Furrina, also spelled Furina, was an ancient Roman goddess whose function had become obscure by the 1st century BC. Her cult dated to the earliest period of Roman religious history, since she was one of the fifteen deities who had their own flamen, the Furrinalis, one of the flamines minores.[Varro Lingua Latina VI 13.] There is some evidence that Furrina was associated with water.
Etymology
Furrina was a goddess of springs.
[ De Lingua Latina VI 13.] According to Georges Dumézil, her name was related to the moving or bubbling of water. It is cognate with Gothic
brunna ("spring"), Latin
fervēre, from *fruur > furr by metathesis of the vowel, meaning to bubble or boil.
[G. Dumézil Fêtes romaines d'eté et d'automne Paris, 1975.] Compare English "fervent", "effervescent", and Latin
defruutum ("boiled wine").
Religious sites
She had a sacred spring and a shrine in Rome,
[Cicero Ad Quintum fratrem 3, 1, 12.] located on the southwestern slopes of Mount
Janiculum, on the right bank of the
Tiber. The site has survived to the present day in the form of a grove, included within the gardens of Villa Sciarra. Excavations on the site conducted in 1910 identified a well and a system of underground channels, as well as some inscriptions dedicated to
Jupiter Optimus Maximus Heliopolitanus,
Agatis, and the
nymphae furrinae. However, these findings look to be of a later date (2nd century CE) and perhaps the well is not the original spring.
[Samuel B. Platner (and T. Ashby) A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 1927 s.v.]
Gaius Gracchus was killed in the Grove of Furrina.
According to Cicero, another sanctuary dedicated to the cult of Furrina was located near Satricum. This place was not the most widely known one, but a hamlet near Arpinum was.[Cicero Ad Quintum Fratrem 3, 1.]
Festival
Furrina's festival was the
Furrinalia, held on July 25. On the
Roman calendar, festivals separated by an interval of three days were interconnected and belonged to the same function.
[As observed by Dumézil and Georg Wissowa.] In the second half of July, the two
Lucaria occur on the 19th and 17th, with the
Neptunalia on the 23rd and the Furrinalia on the 25th. This grouping is devoted to woods and running waters, which are intended as shelter and relief from the heat of the season, the
canicula.
Furrina is a low ranking deity who has her seat just above the mountain peaks.
Sources
