In Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...

, Bel, Belenos (also Belenus) was a deity

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

 worshipped in Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, Cisalpine Gaul, and Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic areas of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Britain and Spain. He is particularly associated with Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, West Cornwall being anciently called Belerion, the place of Bel. He was the Celtic sun god and had shrines from Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

 on the Adriatic to Kirkby Lonsdale

Kirkby Lonsdale

Kirkby Lonsdale is a small town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically within Westmorland, it is situated south east of Kendal along the A65. The parish had a population of 1,771 recorded in the 2001 census.Notable buildings include St...

 in England.

The etymology of the name is unclear. Suggestions include "shining one," "the bright one" and "henbane

Henbane

Henbane , also known as stinking nightshade or black henbane, is a plant of the family Solanaceae that originated in Eurasia, though it is now globally distributed.-Toxicity and historical usage:...

 god".

In the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 period he was identified with Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

. There are currently 51 known inscriptions dedicated to Belenus, mainly concentrated in Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

 and Cisalpine Gaul

Cisalpine Gaul

Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...

, but also extend into Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...

, Noricum

Noricum

Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...

, and far beyond. Images of Belenus sometimes show him to be accompanied by a female, thought to be the Gaulish deity Belisama

Belisama

In Celtic polytheism, Belisama or ' was a goddess worshipped in Gaul and Britain. She was connected with lakes and rivers, fire, crafts and light. Belisama was identified with Minerva/Athena and has been compared with Brigid. She has been claimed to be the consort of Belenus, with whom she shared...

.

Epithets

In ancient Gaul and Britain, Apollo may have been equated with fifteen or more different Celtic names and epithets (notably Grannos, Borvo

Borvo

In Lusitanian and Celtic polytheism, Borvo was a healing deity associated with bubbling spring water.-Centres of worship:...

, Maponus, Moritasgus

Moritasgus

Moritasgus is a Celtic epithet for a healing god found in four inscriptions at Alesia. In two inscriptions, he is identified with the Greco-Roman god Apollo. His consort was the goddess Damona....

 and others).
The legendary king Belenus in Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...

's History of the Kings of Britain is probably also derived from this god. The name of the ancient British king Cunobelinus

Cunobelinus

Cunobeline or Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins...

 means "hound of Belinos".

An epithet of Belenus may have been Vindonnus.
Apollo Vindonnus had a temple at Essarois

Essarois

Essarois is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...

 near Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. The sanctuary was based on a curative spring. Part of the temple pediment survives, bearing an inscription to the god and to the spirit of the springs and, above it, the head of a radiate sun-deity. Many votive objects were brought to the shrine, some of oak, and some of stone. Some offerings take the form of images of hands holding fruit or a cake; others represent the parts of the body requiring a cure. In many cases the pilgrims appear to have suffered from eye afflictions.

Teutorix

Teutorix

Teutorix is a purported Celtic name meaning "ruler of the people".It is the precise cognate of the Germanic name Theoderic, from teuto "people" and rix "king, ruler".The existence of this name is uncertain...

 has been suggested as an epithet of Belenus as borrowed into Germanic religion.

Name variants

• Belanu, amongst the Ligurians
• Belanos
• Belemnus
• Belenos
• Belenus
• Belinos
• Belinu
• Belinus
• Bellinus
• Belus
• Belyn in Welsh
• Llywelyn
  Llewellyn (name)
  Llywelyn is a Welsh personal name, which has also become a family name most commonly spelt as Llewellyn. The name has many variations and derivations, mainly as a result of the difficulty in representing the sound of the initial double ll for non Welsh speakers, described by T.J. Morgan and Prys...
  
  , Belenus forms the root for the elyn in this compound Welsh name.