Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/46

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I. THE GAULISH PANTHEON.

The third epithet of the god which has been mentioned was that of Toutiorix, which occurs in an inscription at Wiesbaden containing the datives Apollini Toutiorigi.[1] That neighbourhood, you will notice, is also celebrated for its waters, and the interest attaching to the word Toutiorix is out of all proportion to its single occurrence. It can only mean king of the people, which as applied to the god reminds one of the role of Apollo in the history of the Hellenic race, that gave him the titles of leader and founder—ἀρχητέτης, κτίστης, οἰκιστής The name Toutiorix, for which one would have expected Toutorix, has its modern representative in the Welsh Tudri, old Welsh Tutri: it is also well known among Teutonic nations from the time of Strabo, who gives it as Δευδόριξ, while Byzantine authors preferred Θευδέριχος or Θεοδέριχος; and Latin writers supply us with Theodoricus, whence the form usual in English books, Theodoric, which comes pretty near the Anglo-Saxon spelling Theódric. The corresponding High German is Dietrich, so well known as that of Dietrich of Bern, where Bern is the German for Verona. Now the great historical Teuton of this name was a remarkable king of the Ostrogoths, and conqueror of Italy in the 5th century: Verona was one of his headquarters. But it is found that with his history so much unhistorical matter has been incorporated, that modern authors usually distinguish between the historical man as Theodoric the Great, and a mythical personage to whom the name Dietrich von Bern is left. Many attempts have been made to disentangle the legends from the his-

  1. Brambach., No. 1529.