{"id":312,"date":"2026-07-23T14:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cogentclassics.com\/?p=312"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:13:13","slug":"the-sun-princess-her-brother-and-the-night-serpent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogentclassics.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/the-sun-princess-her-brother-and-the-night-serpent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sun Princess, Her Brother and the Night Serpent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have previously discussed that the Celts of Gaul and Britain used the coins of ancient Greece and Rome as prototypes for their own coinage. However, many of their depictions are not directly related to any of these ancient prototypes and are subsequently difficult to interpret. In this post I will be discussing a common coin minted by the Durotriges and Belgae tribes of the south coast of Britain in the first century BCE. This enigmatic depiction has been a source of much debate to numismatists. Does it represent a myth particular to the Celts themselves? You may be familiar with the Greek myth involving the god Helios, the sun god who drove a horse drawn chariot from east to west across the sky. There is an argument that these coins represent another very ancient (and less well known) cosmological myth relating to how the ancients rationalised the turning of night into day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Coins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s have a look at these coins and then discuss the evidence. Both coins are from the author\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at Figure 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1- Durotriges gold quarter stater (obverse). 80-50 BCE. ABC 2205<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the obverse of a gold coin from the Durotriges tribe of modern-day Dorset. At first sight you may struggle to see anything that is vaguely recognisable! But if you look closely, you may see a boat shaped object with a pointed prow on the left. To the left of the field there is a rosette type object made of pellets. There are three figures on the boat, the one to the far right being an S type figure. The figure on the left has a rounded womanly shape, and the one next to her looks vaguely more angular and masculine. He is perhaps fighting with the S shaped figure. There are what looks like two windows on the boat and some triangular objects on the base of the boat- are these waves or perhaps oars?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example of a similar depiction is this gold coin from the Belgae tribe of modern-day Hampshire in Figure 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 2- Belgae gold quarter stater (obverse). 60-20 BCE. ABC 767<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this example, I think the figure looks more like a boat with oars. The S shaped figure looks more like a snake or a serpent, and the rosette is still present on the left of the coin. The presumed male figure is still next to the serpent, and the presumed female figure is in the stern of the boat. There are still two cut out apertures on the boat: perhaps windows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Material Evidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what does this scene represent? Other Celtic material culture is helpful in helping us to analyse this depiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Iron Age wooden figures from Oldenburg, North Germany are thought to represent a male and female figure with an apotropaic (or protective) function (Fig. 3). These are remarkably similar to the boat figures on the coins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 3- female and male cult figures from the Wittemoor timber trackway in Germany circa 135 BCE<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another piece of evidence is the Caergwrle bowl, a Bronze Age object originally manufactured from shale, tin and gold, which was found in Caergwrle, Northeast Wales (Fig. 4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 4- Caergwrle bowl. Bronze Age ship representation<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discussion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This object obviously depicts a boat, with similar triangular objects to the coins- these are understood to be oars. There is an obvious depiction of waves at the bottom of the boat, along with two sets of eyes at both the prow and stern of the boat. This perhaps explains the apparent apertures on the boats in the coins- could they be in fact depicting oculi? (Oculi were eyes which were painted on ancient boats to protect against adverse events).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that this was once a sacred cult object and the coins were depicting this same object. This was obviously a very important object to the Celts: but which myth was actually being depicted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Myth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The numismatist Dr. Daphne Nash Briggs discusses a very ancient myth of a sun maiden (daughter of the sun god) and her twin brothers. This sun princess was captured in her chariot at sunset every day by monsters of the night world, typically serpents. She is rescued by one of her brothers in a golden boat, with the monsters pursuing her towards the dawn, represented by the pellet rosette at the left of field. If you look closely at Figure 2, you will see that the serpent has two heads- a particularly nasty looking monster! Nash Briggs notes that this cosmological myth derives from central and northern Europe from around 1500 BCE and may be related to later myths, such as Helen of Troy and her brothers, the Dioscuri. This myth was possibly also a precursor to many other supposed bright daughters of the sun god, such as Aurora, Brigantia and Brigit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, the images on these coins may seem quite crude, but obviously represent depictions of actual models, such as the Caergwrle bowl and the Oldenburg figures. They are likely to have been worshipped in sacred spaces and possibly used in ceremonial drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is therefore a persuasive argument that these coins depict a very ancient myth which explained the turning of night to day to ancient Celts: the sun princess being rescued by her brother from the evil, double headed serpent, and sailing inexorably towards a new dawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n