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In Self-Reliance by Emerson, the online texts I have found say:

He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends. Caratach, in Fletcher's Bonduca, when admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate, replies, --

"His hidden meaning lies in our endeavours; Our valors are our best gods."

Is Audate the name of a mythical god, a fictional god in Fletcher's Bonduca, or some kind of label for the Christian god , like "the holy ghost", or something else?

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    Sounds to me like a misfit for Gaudete, meaning 'Rejoice! [pl]. The third Sunday of Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday" in the Catholic church calendar.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 18:57

2 Answers 2

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Andraste, also known as Andrasta, was, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, an Icenic war goddess invoked by Boudica in her fight against the Roman occupation of Britain in AD 60.

Audate is a misprint in the first folio of "Bonduca" by Fletcher, corrected in the second to Andate. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45781/45781-h/45781-h.htm#Page_112

Andraste = Andrasta = Andate

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From Google search:

UChicgago journals

"In John Fletcher’s dramatization of ancient Britain’s martial struggle against Roman conquest, Caratach, the British general, invokes Andate before a decisive battle."

I think that "Audate" may be a misspelling. I guess the British gods of the time are prechristian, and there may have been a few.

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    Wikipedia mentions Andraste, so it's probably another version/spelling of that.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 19:44
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    Could also be a misspelling of "audete," Latin for "Dare!"
    – alphabet
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 20:17
  • My first thought was something like "god as heard", but Wiktionary only show "audate" for Esperanto.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 20:22
  • Andate, Bonduca, and Caratach all seem to be deliberate alterations of Andraste, Boudica, and Caratacus.
    – chepner
    Commented Feb 4, 2023 at 17:27

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