Aernus the Zoelae Protector

Name leads with the English phrase 'the Zoelae Protector'; attested form Deo Aerno (dative). Native etymon often linked to a word for high/rocky ground or to a tree-name. Filed under the Cantabrian/Asturian (northern) tradition as the tutelary god of the Asturian Zoelae, balancing the Lusitanian tutelary gods. Known only from the Bragança-area inscriptions, no narrative.

Domains

• community protection
• mountains high places

Epithets

• Deus Aernus

Sources

• CIL II 2606, Castro de Avelãs (Bragança)
• A. Tranoy, La Galice romaine (1981); P. Le Roux, on the Zoelae cult