Gender Feminine
Usage Popular Culture, Celtic Mythology
Other Forms FormsDruentia, Durantia, Durentia
Meaning & History
Hypothetic old Celtic form of the name of a river in the south of France commonly known as the Durance, which is of unknown meaning. An Indo-European root meaning "to flow" has been suggested. According to Robert Graves in 'The White Goddess' (1948), it is derived from the Indo-European root *deru meaning "oak" (as are the words druid and dryad) and probably also belonged to a Gallic tree goddess, which he identifies as "Queen of the Druids" and "Mother of the Tree Calendar". Graves' vision of the possible but unattested goddess has entered the popular imagination, and today many Neo-Pagans accept his Druantia as real.