Widdebierg

Widdebierg is a hill in the commune of Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. At 386 metres, it is one of the highest points in the canton of Grevenmacher. It is in the centre of a nature reserve , which lies between the towns of Flaxweiler, Mensdorf, and Roodt-sur-Syre....

, pictured at right, the god Veraudunus (DEO VERAVDVNO) and Inciona are invoked in honour of the imperial family in fulfilment of a vow made by Marcus Pl(autius?) Restitutus' mother Alpinia Lucana.

The second inscription is a small bronze votive plaque from Kaul in Luxembourg, which reads:

[LE]NO MAR[TI]
VERAVDVN(O) ET
INCION(A)E MI
[L]ITIVS PRIS
CINVS EX VOT(O)

If the letters NO MAR can be restored as Leno Marti, then ‘Veraudunus’ appears to be an epithet of Lenus

Lenus

Lenus was a Celtic healing god worshipped mainly in eastern Gaul, where he was almost always identified with the Roman god Mars. He was an important god of the Treveri tribe, who had large sanctuaries at medicinal springs at Trier and the Martberg by Pommern in what is now Germany. Two dedications...

 Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

, the tribal protector of the Treveri

Treveri

The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...

who inhabited what is now Luxembourg.

The name of the Widdebierg itself has been said to derive from ‘Veraudunus’.

See also

• Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997