Runcina is the Roman Goddess of weeding, traditionally invoked when tending the fields. She is one of the Indigitamenta, a class of specialist Deities called upon to bless or help guide specific actions or processes important to Roman society, for example the milestones of childhood, or the sowing and harvesting of crops.

Her name comes from the Latin word runco, meaning ‘to weed’, ‘to root up’, or ’to thin out’; She is mentioned by my friend and yours the one hundred percent insufferable Augustine of Hippo, an early church father who is famous for writing De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, ‘On the City of God Against the Pagans’, in which he attempts to prove the superiority of his One True God by (in part) ridiculing minor Roman Deities. As an important figure in early Christianity, Augustine’s books are still known to us, while the original Roman documents on the proper rites of the Indigitamenta are not, and so ironically enough his rants have preserved many of Their names and functions.

Augustine writes of Runcina as he mockingly describes all the Indigitamenta involved in growing grain, from ploughing all the way to harvest. Runcina is the last one he mentions, as he gets bored (‘for I am sick of all this’), saying that ‘when the crop was runcated,—that is, removed from the soil,—[it was dedicated] to the goddess Runcina’.

Now the Romans didn’t pull up the leftover wheat stalks (at least according to Varro); they either cut the remaining stalks for straw, or used the harvested field as pasture for their animals, so Runcina’s inclusion at the end of his really quite thorough rant is a little confusing; but perhaps he was referring to either the kinds of crops that were pulled up at the end of the season, such as legumes (which were then composted), or he got a bit out of sequence in his raving and is simply talking about the normal sort of weeding. Which, as all gardeners know, never ends.

As the Goddess of weeding one would assume Runcina would also be able to prevent weeds from growing in the first place, as that is generally how these things work (for example, a Goddess of disease can both cause and cure disease, as She has power over all aspects of Her domain). The additional meaning of runco as ‘to thin out’ also implies She may have had some role in thinning out the early seedlings to give the remaining ones room to grow strong, which is especially important with a crop like carrots; and if one wants to put a modern, metaphoric spin on it, perhaps Runcina can help in removing things that hinder growth and health.

At any rate, Runcina would be a good friend for a gardener to have.