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diff --git a/14672-0.txt b/14672-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d3ba76 --- /dev/null +++ b/14672-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15742 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14672 *** + +THE RELIGION + +OF THE + +ANCIENT CELTS + +BY + +J.A. MACCULLOCH + + + +HON. D.D.(ST. ANDREWS); HON. CANON OF CUMBRAE CATHEDRAL + +AUTHOR OF "COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY" +"RELIGION: ITS ORIGIN AND FORMS" "THE MISTY ISLE OF SKYE" +"THE CHILDHOOD OF FICTION: A STUDY OF FOLK-TALES AND PRIMITIVE THOUGHT" + +Edinburgh: T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street + +1911 + +Printed by + +MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, + +FOR + +T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. + +LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. + +NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. + +TO + +ANDREW LANG + + + + +PREFACE + + +The scientific study of ancient Celtic religion is a thing of recent +growth. As a result of the paucity of materials for such a study, +earlier writers indulged in the wildest speculative flights and +connected the religion with the distant East, or saw in it the remains +of a monotheistic faith or a series of esoteric doctrines veiled under +polytheistic cults. With the works of MM. Gaidoz, Bertrand, and D'Arbois +de Jubainville in France, as well as by the publication of Irish texts +by such scholars as Drs. Windisch and Stokes, a new era may be said to +have dawned, and a flood of light was poured upon the scanty remains of +Celtic religion. In this country the place of honour among students of +that religion belongs to Sir John Rh[^y]s, whose Hibbert Lectures _On +the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom_ +(1886) was an epoch-making work. Every student of the subject since that +time feels the immense debt which he owes to the indefatigable +researches and the brilliant suggestions of Sir John Rh[^y]s, and I +would be ungrateful if I did not record my indebtedness to him. In his +Hibbert Lectures, and in his later masterly work on _The Arthurian +Legend_, however, he took the standpoint of the "mythological" school, +and tended to see in the old stories myths of the sun and dawn and the +darkness, and in the divinities sun-gods and dawn-goddesses and a host +of dark personages of supernatural character. The present writer, +studying the subject rather from an anthropological point of view and in +the light of modern folk survivals, has found himself in disagreement +with Sir John Rh[^y]s on more than one occasion. But he is convinced +that Sir John would be the last person to resent this, and that, in +spite of his mythological interpretations, his Hibbert Lectures must +remain as a source of inspiration to all Celtic students. More recently +the studies of M. Salomon Reinach and of M. Dottin, and the valuable +little book on _Celtic Religion_, by Professor Anwyl, have broken fresh +ground.[1] + +In this book I have made use of all the available sources, and have +endeavoured to study the subject from the comparative point of view and +in the light of the anthropological method. I have also interpreted the +earlier cults by means of recent folk-survivals over the Celtic area +wherever it has seemed legitimate to do so. The results are summarised +in the introductory chapter of the work, and students of religion, and +especially of Celtic religion, must judge how far they form a true +interpretation of the earlier faith of our Celtic forefathers, much of +which resembles primitive religion and folk-belief everywhere. + +Unfortunately no Celt left an account of his own religion, and we are +left to our own interpretations, more or less valid, of the existing +materials, and to the light shed on them by the comparative study of +religions. As this book was written during a long residence in the Isle +of Skye, where the old language of the people still survives, and where +the _genius loci_ speaks everywhere of things remote and strange, it may +have been easier to attempt to realise the ancient religion there than +in a busier or more prosaic place. Yet at every point I have felt how +much would have been gained could an old Celt or Druid have revisited +his former haunts, and permitted me to question him on a hundred matters +which must remain obscure. But this, alas, might not be! + +I have to thank Miss Turner and Miss Annie Gilchrist for valuable help +rendered in the work of research, and the London Library for obtaining +for me several works not already in its possession. Its stores are an +invaluable aid to all students working at a distance from libraries. + +J.A. MACCULLOCH. + +THE RECTORY, +BRIDGE OF ALLAN, +_October_ 1911. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See also my article "Celts" in Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion +and Ethics_, vol. iii. + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Throughout this book, some characters are used +which are not part of the Latin-1 character set used in this e-book. The +string "[^y]" is used to represent a lower-case "Y" with a circumflex +mark on top of it, "[=a]" is used to represent a lower-case "A" with a +line on top of it, and "[oe]" is used to represent the "oe"-ligature. +Numbers in braces such as "{3}" are used to represent the superscription +of numbers, which was used in the book to give edition numbers to +books.] + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAP. PAGE + +I. INTRODUCTORY 1 +II. THE CELTIC PEOPLE 8 +III. THE GODS OF GAUL AND THE CONTINENTAL CELTS 22 +IV. THE IRISH MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE 49 +V. THE TUATHA DÉ DANANN 63 +VI. THE GODS OF THE BRYTHONS 95 +VII. THE CÚCHULAINN CYCLE 127 +VIII. THE FIONN SAGA 142 +IX. GODS AND MEN 158 +X. THE CULT OF THE DEAD 165 +XI. PRIMITIVE NATURE WORSHIP 171 +XII. RIVER AND WELL WORSHIP 181 +XIII. TREE AND PLANT WORSHIP 198 +XIV. ANIMAL WORSHIP 208 +XV. COSMOGONY 227 +XVI. SACRIFICE, PRAYER, AND DIVINATION 233 +XVII. TABU 252 +XVIII. FESTIVALS 256 +XIX. ACCESSORIES OF CULT 279 +XX. THE DRUIDS 293 +XXI. MAGIC 319 +XXII. THE STATE OF THE DEAD 333 +XXIII. REBIRTH AND TRANSMIGRATION 348 +XXIV. ELYSIUM 362 + + + +LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES THROUGHOUT THIS WORK + +(_This list is not a Bibliography._) + +BRAND: Rev. J. Brand, _Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great +Britain._ 3 vols. 1870. + +BLANCHET: A. Blanchet, _Traité des monnaies gauloises._ 2 vols. Paris, +1905. + +BERTRAND: A. Bertrand, _Religion des gaulois._ Paris, 1897. + +CAMPBELL, _WHT_: J.F. Campbell, _Popular Tales of the West Highlands._ 4 +vols. Edinburgh, 1890. + +CAMPBELL _LF_: J.F. Campbell, _Leabhar na Feinne._ London, 1872. + +CAMPBELL, _Superstitions_: J.G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland._ 1900. + +CAMPBELL, _Witchcraft_: J.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in +the Highlands and Islands of Scotland._ 1902. + +CORMAC: _Cormac's Glossary._ Tr. by J. O'Donovan. Ed. by W. Stokes. +Calcutta, 1868. + +COURCELLE--SENEUIL.: J.L. Courcelle-Seneuil, _Les dieux gaulois d'après +les monuments figurés._ Paris, 1910. + +_CIL_: _Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum._ Berlin, 1863 f. + +_CM_: _Celtic Magazine._ Inverness, 1875 f. + +CURTIN, _HTI_: J. Curtin, _Hero Tales of Ireland._ 1894. + +CURTIN, _Tales_: J. Curtin, _Tales of the Fairies and Ghost World._ +1895. + +DALZELL: Sir J.G. Dalzell, _Darker Superstitions of Scotland._ 1835. + +D'ARBOIS: H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, _Cours de litterature celtique._ +12 vols. Paris, 1883-1902. + +D'ARBOIS _Les Celtes_: H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, _Les Celtes._ Paris, +1904. + +D'ARBOIS _Les Druides_: H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, _Les Druides et les +dieux celtiques à formes d'animaux._ Paris, 1906. + +D'ARBOIS _PH_: H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, _Les premiers habitants de +l'Europe._ 2 vols. Paris, 1889-1894. + +DOM MARTIN: Dom Martin, _Le religion des gaulois._ 2 vols. Paris, 1727. + +DOTTIN: G. Dottin, _Manuel pour servir a l'étude de l'antiquité +celtique._ Paris, 1906. + +ELTON: C.I. Elton, _Origins of English History._ London, 1890. + +FRAZER, _GB_{2}: J.G. Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}. 3 vols. 1900. + +GUEST: Lady Guest, _The Mabinogion._ 3 vols. Llandovery, 1849. + +HAZLITT: W.C. Hazlitt, _Faiths and Folk-lore: A Dictionary of National +Beliefs, Superstitions, and Popular Customs._ 2 vols. 1905. + +HOLDER: A. Holder, _Altceltischer Sprachschatz._ 3 vols. Leipzig, 1891 +f. + +HULL: Miss E. Hull, _The Cuchullin Saga._ London, 1898. + +_IT_: See Windisch-Stokes. + +_JAI_: _Journal of the Anthropological Institute._ London, 1871 f. + +JOYCE, _OCR_: P.W. Joyce, _Old Celtic Romances_{2}. London, 1894. + +JOYCE, _PN_: P.W. Joyce, _History of Irish Names of Places_{4}. 2 vols. +London, 1901. + +JOYCE, _SH_: P.W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland._ 2 vols. +London, 1903. + +JULLIAN: C. Jullian, _Recherches sur la religion gauloise._ Bordeaux, +1903. + +KEATING: Keating, _History of Ireland._ Tr. O'Mahony. London, 1866. + +KENNEDY: P. Kennedy, _Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts._ 1866. + +LARMINIE: W. Larminie, _West Irish Folk-Tales and Romances._ 1893. + +LEAHY: Leahy, _Heroic Romances of Ireland._ 2 vols. London, 1905. + +LE BRAZ: A. Le Braz, _La Legende de la Mort chez les Bretons +armoricains._ 2 vols. Paris, 1902. + +_LL_: _Leabhar Laignech_ (Book of Leinster), facsimile reprint. London, +1880. + +LOTH: Loth, _Le Mabinogion._ 2 vols. Paris, 1889. + +_LU_: _Leabhar na h-Uidhre_ (Book of the Dun Cow), facsimile reprint. +London, 1870. + +MACBAIN: A. MacBain, _Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language._ +Inverness, 1896. + +MACDOUGALL: Macdougall, _Folk and Hero Tales._ London, 1891. + +MACKINLAY: J.M. Mackinlay, _Folk-lore of Scottish Lochs and Springs._ +Glasgow, 1893. + +MARTIN: M. Martin, _Description of the Western Islands of Scotland_{2}. +London, 1716. + +MAURY: A. Maury, _Croyances et legendes du Moyen Age._ Paris, 1896. + +MONNIER: D. Monnier, _Traditions populaires comparées._ Paris, 1854. + +MOORE: A.W. Moore, _Folk-lore of the Isle of Man._ 1891. + +NUTT-MEYER: A. Nutt and K. Meyer, _The Voyage of Bran._ 2 vols. London, +1895-1897. + +O'CURRY _MC_: E. O'Curry, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish._ 4 +vols. London, 1873. + +O'CURRY _MS. Mat_: E. O'Curry, _MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History._ +Dublin, 1861. + +O'GRADY: S.H. O'Grady, _Silva Gadelica._ 2 vols. 1892. + +REES: Rev. W.J. Rees, _Lives of Cambro-British Saints._ Llandovery, +1853. + +REINACH, BF: S. Reinach, _Bronzes Figurés de la Gaule romaine._ Paris, +1900. + +REINACH, BF _Catal. Sommaire_: S. Reinach, _Catalogue Commaire du Musée +des Antinquitée Nationales_{4}. Paris. + +REINACH, BF CMR: S. Reinach, _Cultes, Mythes, et Religions._ 2 vols. +Paris, 1905. + +RC: _Revue Celtique._ Paris, 1870 f. + +RENEL: C. Renel, _Religions de la Gaule._ Paris 1906. + +RH[^Y]S, _AL_: Sir John Rh[^y]s, _The Arthurian Legend._ Oxford, 1891. + +RH[^Y]S, _CB_{4}: Sir John Rh[^y]s, _Celtic Britain_{4}. London, 1908. + +RH[^Y]S, _CFL_: Sir John Rh[^y]s, _Celtic Folk-Lore._ 2 vols. Oxford, +1901. + +RH[^Y]S, _HL_: Sir John Rh[^y]s, _Hibbert Lectures on Celtic +Heathendom._ London, 1888. + +SÉBILLOT: P. Sebillot, _La Folk-lore de la France._ 4 vols. Paris, 1904 +f. + +SKENE: W.F. Skene, _Four Ancient Books of Wales._ 2 vols. Edinburgh, +1868. + +STOKES, _TIG_: Whitley Stokes, _Three Irish Glossaries._ London, 1862. + +STOKES, _Trip. Life_: Whitley Stokes, _The Tripartite Life of Patrick._ +London 1887. + +STOKES, _US_: Whitley Stokes, _Urkeltischer Sprachschatz._ Göttingen, +1894 (in Fick's _Vergleichende Wörterbuch_{4}). + +TAYLOR: I. Taylor, _Origin of the Aryans._ London, n.d. + +_TSC_: _Transactions of Society of Cymmrodor._ + +_TOS_: _Transactions of the Ossianic Society._ Dublin 1854-1861. + +_Trip. Life_: See Stokes. + +WILDE: Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends and Superstitions of Ireland._ 2 +vols. 1887. + +WINDISCH, _Táin_: E. Windisch, _Die altirische Heldensage Táin Bó +Cúalgne._ Leipzig, 1905. + +WINDISCH-STOKES, _IT_: E. Windisch and W. Stokes, _Irische Texte._ +Leipzig, 1880 f. + +WOOD-MARTIN: Wood-Martin, _Elder Faiths of Ireland._ 2 vols. London, +1903. + +_ZCP_: _Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie._ Halle, 1897 f. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +To summon a dead religion from its forgotten grave and to make it tell +its story, would require an enchanter's wand. Other old faiths, of +Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, are known to us. But in their case +liturgies, myths, theogonies, theologies, and the accessories of cult, +remain to yield their report of the outward form of human belief and +aspiration. How scanty, on the other hand, are the records of Celtic +religion! The bygone faith of a people who have inspired the world with +noble dreams must be constructed painfully, and often in fear and +trembling, out of fragmentary and, in many cases, transformed remains. + +We have the surface observations of classical observers, dedications in +the Romano-Celtic area to gods mostly assimilated to the gods of the +conquerors, figured monuments mainly of the same period, coins, symbols, +place and personal names. For the Irish Celts there is a mass of written +material found mainly in eleventh and twelfth century MSS. Much of this, +in spite of alteration and excision, is based on divine and heroic +myths, and it also contains occasional notices of ritual. From Wales +come documents like the _Mabinogion_, and strange poems the personages +of which are ancient gods transformed, but which tell nothing of rite or +cult.[2] Valuable hints are furnished by early ecclesiastical documents, +but more important is existing folk-custom, which preserves so much of +the old cult, though it has lost its meaning to those who now use it. +Folk-tales may also be inquired of, if we discriminate between what in +them is Celtic and what is universal. Lastly, Celtic burial-mounds and +other remains yield their testimony to ancient belief and custom. + +From these sources we try to rebuild Celtic paganism and to guess at its +inner spirit, though we are working in the twilight on a heap of +fragments. No Celt has left us a record of his faith and practice, and +the unwritten poems of the Druids died with them. Yet from these +fragments we see the Celt as the seeker after God, linking himself by +strong ties to the unseen, and eager to conquer the unknown by religious +rite or magic art. For the things of the spirit have never appealed in +vain to the Celtic soul, and long ago classical observers were struck +with the religiosity of the Celts. They neither forgot nor transgressed +the law of the gods, and they thought that no good befell men apart from +their will.[3] The submission of the Celts to the Druids shows how they +welcomed authority in matters of religion, and all Celtic regions have +been characterised by religious devotion, easily passing over to +superstition, and by loyalty to ideals and lost causes. The Celts were +born dreamers, as their exquisite Elysium belief will show, and much +that is spiritual and romantic in more than one European literature is +due to them. + +The analogy of religious evolution in other faiths helps us in +reconstructing that of the Celts. Though no historic Celtic group was +racially pure, the profound influence of the Celtic temperament soon +"Celticised" the religious contributions of the non-Celtic element which +may already have had many Celtic parallels. Because a given Celtic rite +or belief seems to be "un-Aryan," it need not necessarily be borrowed. +The Celts had a savage past, and, conservative as they were, they kept +much of it alive. Our business, therefore, lies with Celtic religion as +a whole. These primitive elements were there before the Celts migrated +from the old "Aryan" home; yet since they appear in Celtic religion to +the end, we speak of them as Celtic. The earliest aspect of that +religion, before the Celts became a separate people, was a cult of +nature spirits, or of the life manifested in nature. But men and women +probably had separate cults, and, of the two, perhaps that of the latter +is more important. As hunters, men worshipped the animals they slew, +apologising to them for the slaughter. This apologetic attitude, found +with all primitive hunters, is of the nature of a cult. Other animals, +too sacred to be slain, would be preserved and worshipped, the cult +giving rise to domestication and pastoral life, with totemism as a +probable factor. Earth, producing vegetation, was the fruitful mother; +but since the origin of agriculture is mainly due to women, the Earth +cult would be practised by them, as well as, later, that of vegetation +and corn spirits, all regarded as female. As men began to interest +themselves in agriculture, they would join in the female cults, probably +with the result of changing the sex of the spirits worshipped. An +Earth-god would take the place of the Earth-mother, or stand as her +consort or son. Vegetation and corn spirits would often become male, +though many spirits, even when they were exalted into divinities, +remained female. + +With the growth of religion the vaguer spirits tended to become gods and +goddesses, and worshipful animals to become anthropomorphic divinities, +with the animals as their symbols, attendants, or victims. And as the +cult of vegetation spirits centred in the ritual of planting and sowing, +so the cult of the divinities of growth centred in great seasonal and +agricultural festivals, in which the key to the growth of Celtic +religion is to be found. But the migrating Celts, conquering new lands, +evolved divinities of war; and here the old female influence is still at +work, since many of these are female. In spite of possessing so many +local war-gods, the Celts were not merely men of war. Even the _equites_ +engaged in war only when occasion arose, and agriculture as well as +pastoral industry was constantly practised, both in Gaul and Britain, +before the conquest.[4] In Ireland, the belief in the dependence of +fruitfulness upon the king, shows to what extent agriculture flourished +there.[5] Music, poetry, crafts, and trade gave rise to culture +divinities, perhaps evolved from gods of growth, since later myths +attributed to them both the origin of arts and crafts, and the +introduction of domestic animals among men. Possibly some culture gods +had been worshipful animals, now worshipped as gods, who had given these +animals to man. Culture-goddesses still held their place among +culture-gods, and were regarded as their mothers. The prominence of +these divinities shows that the Celts were more than a race of warriors. + +The pantheon was thus a large one, but on the whole the divinities of +growth were more generally important. The older nature spirits and +divine animals were never quite forgotten, especially by the folk, who +also preserved the old rituals of vegetation spirits, while the gods of +growth were worshipped at the great festivals. Yet in essence the lower +and the higher cults were one and the same, and, save where Roman +influence destroyed Celtic religion, the older primitive strands are +everywhere apparent. The temperament of the Celt kept him close to +nature, and he never quite dropped the primitive elements of his +religion. Moreover, the early influence of female cults of female +spirits and goddesses remained to the end as another predominant factor. + +Most of the Celtic divinities were local in character, each tribe +possessing its own group, each god having functions similar to those of +other groups. Some, however, had or gained a more universal character, +absorbing divinities with similar functions. Still this local character +must be borne in mind. The numerous divinities of Gaul, with differing +names--but, judging by their assimilation to the same Roman divinity, +similar functions, are best understood as gods of local groups. This is +probably true also of Britain and Ireland. But those gods worshipped far +and wide over the Celtic area may be gods of the undivided Celts, or +gods of some dominant Celtic group extending their influence on all +sides, or, in some cases, popular gods whose cult passed beyond the +tribal bounds. If it seem precarious to see such close similarity in the +local gods of a people extending right across Europe, appeal can be made +to the influence of the Celtic temperament, producing everywhere the +same results, and to the homogeneity of Celtic civilisation, save in +local areas, e.g. the South of Gaul. Moreover, the comparison of the +various testimonies of onlookers points to a general similarity, while +the permanence of the primitive elements in Celtic religion must have +tended to keep it everywhere the same. Though in Gaul we have only +inscriptions and in Ireland only distorted myths, yet those testimonies, +as well as the evidence of folk-survivals in both regions, point to the +similarity of religious phenomena. The Druids, as a more or less +organised priesthood, would assist in preserving the general likeness. + +Thus the primitive nature-spirits gave place to greater or lesser gods, +each with his separate department and functions. Though growing +civilisation tended to separate them from the soil, they never quite +lost touch with it. In return for man's worship and sacrifices, they +gave life and increase, victory, strength, and skill. But these +sacrifices, had been and still often were rites in which the +representative of a god was slain. Some divinities were worshipped over +a wide area, most were gods of local groups, and there were spirits of +every place, hill, wood, and stream. Magic rites mingled with the cult, +but both were guided by an organised priesthood. And as the Celts +believed in unseen gods, so they believed in an unseen region whither +they passed after death. + +Our knowledge of the higher side of Celtic religion is practically a +blank, since no description of the inner spiritual life has come down to +us. How far the Celts cultivated religion in our sense of the term, or +had glimpses of Monotheism, or were troubled by a deep sense of sin, is +unknown. But a people whose spiritual influence has later been so great, +must have had glimpses of these things. Some of them must have known the +thirst of the soul for God, or sought a higher ethical standard than +that of their time. The enthusiastic reception of Christianity, the +devotion of the early Celtic saints, and the character of the old Celtic +church, all suggest this. + +The relation of the Celtic church to paganism was mainly intolerant, +though not wholly so. It often adopted the less harmful customs of the +past, merging pagan festivals in its own, founding churches on the sites +of the old cult, dedicating sacred wells to a saint. A saint would visit +the tomb of a pagan to hear an old epic rehearsed, or would call up +pagan heroes from hell and give them a place in paradise. Other saints +recall dead heroes from the Land of the Blessed, and learn the nature of +that wonderland and the heroic deeds + + "Of the old days, which seem to be + Much older than any history + That is written in any book." + +Reading such narratives, we gain a lesson in the fine spirit of +Christian tolerance and Christian sympathy. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Some writers saw in the bardic poetry a Druidic-esoteric system and +traces of a cult practised secretly by the bards--the "Neo-Druidic +heresy"; see Davies, _Myth. of the Brit. Druids_, 1809; Herbert, _The +Neo-Druidic Heresy_, 1838. Several French writers saw in "Druidism" a +monotheistic faith, veiled under polytheism. + +[3] Livy, v. 46; Cæsar, vi. 16; Dion. Hal. vii. 70; Arrian, _Cyneg_. +xxxv. 1. + +[4] Cæsar, vi. 15, cf. v. 12, "having waged war, remained there and +cultivated the lands." + +[5] Cf. Pliny, _HN_ xvii. 7, xviii. 18 on the wheeled ploughs and +agricultural methods of Gauls and Britons. Cf. also Strabo, iv. 1. 2, +iv. 5. 5; Girald. Camb. _Top. Hib._ i. 4, _Descr. Camb._ i. 8; Joyce, +_SH_ ii. 264. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE CELTIC PEOPLE. + + +Scrutiny reveals the fact that Celtic-speaking peoples are of differing +types--short and dark as well as tall and fairer Highlanders or +Welshmen, short, broad-headed Bretons, various types of Irishmen. Men +with Norse names and Norse aspect "have the Gaelic." But all alike have +the same character and temperament, a striking witness to the influence +which the character as well as the language of the Celts, whoever they +were, made on all with whom they mingled. Ethnologically there may not +be a Celtic race, but something was handed down from the days of +comparative Celtic purity which welded different social elements into a +common type, found often where no Celtic tongue is now spoken. It +emerges where we least expect it, and the stolid Anglo-Saxon may +suddenly awaken to something in himself due to a forgotten Celtic strain +in his ancestry. + +Two main theories of Celtic origins now hold the field: + +(1) The Celts are identified with the progenitors of the short, +brachycephalic "Alpine race" of Central Europe, existing there in +Neolithic times, after their migrations from Africa and Asia. The type +is found among the Slavs, in parts of Germany and Scandinavia, and in +modern France in the region of Cæsar's "Celtæ," among the Auvergnats, +the Bretons, and in Lozère and Jura. Representatives of the type have +been found in Belgian and French Neolithic graves.[6] Professor Sergi +calls this the "Eurasiatic race," and, contrary to general opinion, +identifies it with the Aryans, a savage people, inferior to the +dolichocephalic Mediterranean race, whose language they Aryanised.[7] +Professor Keane thinks that they were themselves an Aryanised folk +before reaching Europe, who in turn gave their acquired Celtic and +Slavic speech to the preceding masses. Later came the Belgæ, Aryans, who +acquired the Celtic speech of the people they conquered.[8] + +Broca assumed that the dark, brachycephalic people whom he identified +with Cæsar's "Celtæ," differed from the Belgæ, were conquered by them, +and acquired the language of their conquerors, hence wrongly called +Celtic by philologists. The Belgæ were tall and fair, and overran Gaul, +except Aquitaine, mixing generally with the Celtæ, who in Cæsar's time +had thus an infusion of Belgic blood.[9] But before this conquest, the +Celtæ had already mingled with the aboriginal dolichocephalic folk of +Gaul, Iberians, or Mediterraneans of Professor Sergi. The latter had +apparently remained comparatively pure from admixture in Aquitaine, and +are probably the Aquitani of Cæsar.[10] + +But were the short, brachycephalic folk Celts? Cæsar says the people who +call themselves "Celtæ" were called Gauls by the Romans, and Gauls, +according to classical writers, were tall and fair.[11] Hence the Celtæ +were not a short, dark race, and Cæsar himself says that Gauls +(including Celtæ) looked with contempt on the short Romans.[12] Strabo +also says that Celtæ and Belgæ had the same Gaulish appearance, i.e. +tall and fair. Cæsar's statement that Aquitani, Galli, and Belgæ differ +in language, institutions, and laws is vague and unsupported by +evidence, and may mean as to language no more than a difference in +dialects. This is also suggested by Strabo's words, Celtæ and Belgæ +"differ a little" in language.[13] No classical writer describes the +Celts as short and dark, but the reverse. Short, dark people would have +been called Iberians, without respect to skulls. Classical observers +were not craniologists. The short, brachycephalic type is now prominent +in France, because it has always been so, eliminating the tall, fair +Celtic type. Conquering Celts, fewer in number than the broad and +narrow-headed aborigines, intermarried or made less lasting alliances +with them. In course of time the type of the more numerous race was +bound to prevail. Even in Cæsar's day the latter probably outnumbered +the tall and fair Celts, who had, however, Celticised them. But +classical writers, who knew the true Celt as tall and fair, saw that +type only, just as every one, on first visiting France or Germany, sees +his generalised type of Frenchman or German everywhere. Later, he +modifies his opinion, but this the classical observers did not do. +Cæsar's campaigns must have drained Gaul of many tall and fair Celts. +This, with the tendency of dark types to out-number fair types in South +and Central Europe, may help to explain the growing prominence of the +dark type, though the tall, fair type is far from uncommon.[14] + +(2) The second theory, already anticipated, sees in Gauls and Belgæ a +tall, fair Celtic folk, speaking a Celtic language, and belonging to the +race which stretched from Ireland to Asia Minor, from North Germany to +the Po, and were masters of Teutonic tribes till they were driven by +them from the region between Elbe and Rhine.[15] Some Belgic tribes +claimed a Germanic ancestry,[16] but "German" was a word seldom used +with precision, and in this case may not mean Teutonic. The fair hair of +this people has made many suppose that they were akin to the Teutons. +But fairness is relative, and the dark Romans may have called brown hair +fair, while they occasionally distinguished between the "fair" Gauls and +fairer Germans. Their institutions and their religions (_pace_ Professor +Rh[^y]s) differed, and though they were so long in contact the names of +their gods and priests are unlike.[17] Their languages, again, though of +"Aryan" stock, differ more from each other than does Celtic from Italic, +pointing to a long period of Italo-Celtic unity, before Italiotes and +Celts separated, and Celts came in contact with Teutons.[18] The typical +German differs in mental and moral qualities from the typical Celt. +Contrast an east country Scot, descendant of Teutonic stock, with a West +Highlander, and the difference leaps to the eyes. Celts and Germans of +history differ, then, in relative fairness, character, religion, and +language. + +The tall, blonde Teutonic type of the Row graves is dolichocephalic. Was +the Celtic type (assuming that Broca's "Celts" were not true Celts) +dolicho or brachy? Broca thinks the Belgæ or "Kymri" were +dolichocephalic, but all must agree with him that the skulls are too few +to generalise from. Celtic iron-age skulls in Britain are +dolichocephalic, perhaps a recrudescence of the aboriginal type. Broca's +"Kymric" skulls are mesocephalic; this he attributes to crossing with +the short round-heads. The evidence is too scanty for generalisation, +while the Walloons, perhaps descendants of the Belgæ, have a high index, +and some Gauls of classical art are broad-headed.[19] + +Skulls of the British round barrows (early Celtic Bronze Age) are mainly +broad, the best specimens showing affinity to Neolithic brachycephalic +skulls from Grenelle (though their owners were 5 inches shorter), +Selaigneaux, and Borreby.[20] Dr. Beddoe thinks that the narrow-skulled +Belgæ on the whole reinforced the meso- or brachycephalic round barrow +folk in Britain. Dr. Thurnam identifies the latter with the Belgæ +(Broca's Kymri), and thinks that Gaulish skulls were round, with +beetling brows.[21] Professors Ripley and Sergi, disregarding their +difference in stature and higher cephalic index, identify them with the +short Alpine race (Broca's Celts). This is negatived by Mr. Keane.[22] +Might not both, however, have originally sprung from a common stock and +reached Europe at different times?[23] + +But do a few hundred skulls justify these far-reaching conclusions +regarding races enduring for thousands of years? At some very remote +period there may have been a Celtic type, as at some further period +there may have been an Aryan type. But the Celts, as we know them, must +have mingled with the aborigines of Europe and become a mixed race, +though preserving and endowing others with their racial and mental +characteristics. Some Gauls or Belgæ were dolichocephalic, to judge by +their skulls, others were brachycephalic, while their fairness was a +relative term. Classical observers probably generalised from the higher +classes, of a purer type; they tell us nothing of the people. But the +higher classes may have had varying skulls, as well as stature and +colour of hair,[24] and Irish texts tell of a tall, fair, blue-eyed +stock, and a short, dark, dark-eyed stock, in Ireland. Even in those +distant ages we must consider the people on whom the Celts impressed +their characteristics, as well as the Celts themselves. What happened on +the Eurasian steppe, the hypothetical cradle of the "Aryans," whence the +Celts came "stepping westwards," seems clear to some, but in truth is a +book sealed with seven seals. The men whose Aryan speech was to dominate +far and wide may already have possessed different types of skull, and +that age was far from "the very beginning." + +Thus the Celts before setting out on their _Wanderjahre_ may already +have been a mixed race, even if their leaders were of purer stock. But +they had the bond of common speech, institutions, and religion, and they +formed a common Celtic type in Central and Western Europe. Intermarriage +with the already mixed Neolithic folk of Central Europe produced further +removal from the unmixed Celtic racial type; but though both reacted on +each other as far as language, custom, and belief were concerned, on the +whole the Celtic elements predominated in these respects. The Celtic +migration into Gaul produced further racial mingling with descendants of +the old palæolithic stock, dolichocephalic Iberians and Ligurians, and +brachycephalic swarthy folk (Broca's Celts). Thus even the first Celtic +arrivals in Britain, the Goidels, were a people of mixed race, though +probably relatively purer than the late coming Brythons, the latest of +whom had probably mingled with the Teutons. Hence among Celtic-speaking +folk or their descendants--short, dark, broad-beaded Bretons, tall, fair +or rufous Highlanders, tall chestnut-haired Welshmen or Irishmen, +Highlanders of Norse descent, short, dark, narrow-headed Highlanders, +Irishmen, and Welshmen--there is a common Celtic _facies_, the result of +old Celtic characteristics powerful enough so to impress themselves on +such varied peoples in spite of what they gave to the Celtic incomers. +These peoples became Celtic, and Celtic in speech and character they +have remained, even where ancestral physical types are reasserting +themselves. The folk of a Celtic type, whether pre-Celtic, Celtic, or +Norse, have all spoken a Celtic language and exhibit the same old Celtic +characteristics--vanity, loquacity, excitability, fickleness, +imagination, love of the romantic, fidelity, attachment to family ties, +sentimental love of their country, religiosity passing over easily to +superstition, and a comparatively high degree of sexual morality. Some +of these traits were already noted by classical observers. + +Celtic speech had early lost the initial _p_ of old Indo-European +speech, except in words beginning with _pt_ and, perhaps, _ps_. Celtic +_pare_ (Lat. _præ_) became _are_, met with in _Aremorici_, "the dwellers +by the sea," _Arecluta_, "by the Clyde," the region watered by the +Clyde. Irish _athair_, Manx _ayr_, and Irish _iasg_, represent +respectively Latin _pater_ and _piscis_. _P_ occurring between vowels +was also lost, e.g. Irish _caora_, "sheep," is from _kaperax_; _for_, +"upon" (Lat. _super_), from _uper_. This change took place before the +Goidelic Celts broke away and invaded Britain in the tenth century B.C., +but while Celts and Teutons were still in contact, since Teutons +borrowed words with initial _p_, e.g. Gothic _fairguni_, "mountain," +from Celtic _percunion_, later _Ercunio_, the Hercynian forest. The loss +must have occurred before 1000 B.C. But after the separation of the +Goidelic group a further change took place. Goidels preserved the sound +represented by _qu_, or more simply by _c_ or _ch_, but this was changed +into _p_ by the remaining continental Celts, who carried with them into +Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Britain (the Brythons) words in which _q_ became +_p_. The British _Epidii_ is from Gaulish _epos_, "horse," which is in +Old Irish _ech_ (Lat. _equus_). The Parisii take their name from +_Qarisii_, the Pictones or Pictavi of Poictiers from _Pictos_ (which in +the plural _Pidi_ gives us "Picts"), derived from _quicto_. This change +took place after the Goidelic invasion of Britain in the tenth century +B.C. On the other hand, some continental Celts may later have regained +the power of pronouncing _q_. In Gaul the _q_ of _Sequana_ (Seine) was +not changed to _p_, and a tribe dwelling on its banks was called the +Sequani. This assumes that Sequana was a pre-Celtic word, possibly +Ligurian.[25] Professor Rh[^y]s thinks, however, that Goidelic tribes, +identified by him with Cæsar's Celtæ, existed in Gaul and Spain before +the coming of the Galli, and had preserved _q_ in their speech. To them +we owe Sequana, as well as certain names with _q_ in Spain.[26] This at +least is certain, that Goidelic Celts of the _q_ group occupied Gaul and +Spain before reaching Britain and Ireland. Irish tradition and +archæological data confirm this.[27] But whether their descendants were +represented by Cæsar's "Celtæ" must be uncertain. Celtæ and Galli, +according to Cæsar, were one and the same,[28] and must have had the +same general form of speech. + +The dialects of Goidelic speech--Irish, Manx, Gaelic, and that of the +continental Goidels--preserved the _q_ sound; those of Gallo-Brythonic +speech--Gaulish, Breton, Welsh, Cornish--changed _q_ into _p_. The +speech of the Picts, perhaps connected with the Pictones of Gaul, also +had this _p_ sound. Who, then, were the Picts? According to Professor +Rh[^y]s they were pre-Aryans,[29] but they must have been under the +influence of Brythonic Celts. Dr. Skene regarded them as Goidels +speaking a Goidelic dialect with Brythonic forms.[30] Mr. Nicholson +thinks they were Goidels who had preserved the Indo-European _p_.[31] +But might they not be descendants of a Brythonic group, arriving early +in Britain and driven northwards by newcomers? Professor Windisch and +Dr. Stokes regard them as Celts, allied to the Brythons rather than to +the Goidels, the phonetics of their speech resembling those of Welsh +rather than Irish.[32] + +The theory of an early Goidelic occupation of Britain has been contested +by Professor Meyer,[33] who holds that the first Goidels reached Britain +from Ireland in the second century, while Dr. MacBain[34] was of the +opinion that England, apart from Wales and Cornwall, knew no Goidels, +the place-names being Brythonic. But unless all Goidels reached Ireland +from Gaul or Spain, as some did, Britain was more easily reached than +Ireland by migrating Goidels from the Continent. Prominent Goidelic +place-names would become Brythonic, but insignificant places would +retain their Goidelic form, and to these we must look for decisive +evidence.[35] A Goidelic occupation by the ninth century B.C. is +suggested by the name "Cassiterides" (a word of the _q_ group) applied +to Britain. If the Goidels occupied Britain first, they may have called +their land _Qretanis_ or _Qritanis_, which Pictish invaders would change +to _Pretanis_, found in Welsh "Ynys Pridain," Pridain's Isle, or Isle of +the Picts, "pointing to the original underlying the Greek [Greek: +Pretanikai Nêsoi] or Pictish Isles,"[36] though the change may be due to +continental _p_ Celts trading with _q_ Celts in Britain. With the +Pictish occupation would agree the fact that Irish Goidels called the +Picts who came to Ireland _Cruithne=Qritani=Pre-tani_. In Ireland they +almost certainly adopted Goidelic speech. + +Whether or not all the Pictish invaders of Britain were called +"Pictavi," this word or Picti, perhaps from _quicto_ (Irish _cicht_, +"engraver"),[37] became a general name for this people. _Q_ had been +changed into _p_ on the Continent; hence "Pictavi" or "Pictones," "the +tattooed men," those who "engraved" figures on their bodies, as the +Picts certainly did. Dispossessed and driven north by incoming Brythons +and Belgæ, they later became the virulent enemies of Rome. In 306 +Eumenius describes all the northern tribes as "Caledonii and other +Picts," while some of the tribes mentioned by Ptolemy have Brythonic +names or names with Gaulish cognates. Place-names in the Pictish area, +personal names in the Pictish chronicle, and Pictish names like +"Peanfahel,"[38] have Brythonic affinities. If the Picts spoke a +Brythonic dialect, S. Columba's need of an interpreter when preaching to +them would be explained.[39] Later the Picts were conquered by Irish +Goidels, the Scotti. The Picts, however, must already have mingled with +aboriginal peoples and with Goidels, if these were already in Britain, +and they may have adopted their supposed non-Aryan customs from the +aborigines. On the other hand, the matriarchate seems at one time to +have been Celtic, and it may have been no more than a conservative +survival in the Pictish royal house, as it was elsewhere.[40] Britons, +as well as Caledonii, had wives in common.[41] As to tattooing, it was +practised by the Scotti ("the scarred and painted men"?), and the +Britons dyed themselves with woad, while what seem to be tattoo marks +appear on faces on Gaulish coins.[42] Tattooing, painting, and +scarifying the body are varieties of one general custom, and little +stress can be laid on Pictish tattooing as indicating a racial +difference. Its purpose may have been ornamental, or possibly to impart +an aspect of fierceness, or the figures may have been totem marks, as +they are elsewhere. Finally, the description of the Caledonii, a Pictish +people, possessing flaming hair and mighty limbs, shows that they +differed from the short, dark pre-Celtic folk.[43] + +The Pictish problem must remain obscure, a welcome puzzle to +antiquaries, philologists, and ethnologists. Our knowledge of Pictish +religion is too scanty for the interpretation of Celtic religion to be +affected by it. But we know that the Picts offered sacrifice before +war--a Celtic custom, and had Druids, as also had the Celts. + +The earliest Celtic "kingdom" was in the region between the upper waters +of the Rhine, the Elbe, and the Danube, where probably in Neolithic +times the formation of their Celtic speech as a distinctive language +began. Here they first became known to the Greeks, probably as a +semi-mythical people, the Hyperboreans--the folk dwelling beyond the +Ripoean mountains whence Boreas blew--with whom Hecatæus in the fourth +century identifies them. But they were now known as Celts, and their +territory as Celtica, while "Galatas" was used as a synonym of "Celtæ," +in the third century B.C.[44] The name generally applied by the Romans +to the Celts was "Galli" a term finally confined by them to the people +of Gaul.[45] Successive bands of Celts went forth from this +comparatively restricted territory, until the Celtic "empire" for some +centuries before 300 B.C. included the British Isles, parts of the +Iberian peninsula, Gaul, North Italy, Belgium, Holland, great part of +Germany, and Austria. When the German tribes revolted, Celtic bands +appeared in Asia Minor, and remained there as the Galatian Celts. +Archæological discoveries with a Celtic _facies_ have been made in most +of these lands but even more striking is the witness of place-names. +Celtic _dunon_, a fort or castle (the Gaelic _dun_), is found in +compound names from Ireland to Southern Russia. _Magos_, "a field," is +met with in Britain, France, Switzerland, Prussia, Italy, and Austria. +River and mountain names familiar in Britain occur on the Continent. The +Pennine range of Cumberland has the same name as the Appenines. Rivers +named for their inherent divinity, _devos_, are found in Britain and on +the Continent--Dee, Deva, etc. + +Besides this linguistic, had the Celts also a political unity over their +great "empire," under one head? Such a unity certainly did not prevail +from Ireland to the Balkan peninsula, but it prevailed over a large part +of the Celtic area. Livy, following Timagenes, who perhaps cited a lost +Celtic epos, speaks of king Ambicatus ruling over the Celts from Spain +to Germany, and sending his sister's sons, Bellovesus and Segovesus, +with many followers, to found new colonies in Italy and the Hercynian +forest.[46] Mythical as this may be, it suggests the hegemony of one +tribe or one chief over other tribes and chiefs, for Livy says that the +sovereign power rested with the Bituriges who appointed the king of +Celticum, viz. Ambicatus. Some such unity is necessary to explain Celtic +power in the ancient world, and it was made possible by unity of race or +at least of the congeries of Celticised peoples, by religious +solidarity, and probably by regular gatherings of all the kings or +chiefs. If the Druids were a Celtic priesthood at this time, or already +formed a corporation as they did later in Gaul, they must have +endeavoured to form and preserve such a unity. And if it was never so +compact as Livy's words suggest, it must have been regarded as an ideal +by the Celts or by their poets, Ambicatus serving as a central figure +round which the ideas of empire crystallised. The hegemony existed in +Gaul, where the Arverni and their king claimed power over the other +tribes, and where the Romans tried to weaken the Celtic unity by +opposing to them the Aedni.[47] In Belgium the hegemony was in the hands +of the Suessiones, to whose king Belgic tribes in Britain submitted.[48] +In Ireland the "high king" was supreme over other smaller kings, and in +Galatia the unity of the tribes was preserved by a council with regular +assemblies.[49] + +The diffusion of the Ambicatus legend would help to preserve unity by +recalling the mythic greatness of the past. The Boii and Insubri +appealed to transalpine Gauls for aid by reminding them of the deeds of +their ancestors.[50] Nor would the Druids omit to infuse into their +pupils' minds the sentiment of national greatness. For this and for +other reasons, the Romans, to whom "the sovereignty of all Gaul" was an +obnoxious watch-word, endeavoured to suppress them.[51] But the Celts +were too widely scattered ever to form a compact empire.[52] The Roman +empire extended itself gradually in the consciousness of its power; the +cohesion of the Celts in an empire or under one king was made impossible +by their migrations and diffusion. Their unity, such as it was, was +broken by the revolt of the Teutonic tribes, and their subjugation was +completed by Rome. The dreams of wide empire remained dreams. For the +Celts, in spite of their vigour, have been a race of dreamers, their +conquests in later times, those of the spirit rather than of the mailed +fist. Their superiority has consisted in imparting to others their +characteristics; organised unity and a vast empire could never be +theirs. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] Ripley, _Races of Europe_; Wilser, _L'Anthropologie_, xiv. 494; +Collignon, _ibid._ 1-20; Broca, _Rev. d'Anthrop._ ii. 589 ff. + +[7] Sergi, _The Mediterranean Race_, 241 ff., 263 ff. + +[8] Keane, _Man, Past and Present_, 511 ff., 521, 528. + +[9] Broca, _Mem. d'Anthrop._ i. 370 ff. Hovelacque thinks, with Keane, +that the Gauls learned Celtic from the dark round-heads. But Galatian +and British Celts, who had never been in contact with the latter, spoke +Celtic. See Holmes, _Cæsar's Conquest of Gaul_, 311-312. + +[10] Cæsar, i. 1; Collignon, _Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris_, 3{me} ser. +i. 67. + +[11] Cæsar, i. 1. + +[12] Cæsar, ii. 30. + +[13] Cæsar, i. 1; Strabo, iv. 1. 1. + +[14] Cf. Holmes, 295; Beddoe, _Scottish Review_, xix. 416. + +[15] D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 175. + +[16] Cæsar, ii. 4; Strabo, vii. 1. 2. Germans are taller and fairer than +Gauls; Tacitus, _Agric._ ii. Cf. Beddoe, _JAI_ xx. 354-355. + +[17] D'Arbois, _PH_ ii. 374. Welsh Gwydion and Teutonic Wuotan may have +the same root, see p. 105. Celtic Taranis has been compared to Donar, +but there is no connection, and Taranis was not certainly a thunder-god. +Much of the folk-religion was alike, but this applies to folk-religion +everywhere. + +[18] D'Arbois, ii. 251. + +[19] Beddoe, _L'Anthropologie_, v. 516. Tall, fair, and highly +brachycephalic types are still found in France, _ibid._ i. 213; +Bortrand-Reinach, _Les Celtes_, 39. + +[20] Beddoe, 516; _L'Anthrop._, v. 63; Taylor, 81; Greenwell, _British +Barrows_, 680. + +[21] _Fort. Rev._ xvi. 328; _Mem. of London Anthr. Soc._, 1865. + +[22] Ripley, 309; Sergi, 243; Keane, 529; Taylor, 112. + +[23] Taylor, 122, 295. + +[24] The Walloons are both dark and fair. + +[25] D'Arbois, _PH_ ii. 132. + +[26] Rh[^y]s, _Proc. Phil. Soc._ 1891; "Celtæ and Galli," _Proc. Brit. +Acad._ ii. D'Arbois points out that we do not know that these words are +Celtic (_RC_ xii, 478). + +[27] See pp. 51, 376. + +[28] Cæsar, i. 1. + +[29] _CB_{4} 160. + +[30] Skene, i. ch. 8; see p. 135. + +[31] _ZCP_ iii. 308; _Keltic Researches_. + +[32] Windisch, "Kelt. Sprachen," Ersch-Gruber's _Encylopädie_; Stokes, +_Linguistic Value of the Irish Annals_. + +[33] _THSC_ 1895-1896, 55 f. + +[34] _CM_ xii. 434. + +[35] In the Isle of Skye, where, looking at names of prominent places +alone, Norse derivatives are to Gaelic as 3 to 2, they are as 1 to 5 +when names of insignificant places, untouched by Norse influence, are +included. + +[36] Rh[^y]s, _CB_{4} 241. + +[37] D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 22. + +[38] Bede, _Eccl. Hist._ i. 12. + +[39] Adamnan, _Vita S. Col._ + +[40] See p. 222. + +[41] Dio Cass. lxxvi. 12; Cæsar, v. 14. See p. 223. + +[42] Isidore, _Etymol._ ix. 2, 103; Rh[^y]s, _CB_ 242-243; Cæsar, v. 14; +Nicholson, _ZCP_ in. 332. + +[43] Tacitus, _Agric._ ii. + +[44] If _Celtæ_ is from _qelo_, "to raise," it may mean "the lofty," +just as many savages call themselves "the men," _par excellence_. +Rh[^y]s derives it from _qel_, "to slay," and gives it the sense of +"warriors." See Holder, _s.v._; Stokes, _US_ 83. _Galatæ_ is from _gala_ +(Irish _gal_), "bravery." Hence perhaps "warriors." + +[45] "Galli" may be connected with "Galatæ," but D'Arbois denies this. +For all these titles see his _PH_ ii. 396 ff. + +[46] Livy, v. 31 f.; D'Arbois, _PH_ ii. 304, 391. + +[47] Strabo, iv. 10. 3; Cæsar, i. 31, vii. 4; _Frag. Hist. Græc._ i. +437. + +[48] Cæsar, ii. 4. + +[49] Strabo, xii. 5. 1. + +[50] Polybius, ii. 22. + +[51] Cæsar, i. 2, 1-3. + +[52] On the subject of Celtic unity see Jullian, "Du patriotisme +gaulois," _RC_ xxiii. 373. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE GODS OF GAUL AND THE CONTINENTAL CELTS. + + +The passage in which Cæsar sums up the Gaulish pantheon runs: "They +worship chiefly the god Mercury; of him there are many symbols, and they +regard him as the inventor of all the arts, as the guide of travellers, +and as possessing great influence over bargains and commerce. After him +they worship Apollo and Mars, Juppiter and Minerva. About these they +hold much the same beliefs as other nations. Apollo heals diseases, +Minerva teaches the elements of industry and the arts, Juppiter rules +over the heavens, Mars directs war.... All the Gauls assert that they +are descended from Dispater, their progenitor."[53] + +As will be seen in this chapter, the Gauls had many other gods than +these, while the Roman gods, by whose names Cæsar calls the Celtic +divinities, probably only approximately corresponded to them in +functions. As the Greeks called by the names of their own gods those of +Egypt, Persia, and Babylonia, so the Romans identified Greek, Teutonic, +and Celtic gods with theirs. The identification was seldom complete, and +often extended only to one particular function or attribute. But, as in +Gaul, it was often part of a state policy, and there the fusion of cults +was intended to break the power of the Druids. The Gauls seem to have +adopted Roman civilisation easily, and to have acquiesced in the process +of assimilation of their divinities to those of their conquerors. Hence +we have thousands of inscriptions in which a god is called by the name +of the Roman deity to whom he was assimilated and by his own Celtic +name--Jupiter Taranis, Apollo Grannus, etc. Or sometimes to the name of +the Roman god is added a descriptive Celtic epithet or a word derived +from a Celtic place-name. Again, since Augustus reinstated the cult of +the Lares, with himself as chief Lar, the epithet Augustus was given to +all gods to whom the character of the Lares could be ascribed, e.g. +Belenos Augustus. Cults of local gods became cults of the genius of the +place, coupled with the genius of the emperor. In some cases, however, +the native name stands alone. The process was aided by art. Celtic gods +are represented after Greco-Roman or Greco-Egyptian models. Sometimes +these carry a native divine symbol, or, in a few cases, the type is +purely native, e.g. that of Cernunnos. Thus the native paganism was +largely transformed before Christianity appeared in Gaul. Many Roman +gods were worshipped as such, not only by the Romans in Gaul, but by the +Gauls, and we find there also traces of the Oriental cults affected by +the Romans.[54] + +There were probably in Gaul many local gods, tribal or otherwise, of +roads and commerce, of the arts, of healing, etc., who, bearing +different names, might easily be identified with each other or with +Roman gods. Cæsar's Mercury, Mars, Minerva, etc., probably include many +local Minervas, Mars, and Mercuries. There may, however, have been a few +great gods common to all Gaul, universally worshipped, besides the +numerous local gods, some of whom may have been adopted from the +aborigines. An examination of the divine names in Holder's +_Altceltischer Sprachschatz_ will show how numerous the local gods of +the continental Celts must have been. Professor Anwyl reckons that 270 +gods are mentioned once on inscriptions, 24 twice, 11 thrice, 10 four +times, 3 five times, 2 seven times, 4 fifteen times, 1 nineteen times +(Grannos), and 1 thirty-nine times (Belenos).[55] + +The god or gods identified with Mercury were very popular in Gaul, as +Cæsar's words and the witness of place-names derived from the Roman name +of the god show. These had probably supplanted earlier names derived +from those of the corresponding native gods. Many temples of the god +existed, especially in the region of the Allobrogi, and bronze +statuettes of him have been found in abundance. Pliny also describes a +colossal statue designed for the Arverni who had a great temple of the +god on the Puy de Dôme.[56] Mercury was not necessarily the chief god, +and at times, e.g. in war, the native war-gods would be prominent. The +native names of the gods assimilated to Mercury are many in number; in +some cases they are epithets, derived from the names of places where a +local "Mercury" was worshipped, in others they are derived from some +function of the gods.[57] One of these titles is Artaios, perhaps +cognate with Irish _art_, "god," or connected with _artos_, "bear." +Professor Rh[^y]s, however, finds its cognate in Welsh _âr_, "ploughed +land," as if one of the god's functions connected him with +agriculture.[58] This is supported by another inscription to Mercurius +Cultor at Wurtemberg. Local gods of agriculture must thus have been +assimilated to Mercury. A god Moccus, "swine," was also identified with +Mercury, and the swine was a frequent representative of the corn-spirit +or of vegetation divinities in Europe. The flesh of the animal was often +mixed with the seed corn or buried in the fields to promote fertility. +The swine had been a sacred animal among the Celts, but had apparently +become an anthropomorphic god of fertility, Moccus, assimilated to +Mercury, perhaps because the Greek Hermes caused fertility in flocks and +herds. Such a god was one of a class whose importance was great among +the Celts as an agricultural people. + +Commerce, much developed among the settled Gauls, gave rise to a god or +gods who guarded roads over which merchants travelled, and boundaries +where their transactions took place. Hence we have an inscription from +Yorkshire, "To the god who invented roads and paths," while another +local god of roads, equated with Mercury, was Cimiacinus.[59] + +Another god, Ogmíos, a native god of speech, who draws men by chains +fastened to the tip of his tongue, is identified in Lucian with +Heracles, and is identical with the Goidelic Ogma.[60] Eloquence and +speech are important matters among primitive peoples, and this god has +more likeness to Mercury as a culture-god than to Heracles, Greek +writers speaking of eloquence as binding men with the chains of Hermes. + +Several local gods, of agriculture, commerce, and culture, were thus +identified with Mercury, and the Celtic Mercury was sometimes worshipped +on hilltops, one of the epithets of the god, Dumias, being connected +with the Celtic word for hill or mound. Irish gods were also associated +with mounds. + +Many local gods were identified with Apollo both in his capacity of god +of healing and also that of god of light.[61] The two functions are not +incompatible, and this is suggested by the name Grannos, god of thermal +springs both in Britain and on the Continent. The name is connected with +a root which gives words meaning "burning," "shining," etc., and from +which comes also Irish _grian_, "sun." The god is still remembered in a +chant sung round bonfires in Auvergne. A sheaf of corn is set on fire, +and called "Granno mio," while the people sing, "Granno, my friend; +Granno, my father; Granno, my mother."[62] Another god of thermal +springs was Borvo, Bormo, or Bormanus, whose name is derived from +_borvo_, whence Welsh _berw_, "boiling," and is evidently connected with +the bubbling of the springs.[63] Votive tablets inscribed Grannos or +Borvo show that the offerers desired healing for themselves or others. + +The name Belenos found over a wide area, but mainly in Aquileia, comes +from _belo-s_, bright, and probably means "the shining one." It is thus +the name of a Celtic sun-god, equated with Apollo in that character. If +he is the Belinus referred to by Geoffrey of Monmouth,[64] his cult must +have extended into Britain from the Continent, and he is often mentioned +by classical writers, while much later Ausonius speaks of his priest in +Gaul.[65] Many place and personal names point to the popularity of his +cult, and inscriptions show that he, too, was a god of health and of +healing-springs. The plant _Belinuntia_ was called after him and +venerated for its healing powers.[66] The sun-god's functions of light +and fertility easily passed over into those of health-giving, as our +study of Celtic festivals will show. + +A god with the name Maponos, connected with words denoting +"youthfulness," is found in England and Gaul, equated with Apollo, who +himself is called _Bonus Puer_ in a Dacian inscription. Another god +Mogons or Mogounos, whose name is derived from _Mago_, "to increase," +and suggests the idea of youthful strength, may be a form of the +sun-god, though some evidence points to his having been a sky-god.[67] + +The Celtic Apollo is referred to by classical writers. Diodorus speaks +of his circular temple in an island of the Hyperboreans, adorned with +votive offerings. The kings of the city where the temple stood, and its +overseers, were called "Boreads," and every nineteenth year the god +appeared dancing in the sky at the spring equinox.[68] The +identifications of the temple with Stonehenge and of the Boreads with +the Bards are quite hypothetical. Apollonius says that the Celts +regarded the waters of Eridanus as due to the tears of Apollo--probably +a native myth attributing the creation of springs and rivers to the +tears of a god, equated by the Greeks with Apollo.[69] The Celtic +sun-god, as has been seen, was a god of healing springs. + +Some sixty names or titles of Celtic war-gods are known, generally +equated with Mars.[70] These were probably local tribal divinities +regarded as leading their worshippers to battle. Some of the names show +that these gods were thought of as mighty warriors, e.g. Caturix, +"battle-king," Belatu-Cadros--a common name in Britain--perhaps meaning +"comely in slaughter,"[71] and Albiorix, "world-king."[72] Another name, +Rigisamus, from _rix_ and _samus_, "like to," gives the idea of +"king-like."[73] + +Toutatis, Totatis, and Tutatis are found in inscriptions from Seckau, +York, and Old Carlisle, and may be identified with Lucan's Teutates, who +with Taranis and Esus mentioned by him, is regarded as one of three +pan-Celtic gods.[74] Had this been the case we should have expected to +find many more inscriptions to them. The scholiast on Lucan identifies +Teutates now with Mars, now with Mercury. His name is connected with +_teuta_, "tribe," and he is thus a tribal war-god, regarded as the +embodiment of the tribe in its warlike capacity. + +Neton, a war-god of the Accetani, has a name connected with Irish _nia_, +"warrior," and may be equated with the Irish war-god Nét. Another god, +Camulos, known from British and continental inscriptions, and figured on +British coins with warlike emblems, has perhaps some connection with +Cumal, father of Fionn, though it is uncertain whether Cumal was an +Irish divinity.[75] + +Another god equated with Mars is the Gaulish Braciaca, god of malt. +According to classical writers, the Celts were drunken race, and besides +importing quantities of wine, they made their own native drinks, e.g. +[Greek: chourmi], the Irish _cuirm_, and _braccat_, both made from malt +(_braich_).[76] These words, with the Gaulish _brace_, "spelt,"[77] are +connected with the name of this god, who was a divine personification of +the substance from which the drink was made which produced, according to +primitive ideas, the divine frenzy of intoxication. It is not clear why +Mars should have been equated with this god. + +Cæsar says that the Celtic Juppiter governed heaven. A god who carries a +wheel, probably a sun-god, and another, a god of thunder, called +Taranis, seem to have been equated with Juppiter. The sun-god with the +wheel was not equated with Apollo, who seems to have represented Celtic +sun-gods only in so far as they were also gods of healing. In some cases +the god with the wheel carries also a thunderbolt, and on some altars, +dedicated to Juppiter, both a wheel and a thunderbolt are figured. Many +races have symbolised the sun as a circle or wheel, and an old Roman +god, Summanus, probably a sun-god, later assimilated to Juppiter, had as +his emblem a wheel. The Celts had the same symbolism, and used the wheel +symbol as an amulet,[78] while at the midsummer festivals blazing +wheels, symbolising the sun, were rolled down a slope. Possibly the god +carries a thunderbolt because the Celts, like other races, believed that +lightning was a spark from the sun. + +Three divinities have claims to be the god whom Cæsar calls Dispater--a +god with a hammer, a crouching god called Cernunnos, and a god called +Esus or Silvanus. Possibly the native Dispater was differently envisaged +in different districts, so that these would be local forms of one god. + +1. The god Taranis mentioned by Lucan is probably the Taranoos and +Taranucnos of inscriptions, sometimes equated with Juppiter.[79] These +names are connected with Celtic words for "thunder"; hence Taranis is a +thunder-god. The scholiasts on Lucan identify him now with Juppiter, now +with Dispater. This latter identification is supported by many who +regard the god with the hammer as at once Taranis and Dispater, though +it cannot be proved that the god with the hammer is Taranis. On one +inscription the hammer-god is called Sucellos; hence we may regard +Taranis as a distinct deity, a thunder-god, equated with Juppiter, and +possibly represented by the Taran of the Welsh tale of _Kulhwych_.[80] + +Primitive men, whose only weapon and tool was a stone axe or hammer, +must have regarded it as a symbol of force, then of supernatural force, +hence of divinity. It is represented on remains of the Stone Age, and +the axe was a divine symbol to the Mycenæans, a hieroglyph of Neter to +the Egyptians, and a worshipful object to Polynesians and Chaldeans. The +cult of axe or hammer may have been widespread, and to the Celts, as to +many other peoples, it was a divine symbol. Thus it does not necessarily +denote a thunderbolt, but rather power and might, and possibly, as the +tool which shaped things, creative might. The Celts made _ex voto_ +hammers of lead, or used axe-heads as amulets, or figured them on altars +and coins, and they also placed the hammer in the hand of a god.[81] + +The god with the hammer is a gracious bearded figure, clad in Gaulish +dress, and he carries also a cup. His plastic type is derived from that +of the Alexandrian Serapis, ruler of the underworld, and that of +Hades-Pluto.[82] His emblems, especially that of the hammer, are also +those of the Pluto of the Etruscans, with whom the Celts had been in +contact.[83] He is thus a Celtic Dispater, an underworld god, possibly +at one time an Earth-god and certainly a god of fertility, and ancestor +of the Celtic folk. In some cases, like Serapis, he carries a _modius_ +on his head, and this, like the cup, is an emblem of chthonian gods, and +a symbol of the fertility of the soil. The god being benevolent, his +hammer, like the tool with which man forms so many things, could only be +a symbol of creative force.[84] As an ancestor of the Celts, the god is +naturally represented in Celtic dress. In one bas-relief he is called +Sucellos, and has a consort, Nantosvelta.[85] Various meanings have been +assigned to "Sucellos," but it probably denotes the god's power of +striking with the hammer. M. D'Arbois hence regards him as a god of +blight and death, like Balor.[86] But though this Celtic Dispater was a +god of the dead who lived on in the underworld, he was not necessarily a +destructive god. The underworld god was the god from whom or from whose +kingdom men came forth, and he was also a god of fertility. To this we +shall return. + +2. A bearded god, probably squatting, with horns from each of which +hangs a torque, is represented on an altar found at Paris.[87] He is +called Cernunnos, perhaps "the horned," from _cerna_, "horn," and a +whole group of nameless gods, with similar or additional attributes, +have affinities with him. + +(a) A bronze statuette from Autun represents a similar figure, probably +horned, who presents a torque to two ram's-headed serpents. Fixed above +his ears are two small heads.[88] On a monument from Vandoeuvres is a +squatting horned god, pressing a sack. Two genii stand beside him on a +serpent, while one of them holds a torque.[89] + +(b) Another squatting horned figure with a torque occurs on an altar +from Reims. He presses a bag, from which grain escapes, and on it an ox +and stag are feeding. A rat is represented on the pediment above, and on +either side stand Apollo and Mercury.[90] On the altar of Saintes is a +squatting but headless god with torque and purse. Beside him is a +goddess with a cornucopia, and a smaller divinity with a cornucopia and +an apple. A similar squatting figure, supported by male and female +deities, is represented on the other side of the altar.[91] On the altar +of Beaune are three figures, one horned with a cornucopia, another +three-headed, holding a basket.[92] Three figures, one female and two +male, are found on the Dennevy altar. One god is three-faced, the other +has a cornucopia, which he offers to a serpent.[93] + +(c) Another image represents a three-faced god, holding a serpent with a +ram's head.[94] + +(d) Above a seated god and goddess on an altar from Malmaison is a block +carved to represent three faces. To be compared with these are seven +steles from Reims, each with a triple face but only one pair of eyes. +Above some of these is a ram's head. On an eighth stele the heads are +separated.[95] + +Cernunnos may thus have been regarded as a three-headed, horned, +squatting god, with a torque and ram's-headed serpent. But a horned god +is sometimes a member of a triad, perhaps representing myths in which +Cernunnos was associated with other gods. The three-headed god may be +the same as the horned god, though on the Beaune altar they are +distinct. The various representations are linked together, but it is not +certain that all are varying types of one god. Horns, torque, horned +snake, or even the triple head may have been symbols pertaining to more +than one god, though generally associated with Cernunnos. + +The squatting attitude of the god has been differently explained, and +its affinities regarded now as Buddhist, now as Greco-Egyptian.[96] But +if the god is a Dispater, and the ancestral god of the Celts, it is +natural, as M. Mowat points out, to represent him in the typical +attitude of the Gauls when sitting, since they did not use seats.[97] +While the horns were probably symbols of power and worn also by chiefs +on their helmets,[98] they may also show that the god was an +anthropomorphic form of an earlier animal god, like the wolf-skin of +other gods. Hence also horned animals would be regarded as symbols of +the god, and this may account for their presence on the Reims monument. +Animals are sometimes represented beside the divinities who were their +anthropomorphic forms.[99] Similarly the ram's-headed serpent points to +animal worship. But its presence with three-headed and horned gods is +enigmatic, though, as will be seen later, it may have been connected +with a cult of the dead, while the serpent was a chthonian animal.[100] +These gods were gods of fertility and of the underworld of the dead. +While the bag or purse (interchangeable with the cornucopia) was a +symbol of Mercury, it was also a symbol of Pluto, and this may point to +the fact that the gods who bear it had the same character as Pluto. The +significance of the torque is also doubtful, but the Gauls offered +torques to the gods, and they may have been regarded as vehicles of the +warrior's strength which passed from him to the god to whom the victor +presented it. + +Though many attempts have been made to prove the non-Celtic origin of +the three-headed divinities or of their images,[101] there is no reason +why the conception should not be Celtic, based on some myth now lost to +us. The Celts had a cult of human heads, and fixed them up on their +houses in order to obtain the protection of the ghost. Bodies or heads +of dead warriors had a protective influence on their land or tribe, and +myth told how the head of the god Bran saved his country from invasion. +In other myths human heads speak after being cut off.[102] It might thus +easily have been believed that the representation of a god's head had a +still more powerful protective influence, especially when it was +triplicated, thus looking in all directions, like Janus. + +The significance of the triad on these monuments is uncertain but since +the supporting divinities are now male, now female, now male and female, +it probably represents myths of which the horned or three-headed god was +the central figure. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong in regarding such +gods, on the whole, as Cernunnos, a god of abundance to judge by his +emblems, and by the cornucopia held by his companions, probably +divinities of fertility. In certain cases figures of squatting and +horned goddesses with cornucopia occur.[103] These may be consorts of +Cernunnos, and perhaps preceded him in origin. We may also go further +and see in this god of abundance and fertility at once an Earth and an +Under-earth god, since earth and under-earth are much the same to +primitive thought, and fertility springs from below the earth's surface. +Thus Cernunnos would be another form of the Celtic Dispater. Generally +speaking, the images of Cernunnos are not found where those of the god +with the hammer (Dispater) are most numerous. These two types may thus +be different local forms of Dispater. The squatting attitude of +Cernunnos is natural in the image of the ancestor of a people who +squatted. As to the symbols of plenty, we know that Pluto was confounded +with Plutus, the god of riches, because corn and minerals came out of +the earth, and were thus the gifts of an Earth or Under-earth god. +Celtic myth may have had the same confusion. + +On a Paris altar and on certain steles a god attacks a serpent with a +club. The serpent is a chthonian animal, and the god, called Smertullos, +may be a Dispater.[104] Gods who are anthropomorphic forms of earlier +animal divinities, sometimes have the animals as symbols or attendants, +or are regarded as hostile to them. In some cases Dispater may have +outgrown the serpent symbolism, the serpent being regarded locally as +his foe; this assumes that the god with the club is the same as the god +with the hammer. But in the case of Cernunnos the animal remained as his +symbol. + +Dispater was a god of growth and fertility, and besides being lord of +the underworld of the dead, not necessarily a dark region or the abode +of "dark" gods as is so often assumed by writers on Celtic religion, he +was ancestor of the living. This may merely have meant that, as in other +mythologies, men came to the surface of the earth from an underground +region, like all things whose roots struck deep down into the earth. The +lord of the underworld would then easily be regarded as their +ancestor.[105] + +3. The hammer and the cup are also the symbols of a god called Silvanus, +identified by M. Mowat with Esus,[106] a god represented cutting down a +tree with an axe. Axe and hammer, however, are not necessarily +identical, and the symbols are those of Dispater, as has been seen. A +purely superficial connection between the Roman Silvanus and the Celtic +Dispater may have been found by Gallo-Roman artists in the fact that +both wear a wolf-skin, while there may once have been a Celtic wolf +totem-god of the dead.[107] The Roman god was also associated with the +wolf. This might be regarded as one out of many examples of a mere +superficial assimilation of Roman and Celtic divinities, but in this +case they still kept certain symbols of the native Dispater--the cup and +hammer. Of course, since the latter was also a god of fertility, there +was here another link with Silvanus, a god of woods and vegetation. The +cult of the god was widespread--in Spain, S. Gaul, the Rhine provinces, +Cisalpine Gaul, Central Europe and Britain. But one inscription gives +the name Selvanos, and it is not impossible that there was a native god +Selvanus. If so, his name may have been derived from _selva_, +"possession," Irish _sealbh_, "possession," "cattle," and he may have +been a chthonian god of riches, which in primitive communities consisted +of cattle.[108] Domestic animals, in Celtic mythology, were believed to +have come from the god's land. Selvanus would thus be easily identified +with Silvanus, a god of flocks. + +Thus the Celtic Dispater had various names and forms in different +regions, and could be assimilated to different foreign gods. Since Earth +and Under-earth are so nearly connected, this divinity may once have +been an Earth-god, and as such perhaps took the place of an earlier +Earth-mother, who now became his consort or his mother. On a monument +from Salzbach, Dispater is accompanied by a goddess called Aeracura, +holding a basket of fruit, and on another monument from Ober-Seebach, +the companion of Dispater holds a cornucopia. In the latter instance +Dispater holds a hammer and cup, and the goddess may be Aeracura. +Aeracura is also associated with Dispater in several inscriptions.[109] +It is not yet certain that she is a Celtic goddess, but her presence +with this evidently Celtic god is almost sufficient proof of the fact. +She may thus represent the old Earth-goddess, whose place the native +Dispater gradually usurped. + +Lucan mentions a god Esus, who is represented on a Paris altar as a +woodman cutting down a tree, the branches of which are carried round to +the next side of the altar, on which is represented a bull with three +cranes--Tarvos Trigaranos. The same figure, unnamed, occurs on another +altar at Trèves, but in this case the bull's head appears in the +branches, and on them sit the birds. M. Reinach applies one formula to +the subjects of these altars--"The divine Woodman hews the Tree of the +Bull with Three Cranes."[110] The whole represents some myth unknown to +us, but M. D'Arbois finds in it some allusion to events in the +Cúchulainn saga. To this we shall return.[111] Bull and tree are perhaps +both divine, and if the animal, like the images of the divine bull, is +three-horned, then the three cranes (_garanus_, "crane") may be a rebus +for three-horned (_trikeras_), or more probably three-headed +(_trikarenos_).[112] In this case woodman, tree, and bull might all be +representatives of a god of vegetation. In early ritual, human, animal, +or arboreal representatives of the god were periodically destroyed to +ensure fertility, but when the god became separated from these +representatives, the destruction or slaying was regarded as a sacrifice +to the god, and myths arose telling how he had once slain the animal. In +this case, tree and bull, really identical, would be mythically regarded +as destroyed by the god whom they had once represented. If Esus was a +god of vegetation, once represented by a tree, this would explain why, +as the scholiast on Lucan relates, human sacrifices to Esus were +suspended from a tree. Esus was worshipped at Paris and at Trèves; a +coin with the name Æsus was found in England; and personal names like +Esugenos, "son of Esus," and Esunertus, "he who has the strength of +Esus," occur in England, France, and Switzerland.[113] Thus the cult of +this god may have been comparatively widespread. But there is no +evidence that he was a Celtic Jehovah or a member, with Teutates and +Taranis, of a pan-Celtic triad, or that this triad, introduced by Gauls, +was not accepted by the Druids.[114] Had such a great triad existed, +some instance of the occurrence of the three names on one inscription +would certainly have been found. Lucan does not refer to the gods as a +triad, nor as gods of all the Celts, or even of one tribe. He lays +stress merely on the fact that they were worshipped with human +sacrifice, and they were apparently more or less well-known local +gods.[115] + +The insular Celts believed that some of their gods lived on or in hills. +We do not know whether such a belief was entertained by the Gauls, +though some of their deities were worshipped on hills, like the Puy de +Dôme. There is also evidence of mountain worship among them. One +inscription runs, "To the Mountains"; a god of the Pennine Alps, +Poeninus, was equated with Juppiter; and the god of the Vosges mountains +was called Vosegus, perhaps still surviving in the giant supposed to +haunt them.[116] + +Certain grouped gods, _Dii Casses_, were worshipped by Celts on the +right bank of the Rhine, but nothing is known regarding their functions, +unless they were road gods. The name means "beautiful" or "pleasant," +and _Cassi_ appears in personal and tribal names, and also in +_Cassiterides_, an early name of Britain, perhaps signifying that the +new lands were "more beautiful" than those the Celts had left. When tin +was discovered in Britain, the Mediterranean traders called it [Greek: +chassiteros], after the name of the place where it was found, as +_cupreus_, "copper," was so called from Cyprus.[117] + +Many local tutelar divinities were also worshipped. When a new +settlement was founded, it was placed under the protection of a tribal +god, or the name of some divinised river on whose banks the village was +placed, passed to the village itself, and the divinity became its +protector. Thus Dea Bibracte, Nemausus, and Vasio were tutelar +divinities of Bibracte, Nimes, and Vaison. Other places were called +after Belenos, or a group of divinities, usually the _Matres_ with a +local epithet, watched over a certain district.[118] The founding of a +town was celebrated in an annual festival, with sacrifices and libations +to the protecting deity, a practice combated by S. Eloi in the eighth +century. But the custom of associating a divinity with a town or region +was a great help to patriotism. Those who fought for their homes felt +that they were fighting for their gods, who also fought on their side. +Several inscriptions, "To the genius of the place," occur in Britain, +and there are a few traces of tutelar gods in Irish texts, but generally +local saints had taken their place. + +The Celtic cult of goddesses took two forms, that of individual and that +of grouped goddesses, the latter much more numerous than the grouped +gods. Individual goddesses were worshipped as consorts of gods, or as +separate personalities, and in the latter case the cult was sometimes +far extended. Still more popular was the cult of grouped goddesses. Of +these the _Matres_, like some individual goddesses, were probably early +Earth-mothers, and since the primitive fertility-cults included all that +might then be summed up as "civilisation," such goddesses had already +many functions, and might the more readily become divinities of special +crafts or even of war. Many individual goddesses are known only by their +names, and were of a purely local character.[119] Some local goddesses +with different names but similar functions are equated with the same +Roman goddess; others were never so equated. + +The Celtic Minerva, or the goddesses equated with her, "taught the +elements of industry and the arts,"[120] and is thus the equivalent of +the Irish Brigit. Her functions are in keeping with the position of +woman as the first civiliser--discovering agriculture, spinning, the art +of pottery, etc. During this period goddesses were chiefly worshipped, +and though the Celts had long outgrown this primitive stage, such +culture-goddesses still retained their importance. A goddess equated +with Minerva in Southern France and Britain is Belisama, perhaps from +_qval_, "to burn" or "shine."[121] Hence she may have been associated +with a cult of fire, like Brigit and like another goddess Sul, equated +with Minerva at Bath and in Hesse, and in whose temple perpetual fires +burned.[122] She was also a goddess of hot springs. Belisama gave her +name to the Mersey,[123] and many goddesses in Celtic myth are +associated with rivers. + +Some war-goddesses are associated with Mars--Nemetona (in Britain and +Germany), perhaps the same as the Irish Nemon, and Cathubodua, identical +with the Irish war-goddess Badb-catha, "battle-crow," who tore the +bodies of the slain.[124] Another goddess Andrasta, "invincible," +perhaps the same as the Andarta of the Voconces, was worshipped by the +people of Boudicca with human sacrifices, like the native Bellona of the +Scordisci.[125] + +A goddess of the chase was identified with Artemis in Galatia, where she +had a priestess Camma, and also in the west. At the feast of the +Galatian goddess dogs were crowned with flowers, her worshippers feasted +and a sacrifice was made to her, feast and sacrifice being provided out +of money laid aside for every animal taken in the chase.[126] Other +goddesses were equated with Diana, and one of her statues was destroyed +in Christian times at Trèves.[127] These goddesses may have been thought +of as rushing through the forest with an attendant train, since in later +times Diana, with whom they were completely assimilated, became, like +Holda, the leader of the "furious host" and also of witches' +revels.[128] The Life of Cæsarius of Arles speaks of a "demon" called +Diana by the rustics. A bronze statuette represents the goddess riding a +wild boar,[129] her symbol and, like herself, a creature of the forest, +but at an earlier time itself a divinity of whom the goddess became the +anthropomorphic form. + +Goddesses, the earlier spirits of the waters, protected rivers and +springs, or were associated with gods of healing wells. Dirona or Sirona +is associated with Grannos mainly in Eastern Gaul and the Rhine +provinces, and is sometimes represented carrying grapes and grain.[130] +Thus this goddess may once have been connected with fertility, perhaps +an Earth-mother, and if her name means "the long-lived,"[131] this would +be an appropriate title for an Earth-goddess. Another goddess, Stanna, +mentioned in an inscription at Perigueux, is perhaps "the standing or +abiding one," and thus may also have been Earth-goddess.[132] Grannos +was also associated with the local goddesses Vesunna and Aventia, who +gave their names to Vesona and Avanche. His statue also stood in the +temple of the goddess of the Seine, Sequana.[133] With Bormo were +associated Bormana in Southern Gaul, and Damona in Eastern Gaul--perhaps +an animal goddess, since the root of her name occurs in Irish _dam_, +"ox," and Welsh _dafad_, "sheep." Dea Brixia was the consort of +Luxovius, god of the waters of Luxeuil. Names of other goddesses of the +waters are found on _ex votos_ and plaques which were placed in or near +them. The Roman Nymphæ, sometimes associated with Bormo, were the +equivalents of the Celtic water-goddesses, who survived in the +water-fairies of later folk-belief. Some river-goddesses gave their +names to many rivers in the Celtic area--the numerous Avons being named +from Abnoba, goddess of the sources of the Danube, and the many Dees and +Dives from Divona. Clota was goddess of the Clyde, Sabrina had her +throne "beneath the translucent wave" of the Severn, Icauna was goddess +of the Yonne, Sequana of the Seine, and Sinnan of the Shannon. + +In some cases forests were ruled by goddesses--that of the Ardennes by +Dea Arduinna, and the Black Forest, perhaps because of the many waters +in it, by Dea Abnoba.[134] While some goddesses are known only by being +associated with a god, e.g. Kosmerta with Mercury in Eastern Gaul, +others have remained separate, like Epona, perhaps a river-goddess +merged with an animal divinity, and known from inscriptions as a +horse-goddess.[135] But the most striking instance is found in the +grouped goddesses. + +Of these the _Deoe Matres_, whose name has taken a Latin form and whose +cult extended to the Teutons, are mentioned in many inscriptions all +over the Celtic area, save in East and North-West Gaul.[136] In art they +are usually represented as three in number, holding fruit, flowers, a +cornucopia, or an infant. They were thus goddesses of fertility, and +probably derived from a cult of a great Mother-goddess, the Earth +personified. She may have survived as a goddess Berecynthia; worshipped +at Autun, where her image was borne through the fields to promote +fertility, or as the goddesses equated with Demeter and Kore, worshipped +by women on an island near Britain.[137] Such cults of a Mother-goddess +lie behind many religions, but gradually her place was taken by an +Earth-god, the Celtic Dispater or Dagda, whose consort the goddess +became. She may therefore be the goddess with the cornucopia on +monuments of the horned god, or Aeracura, consort of Dispater, or a +goddess on a monument at Epinal holding a basket of fruit and a +cornucopia, and accompanied by a ram's-headed serpent.[138] These +symbols show that this goddess was akin to the _Matres_. But she +sometimes preserved her individuality, as in the case of Berecynthia and +the _Matres_, though it is not quite clear why she should have been thus +triply multiplied. A similar phenomenon is found in the close connection +of Demeter and Persephone, while the Celts regarded three as a sacred +number. The primitive division of the year into three seasons--spring, +summer, and winter--may have had its effect in triplicating a goddess of +fertility with which the course of the seasons was connected.[139] In +other mythologies groups of three goddesses are found, the Hathors in +Egypt, the Moirai, Gorgons, and Graiæ of Greece, the Roman Fates, and +the Norse Nornæ, and it is noticeable that the _Matres_ were sometimes +equated with the Parcæ and Fates.[140] + +In the _Matres_, primarily goddesses of fertility and plenty, we have +one of the most popular and also primitive aspects of Celtic religion. +They originated in an age when women cultivated the ground, and the +Earth was a goddess whose cult was performed by priestesses. But in +course of time new functions were bestowed on the _Matres_. Possibly +river-goddesses and others are merely mothers whose functions have +become specialised. The _Matres_ are found as guardians of individuals, +families, houses, of towns, a province, or a whole nation, as their +epithets in inscriptions show. The _Matres Domesticæ_ are household +goddesses; the _Matres Treveræ_, or _Gallaicæ_, or _Vediantæ_, are the +mothers of Trèves, of the Gallaecæ, of the Vediantii; the _Matres +Nemetiales_ are guardians of groves. Besides presiding over the fields +as _Matres Campestræ_ they brought prosperity to towns and people.[141] +They guarded women, especially in childbirth, as _ex votos_ prove, and +in this aspect they are akin to the _Junones_ worshipped also in Gaul +and Britain. The name thus became generic for most goddesses, but all +alike were the lineal descendants of the primitive Earth-mother.[142] + +Popular superstition has preserved the memory of these goddesses in the +three _bonnes dames_, _dames blanches_, and White Women, met by +wayfarers in forests, or in the three fairies or wise women of +folk-tales, who appear at the birth of children. But sometimes they have +become hateful hags. The _Matres_ and other goddesses probably survived +in the beneficent fairies of rocks and streams, in the fairy Abonde who +brought riches to houses, or Esterelle of Provence who made women +fruitful, or Aril who watched over meadows, or in beings like Melusine, +Viviane, and others.[143] In Gallo-Roman Britain the cult of the +_Matres_ is found, but how far it was indigenous there is uncertain. A +Welsh name for fairies, _Y Mamau_, "the Mothers," and the phrase, "the +blessing of the Mothers" used of a fairy benediction, may be a +reminiscence of such goddesses.[144] The presence of similar goddesses +in Ireland will be considered later.[145] Images of the _Matres_ bearing +a child have sometimes been taken for those of the Virgin, when found +accidentally, and as they are of wood blackened with age, they are known +as _Vierges Noires_, and occupy an honoured place in Christian +sanctuaries. Many churches of Nôtre Dame have been built on sites where +an image of the Virgin is said to have been miraculously found--the +image probably being that of a pagan Mother. Similarly, an altar to the +_Matres_ at Vaison is now dedicated to the Virgin as the "good +Mother."[146] + +In inscriptions from Eastern and Cisalpine Gaul, and from the Rhine and +Danube region, the _Matronæ_ are mentioned, and this name is probably +indicative of goddesses like the _Matres_.[147] It is akin to that of +many rivers, e.g. the Marne or Meyrone, and shows that the Mothers were +associated with rivers. The Mother river fertilised a large district, +and exhibited the characteristic of the whole group of goddesses. + +Akin also to the _Matres_ are the _Suleviæ_, guardian goddesses called +_Matres_ in a few inscriptions; the _Comedovæ_, whose name perhaps +denotes guardianship or power; the _Dominæ_, who watched over the home, +perhaps the _Dames_ of mediæval folk-lore; and the _Virgines_, perhaps +an appellative of the _Matres_, and significant when we find that virgin +priestesses existed in Gaul and Ireland.[148] The _Proxumæ_ were +worshipped in Southern Gaul, and the _Quadriviæ_, goddesses of +cross-roads, at Cherbourg.[149] + +Some Roman gods are found on inscriptions without being equated with +native deities. They may have been accepted by the Gauls as new gods, or +they had perhaps completely ousted similar native gods. Others, not +mentioned by Cæsar, are equated with native deities, Juno with Clivana, +Saturn with Arvalus, and to a native Vulcan the Celts vowed spoils of +war.[150] Again, many native gods are not equated with Roman deities on +inscriptions. Apart from the divinities of Pyrenæan inscriptions, who +may not be Celtic, the names of over 400 native deities, whether equated +with Roman gods or not, are known. Some of these names are mere +epithets, and most of the gods are of a local character, known here by +one name, there by another. Only in a very few cases can it be asserted +that a god was worshipped over the whole Celtic area by one name, though +some gods in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland with different names have +certainly similar functions.[151] + +The pantheon of the continental Celts was a varied one. Traces of the +primitive agricultural rites, and of the priority of goddesses to gods, +are found, and the vaguer aspects of primitive nature worship are seen +behind the cult of divinities of sky, sun, thunder, forests, rivers, or +in deities of animal origin. We come next to evidence of a higher stage, +in divinities of culture, healing, the chase, war, and the underworld. +We see divinities of Celtic groups--gods of individuals, the family, the +tribe. Sometimes war-gods assumed great prominence, in time of war, or +among the aristocracy, but with the development of commerce, gods +associated with trade and the arts of peace came to the front.[152] At +the same time the popular cults of agricultural districts must have +remained as of old. With the adoption of Roman civilisation, enlightened +Celts separated themselves from the lower aspects of their religion, but +this would have occurred with growing civilisation had no Roman ever +entered Gaul. In rural districts the more savage aspects of the cult +would still have remained, but that these were entirely due to an +aboriginal population is erroneous. The Celts must have brought such +cults with them or adopted cults similar to their own wherever they +came. The persistence of these cults is seen in the fact that though +Christianity modified them, it could not root them out, and in +out-of-the-way corners, survivals of the old ritual may still be found, +for everywhere the old religion of the soil dies hard. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[53] Cæsar, _de Bell. Gall._ vi. 17, 18. + +[54] Bloch (Lavisse), _Hist, de France_, i. 2, 419; Reinaoh, _BF_ 13, +23. + +[55] _Trans. Gaelic Soc. of Inverness_, xxvi. p. 411 f. + +[56] Vallentin, _Les Dieux de la cité des Allobroges_, 15; Pliny, _HN_ +xxxiv. 7. + +[57] These names are Alaunius, Arcecius, Artaius, Arvernorix, Arvernus, +Adsmerius, Canetonensis, Clavariatis, Cissonius, Cimbrianus, Dumiatis, +Magniacus, Moecus, Toeirenus, Vassocaletus, Vellaunus, Visuoius, +Biausius, Cimiacinus, Naissatis. See Holder, _s.v._ + +[58] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 6. + +[59] Hübner, vii. 271; _CIL_ iii. 5773. + +[60] Lucian, _Heracles_, 1 f. Some Gaulish coins figure a head to which +are bound smaller heads. In one case the cords issue from the mouth +(Blanchet, i. 308, 316-317). These may represent Lucian's Ogmíos, but +other interpretations have been put upon them. See Robert, _RC_ vii. +388; Jullian, 84. + +[61] The epithets and names are Anextiomarus, Belenos, Bormo, Borvo, or +Bormanus, Cobledulitavus, Cosmis (?), Grannos, Livicus, Maponos, Mogo or +Mogounos, Sianus, Toutiorix, Viudonnus, Virotutis. See Holder, _s.v._ + +[62] Pommerol, _Ball. de Soc. d'ant. de Paris_, ii. fasc. 4. + +[63] See Holder, _s.v._ Many place-names are derived from _Borvo, e.g._ +Bourbon l'Archambaut, which gave its name to the Bourbon dynasty, thus +connected with an old Celtic god. + +[64] See p. 102, _infra_. + +[65] Jul. Cap. _Maxim._ 22; Herodian, viii. 3; Tert. _Apol._ xxiv. 70; +Auson. _Prof._ xi. 24. + +[66] Stokes derives _belinuntia_ from _beljo_-, a tree or leaf, Irish +_bile_, _US_ 174. + +[67] Holder, _s.v._; Stokes, _US_ 197; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 23; see p. 180, +_infra_. + +[68] Diod. Sic. ii. 47. + +[69] Apoll. Rhod. iv. 609. + +[70] Albiorix, Alator, Arixo, Beladonnis, Barrex, Belatucadros, +Bolvinnus, Braciaca, Britovis, Buxenus, Cabetius, Camulus, Cariocecius, +Caturix, Cemenelus, Cicollius, Carrus, Cocosus, Cociduis, Condatis, +Cnabetius, Corotiacus, Dinomogetimarus, Divanno, Dunatis, Glarinus, +Halamardus, Harmogius, Ieusdriuus, Lacavus, Latabius, Leucetius, +Leucimalacus, Lenus, Mullo, Medocius, Mogetius, Nabelcus, Neton, Ocelos, +Ollondios, Rudianus, Rigisamus, Randosatis, Riga, Segomo, Sinatis, +Smertatius, Toutates, Tritullus, Vesucius, Vincius, Vitucadros, +Vorocius. See Holder, _s.v._ + +[71] D'Arbois, ii. 215; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 37. + +[72] So Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 42. + +[73] Hübner, 61. + +[74] Holder, _s.v._; Lucan, i. 444 f. The opinions of writers who take +this view are collected by Reinach, _RC_ xviii. 137. + +[75] Holder, _s.v._ The Gaulish name Camulogenus, "born of Cumel," +represents the same idea as in Fionn's surname, MacCumall. + +[76] Athen. iv. 36; Dioscorides, ii. 110; Joyce, _SH_ ii. 116, 120; _IT_ +i. 437, 697. + +[77] Pliny, _HN_ xviii. 7. + +[78] Gaidoz, _Le Dieu Gaulois de Soleil_; Reinach, _CS_ 98, _BF_ 35; +Blanchet, i. 27. + +[79] Lucan, _Phar._ i. 444. Another form, Tanaros, may be simply the +German Donar. + +[80] Loth, i. 270. + +[81] Gaidoz, _RC_ vi. 457; Reinach, _OS_ 65, 138; Blanchet, i. 160. The +hammer is also associated with another Celtic Dispater, equated with +Sylvanus, who was certainly not a thunder-god. + +[82] Reinach, _BF_ 137 f.; Courcelle-Seneuil, 115 f. + +[83] Barthelemy, _RC_ i. l f. + +[84] See Flouest, _Rev. Arch._ v. 17. + +[85] Reinach, _RC_ xvii. 45. + +[86] D'Arbois, ii. 126. He explains Nantosvelta as meaning "She who is +brilliant in war." The goddess, however, has none of the attributes of a +war-goddess. M. D'Arbois also saw in a bas-relief of the hammer-god, a +female figure, and a child, the Gaulish equivalents of Balor, Ethne, and +Lug (_RC_ xv. 236). M. Reinach regards Sucellos, Nantosvelta, and a bird +which is figured with them, as the same trio, because pseudo-Plutarch +(_de Fluv._ vi. 4) says that _lougos_ means "crow" in Celtic. This is +more than doubtful. In any case Ethne has no warlike traits in Irish +story, and as Lug and Balor were deadly enemies, it remains to be +explained why they appear tranquilly side by side. See _RC_ xxvi. 129. +Perhaps Nantosvelta, like other Celtic goddesses, was a river nymph. +_Nanto_ Gaulish is "valley," and _nant_ in old Breton is "gorge" or +"brook." Her name might mean "shining river." See Stokes, _US_ 193, 324. + +[87] _RC_ xviii. 254. Cernunnos may be the Juppiter Cernenos of an +inscription from Pesth, Holder, _s.v._ + +[88] Reinach, _BF_ 186, fig. 177. + +[89] _Rev. Arch._ xix. 322, pl. 9. + +[90] Bertrand, _Rev. Arch._ xv. 339, xvi. pl. 12. + +[91] Ibid. xv. pl. 9, 10. + +[92] Ibid. xvi. 9. + +[93] Ibid. pl. 12 _bis_. + +[94] Bertrand, _Rev. Arch._ xvi. 8. + +[95] Ibid. xvi. 10 f. + +[96] Ibid. xv., xvi.; Reinach, _BF_ 17, 191. + +[97] _Bull. Epig._ i. 116; Strabo, iv. 3; Diod. Sic. v. 28. + +[98] Diod. Sic. v. 30; Reinach, _BF_ 193. + +[99] See p. 212, _infra_. + +[100] See p. 166, _infra_. + +[101] See, e.g., Mowat, _Bull. Epig._ i. 29; de Witte, _Rev. Arch._ ii. +387, xvi. 7; Bertrand, _ibid._ xvi. 3. + +[102] See pp. 102, 242, _infra_; Joyce, _SH_ ii. 554; Curtin, 182; _RC_ +xxii. 123, xxiv. 18. + +[103] Dom Martin, ii. 185; Reinach, _BF_ 192, 199. + +[104] See, however, p. 136, _infra_; and for another interpretation of +this god as equivalent of the Irish Lug slaying Balor, see D'Arbois, ii. +287. + +[105] See p. 229, _infra_. + +[106] Reinach, _BF_ 162, 184; Mowat, _Bull. Epig._ i. 62, _Rev. Epig._ +1887, 319, 1891, 84. + +[107] Reinach, _BF_ 141, 153, 175, 176, 181; see p. 218, _infra_. +Flouest, _Rev. Arch._ 1885, i. 21, thinks that the identification was +with an earlier chthonian Silvanus. Cf. Jullian, 17, note 3, who +observes that the Gallo-Roman assimilations were made "sur le doinaine +archaisant des faits populaires et rustiques de l'Italie." For the +inscriptions, see Holder, _s.v._ + +[108] Stokes, _US_ 302; MacBain, 274; _RC_ xxvi. 282. + +[109] Gaidoz, _Rev. Arch._ ii. 1898; Mowat, _Bull. Epig._ i. 119; +Courcelle-Seneuil, 80 f.; Pauly-Wissowa, _Real. Lex._ i. 667; +Daremberg-Saglio, _Dict._ ii., _s.v._ "Dispater." + +[110] Lucan, i. 444; _RC_ xviii. 254, 258. + +[111] See p. 127, _infra_. + +[112] For a supposed connection between this bas-relief and the myth of +Geryon, see Reinach, _BF_ 120; _RC_ xviii. 258 f. + +[113] _Coins of the Ancient Britons_, 386; Holder, i. 1475, 1478. + +[114] For these theories see Dom Martin, ii. 2; Bertrand, 335 f. + +[115] Cf. Reinach, _RC_ xviii. 149. + +[116] Orelli, 2107, 2072; Monnier, 532; Tacitus, xxi. 38. + +[117] Holder, i. 824; Reinach, _Rev. Arch._ xx. 262; D'Arbois, _Les +Celtes_, 20. Other grouped gods are the Bacucei, Castoeci, Icotii, +Ifles, Lugoves, Nervini, and Silvani. See Holder, _s.v._ + +[118] For all these see Holder, _s.v._ + +[119] Professor Anwyl gives the following statistics: There are 35 +goddesses mentioned once, 2 twice, 3 thrice, 1 four times, 2 six times, +2 eleven times, 1 fourteen times (Sirona), 1 twenty-one times +(Rosmerta), 1 twenty-six times (Epona) (_Trans. Gael. Soc. Inverness_, +xxvi. 413). + +[120] Cæsar, vi. 17. + +[121] D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 54; _Rev. Arch._ i. 201. See Holder, +_s.v._ + +[122] Solinus, xxii. 10; Holder, _s.v._ + +[123] Ptolemy, ii. 2. + +[124] See p. 71, _infra_. + +[125] Dio Cass. lxii. 7; Amm. Mare, xxvii. 4. 4. + +[126] Plutarch, _de Vir. Mul._ 20; Arrian, _Cyneg._ xxxiv. 1. + +[127] S. Greg. _Hist._ viii. 15. + +[128] Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 283, 933; Reinach, _RC_ xvi. 261. + +[129] Reinach, _BF_ 50. + +[130] Holder, i. 1286; Robert, _RC_ iv. 133. + +[131] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 27. + +[132] Anwyl, _Celt. Rev._ 1906, 43. + +[133] Holder, _s.v._; Bulliot, _RC_ ii. 22. + +[134] Holder, i. 10, 89. + +[135] Holder, _s.v._; see p. 213, _infra_. + +[136] Holder, ii. 463. They are very numerous in South-East Gaul, where +also three-headed gods are found. + +[137] See pp. 274-5, _infra_. + +[138] Courcelle-Seneuil, 80-81. + +[139] See my article "Calendar" in Hastings' _Encyclop. of Religion and +Ethics_, iii. 80. + +[140] _CIL_ v. 4208, 5771, vii. 927; Holder, ii. 89. + +[141] For all these titles see Holder, _s.v._ + +[142] There is a large literature devoted to the _Matres_. See De Wal, +_Die Mæder Gottinem_; Vallentin, _Le Culte des Matræ_; Daremberg-Saglio, +_Dict. s.v. Matres_; Ihm, _Jahrbuch. des Vereins von Alterth. in +Rheinlande_, No. 83; Roscher, _Lexicon_, ii. 2464 f. + +[143] See Maury, _Fées du Moyen Age_; Sébillot, i. 262; Monnier, 439 f.; +Wright, _Celt, Roman, and Saxon_, 286 f.; Vallentin, _RC_ iv. 29. The +_Matres_ may already have had a sinister aspect in Roman times, as they +appear to be intended by an inscription _Lamiis Tribus_ on an altar at +Newcastle. Hübner, 507. + +[144] Anwyl, _Celt. Rev._ 1906, 28. Cf. _Y Foel Famau_, "the hill of the +Mothers," in the Clwydian range. + +[145] See p. 73, _infra_. + +[146] Vallentin, _op. cit._ iv. 29; Maury, _Croyances du Moyen Age_, +382. + +[147] Holder, _s.v._ + +[148] See pp. 69, 317, _infra_. + +[149] For all these see Holder, _s.v._; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 103; _RC_ iv. 34. + +[150] Florus, ii. 4. + +[151] See the table of identifications, p. 125, _infra_. + +[152] We need not assume with Jullian, 18, that there was one supreme +god, now a war-god, now a god of peace. Any prominent god may have +become a war-god on occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE IRISH MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE. + + +Three divine and heroic cycles of myths are known in Ireland, one +telling of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the others of Cúchulainn and of the +Fians. They are distinct in character and contents, but the gods of the +first cycle often help the heroes of the other groups, as the gods of +Greece and India assisted the heroes of the epics. We shall see that +some of the personages of these cycles may have been known in Gaul; they +are remembered in Wales, but, in the Highlands, where stories of +Cúchulainn and Fionn are still told, the Tuatha Dé Danann are less known +now than in 1567, when Bishop Carsewell lamented the love of the +Highlanders for "idle, turbulent, lying, worldly stories concerning the +Tuatha Dédanans."[153] + +As the new Achæan religion in Greece and the Vedic sacred books of India +regarded the aboriginal gods and heroes as demons and goblins, so did +Christianity in Ireland sometimes speak of the older gods there. On the +other hand, it was mainly Christian scribes who changed the old +mythology into history, and made the gods and heroes kings. Doubtless +myths already existed, telling of the descent of rulers and people from +divinities, just as the Gauls spoke of their descent from Dispater, or +as the Incas of Peru, the Mikados of Japan, and the kings of Uganda +considered themselves offspring of the gods. This is a universal +practice, and made it the more easy for Christian chroniclers to +transmute myth into history. In Ireland, as elsewhere, myth doubtless +told of monstrous races inhabiting the land in earlier days, of the +strife of the aborigines and incomers, and of their gods, though the +aboriginal gods may in some cases have been identified with Celtic gods, +or worshipped in their own persons. Many mythical elements may therefore +be looked for in the euhemerised chronicles of ancient Ireland. But the +chroniclers themselves were but the continuers of a process which must +have been at work as soon as the influence of Christianity began to be +felt.[154] Their passion, however, was to show the descent of the Irish +and the older peoples from the old Biblical personages, a process dear +to the modern Anglo-Israelite, some of whose arguments are based on the +wild romancing of the chroniclers. + +Various stories were told of the first peopling of Ireland. Banba, with +two other daughters of Cain, arrived with fifty women and three men, +only to die of the plague. Three fishermen next discovered Ireland, and +"of the island of Banba of Fair Women with hardihood they took +possession." Having gone to fetch their wives, they perished in the +deluge at Tuath Inba.[155] A more popular account was that of the coming +of Cessair, Noah's granddaughter, with her father, husband, a third man, +Ladru, "the first dead man of Erin," and fifty damsels. Her coming was +the result of the advice of a _laimh-dhia_, or "hand-god," but their +ship was wrecked, and all save her husband, Finntain, who survived for +centuries, perished in the flood.[156] Cessair's ship was less +serviceable than her grandparent's! Followed the race of Partholan, "no +wiser one than the other," who increased on the land until plague swept +them away, with the exception of Tuan mac Caraill, who after many +transformations, told the story of Ireland to S. Finnen centuries +after.[157] The survival of Finntain and Tuan, doubles of each other, +was an invention of the chroniclers, to explain the survival of the +history of colonists who had all perished. Keating, on the other hand, +rejecting the sole survivor theory as contradictory to Scripture, +suggests that "aerial demons," followers of the invaders, revealed all +to the chroniclers, unless indeed they found it engraved with "an iron +pen and lead in the rocks."[158] + +Two hundred years before Partholan's coming, the Fomorians had +arrived,[159] and they and their chief Cichol Gricenchos fought +Partholan at Mag Itha, where they were defeated. Cichol was footless, +and some of his host had but one arm and one leg.[160] They were demons, +according to the chroniclers, and descendants of the luckless Ham. +Nennius makes Partholan and his men the first Scots who came from Spain +to Ireland. The next arrivals were the people of Nemed who returned to +Spain, whence they came (Nennius), or died to a man (Tuan). They also +were descendants of the inevitable Noah, and their sojourn in Ireland +was much disturbed by the Fomorians who had recovered from their defeat, +and finally overpowered the Nemedians after the death of Nemed.[161] +From Tory Island the Fomorians ruled Ireland, and forced the Nemedians +to pay them annually on the eve of Samhain (Nov. 1st) two-thirds of +their corn and milk and of the children born during the year. If the +Fomorians are gods of darkness, or, preferably, aboriginal deities, the +tribute must be explained as a dim memory of sacrifice offered at the +beginning of winter when the powers of darkness and blight are in the +ascendant. The Fomorians had a tower of glass in Tory Island. This was +one day seen by the Milesians, to whom appeared on its battlements what +seemed to be men. A year after they attacked the tower and were +overwhelmed in the sea.[162] From the survivors of a previously wrecked +vessel of their fleet are descended the Irish. Another version makes the +Nemedians the assailants. Thirty of them survived their defeat, some of +them going to Scotland or Man (the Britons), some to Greece (to return +as the Firbolgs), some to the north, where they learned magic and +returned as the Tuatha Dé Danann.[163] The Firbolgs, "men of bags," +resenting their ignominious treatment by the Greeks, escaped to Ireland. +They included the Firbolgs proper, the Fir-Domnann, and the +Galioin.[164] The Fomorians are called their gods, and this, with the +contemptuous epithets bestowed on them, may point to the fact that the +Firbolgs were the pre-Celtic folk of Ireland and the Fomorians their +divinities, hostile to the gods of the Celts or regarded as dark +deities. The Firbolgs are vassals of Ailill and Medb, and with the Fir +Domnann and Galioin are hostile to Cúchulainn and his men,[165] just as +Fomorians were to the Tuatha Dé Danann. The strifes of races and of +their gods are inextricably confused. + +The Tuatha Dé Danann arrived from heaven--an idea in keeping with their +character as beneficent gods, but later legend told how they came from +the north. They reached Ireland on Beltane, shrouded in a magic mist, +and finally, after one or, in other accounts, two battles, defeated the +Firbolgs and Fomorians at Magtured. The older story of one battle may be +regarded as a euhemerised account of the seeming conflict of nature +powers.[166] The first battle is described in a fifteenth to sixteenth +century MS.,[167] and is referred to in a fifteenth century account of +the second battle, full of archaic reminiscences, and composed from +various earlier documents.[168] The Firbolgs, defeated in the first +battle, join the Fomorians, after great losses. Meanwhile Nuada, leader +of the Tuatha Dé Danann, lost his hand, and as no king with a blemish +could sit on the throne, the crown was given to Bres, son of the +Fomorian Elatha and his sister Eri, a woman of the Tuatha Dé Danann. One +day Eri espied a silver boat speeding to her across the sea. From it +stepped forth a magnificent hero, and without delay the pair, like the +lovers in Theocritus, "rejoiced in their wedlock." The hero, Elatha, +foretold the birth of Eri's son, so beautiful that he would be a +standard by which to try all beautiful things. He gave her his ring, but +she was to part with it only to one whose finger it should fit. This was +her child Bres, and by this token he was later, as an exile, recognised +by his father, and obtained his help against the Tuatha Dé Danann. Like +other wonderful children, Bres grew twice as quickly as any other child +until he was seven.[169] Though Elatha and Eri are brother and sister, +she is among the Tuatha Dé Danann.[170] There is the usual inconsistency +of myth here and in other accounts of Fomorian and Tuatha Dé Danann +unions. The latter had just landed, but already had united in marriage +with the Fomorians. This inconsistency escaped the chroniclers, but it +points to the fact that both were divine not human, and that, though in +conflict, they united in marriage as members of hostile tribes often do. + +The second battle took place twenty-seven years after the first, on +Samhain. It was fought like the first on the plain of Mag-tured, though +later accounts made one battle take place at Mag-tured in Mayo, the +other at Mag-tured in Sligo.[171] Inconsistently, the conquering Tuatha +Dé Danann in the interval, while Bres is their king, must pay tribute +imposed by the Fomorians. Obviously in older accounts this tribute must +have been imposed before the first battle and have been its cause. But +why should gods, like the Tuatha Dé Danann, ever have been in +subjection? This remains to be seen, but the answer probably lies in +parallel myths of the subjection or death of divinities like Ishtar, +Adonis, Persephone, and Osiris. Bres having exacted a tribute of the +milk of all hornless dun cows, the cows of Ireland were passed through +fire and smeared with ashes--a myth based perhaps on the Beltane fire +ritual.[172] The avaricious Bres was satirised, and "nought but decay +was on him from that hour,"[173] and when Nuada, having recovered, +claimed the throne, he went to collect an army of the Fomorians, who +assembled against the Tuatha Dé Danann. In the battle Indech wounded +Ogma, and Balor slew Nuada, but was mortally wounded by Lug. Thereupon +the Fomorians fled to their own region. + +The Tuatha Dé Danann remained masters of Ireland until the coming of the +Milesians, so named from an eponymous Mile, son of Bile. Ith, having +been sent to reconnoitre, was slain, and the Milesians now invaded +Ireland in force. In spite of a mist raised by the Druids, they landed, +and, having met the three princes who slew Ith, demanded instant battle +or surrender of the land. The princes agreed to abide by the decision of +the Milesian poet Amairgen, who bade his friends re-embark and retire +for the distance of nine waves. If they could then effect a landing, +Ireland was theirs. A magic storm was raised, which wrecked many of +their ships, but Amairgen recited verses, fragments, perhaps, of some +old ritual, and overcame the dangers. After their defeat the survivors +of the Tuatha Dé Danann retired into the hills to become a fairy folk, +and the Milesians (the Goidels or Scots) became ancestors of the Irish. + +Throughout the long story of the conquests of Ireland there are many +reduplications, the same incidents being often ascribed to different +personages.[174] Different versions of similar occurrences, based on +older myths and traditions, may already have been in existence, and +ritual practices, dimly remembered, required explanation. In the hands +of the chroniclers, writing history with a purpose and combining their +information with little regard to consistency, all this was reduced to a +more or less connected narrative. At the hands of the prosaic +chroniclers divinity passed from the gods, though traces of it still +linger. + + "Ye are gods, and, behold, ye shall die, and the waves be upon you at + last. + In the darkness of time, in the deeps of the years, in the changes of + things, + Ye shall sleep as a slain man sleeps, and the world shall forget you for + kings." + +From the annalistic point of view the Fomorians are sea demons or +pirates, their name being derived from _muir_, "sea," while they are +descended along with other monstrous beings from them. Professor +Rh[^y]s, while connecting the name with Welsh _foawr_, "giant" (Gaelic +_famhair_), derives the name from _fo_, "under," and _muir_, and regards +them as submarine beings.[175] Dr. MacBain connected them with the +fierce powers of the western sea personified, like the _Muireartach_, a +kind of sea hag, of a Fionn ballad.[176] But this association of the +Fomorians with the ocean may be the result of a late folk-etymology, +which wrongly derived their name from _muir_. The Celtic experience of +the Lochlanners or Norsemen, with whom the Fomorians are +associated,[177] would aid the conception of them as sea-pirates of a +more or less demoniacal character. Dr. Stokes connects the second +syllable _mor_ with _mare_ in "nightmare," from _moro_, and regards them +as subterranean as well as submarine.[178] But the more probable +derivation is that of Zimmer and D'Arbois, from _fo_ and _morio_ (_mor_, +"great"),[179] which would thus agree with the tradition which regarded +them as giants. They were probably beneficent gods of the aborigines, +whom the Celtic conquerors regarded as generally evil, perhaps equating +them with the dark powers already known to them. They were still +remembered as gods, and are called "champions of the _síd_," like the +Tuatha Dé Danann.[180] Thus King Bres sought to save his life by +promising that the kine of Ireland would always be in milk, then that +the men of Ireland would reap every quarter, and finally by revealing +the lucky days for ploughing, sowing, and reaping.[181] Only an +autochthonous god could know this, and the story is suggestive of the +true nature of the Fomorians. The hostile character attributed to them +is seen from the fact that they destroyed corn, milk, and fruit. But in +Ireland, as elsewhere, this destructive power was deprecated by begging +them not to destroy "corn nor milk in Erin beyond their fair +tribute."[182] Tribute was also paid to them on Samhain, the time when +the powers of blight feared by men are in the ascendant. Again, the +kingdom of Balor, their chief, is still described as the kingdom of +cold.[183] But when we remember that a similar "tribute" was paid to +Cromm Cruaich, a god of fertility, and that after the conquest of the +Tuatha Dé Danann they also were regarded as hostile to agriculture,[184] +we realise that the Fomorians must have been aboriginal gods of +fertility whom the conquering Celts regarded as hostile to them and +their gods. Similarly, in folk-belief the beneficent corn-spirit has +sometimes a sinister and destructive aspect.[185] Thus the stories of +"tribute" would be distorted reminiscences of the ritual of gods of the +soil, differing little in character from that of the similar Celtic +divinities. What makes it certain that the Fomorians were aboriginal +gods is that they are found in Ireland before the coming of the early +colonist Partholan. They were the gods of the pre-Celtic folk--Firbolgs, +Fir Domnann, and Galioin[186]--all of them in Ireland before the Tuatha +Dé Danaan arrived, and all of them regarded as slaves, spoken of with +the utmost contempt. Another possibility, however, ought to be +considered. As the Celtic gods were local in character, and as groups of +tribes would frequently be hostile to other groups, the Fomorians may +have been local gods of a group at enmity with another group, +worshipping the Tuatha Dé Danaan. + +The strife of Fomorians and Tuatha Dé Danann suggests the dualism of all +nature religions. Demons or giants or monsters strive with gods in +Hindu, Greek, and Teutonic mythology, and in Persia the primitive +dualism of beneficent and hurtful powers of nature became an ethical +dualism--the eternal opposition of good and evil. The sun is vanquished +by cloud and storm, but shines forth again in vigour. Vegetation dies, +but undergoes a yearly renewal. So in myth the immortal gods are wounded +and slain in strife. But we must not push too far the analogy of the +apparent strife of the elements and the wars of the gods. The one +suggested the other, especially where the gods were elemental powers. +But myth-making man easily developed the suggestion; gods were like men +and "could never get eneuch o' fechtin'." The Celts knew of divine +combats before their arrival in Ireland, and their own hostile powers +were easily assimilated to the hostile gods of the aborigines. + +The principal Fomorians are described as kings. Elatha was son of Nét, +described by Cormac as "a battle god of the heathen Gael," i.e. he is +one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and has as wives two war-goddesses, Badb +and Nemaind.[187] Thus he resembles the Fomorian Tethra whose wife is a +_badb_ or "battle-crow," preying on the slain.[188] Elatha's name, +connected with words meaning "knowledge," suggests that he was an +aboriginal culture-god.[189] In the genealogies, Fomorians and Tuatha Dé +Danann are inextricably mingled. Bres's temporary position as king of +the Tuatha Déa may reflect some myth of the occasional supremacy of the +powers of blight. Want and niggardliness characterise his reign, and +after his defeat a better state of things prevails. Bres's consort was +Brigit, and their son Ruadan, sent to spy on the Tuatha Dé Danann, was +slain. His mother's wailing for him was the first mourning wail ever +heard in Erin.[190] Another god, Indech, was son of Déa Domnu, a +Fomorian goddess of the deep, i.e. of the underworld and probably also +of fertility, who may hold a position among the Fomorians similar to +that of Danu among the Tuatha Dé Danann. Indech was slain by Ogma, who +himself died of wounds received from his adversary. + +Balor had a consort Cethlenn, whose venom killed Dagda. His one eye had +become evil by contact with the poisonous fumes of a concoction which +his father's Druids were preparing. The eyelid required four men to +raise it, when his evil eye destroyed all on whom its glance fell. In +this way Balor would have slain Lug at Mag-tured, but the god at once +struck the eye with a sling-stone and slew him.[191] Balor, like the +Greek Medusa, is perhaps a personification of the evil eye, so much +feared by the Celts. Healthful influences and magical charms avert it; +hence Lug, a beneficent god, destroys Balor's maleficence. + +Tethra, with Balor and Elatha, ruled over Erin at the coming of the +Tuatha Dé Danann. From a phrase used in the story of Connla's visit to +Elysium, "Thou art a hero of the men of Tethra," M. D'Arbois assumes +that Tethra was ruler of Elysium, which he makes one with the land of +the dead. The passage, however, bears a different interpretation, and +though a Fomorian, Tethra, a god of war, might be regarded as lord of +all warriors.[192] Elysium was not the land of the dead, and when M. +D'Arbois equates Tethra with Kronos, who after his defeat became ruler +of a land of dead heroes, the analogy, like other analogies with Greek +mythology, is misleading. He also equates Bres, as temporary king of the +Tuatha Dé Danann, with Kronos, king of heaven in the age of gold. +Kronos, again, slain by Zeus, is parallel to Balor slain by his grandson +Lug. Tethra, Bres, and Balor are thus separate fragments of one god +equivalent to Kronos.[193] Yet their personalities are quite distinct. +Each race works out its mythology for itself, and, while parallels are +inevitable, we should not allow these to override the actual myths as +they have come down to us. + +Professor Rh[^y]s makes Bile, ancestor of the Milesians who came from +Spain, a Goidelic counterpart of the Gaulish Dispater, lord of the dead, +from whom the Gauls claimed descent. But Bile, neither a Fomorian nor of +the Tuatha Dé Danann, is an imaginary and shadowy creation. Bile is next +equated with a Brythonic Beli, assumed to be consort of Dôn, whose +family are equivalent to the Tuatha Dé Danann.[194] Beli was a mythic +king whose reign was a kind of golden age, and if he was father of Dôn's +children, which is doubtful, Bile would then be father of the Tuatha Dé +Danann. But he is ancestor of the Milesians, their opponents according +to the annalists. Beli is also equated with Elatha, and since Dôn, +reputed consort of Beli, was grandmother of Llew, equated with Irish +Lug, grandson of Balor, Balor is equivalent to Beli, whose name is +regarded by Professor Rh[^y]s as related etymologically to Balor's.[195] +Bile, Balor, and Elatha are thus Goidelic equivalents of the shadowy +Beli. But they also are quite distinct personalities, nor are they ever +hinted at as ancestral gods of the Celts, or gods of a gloomy +underworld. In Celtic belief the underworld was probably a fertile +region and a place of light, nor were its gods harmful and evil, as +Balor was. + +On the whole, the Fomorians came to be regarded as the powers of nature +in its hostile aspect. They personified blight, winter, darkness, and +death, before which men trembled, yet were not wholly cast down, since +the immortal gods of growth and light, rulers of the bright other-world, +were on their side and fought against their enemies. Year by year the +gods suffered deadly harm, but returned as conquerors to renew the +struggle once more. Myth spoke of this as having happened once for all, +but it went on continuously.[196] Gods were immortal and only seemed to +die. The strife was represented in ritual, since men believe that they +can aid the gods by magic, rite, or prayer. Why, then, do hostile +Fomorians and Tuatha Dé Danann intermarry? This happens in all +mythologies, and it probably reflects, in the divine sphere, what takes +place among men. Hostile peoples carry off each the other's women, or +they have periods of friendliness and consequent intermarriage. Man +makes his gods in his own image, and the problem is best explained by +facts like these, exaggerated no doubt by the Irish annalists. + +The Tuatha Dé Danann, in spite of their euhemerisation, are more than +human. In the north where they learned magic, they dwelt in four cities, +from each of which they brought a magical treasure--the stone of Fal, +which "roared under every king," Lug's unconquerable spear, Nuada's +irresistible sword, the Dagda's inexhaustible cauldron. But they are +more than wizards or Druids. They are re-born as mortals; they have a +divine world of their own, they interfere in and influence human +affairs. The euhemerists did not go far enough, and more than once their +divinity is practically acknowledged. When the Fian Caoilte and a woman +of the Tuatha Dé Danann appear before S. Patrick, he asks, "Why is she +youthful and beautiful, while you are old and wrinkled?" And Caoilte +replies, "She is of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who are unfading and whose +duration is perennial. I am of the sons of Milesius, that are perishable +and fade away."[197] + +After their conversion, the Celts, sons of Milesius, thought that the +gods still existed in the hollow hills, their former dwellings and +sanctuaries, or in far-off islands, still caring for their former +worshippers. This tradition had its place with that which made them a +race of men conquered by the Milesians--the victory of Christianity over +paganism and its gods having been transmuted into a strife of races by +the euhemerists. The new faith, not the people, conquered the old gods. +The Tuatha Dé Danann became the _Daoine-sidhe_, a fairy folk, still +occasionally called by their old name, just as individual fairy kings or +queens bear the names of the ancient gods. The euhemerists gave the +Fomorians a monstrous and demoniac character, which they did not always +give to the Tuatha Dé Danann; in this continuing the old tradition that +Fomorians were hostile and the Tuatha Dé Danann beneficent and mild. + +The mythological cycle is not a complete "body of divinity"; its +apparent completeness results from the chronological order of the +annalists. Fragments of other myths are found in the _Dindsenchas_; +others exist as romantic tales, and we have no reason to believe that +all the old myths have been preserved. But enough remains to show the +true nature of the Tuatha Dé Danann--their supernatural character, their +powers, their divine and unfailing food and drink, their mysterious and +beautiful abode. In their contents, their personages, in the actions +that are described in them, the materials of the "mythological cycle," +show how widely it differs from the Cúchulainn and Fionn cycles.[198] +"The white radiance of eternity" suffuses it; the heroic cycles, magical +and romantic as they are, belong far more to earth and time. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[153] For some Highland references to the gods in saga and _Märchen_, +see _Book of the Dean of Lismore_, 10; Campbell, _WHT_ ii. 77. The +sea-god Lir is probably the Liur of Ossianic ballads (Campbell, _LF_ +100, 125), and his son Manannan is perhaps "the Son of the Sea" in a +Gaelic song (Carmichael, _CG_ ii. 122). Manannan and his daughters are +also known (Campbell, _witchcraft_, 83). + +[154] The euhemerising process is first seen in tenth century poems by +Eochaid hua Flainn, but was largely the work of Flainn Manistrech, _ob._ +1056. It is found fully fledged in the _Book of Invasions_. + +[155] Keating, 105-106. + +[156] Keating, 107; _LL_ 4_b_. Cf. _RC_ xvi. 155. + +[157] _LL_ 5. + +[158] Keating, 111. Giraldus Cambrensis, _Hist. Irel._ c. 2, makes +Roanus survive and tell the tale of Partholan to S. Patrick. He is the +Caoilte mac Ronan of other tales, a survivor of the Fians, who held many +racy dialogues with the Saint. Keating abuses Giraldus for equating +Roanus with Finntain in his "lying history," and for calling him Roanus +instead of Ronanus, a mistake in which he, "the guide bull of the herd," +is followed by others. + +[159] Keating, 164. + +[160] _LL_ 5_a_. + +[161] Keating, 121; _LL_ 6_a_; _RC_ xvi. 161. + +[162] Nennius, _Hist. Brit._ 13. + +[163] _LL_ 6, 8_b_. + +[164] _LL_ 6_b_, 127_a_; _IT_ iii. 381; _RC_ xvi. 81. + +[165] _LL_ 9_b_, 11_a_. + +[166] See Cormac, _s.v._ "Nescoit," _LU_ 51. + +[167] _Harl. MSS._ 2, 17, pp. 90-99. Cf. fragment from _Book of +Invasions_ in _LL_ 8. + +[168] _Harl. MS._ 5280, translated in _RC_ xii. 59 f. + +[169] _RC_ xii. 60; D'Arbois, v. 405 f. + +[170] For Celtic brother-sister unions see p. 224. + +[171] O'Donovan, _Annals_, i. 16. + +[172] _RC_ xv. 439. + +[173] _RC_ xii. 71. + +[174] Professor Rh[^y]s thinks the Partholan story is the aboriginal, +the median the Celtic version of the same event. Partholan, with initial +_p_ cannot be Goidelic (_Scottish Review_, 1890, "Myth. Treatment of +Celtic Ethnology"). + +[175] _HL_ 591. + +[176] _CM_ ix. 130; Campbell _LF_ 68. + +[177] _RC_ xii. 75. + +[178] _US_ 211. + +[179] D'Arbois, ii. 52; _RC_ xii. 476. + +[180] _RC_ xii. 73. + +[181] _RC_ xii. 105. + +[182] _RC_ xxii. 195. + +[183] Larmime, "Kian, son of Kontje." + +[184] See p. 78; _LL_ 245_b_. + +[185] Mannhardt, _Mythol. Forsch._ 310 f. + +[186] "Fir Domnann," "men of Domna," a goddess (Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 597), or a +god (D'Arbois, ii. 130). "Domna" is connected with Irish-words meaning +"deep" (Windisch, _IT_ i. 498; Stokes, _US_ 153). Domna, or Domnu, may +therefore have been a goddess of the deep, not the sea so much as the +underworld, and so perhaps an Earth-mother from whom the Fir Domnann +traced their descent. + +[187] Cormac, _s.v._ "Neith"; D'Arbois, v. 400; _RC_ xii. 61. + +[188] _LU_ 50. Tethra is glossed _badb_ (_IT_ i. 820). + +[189] _IT_ i. 521; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 274 f. + +[190] _RC_ xii. 95. + +[191] _RC_ xii. 101. + +[192] See p. 374. + +[193] D'Arbois, ii. 198, 375. + +[194] _HL_ 90-91. + +[195] _HL_ 274, 319, 643. For Beli, see p. 112, _infra_. + +[196] Whatever the signification of the battle of Mag-tured may be, the +place which it was localised is crowded with Neolithic megaliths, +dolmens, etc. To later fancy these were the graves of warriors slain in +a great battle fought there, and that battle became the fight between +Fomorians and Tuatha Dé Dananns. Mag-tured may have been the scene of a +battle between their respective worshippers. + +[197] O'Grady, ii. 203. + +[198] It should be observed that, as in the Vedas, the Odyssey, the +Japanese _Ko-ji-ki_, as well as in barbaric and savage mythologies, +_Märchen_ formulæ abound in the Irish mythological cycle. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE TUATHA DÉ DANANN + + +The meaning formerly given to _Tuatha Dé Danann_ was "the men of science +who were gods," _danann_ being here connected with _dán_, "knowledge." +But the true meaning is "the tribes _or_ folk of the goddess Danu,"[199] +which agrees with the cognates _Tuatha_ or _Fir Dea_, "tribes _or_ men +of the goddess." The name was given to the group, though Danu had only +three sons, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharbar. Hence the group is also called +_fir tri ndea_, "men of the three gods."[200] The equivalents in Welsh +story of Danu and her folk are Dôn and her children. We have seen that +though they are described as kings and warriors by the annalists, traces +of their divinity appear. In the Cúchulainn cycle they are supernatural +beings and sometimes demons, helping or harming men, and in the Fionn +cycle all these characteristics are ascribed to them. But the theory +which prevailed most is that which connected them with the hills or +mounds, the last resting-places of the mighty dead. Some of these bore +their names, while other beings were also associated with the mounds +(_síd_)--Fomorians and Milesian chiefs, heroes of the sagas, or those +who had actually been buried in them.[201] Legend told how, after the +defeat of the gods, the mounds were divided among them, the method of +division varying in different versions. In an early version the Tuatha +Dé Danann are immortal and the Dagda divides the _síd_.[202] But in a +poem of Flann Manistrech (_ob._ 1056) they are mortals and die.[203] Now +follows a regular chronology giving the dates of their reigns and their +deaths, as in the poem of Gilla Coemain (eleventh century).[204] Hence +another legend told how, Dagda being dead, Bodb Dearg divided the _síd_, +yet even here Manannan is said to have conferred immortality upon the +Tuatha Dé Danann.[205] The old pagan myths had shown that gods might +die, while in ritual their representatives were slain, and this may have +been the starting-point of the euhemerising process. But the divinity of +the Tuatha Dé Danann is still recalled. Eochaid O'Flynn (tenth century), +doubtful whether they are men or demons, concludes, "though I have +treated of these deities in order, yet have I not adored them."[206] +Even in later times they were still thought of as gods in exile, a view +which appears in the romantic tales and sagas existing side by side with +the notices of the annalists. They were also regarded as fairy kings and +queens, and yet fairies of a different order from those of ordinary +tradition. They are "fairies or sprites with corporeal forms, endowed +with immortality," and yet also _dei terreni_ or _síde_ worshipped by +the folk before the coming of S. Patrick. Even the saint and several +bishops were called by the fair pagan daughters of King Loegaire, _fir +síde_, "men of the _síd_," that is, gods.[207] The _síd_ were named +after the names of the Tuatha Dé Danann who reigned in them, but the +tradition being localised in different places, several mounds were +sometimes connected with one god. The _síd_ were marvellous underground +palaces, full of strange things, and thither favoured mortals might go +for a time or for ever. In this they correspond exactly to the oversea +Elysium, the divine land. + +But why were the Tuatha Dé Danann associated with the mounds? If fairies +or an analogous race of beings were already in pagan times connected +with hills or mounds, gods now regarded as fairies would be connected +with them. Dr. Joyce and O'Curry think that an older race of aboriginal +gods or _síd-folk_ preceded the Tuatha Déa in the mounds.[208] These may +have been the Fomorians, the "champions of the _síd_," while in _Mesca +Ulad_ the Tuatha Déa go to the underground dwellings and speak with the +_síde_ already there. We do not know that the fairy creed as such +existed in pagan times, but if the _síde_ and the Tuatha Dé Danann were +once distinct, they were gradually assimilated. Thus the Dagda is called +"king of the _síde_"; Aed Abrat and his daughters, Fand and Liban, and +Labraid, Liban's husband, are called _síde_, and Manannan is Fand's +consort.[209] Labraid's island, like the _síd_ of Mider and the land to +which women of the _síde_ invite Connla, differs but little from the +usual divine Elysium, while Mider, one of the _síde_, is associated with +the Tuatha Dé Danann.[210] The _síde_ are once said to be female, and +are frequently supernatural women who run away or marry mortals.[211] +Thus they may be a reminiscence of old Earth goddesses. But they are not +exclusively female, since there are kings of the _síde_, and as the name +_Fir síde_, "men of the _síde_," shows, while S. Patrick and his friends +were taken for _síd_-folk. + +The formation of the legend was also aided by the old cult of the gods +on heights, some of them sepulchral mounds, and now occasionally sites +of Christian churches.[212] The Irish god Cenn Cruaich and his Welsh +equivalent Penn Cruc, whose name survives in _Pennocrucium_, have names +meaning "chief _or_ head of the mound."[213] Other mounds or hills had +also a sacred character. Hence gods worshipped at mounds, dwelling or +revealing themselves there, still lingered in the haunted spots; they +became fairies, or were associated with the dead buried in the mounds, +as fairies also have been, or were themselves thought to have died and +been buried there. The haunting of the mounds by the old gods is seen in +a prayer of S. Columba's, who begs God to dispel "this host (i.e. the +old gods) around the cairns that reigneth."[214] An early MS also tells +how the Milesians allotted the underground part of Erin to the Tuatha +Déa who now retired within the hills; in other words, they were gods of +the hills worshipped by the Milesians on hills.[215] But, as we shall +see, the gods dwelt elsewhere than in hills.[216] + +Tumuli may already in pagan times have been pointed out as tombs of gods +who died in myth or ritual, like the tombs of Zeus in Crete and of +Osiris in Egypt. Again, fairies, in some aspects, are ghosts of the +dead, and haunt tumuli; hence, when gods became fairies they would do +the same. And once they were thought of as dead kings, any notable +tumuli would be pointed out as theirs, since it is a law in folk-belief +to associate tumuli or other structures not with the dead or with their +builders, but with supernatural or mythical or even historical +personages. If _síde_ ever meant "ghosts," it would be easy to call the +dead gods by this name, and to connect them with the places of the +dead.[217] + +Many strands went to the weaving of the later conception of the gods, +but there still hung around them an air of mystery, and the belief that +they were a race of men was never consistent with itself. + +Danu gave her name to the whole group of gods, and is called their +mother, like the Egyptian Neith or the Semitic Ishtar.[218] In the +annalists she is daughter of Dagda, and has three sons. She may be akin +to the goddess Anu, whom Cormac describes as "_mater deorum +hibernensium_. It was well she nursed the gods." From her name he +derives _ana_, "plenty," and two hills in Kerry are called "the Paps of +Anu."[219] Thus as a goddess of plenty Danu or Anu may have been an +early Earth-mother, and what may be a dim memory of Anu in +Leicestershire confirms this view. A cave on the Dane Hills is called +"Black Annis' Bower," and she is said to have been a savage woman who +devoured human victims.[220] Earth-goddesses usually have human victims, +and Anu would be no exception. In the cult of Earth divinities Earth and +under-Earth are practically identical, while Earth-goddesses like +Demeter and Persephone were associated with the underworld, the dead +being Demeter's folk. The fruits of the earth with their roots below the +surface are then gifts of the earth- or under-earth goddess. This may +have been the case with Danu, for in Celtic belief the gifts of +civilisation came from the underworld or from the gods. Professor +Rh[^y]s finds the name Anu in the dat. _Anoniredi_, "chariot of Anu," in +an inscription from Vaucluse, and the identification is perhaps +established by the fact that goddesses of fertility were drawn through +the fields in a vehicle.[221] Cormac also mentions Buanann as mother and +nurse of heroes, perhaps a goddess worshipped by heroes.[222] + +Danu is also identified with Brigit, goddess of knowledge (_dán_), +perhaps through a folk-etymology. She was worshipped by poets, and had +two sisters of the same name connected with leechcraft and +smithwork.[223] They are duplicates or local forms of Brigit, a goddess +of culture and of poetry, so much loved by the Celts. She is thus the +equivalent of the Gaulish goddess equated with Minerva by Cæsar, and +found on inscriptions as Minerva Belisama and Brigindo. She is the Dea +Brigantia of British inscriptions.[224] One of the seats of her worship +was the land of the Brigantes, of whom she was the eponymous goddess, +and her name (cf. Ir. _brig_, "power" or "craft"; Welsh _bri_, "honour," +"renown") suggests her high functions. But her popularity is seen in the +continuation of her personality and cult in those of S. Brigit, at whose +shrine in Kildare a sacred fire, which must not be breathed on, or +approached by a male, was watched daily by nineteen nuns in turn, and on +the twentieth day by the saint herself.[225] Similar sacred fires were +kept up in other monasteries,[226] and they point to the old cult of a +goddess of fire, the nuns being successors of a virgin priesthood like +the vestals, priestesses of Vesta. As has been seen, the goddesses +Belisama and Sul, probably goddesses of fire, resembled Brigit in +this.[227] But Brigit, like Vesta, was at once a goddess of fire and of +fertility, as her connection with Candlemas and certain ritual survivals +also suggest. In the Hebrides on S. Bride's day (Candlemas-eve) women +dressed a sheaf of oats in female clothes and set it with a club in a +basket called "Briid's bed." Then they called, "Briid is come, Briid is +welcome." Or a bed was made of corn and hay with candles burning beside +it, and Bride was invited to come as her bed was ready. If the mark of +the club was seen in the ashes, this was an omen of a good harvest and a +prosperous year.[228] It is also noteworthy that if cattle cropped the +grass near S. Brigit's shrine, next day it was as luxuriant as ever. + +Brigit, or goddesses with similar functions, was regarded by the Celts +as an early teacher of civilisation, inspirer of the artistic, poetic, +and mechanical faculties, as well as a goddess of fire and fertility. As +such she far excelled her sons, gods of knowledge. She must have +originated in the period when the Celts worshipped goddesses rather than +gods, and when knowledge--leechcraft, agriculture, inspiration--were +women's rather than men's. She had a female priesthood, and men were +perhaps excluded from her cult, as the tabued shrine at Kildare +suggests. Perhaps her fire was fed from sacred oak wood, for many +shrines of S. Brigit were built under oaks, doubtless displacing pagan +shrines of the goddess.[229] As a goddess, Brigit is more prominent than +Danu, also a goddess of fertility, even though Danu is mother of the +gods. + +Other goddesses remembered in tradition are Cleena and Vera, celebrated +in fairy and witch lore, the former perhaps akin to a river-goddess +Clota, the Clutoida (a fountain-nymph) of the continental Celts; the +latter, under her alternative name Dirra, perhaps a form of a goddess of +Gaul, Dirona.[230] Aine, one of the great fairy-queens of Ireland, has +her seat at Knockainy in Limerick, where rites connected with her former +cult are still performed for fertility on Midsummer eve. If they were +neglected she and her troops performed them, according to local +legend.[231] She is thus an old goddess of fertility, whose cult, even +at a festival in which gods were latterly more prominent, is still +remembered. She is also associated with the waters as a water-nymph +captured for a time as a fairy-bride by the Earl of Desmond.[232] But +older legends connect her with the _síd_. She was daughter of Eogabal, +king of the _síd_ of Knockainy, the grass on which was annually +destroyed at Samhain by his people, because it had been taken from them, +its rightful owners. Oilill Olomm and Ferchus resolved to watch the +_síd_ on Samhain-eve. They saw Eogabal and Aine emerge from it. Ferchus +killed Eogabal, and Oilill tried to outrage Aine, who bit the flesh from +his ear. Hence his name of "Bare Ear."[233] In this legend we see how +earlier gods of fertility come to be regarded as hostile to growth. +Another story tells of the love of Aillén, Eogabal's son, for Manannan's +wife and that of Aine for Manannan. Aine offered her favours to the god +if he would give his wife to her brother, and "the complicated bit of +romance," as S. Patrick calls it, was thus arranged.[234] + +Although the Irish gods are warriors, and there are special war-gods, +yet war-goddesses are more prominent, usually as a group of +three--Morrigan, Neman, and Macha. A fourth, Badb, sometimes takes the +place of one of these, or is identical with Morrigan, or her name, like +that of Morrigan, may be generic.[235] _Badb_ means "a scald-crow," +under which form the war-goddesses appeared, probably because these +birds were seen near the slain. She is also called Badbcatha, +"battle-Badb," and is thus the equivalent of _-athubodua,_ or, more +probably, _Cathubodua_, mentioned in an inscription from Haute-Savoie, +while this, as well as personal names like _Boduogenos_, shows that a +goddess Bodua was known to the Gauls.[236] The _badb_ or battle-crow is +associated with the Fomorian Tethra, but Badb herself is consort of a +war-god Nét, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who may be the equivalent of +Neton, mentioned in Spanish inscriptions and equated with Mars. +Elsewhere Neman is Nét's consort, and she may be the Nemetona of +inscriptions, e.g. at Bath, the consort of Mars. Cormac calls Nét and +Neman "a venomous couple," which we may well believe them to have +been.[237] To Macha were devoted the heads of slain enemies, "Macha's +mast," but she, according to the annalists, was slain at Mag-tured, +though she reappears in the Cúchulainn saga as the Macha whose +ill-treatment led to the "debility" of the Ulstermen.[238] The name +Morrigan may mean "great queen," though Dr. Stokes, connecting _mor_ +with the same syllable in "Fomorian," explains it as +"nightmare-queen."[239] She works great harm to the Fomorians at +Mag-tured, and afterwards proclaims the victory to the hills, rivers, +and fairy-hosts, uttering also a prophecy of the evils to come at the +end of time.[240] She reappears prominently in the Cúchulainn saga, +hostile to the hero because he rejects her love, yet aiding the hosts of +Ulster and the Brown Bull, and in the end trying to prevent the hero's +death.[241] + +The prominent position of these goddesses must be connected with the +fact that women went out to war--a custom said to have been stopped by +Adamnan at his mother's request, and that many prominent heroines of the +heroic cycles are warriors, like the British Boudicca, whose name may be +connected with _boudi_, "victory." Specific titles were given to such +classes of female warriors--_bangaisgedaig_, _banfeinnidi_, etc.[242] +But it is possible that these goddesses were at first connected with +fertility, their functions changing with the growing warlike tendencies +of the Celts. Their number recalls that of the threefold _Matres_, and +possibly the change in their character is hinted in the Romano-British +inscription at Benwell to the _Lamiis Tribus_, since Morrigan's name is +glossed _lamia_.[243] She is also identified with Anu, and is mistress +of Dagda, an Earth-god, and with Badb and others expels the Fomorians +when they destroyed the agricultural produce of Ireland.[244] Probably +the scald-crow was at once the symbol and the incarnation of the +war-goddesses, who resemble the Norse Valkyries, appearing sometimes as +crows, and the Greek Keres, bird-like beings which drank the blood of +the slain. It is also interesting to note that Badb, who has the +character of a prophetess of evil, is often identified with the "Washer +at the Ford," whose presence indicates death to him whose armour or +garments she seems to cleanse.[245] + +The _Matres_, goddesses of fertility, do not appear by name in Ireland, +but the triplication of such goddesses as Morrigan and Brigit, the +threefold name of Dagda's wife, or the fact that Arm, Danu, and Buanan +are called "mothers," while Buanan's name is sometimes rendered "good +mother," may suggest that such grouped goddesses were not unknown. Later +legend knows of white women who assist in spinning, or three hags with +power over nature, or, as in the _Battle of Ventry_, of three +supernatural women who fall in love with Conncrithir, aid him in fight, +and heal his wounds. In this document and elsewhere is mentioned the +"_síd_ of the White Women."[246] Goddesses of fertility are usually +goddesses of love, and the prominence given to females among the _síde_, +the fact that they are often called _Be find_, "White Women," like +fairies who represent the _Matres_ elsewhere, and that they freely offer +their love to mortals, may connect them with this group of goddesses. +Again, when the Milesians arrived in Ireland, three kings of the Tuatha +Déa had wives called Eriu, Banba, and Fotla, who begged that Ireland +should be called after them. This was granted, but only Eriu (Erin) +remained in general use.[247] The story is an ætiological myth +explaining the names of Ireland, but the three wives may be a group like +the _Matres_, guardians of the land which took its name from them. + +Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, who give a title to the whole group, are +called _tri dee Donand_, "the three gods (sons of) Danu," or, again, +"gods of _dán_" (knowledge), perhaps as the result of a folk-etymology, +associating _dân_ with their mother's name Danu.[248] Various attributes +are personified as their descendants, Wisdom being son of all +three.[249] Though some of these attributes may have been actual gods, +especially Ecne or Wisdom, yet it is more probable that the +personification is the result of the subtleties of bardic science, of +which similar examples occur.[250] On the other hand, the fact that Ecne +is the son of three brothers, may recall some early practice of +polyandry of which instances are met with in the sagas.[251] M. D'Arbois +has suggested that Iuchar and Iucharba are mere duplicates of Brian, who +usually takes the leading place, and he identifies them with three kings +of the Tuatha Déa reigning at the time of the Milesian invasion-- +MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrainne, so called, according to Keating, +because the hazel (_coll_), the plough (_cecht_), and the sun (_grian_) +were "gods of worship" to them. Both groups are grandsons of Dagda, and +M. D'Arbois regards this second group as also triplicates of one god, +because their wives Fotla, Banba, and Eriu all bear names of Ireland +itself, are personifications of the land, and thus may be "reduced to +unity."[252] While this reasoning is ingenious, it should be remembered +that we must not lay too much stress upon Irish divine genealogies, +while each group of three may have been similar local gods associated at +a later time as brothers. Their separate personality is suggested by the +fact that the Tuatha Dé Danann are called after them "the Men of the +Three Gods," and their supremacy appears in the incident of Dagda, Lug, +and Ogma consulting them before the fight at Mag-tured--a natural +proceeding if they were gods of knowledge or destiny.[253] The brothers +are said to have slain the god Cian, and to have been themselves slain +by Lug, and on this seems to have been based the story of _The Children +of Tuirenn_, in which they perish through their exertions in obtaining +the _eric_ demanded by Lug.[254] Here they are sons of Tuirenn, but more +usually their mother Danu or Brigit is mentioned. + +Another son of Brigit's was Ogma, master of poetry and inventor of +_ogham_ writing, the word being derived from his name.[255] It is more +probable that Ogma's name is a derivative from some word signifying +"speech" or "writing," and that the connection with "ogham" may be a +mere folk-etymology. Ogma appears as the champion of the gods,[256] a +position given him perhaps from the primitive custom of rousing the +warriors' emotions by eloquent speeches before a battle. Similarly the +Babylonian Marduk, "seer of the gods," was also their champion in fight. +Ogma fought and died at Mag-tured; but in other accounts he survives, +captures Tethra's sword, goes on the quest for Dagda's harp, and is +given a _síd_ after the Milesian victory. Ogma's counterpart in Gaul is +Ogmíos, a Herakles and a god of eloquence, thus bearing the dual +character of Ogma, while Ogma's epithet _grianainech_, "of the smiling +countenance," recalls Lucian's account of the "smiling face" of +Ogmíos.[257] Ogma's high position is the result of the admiration of +bardic eloquence among the Celts, whose loquacity was proverbial, and to +him its origin was doubtless ascribed, as well as that of poetry. The +genealogists explain his relationship to the other divinities in +different ways, but these confusions may result from the fact that gods +had more than one name, of which the annalists made separate +personalities. Most usually Ogma is called Brigit's son. Her functions +were like his own, but in spite of the increasing supremacy of gods over +goddesses, he never really eclipsed her. + +Among other culture gods were those associated with the arts and +crafts--the development of Celtic art in metal-work necessitating the +existence of gods of this art. Such a god is Goibniu, eponymous god of +smiths (Old Ir. _goba_, "smith"), and the divine craftsman at the battle +of Mag-tured, making spears which never failed to kill.[258] Smiths have +everywhere been regarded as uncanny--a tradition surviving from the +first introduction of metal among those hitherto accustomed to stone +weapons and tools. S. Patrick prayed against the "spells of women, +smiths, and Druids," and it is thus not surprising to find that Goibniu +had a reputation for magic, even among Christians. A spell for making +butter, in an eighth century MS. preserved at S. Gall, appeals to his +"science."[259] Curiously enough, Goibniu is also connected with the +culinary art in myth, and, like Hephaistos, prepares the feast of the +gods, while his ale preserves their immortality.[260] The elation +produced by heady liquors caused them to be regarded as draughts of +immortality, like Soma, Haoma, or nectar. Goibniu survives in tradition +as the _Gobhan Saer_, to whom the building of round towers is ascribed. + +Another god of crafts was Creidne the brazier (Ir. _cerd_, "artificer"; +cf. Scots _caird_, "tinker"), who assisted in making a silver hand for +Nuada, and supplied with magical rapidity parts of the weapons used at +Mag-tured.[261] According to the annalists, he was drowned while +bringing golden ore from Spain.[262] Luchtine, god of carpenters, +provided spear-handles for the battle, and with marvellous skill flung +them into the sockets of the spear-heads.[263] + +Diancecht, whose name may mean "swift in power," was god of medicine, +and, with Creidne's help, fashioned a silver hand for Nuada.[264] His +son Miach replaced this by a magic restoration of the real hand, and in +jealousy his father slew him--a version of the _Märchen_ formula of the +jealous master. Three hundred and sixty-five herbs grew from his grave, +and were arranged according to their properties by his sister Airmed, +but Diancecht again confused them, "so that no one knows their proper +cures."[265] At the second battle of Mag-tured, Diancecht presided over +a healing-well containing magic herbs. These and the power of spells +caused the mortally wounded who were placed in it to recover. Hence it +was called "the spring of health."[266] Diancecht, associated with a +healing-well, may be cognate with Grannos. He is also referred to in the +S. Gall MS., where his healing powers are extolled. + +An early chief of the gods is Dagda, who, in the story of the battle of +Mag-tured, is said to be so called because he promised to do more than +all the other gods together. Hence they said, "It is thou art the _good +hand_" (_dag-dae_). The _Cóir Anmann_ explains _Dagda_ as "fire of god" +(_daig_ and _déa_). The true derivation is from _dagos_, "good," and +_deivos_, "god," though Dr. Stokes considers _Dagda_ as connected with +_dagh_, whence _daghda_, "cunning."[267] Dagda is also called Cera, a +word perhaps derived from _kar_ and connected with Lat. _cerus_, +"creator" and other names of his are _Ruad-rofhessa_, "lord of great +knowledge," and _Eochaid Ollathair_, "great father," "for a great father +to the Tuatha Dé Danann was he."[268] He is also called "a beautiful +god," and "the principal god of the pagans."[269] After the battle he +divides the _brugs_ or _síd_ among the gods, but his son Oengus, having +been omitted, by a stratagem succeeded in ousting his father from +his _síd_, over which he now himself reigned[270]--possibly the survival +of an old myth telling of a superseding of Dagda's cult by that of +Oengus, a common enough occurrence in all religions. In another version, +Dagda being dead, Bodb Dearg divides the _síd_, and Manannan makes the +Tuatha Déa invisible and immortal. He also helps Oengus to drive out his +foster-father Elemar from his _brug_, where Oengus now lives as a +god.[271] The underground _brugs_ are the gods' land, in all respects +resembling the oversea Elysium, and at once burial-places of the +euhemerised gods and local forms of the divine land. Professor Rh[^y]s +regards Dagda as an atmospheric god; Dr. MacBain sees in him a sky-god. +More probably he is an early Earth-god and a god of agriculture. He has +power over corn and milk, and agrees to prevent the other gods from +destroying these after their defeat by the Milesians--former beneficent +gods being regarded as hurtful, a not uncommon result of the triumph of +a new faith.[272] Dagda is called "the god of the earth" "because of the +greatness of his power."[273] Mythical objects associated with him +suggest plenty and fertility--his cauldron which satisfied all comers, +his unfailing swine, one always living, the other ready for cooking, a +vessel of ale, and three trees always laden with fruit. These were in +his _síd_, where none ever tasted death;[274] hence his _síd_ was a +local Elysium, not a gloomy land of death, but the underworld in its +primitive aspect as the place of gods of fertility. In some myths he +appears with a huge club or fork, and M. D'Arbois suggests that he may +thus be an equivalent of the Gaulish god with the mallet.[275] This is +probable, since the Gaulish god may have been a form of Dispater, an +Earth or under-Earth god of fertility. + +If Dagda was a god of fertility, he may have been an equivalent of a god +whose image was called _Cenn_ or _Cromm Cruaich_, "Head _or_ Crooked One +of the Mound," or "Bloody Head _or_ Crescent."[276] Vallancey, citing a +text now lost, says that _Crom-eocha_ was a name of Dagda, and that a +motto at the sacrificial place at Tara read, "Let the altar ever blaze +to Dagda."[277] These statements may support this identification. The +cult of Cromm is preserved in some verses: + + "He was their god, + The withered Cromm with many mists... + To him without glory + They would kill their piteous wretched offspring, + With much wailing and peril, + To pour their blood around Cromm Cruaich. + Milk and corn + They would ask from him speedily + In return for a third of their healthy issue, + Great was the horror and fear of him. + To him noble Gaels would prostrate themselves."[278] + +Elsewhere we learn that this sacrifice in return for the gifts of corn +and milk from the god took place at Samhain, and that on one occasion +the violent prostrations of the worshippers caused three-fourths of them +to die. Again, "they beat their palms, they pounded their bodies ... +they shed falling showers of tears."[279] These are reminiscences of +orgiastic rites in which pain and pleasure melt into one. The god must +have been a god of fertility; the blood of the victims was poured on the +image, the flesh, as in analogous savage rites and folk-survivals, may +have been buried in the fields to promote fertility. If so, the victims' +flesh was instinct with the power of the divinity, and, though their +number is obviously exaggerated, several victims may have taken the +place of an earlier slain representative of the god. A mythic _Crom +Dubh_, "Black Crom," whose festival occurs on the first Sunday in +August, may be another form of Cromm Cruaich. In one story the name is +transferred to S. Patrick's servant, who is asked by the fairies when +they will go to Paradise. "Not till the day of judgment," is the answer, +and for this they cease to help men in the processes of agriculture. But +in a variant Manannan bids Crom ask this question, and the same result +follows.[280] These tales thus enshrine the idea that Crom and the +fairies were ancient gods of growth who ceased to help men when they +deserted them for the Christian faith. If the sacrifice was offered at +the August festival, or, as the texts suggest, at Samhain, after +harvest, it must have been on account of the next year's crop, and the +flesh may have been mingled with the seed corn. + +Dagda may thus have been a god of growth and fertility. His wife or +mistress was the river-goddess, Boand (the Boyne),[281] and the children +ascribed to him were Oengus, Bodb Dearg, Danu, Brigit, and perhaps Ogma. +The euhemerists made him die of Cethlenn's venom, long after the battle +of Mag-tured in which he encountered her.[282] Irish mythology is +remarkably free from obscene and grotesque myths, but some of these +cluster round Dagda. We hear of the Gargantuan meal provided for him in +sport by the Fomorians, and of which he ate so much that "not easy was +it for him to move and unseemly was his apparel," as well as his conduct +with a Fomorian beauty. Another amour of his was with Morrigan, the +place where it occurred being still known as "The Couple's Bed."[283] In +another tale Dagda acts as cook to Conaire the great.[284] + +The beautiful and fascinating Oengus is sometimes called _Mac Ind Oc_, +"Son of the Young Ones," i.e. Dagda and Boand, or _In Mac Oc_, "The +Young Son." This name, like the myth of his disinheriting his father, +may point to his cult superseding that of Dagda. If so, he may then have +been affiliated to the older god, as was frequently done in parallel +cases, e.g. in Babylon. Oengus may thus have been the high god of some +tribe who assumed supremacy, ousting the high god of another tribe, +unless we suppose that Dagda was a pre-Celtic god with functions similar +to those of Oengus, and that the Celts adopted his cult but gave that of +Oengus a higher place. In one myth the supremacy of Oengus is seen. +After the first battle of Mag-tured, Dagda is forced to become the slave +of Bres, and is much annoyed by a lampooner who extorts the best pieces +of his rations. Following the advice of Oengus, he not only causes the +lampooner's death, but triumphs over the Fomorians.[285] On insufficient +grounds, mainly because he was patron of Diarmaid, beloved of women, and +because his kisses became birds which whispered love thoughts to youths +and maidens, Oengus has been called the Eros of the Gaels. More probably +he was primarily a supreme god of growth, who occasionally suffered +eclipse during the time of death in nature, like Tammuz and Adonis, and +this may explain his absence from Mag-tured. The beautiful story of his +vision of a maiden with whom he fell violently in love contains too many +_Märchen_ formulæ to be of any mythological or religious value. His +mother Boand caused search to be made for her, but without avail. At +last she was discovered to be the daughter of a semi-divine lord of a +_síd_, but only through the help of mortals was the secret of how she +could be taken wrung from him. She was a swan-maiden, and on a certain +day only would Oengus obtain her. Ultimately she became his wife. The +story is interesting because it shows how the gods occasionally required +mortal aid.[286] + +Equally influenced by _Märchen_ formulæ is the story of Oengus and +Etain. Etain and Fuamnach were wives of Mider, but Fuamnach was jealous +of Etain, and transformed her into an insect. In this shape Oengus found +her, and placed her in a glass _grianan_ or bower filled with flowers, +the perfume of which sustained her. He carried the _grianan_ with him +wherever he went, but Fuamnach raised a magic wind which blew Etain away +to the roof of Etair, a noble of Ulster. She fell through a smoke-hole +into a golden cup of wine, and was swallowed by Etair's wife, of whom +she was reborn.[287] Professor Rh[^y]s resolves all this into a sun and +dawn myth. Oengus is the sun, Etain the dawn, the _grianan_ the expanse +of the sky.[288] But the dawn does not grow stronger with the sun's +influence, as Etain did under that of Oengus. At the sun's appearance +the dawn begins + + "to faint in the light of the sun she loves, + To faint in his light and to die." + +The whole story is built up on the well-known _Mãrchen_ formulæ of the +"True Bride" and the "Two Brothers," but accommodated to well-known +mythic personages, and the _grianan_ is the Celtic equivalent of various +objects in stories of the "Cinderella" type, in which the heroine +conceals herself, the object being bought by the hero and kept in his +room.[289] Thus the tale reveals nothing of Etain's divine functions, +but it illustrates the method of the "mythological" school in +discovering sun-heroes and dawn-maidens in any incident, mythical or +not. + +Oengus appears in the Fionn cycle as the fosterer and protector of +Diarmaid.[290] With Mider, Bodb, and Morrigan, he expels the Fomorians +when they destroy the corn, fruit, and milk of the Tuatha Dé +Danann.[291] This may point to his functions as a god of fertility. + +Although Mider appears mainly as a king of the _síde_ and ruler of the +_brug_ of Bri Léith, he is also connected with the Tuatha Déa.[292] +Learning that Etain had been reborn and was now married to King Eochaid, +he recovered her from him, but lost her again when Eochaid attacked his +_brug_. He was ultimately avenged in the series of tragic events which +led to the death of Eochaid's descendant Conaire. Though his _síd_ is +located in Ireland, it has so much resemblance to Elysium that Mider +must be regarded as one of its lords. Hence he appears as ruler of the +Isle of Falga, i.e. the Isle of Man regarded as Elysium. Thence his +daughter Bláthnat, his magical cows and cauldron, were stolen by +Cúchulainn and Curoi, and his three cranes from Bri Léith by +Aitherne[293]--perhaps distorted versions of the myths which told how +various animals and gifts came from the god's land. Mider may be the +Irish equivalent of a local Gaulish god, Medros, depicted on bas-reliefs +with a cow or bull.[294] + +The victory of the Tuatha Déa at the first battle of Mag-tured, in June, +their victory followed, however, by the deaths of many of them at the +second battle in November, may point to old myths dramatising the +phenomena of nature, and connected with the ritual of summer and winter +festivals. The powers of light and growth are in the ascendant in +summer; they seem to die in winter. Christian euhemerists made use of +these myths, but regarded the gods as warriors who were slain, not as +those who die and revive again. At the second battle, Nuada loses his +life; at the first, though his forces are victorious, his hand was cut +off by the Fomorian Sreng, for even when victorious the gods must +suffer. A silver hand was made for him by Diancecht, and hence he was +called Nuada _Argetlám_, "of the silver hand." Professor Rh[^y]s regards +him as a Celtic Zeus, partly because he is king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, +partly because he, like Zeus or Tyr, who lost tendons or a hand through +the wiles of evil gods, is also maimed.[295] Similarly in the _Rig-Veda_ +the Açvins substitute a leg of iron for the leg of Vispala, cut off in +battle, and the sun is called "golden-handed" because Savitri cut off +his hand and the priests replaced it by one of gold. The myth of Nuada's +hand may have arisen from primitive attempts at replacing lopped-off +limbs, as well as from the fact that no Irish king must have any bodily +defect, or possibly because an image of Nuada may have lacked a hand or +possessed one of silver. Images were often maimed or given artificial +limbs, and myths then arose to explain the custom.[296] Nuada appears to +be a god of life and growth, but he is not a sun-god. His Welsh +equivalent is Llûd Llawereint, or "silver-handed," who delivers his +people from various scourges. His daughter Creidylad is to be wedded to +Gwythur, but is kidnapped by Gwyn. Arthur decides that they must fight +for her yearly on 1st May until the day of judgment, when the victor +would gain her hand.[297] Professor Rh[^y]s regards Creidylad as a +Persephone, wedded alternately to light and dark divinities.[298] But +the story may rather be explanatory of such ritual acts as are found in +folk-survivals in the form of fights between summer and winter, in which +a Queen of May figures, and intended to assist the conflict of the gods +of growth with those of blight.[299] Creidylad is daughter of a probable +god of growth, nor is it impossible that the story of the battle of +Mag-tured is based on mythic explanations of such ritual combats. + +The Brythons worshipped Nuada as Nodons in Romano-British times. The +remains of his temple exist near the mouth of the Severn, and the god +may have been equated with Mars, though certain symbols seem to connect +him with the waters as a kind of Neptune.[300] An Irish mythic poet +Nuada Necht may be the Nechtan who owned a magic well whence issued the +Boyne, and was perhaps a water-god. If such a water-god was associated +with Nuada, he and Nodons might be a Celtic Neptune.[301] But the +relationship and functions of these various personages are obscure, nor +is it certain that Nodons was equated with Neptune or that Nuada was a +water-god. His name may be cognate with words meaning "growth," +"possession," "harvest," and this supports the view taken here of his +functions.[302] The Welsh Nudd Hael, or "the Generous," who possessed a +herd of 21,000 milch kine, may be a memory of this god, and it is +possible that, as a god of growth, Nuada had human incarnations called +by his name.[303] + +Ler, whose name means "sea," and who was a god of the sea, is father of +Manannan as well as of the personages of the beautiful story called _The +Children of Lir_, from which we learn practically all that is known of +him. He resented not being made ruler of the Tuatha Déa, but was later +reconciled when the daughter of Bodb Dearg was given to him as his wife. +On her death, he married her sister, who transformed her step-children +into swans.[304] Ler is the equivalent of the Brythonic Llyr, later +immortalised by Shakespeare as King Lear. + +The greatness of Manannan mac Lir, "son of the sea," is proved by the +fact that he appears in many of the heroic tales, and is still +remembered in tradition and folk-tale. He is a sea-god who has become +more prominent than the older god of the sea, and though not a supreme +god, he must have had a far-spreading cult. With Bodb Dearg he was +elected king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He made the gods invisible and +immortal, gave them magical food, and assisted Oengus in driving out +Elemar from his _síd_. Later tradition spoke of four Manannans, probably +local forms of the god, as is suggested by the fact that the true name +of one of them is said to be Orbsen, son of Allot. Another, the son of +Ler, is described as a renowned trader who dwelt in the Isle of Man, the +best of pilots, weather-wise, and able to transform himself as he +pleased. The _Cóir Anmann_ adds that the Britons and the men of Erin +deemed him god of the sea.[305] That position is plainly seen in many +tales, e.g. in the magnificent passage of _The Voyage of Bran_, where he +suddenly sweeps into sight, riding in a chariot across the waves from +the Land of Promise; or in the tale of _Cúchulainn's Sickness_, where +his wife Fand sees him, "the horseman of the crested sea," coming across +the waves. In the _Agallamh na Senorach_ he appears as a cavalier +breasting the waves. "For the space of nine waves he would be submerged +in the sea, but would rise on the crest of the tenth without wetting +chest or breast."[306] In one archaic tale he is identified with a great +sea wave which swept away Tuag, while the waves are sometimes called +"the son of Lir's horses"--a name still current in Ireland, or, again, +"the locks of Manannan's wife."[307] His position as god of the sea may +have given rise to the belief that he was ruler of the oversea Elysium, +and, later, of the other-world as a magical domain coterminous with this +earth. He is still remembered in the Isle of Man, which may owe its name +to him, and which, like many another island, was regarded by the Goidels +as the island Elysium under its name of Isle of Falga. He is also the +Manawyddan of Welsh story. + +Manannan appears in the Cúchulainn and Fionn cycles, usually as a ruler +of the Other-world. His wife Fand was Cúchulainn's mistress, Diarmaid +was his pupil in fairyland, and Cormac was his guest there. Even in +Christian times surviving pagan beliefs caused legend to be busy with +his name. King Fiachna was fighting the Scots and in great danger, when +a stranger appeared to his wife and announced that he would save her +husband's life if she would consent to abandon herself to him. She +reluctantly agreed, and the child of the _amour_ was the seventh-century +King Mongan, of whom the annalist says, "every one knows that his real +father was Manannan."[308] Mongan was also believed to be a rebirth of +Fionn. Manannan is still remembered in folk-tradition, and in the Isle +of Man, where his grave is to be seen, some of his ritual survived until +lately, bundles of rushes being placed for him on midsummer eve on two +hills.[309] Barintus, who steers Arthur to the fortunate isles, and S. +Barri, who crossed the sea on horseback, may have been legendary forms +of a local sea-god akin to Manannan, or of Manannan himself.[310] His +steed was Enbarr, "water foam _or_ hair," and Manannan was "the horseman +of the manéd sea." "Barintus," perhaps connected with _barr find_, +"white-topped," would thus be a surname of the god who rode on Enbarr, +the foaming wave, or who was himself the wave, while his mythic +sea-riding was transferred to the legend of S. Barri, if such a person +ever existed. + +Various magical possessions were ascribed to Manannan--his armour and +sword, the one making the wearer invulnerable, the other terrifying all +who beheld it; his horse and canoe; his swine, which came to life again +when killed; his magic cloak; his cup which broke when a lie was spoken; +his tablecloth, which, when waved, produced food. Many of these are +found everywhere in _Märchen_, and there is nothing peculiarly Celtic in +them. We need not, therefore, with the mythologists, see in his armour +the vapoury clouds or in his sword lightning or the sun's rays. But +their magical nature as well as the fact that so much wizardry is +attributed to Manannan, points to a copious mythology clustering round +the god, now for ever lost. + +The parentage of Lug is differently stated, but that account which makes +him son of Cian and of Ethne, daughter of Balor, is best attested.[311] +Folk-tradition still recalls the relation of Lug and Balor. Balor, a +robber living in Tory Island, had a daughter whose son was to kill her +father. He therefore shut her up in an inaccessible place, but in +revenge for Balor's stealing MacIneely's cow, the latter gained access +to her, with the result that Ethne bore three sons, whom Balor cast into +the sea. One of them, Lug, was recovered by MacIneely and fostered by +his brother Gavida. Balor now slew MacIneely, but was himself slain by +Lug, who pierced his single eye with a red-hot iron.[312] In another +version, Kian takes MacIneely's place and is aided by Manannan, in +accordance with older legends.[313] But Lug's birth-story has been +influenced in these tales by the _Märchen_ formula of the girl hidden +away because it has been foretold that she will have a son who will slay +her father. + +Lug is associated with Manannan, from whose land he comes to assist the +Tuatha Déa against the Fomorians. His appearance was that of the sun, +and by this brilliant warrior's prowess the hosts were utterly +defeated.[314] This version, found in _The Children of Tuirenn_, differs +from the account in the story of Mag-tured. Here Lug arrives at the +gates of Tara and offers his services as a craftsman. Each offer is +refused, until he proclaims himself "the man of each and every art," or +_samildánach_, "possessing many arts." Nuada resigns his throne to him +for thirteen days, and Lug passes in review the various craftsmen (i.e. +the gods), and though they try to prevent such a marvellous person +risking himself in fight, he escapes, heads the warriors, and sings his +war-song. Balor, the evil-eyed, he slays with a sling-stone, and his +death decided the day against the Fomorians. In this account Lug +_samildánach_ is a patron of the divine patrons of crafts; in other +words, he is superior to a whole group of gods. He was also inventor of +draughts, ball-play, and horsemanship. But, as M. D'Arbois shows, +_samildánach_ is the equivalent of "inventor of all arts," applied by +Cæsar to the Gallo-Roman Mercury, who is thus an equivalent of Lug.[315] +This is attested on other grounds. As Lug's name appears in Irish Louth +(_Lug-magh_) and in British Lugu-vallum, near Hadrian's Wall, so in Gaul +the names Lugudunum (Lyons), Lugudiacus, and Lugselva ("devoted to +Lugus") show that a god Lugus was worshipped there. A Gaulish feast of +Lugus in August--the month of Lug's festival in Ireland--was perhaps +superseded by one in honour of Augustus. No dedication to Lugus has yet +been found, but images of and inscriptions to Mercury abound at +Lugudunum Convenarum.[316] As there were three Brigits, so there may +have been several forms of Lugus, and two dedications to the _Lugoves_ +have been found in Spain and Switzerland, one of them inscribed by the +shoemakers of Uxama.[317] Thus the Lugoves may have been multiplied +forms of Lugus or _Lugovos_, "a hero," the meaning given to "Lug" by +O'Davoren.[318] Shoe-making was not one of the arts professed by Lug, +but Professor Rh[^y]s recalls the fact that the Welsh Lleu, whom he +equates with Lug, disguised himself as a shoemaker.[319] Lugus, besides +being a mighty hero, was a great Celtic culture-god, superior to all +other culture divinities. + +The euhemerists assigned a definite date to Lug's death, but side by +side with this the memory of his divinity prevailed, and he appears as +the father and helper of Cúchulainn, who was possibly a rebirth of the +god.[320] His high position appears in the fact that the Gaulish +assembly at Lugudunum was held in his honour, like the festival of +Lugnasad in Ireland. Craftsmen brought their wares to sell at this +festival of the god of crafts, while it may also have been a harvest +festival.[321] Whether it was a strictly solar feast is doubtful, though +Professor Rh[^y]s and others insist that Lug is a sun-god. The name of +the Welsh Lleu, "light," is equated with Lug, and the same meaning +assigned to the latter.[322] This equation has been contested and is +doubtful, Lugus probably meaning "hero."[323] Still the sun-like traits +ascribed to Lug before Mag-tured suggest that he was a sun-god, and +solar gods elsewhere, e.g. the Polynesian Maui, are culture-gods as +well. But it should be remembered that Lug is not associated with the +true solar festivals of Beltane and Midsummer. + +While our knowledge of the Tuatha Dé Danann is based upon a series of +mythic tales and other records, that of the gods of the continental +Celts, apart from a few notices in classical authors and elsewhere, +comes from inscriptions. But as far as can be judged, though the names +of the two groups seldom coincide, their functions must have been much +alike, and their origins certainly the same. The Tuatha Dé Danann were +nature divinities of growth, light, agriculture--their symbols and +possessions suggesting fertility, e.g. the cauldron. They were +divinities of culture and crafts, and of war. There must have been many +other gods in Ireland than those described here, while some of those may +not have been worshipped all over Ireland. Generally speaking, there +were many local gods in Gaul with similar functions but different names, +and this may have been true of Ireland. Perhaps the different names +given to Dagda, Manannan, and others were simply names of similar local +gods, one of whom became prominent, and attracted to himself the names +of the others. So, too, the identity of Danu and Brigit might be +explained, or the fact that there were three Brigits. We read also in +the texts of the god of Connaught, or of Ulster, and these were +apparently regional divinities, or of "the god of Druidism"--perhaps a +god worshipped specially by Druids.[324] The remote origin of some of +these divinities may be sought in the primitive cult of the Earth +personified as a fertile being, and in that of vegetation and +corn-spirits, and the vague spirits of nature in all its aspects. Some +of these still continued to be worshipped when the greater gods had been +evolved. Though animal worship was not lacking in Ireland, divinities +who are anthropomorphic forms of earlier animal-gods are less in +evidence than on the Continent. The divinities of culture, crafts, and +war, and of departments of nature, must have slowly assumed the definite +personality assigned them in Irish religion. But, doubtless, they +already possessed that before the Goidels reached Ireland. Strictly +speaking, the underground domain assigned later to the Tuatha Dé Danann +belongs only to such of them as were associated with fertility. But in +course of time most of the group, as underground dwellers, were +connected with growth and increase. These could be blighted by their +enemies, or they themselves could withhold them when their worshippers +offended them.[325] + +Irish mythology points to the early pre-eminence of goddesses. As +agriculture and many of the arts were first in the hands of women, +goddesses of fertility and culture preceded gods, and still held their +place when gods were evolved. Even war-goddesses are prominent in +Ireland. Celtic gods and heroes are often called after their mothers, +not their fathers, and women loom largely in the tales of Irish +colonisation, while in many legends they play a most important part. +Goddesses give their name to divine groups, and, even where gods are +prominent, their actions are free, their personalities still clearly +defined. The supremacy of the divine women of Irish tradition is once +more seen in the fact that they themselves woo and win heroes; while +their capacity for love, their passion, their eternal youthfulness and +beauty are suggestive of their early character as goddesses of +ever-springing fertility.[326] + +This supremacy of goddesses is explained by Professor Rh[^y]s as +non-Celtic, as borrowed by the Celts from the aborigines.[327] But it is +too deeply impressed on the fabric of Celtic tradition to be other than +native, and we have no reason to suppose that the Celts had not passed +through a stage in which such a state of things was normal. Their innate +conservatism caused them to preserve it more than other races who had +long outgrown such a state of things. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[199] _HL_ 89; Stokes, _RC_ xii. 129. D'Arbois, ii. 125, explains it as +"Folk of the god whose mother is called Danu." + +[200] _RC_ xii. 77. The usual Irish word for "god" is _dia_; other names +are _Fiadu_, _Art_, _Dess_. + +[201] See Joyce, _SII_. i. 252, 262; _PN_ i. 183. + +[202] _LL_ 245_b_. + +[203] _LL_ 11. + +[204] _LL_ 127. The mounds were the sepulchres of the euhemerised gods. + +[205] _Book of Fermoy_, fifteenth century. + +[206] _LL_ 11_b_. + +[207] _IT_ i. 14, 774; Stokes, _TL_ i. 99, 314, 319. _Síd_ is a fairy +hill, the hill itself or the dwelling within it. Hence those who dwell +in it are _Aes_ or _Fir síde_, "men of the mound," or _síde_, fairy +folk. The primitive form is probably _sêdos_, from _sêd_, "abode" or +"seat"; cf. Greek [Greek: edos] "a temple." Thurneysen suggests a +connection with a word equivalent to Lat. _sidus_, "constellation," or +"dwelling of the gods." + +[208] Joyce, _SH_ i. 252; O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 505. + +[209] "Vision of Oengus," _RC_ iii. 344; _IT_ i. 197 f. + +[210] Windisch, _Ir. Gram._ 118; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 71; see p. 363, +_infra_. + +[211] Windisch, _Ir. Gram._ 118, § 6; _IT_ iii. 407; _RC_ xvi. 139. + +[212] Shore, _JAI_ xx. 9. + +[213] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 203 f. _Pennocrucium_ occurs in the _Itinerary_ of +Antoninus. + +[214] Keating, 434. + +[215] Joyce, _SH_ i. 252. + +[216] See p. 228. In Scandinavia the dead were called elves, and lived +feasting in their barrows or in hills. These became the seat of +ancestral cults. The word "elf" also means any divine spirit, later a +fairy. "Elf" and _síde_ may thus, like the "elf-howe" and the _síd_ or +mound, have a parallel history. See Vigfusson-Powell, _Corpus Poet. +Boreale_, i. 413 f. + +[217] Tuan MacCairill (_LU_ 166) calls the Tuatha Déa, "dée ocus andée," +and gives the meaning as "poets and husbandmen." This phrase, with the +same meaning, is used in "Cóir Anmann" (_IT_ iii. 355), but there we +find that it occurred in a pagan formula of blessing--"The blessing of +gods and not-gods be on thee." But the writer goes on to say--"These +were their gods, the magicians, and their non-gods, the husbandmen." +This may refer to the position of priest-kings and magicians as gods. +Rh[^y]s compares Sanskrit _deva_ and _adeva_ (_HL_ 581). Cf. the phrase +in a Welsh poem (Skene, i. 313), "Teulu Oeth et Anoeth," translated by +Rh[^y]s as "Household of Power and Not-Power" (_CFL_ ii. 620), but the +meaning is obscure. See Loth, i. 197. + +[218] _LL_ 10_b_. + +[219] Cormac, 4. Stokes (_US_ 12) derives Anu from _(p)an_, "to +nourish"; cf. Lat. _panis_. + +[220] _Leicester County Folk-lore_, 4. The _Cóir Anmann_ says that Anu +was worshipped as a goddess of plenty (_IT_ iii. 289). + +[221] Rh[^y]s, _Trans. 3rd Inter. Cong. Hist. of Rel._ ii. 213. See +Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 251 ff., and p. 275, _infra_. + +[222] Rh[^y]s, _ibid._ ii. 213. He finds her name in the place-name +_Bononia_ and its derivatives. + +[223] Cormac, 23. + +[224] Cæsar, vi. 17; Holder, _s.v._; Stokes, _TIG_ 33. + +[225] Girald. Cambr. _Top. Hib._ ii. 34 f. Vengeance followed upon rash +intrusion. For the breath tabu see Frazer, _Early Hist. of the +Kingship_, 224. + +[226] Joyce, _SH_ i. 335. + +[227] P. 41, _supra_. + +[228] Martin, 119; Campbell, _Witchcraft_, 248. + +[229] Frazer, _op. cit._ 225. + +[230] Joyce, _PN_ i. 195; O'Grady, ii. 198; Wood-Martin, i. 366; see p. +42, _supra_. + +[231] Fitzgerald, _RC_ iv. 190. Aine has no connection with Anu, nor is +she a moon-goddess, as is sometimes supposed. + +[232] _RC_ iv. 189. + +[233] Keating, 318; _IT_ iii. 305; _RC_ xiii. 435. + +[234] O'Grady, ii. 197. + +[235] _RC_ xii. 109, xxii. 295; Cormac, 87; Stokes, _TIG_ xxxiii. + +[236] Holder, i. 341; _CIL_ vii. 1292; Cæsar, ii. 23. + +[237] _LL_ 11_b_; Cormac, s.v. _Neit_; _RC_ iv. 36; _Arch. Rev._ i. 231; +Holder, ii. 714, 738. + +[238] Stokes, _TIG, LL_ 11_a_. + +[239] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 43; Stokes, _RC_ xii. 128. + +[240] _RC_ xii. 91, 110. + +[241] See p. 131. + +[242] Petrie, _Tara_, 147; Stokes, _US_ 175; Meyer, _Cath Finntrága_, +Oxford, 1885, 76 f.; _RC_ xvi. 56, 163, xxi. 396. + +[243] _CIL_ vii. 507; Stokes, _US_ 211. + +[244] _RC_ i. 41, xii. 84. + +[245] _RC_ xxi. 157, 315; Miss Hull, 247. A _baobh_ (a common Gaelic +name for "witch") appears to Oscar and prophesies his death in a Fionn +ballad (Campbell, _The Fians_, 33). In Brittany the "night-washers," +once water-fairies, are now regarded as _revenants_ (Le Braz, i. 52). + +[246] Joyce, _SH_ i. 261; Miss Hull, 186; Meyer, _Cath Finntraga_, 6, +13; _IT_ i. 131, 871. + +[247] _LL_ 10_a_. + +[248] _LL_ 10_a_, 30_b_, 187_c_. + +[249] _RC_ xxvi. 13; _LL_ 187_c_. + +[250] Cf. the personification of the three strains of Dagda's harp +(Leahy, ii. 205). + +[251] See p. 223, _infra_. + +[252] D'Arbois, ii. 372. + +[253] _RC_ xii. 77, 83. + +[254] _LL_ 11; _Atlantis_, London, 1858-70, iv. 159. + +[255] O'Donovan, _Grammar_, Dublin, 1845, xlvii. + +[256] _RC_ xii. 77. + +[257] Lucian, _Herakles_. + +[258] _RC_ xii. 89. The name is found in Gaulish Gobannicnos, and in +Welsh Abergavenny. + +[259] _IT_ i. 56; Zimmer, _Glossæ Hibernicæ_, 1881, 270. + +[260] _Atlantis_, 1860, iii. 389. + +[261] _RC_ xii. 89. + +[262] _LL_ ll_a_. + +[263] _RC_ xii. 93. + +[264] Connac, 56, and _Cóir Anmann_ (_IT_ iii. 357) divide the name as +_día-na-cecht_ and explain it as "god of the powers." + +[265] _RC_ xii. 67. For similar stories of plants springing from graves, +see my _Childhood of Fiction_, 115. + +[266] _RC_ xii, 89, 95. + +[267] _RC_ vi. 369; Cormac, 23. + +[268] Cormac, 47, 144; _IT_ iii. 355, 357. + +[269] _IT_ iii. 355; D'Arbois, i. 202. + +[270] _LL_ 246_a_. + +[271] _Irish MSS. Series_, i. 46; D'Arbois, ii. 276. In a MS. edited by +Dr. Stirn, Oengus was Dagda's son by Elemar's wife, the amour taking +place in her husband's absence. This incident is a parallel to the +birth-stories of Mongan and Arthur, and has also the Fatherless Child +theme, since Oengus goes in tears to Mider because he has been taunted +with having no father or mother. In the same MS. it is the Dagda who +instructs Oengus how to obtain Elemar's _síd_. See _RC_ xxvii. 332, +xxviii. 330. + +[272] _LL_ 245_b_. + +[273] _IT_ iii. 355. + +[274] O'Donovan, _Battle of Mag-Rath_, Dublin, 1842, 50; _LL_ 246_a_. + +[275] D'Arbois, v. 427, 448. + +[276] The former is Rh[^y]s's interpretation (_HL_ 201) connecting +_Cruaich_ with _crúach_, "a heap"; the latter is that of D'Arbois (ii. +106), deriving _Cruaich_ from _cru_, "blood." The idea of the image +being bent or crooked may have been due to the fact that it long stood +ready to topple over, as a result of S. Patrick's miracle. See p. 286, +_infra_. + +[277] Vallancey, in _Coll. de Rebus Hib._ 1786, iv. 495. + +[278] _LL_ 213_b_. D'Arbois thinks Cromm was a Fomorian, the equivalent +of Taranis (ii. 62). But he is worshipped by Gaels. _Crin_, "withered," +probably refers to the idol's position after S. Patrick's miracle, no +longer upright but bent like an old man. Dr. Hyde, _Lit. Hist. of +Ireland_, 87, with exaggerated patriotism, thinks the sacrificial +details are copied by a Christian scribe from the Old Testament, and are +no part of the old ritual. + +[279] _RC_ xvi. 35, 163. + +[280] Fitzgerald, _RL_ iv. 175. + +[281] _RC_ xxvi. 19. + +[282] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.M. 3450. + +[283] _RC_ xii. 83, 85; Hyde, _op. cit._ 288. + +[284] _LU_ 94. + +[285] _RC_ xii. 65. Elsewhere three supreme "ignorances" are ascribed to +Oengus (_RL_ xxvi. 31). + +[286] _RC_ iii. 342. + +[287] _LL_ 11_c_; _LU_ 129; _IT_ i. 130. Cf. the glass house, placed +between sky and moon, to which Tristan conducts the queen. Bedier, +_Tristan et Iseut_, 252. In a fragmentary version of the story Oengus is +Etain's wooer, but Mider is preferred by her father, and marries her. In +the latter half of the story, Oengus does not appear (see p. 363, +_infra_). Mr. Nutt (_RC_ xxvii. 339) suggests that Oengus, not Mider, +was the real hero of the story, but that its Christian redactors gave +Mider his place in the second part. The fragments are edited by Stirn +(_ZCP_ vol. v.). + +[288] _HL_ 146. + +[289] See my _Childhood of Fiction_, 114, 153. The tale has some unique +features, as it alone among Western _Märchen_ and saga variants of the +"True Bride" describes the malicious woman as the wife of Mider. In +other words, the story implies polygamy, rarely found in European +folk-tales. + +[290] O'Grady, _TOS_ iii. + +[291] _RC_ i. 41. + +[292] O'Curry, _MC_ i. 71. + +[293] _LL_ 117_a_. See p. 381, _infra_. + +[294] Cumont, _RC_ xxvi. 47; D'Arbois, _RC_ xxvii. 127, notes the +difficulty of explaining the change of _e_ to _i_ in the names. + +[295] _HL_ 121. + +[296] See Crooke, _Folk-Lore_, viii. 341. Cf. Herod, ii. 131. + +[297] Loth, i. 269. + +[298] _HL_ 563. + +[299] Train, _Isle of Man_, Douglas, 1845, ii. 118; Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ +ii. ch. 24; Frazer, _GB_{2} ii. 99 f. + +[300] Bathurst, _Roman Antiquities at Lydney Park_, 1879; Holder, _s.v._ +"Nodons." + +[301] See Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 122; Cook, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 30. + +[302] Stokes, _US_ 194-195; Rh[^y]s, _HL_, 128, _IT_ i. 712. + +[303] Loth, ii. 235, 296. See p. 160, _infra_. + +[304] Joyce, _OCR_. + +[305] For these four Manannans see Cormac 114, _RC_ xxiv. 270, _IT_ iii. +357. + +[306] O'Grady, ii. + +[307] _Bodley Dindsenchas_, No. 10, _RC_ xii. 105; Joyce, _SH_ i. 259; +_Otia Merseiana_, ii. "Song of the Sea." + +[308] _LU_ 133. + +[309] Moore, 6. + +[310] Geoffrey, _Vita Merlini_, 37; Rees, 435. Other saintly legends are +derived from myths, e.g. that of S. Barri in his boat meeting S. +Scuithne walking on the sea. Scuithne maintains he is walking on a +field, and plucks a flower to prove it, while Barri confutes him by +pulling a salmon out of the sea. This resembles an episode in the +meeting of Bran and Manannan (Stokes, _Félire_, xxxix.; Nutt-Meyer, i. +39). Saints are often said to assist men just as the gods did. +Columcille and Brigit appeared over the hosts of Erin assisting and +encouraging them _(RC_ xxiv. 40). + +[311] _RC_ xii. 59. + +[312] _Folk-Lore Journal_, v. 66; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 314. + +[313] Larminie, "Kian, son of Kontje." + +[314] Joyce, _OCR_ 37. + +[315] D'Arbois, vi. 116, _Les Celtes_, 39, _RC_ xii. 75, 101, 127, xvi. +77. Is the defaced inscription at Geitershof, _Deo M ... Sam ..._ +(Holder, ii. 1335), a dedication to Mercury Samildánach? An echo of +Lug's story is found in the Life of S. Herve, who found a devil in his +monastery in the form of a man who said he was a good carpenter, mason, +locksmith, etc., but who could not make the sign of the cross. Albert le +Grand, _Saints de la Bretagne_, 49, _RC_ vii. 231. + +[316] Holder, _s.v._; D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 44, _RC_ vii. 400. + +[317] Holder, _s.v._ "Lugus." + +[318] Stokes, _TIG_ 103. Gaidoz contests the identification of the +Lugoves and of Lug with Mercury, and to him the Lugoves are grouped +divinities like the _Matres_ (_RC_ vi. 489). + +[319] _HL_ 425. + +[320] See p. 349, _infra_. + +[321] See p. 272, _infra_. + +[322] _HL_ 409. + +[323] See Loth, _RC_ x. 490. + +[324] Leahy, i. 138, ii. 50, 52, _LU_ 124_b_. + +[325] _LL_ 215_a_; see p. 78, _supra_. + +[326] See, further, p. 385, _infra_. + +[327] _The Welsh People_, 61. Professor Rh[^y]s admits that the theory +of borrowing "cannot easily be proved." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE GODS OF THE BRYTHONS + + +Our knowledge of the gods of the Brythons, i.e. as far as Wales is +concerned, is derived, apart from inscriptions, from the _Mabinogion_, +which, though found in a fourteenth century MS., was composed much +earlier, and contains elements from a remote past. Besides this, the +_Triads_, probably of twelfth-century origin, the _Taliesin_, and other +poems, though obscure and artificial, the work of many a "confused bard +drivelling" (to cite the words of one of them), preserve echoes of the +old mythology.[328] Some of the gods may lurk behind the personages of +Geoffrey of Monmouth's _Historia Britonum_ and of the Arthurian cycle, +though here great caution is required. The divinities have become heroes +and heroines, kings and princesses, and if some of the episodes are +based on ancient myths, they are treated in a romantic spirit. Other +episodes are mere _Märchen_ formulæ. Like the wreckage of some rich +galleon, the _débris_ of the old mythology has been used to construct a +new fabric, and the old divinities have even less of the god-like traits +of the personages of the Irish texts. + +Some of the personages bear similar names to the Irish divinities, and +in some cases there is a certain similarity of incidents to those of the +Irish tales.[329] Are, then, the gods dimly revealed in Welsh literature +as much Goidelic as Brythonic? Analysing the incidents of the +_Mabinogion_, Professor Anwyl has shown that they have an entirely local +character, and are mainly associated with the districts of Dyfed and +Gwent, of Anglesey, and of Gwynedd, of which Pryderi, Branwen, and +Gwydion are respectively the heroic characters.[330] These are the +districts where a strong Goidelic element prevailed, whether these +Goidels were the original inhabitants of Britain, driven there by +Brythons,[331] or tribes who had settled there from Ireland,[332] or +perhaps a mixture of both. In any case they had been conquered by +Brythons and had become Brythonic in speech from the fifth century +onwards. On account of this Goidelic element, it has been claimed that +the personages of the _Mabinogion_ are purely Goidelic. But examination +proves that only a few are directly parallel in name with Irish +divinities, and while here there are fundamental likenesses, the +_incidents_ with Irish parallels may be due to mere superficial +borrowings, to that interchange of _Märchen_ and mythical _données_ +which has everywhere occurred. Many incidents have no Irish parallels, +and most of the characters are entirely different in name from Irish +divinities. Hence any theory which would account for the likenesses, +must also account for the differences, and must explain why, if the +_Mabinogion_ is due to Irish Goidels, there should have been few or no +borrowings in Welsh literature from the popular Cúchulainn and Ossianic +sagas,[333] and why, at a time when Brythonic elements were uppermost, +such care should have been taken to preserve Goidelic myths. If the +tales emanated from native Welsh Goidels, the explanation might be that +they, the kindred of the Irish Goidels, must have had a certain +community with them in divine names and myths, while others of their +gods, more local in character, would differ in name. Or if they are +Brythonic, the likenesses might be accounted for by an early community +in myth and cult among the common ancestors of Brythons and +Goidels.[334] But as the date of the composition of the _Mabinogion_ is +comparatively late, at a time when Brythons had overrun these Goidelic +districts, more probably the tales contain a mingling of Goidelic (Irish +or Welsh) and Brythonic divinities, though some of these may be +survivals of the common Celtic heritage.[335] Celtic divinities were +mainly of a local, tribal character. Hence some would be local Goidelic +divinities, others, classed with these, local Brythonic divinities. This +would explain the absence of divinities and heroes of other local +Brythonic groups, e.g. Arthur, from the _Mabinogion_. But with the +growing importance of these, they attracted to their legend the folk of +the _Mabinogion_ and other tales. These are associated with Arthur in +_Kulhwych_, and the Dôn group mingles with that of Taliesin in the +_Taliesin_ poems.[336] Hence Welsh literature, as far as concerns the +old religion, may be regarded as including both local Goidelic and +Brythonic divinities, of whom the more purely Brythonic are Arthur, +Gwynn, Taliesin, etc.[337] They are regarded as kings and queens, or as +fairies, or they have magical powers. They are mortal and die, and the +place of their burial is pointed out, or existing tumuli are associated +with them, All this is parallel to the history of the Tuatha Dé Danann, +and shows how the same process of degradation had been at work in Wales +as in Ireland. + +The story of the Llyr group is told in the _Mabinogion_ of Branwen and +of Manawyddan. They are associated with the Pwyll group, and apparently +opposed to that of Dôn. Branwen is married to Matholwych, king of +Ireland, but is ill-treated by him on account of the insults of the +mischievous Evnissyen, in spite of the fact that Bran had atoned for the +insult by many gifts, including that of a cauldron of regeneration. Now +he crosses with an army to Ireland, where Evnissyen throws Branwen's +child, to whom the kingdom is given, on the fire. A fight ensues; the +dead Irish warriors are resuscitated in the cauldron, but Evnissyen, at +the cost of his life, destroys it. Bran is slain, and by his directions +his head is cut off and carried first to Harlech, then to Gwales, where +it will entertain its bearers for eighty years. At the end of that time +it is to be taken to London and buried. Branwen, departing with the +bearers, dies of a broken heart at Anglesey, and meanwhile Caswallyn, +son of Beli, seizes the kingdom.[338] Two of the bearers of the head are +Manawyddan and Pryderi, whose fortunes we follow in the _Mabinogi_ of +the former. Pryderi gives his mother Rhiannon to Manawyddan as his wife, +along with some land which by magic art is made barren. After following +different crafts, they are led by a boar to a strange castle, where +Rhiannon and Pryderi disappear along with the building. Manawyddan, with +Pryderi's wife Kieva, set out as shoemakers, but are forced to abandon +this craft on account of the envy of the craftsmen. Finally, we learn +how Manawyddan overcame the enchanter Llwyt, who, because of an insult +offered by Pryderi's father to his friend Gwawl, had made Rhiannon and +Pryderi disappear. They are now restored, and Llwyt seeks no further +revenge. + +The story of Branwen is similar to a tale of which there are variants in +Teutonic and Scandinavian sagas, but the resemblance is closer to the +latter.[339] Possibly a similar story with their respective divinities +or heroes for its characters existed among Celts, Teutons, and Norsemen, +but more likely it was borrowed from Norsemen who occupied both sides of +the Irish Sea in the ninth and tenth century, and then naturalised by +furnishing it with Celtic characters. But into this framework many +native elements were set, and we may therefore scrutinise the story for +Celtic mythical elements utilised by its redactor, who probably did not +strip its Celtic personages of their earlier divine attributes. In the +two _Mabinogi_ these personages are Llyr, his sons Bran and Manawyddan, +his daughter Branwen, their half-brothers Nissyen and Evnissyen, sons of +Llyr's wife Penardim, daughter of Beli, by a previous marriage with +Eurosswyd. + +Llyr is the equivalent of the Irish Ler, the sea-god, but two other +Llyrs, probably duplicates of himself, are known to Welsh story--Llyr +Marini, and the Llyr, father of Cordelia, of the chroniclers.[340] He is +constantly confused with Lludd Llawereint, e.g. both are described as +one of three notable prisoners of Britain, and both are called fathers +of Cordelia or Creiddylad.[341] Perhaps the two were once identical, for +Manannan is sometimes called son of Alloid (= Lludd), in Irish texts, as +well as son of Ler.[342] But the confusion may be accidental, nor is it +certain that Nodons or Lludd was a sea-god. Llyr's prison was that of +Eurosswyd,[343] whose wife he may have abducted and hence suffered +imprisonment. In the _Black Book of Caermarthen_ Bran is called son of Y +Werydd or "Ocean," according to M. Loth's interpretation of the name, +which would thus point to Llyr's position as a sea-god. But this is +contested by Professor Rh[^y]s who makes Ywerit wife of Llyr, the name +being in his view a form of the Welsh word for Ireland. In Geoffrey and +the chroniclers Llyr becomes a king of Britain whose history and that of +his daughters was immortalised by Shakespeare. Geoffrey also refers to +Llyr's burial in a vault built in honour of Janus.[344] On this +Professor Rh[^y]s builds a theory that Llyr was a form of the Celtic Dis +with two faces and ruler of a world of darkness.[345] But there is no +evidence that the Celtic Dispater was lord of a gloomy underworld, and +it is best to regard Llyr as a sea-divinity. + +Manawyddan is not god-like in these tales in the sense in which the +majestic Manannan of Irish story is, though elsewhere we learn that +"deep was his counsel."[346] Though not a magician, he baffles one of +the great wizards of Welsh story, and he is also a master craftsman, who +instructs Pryderi in the arts of shoe-making, shield-making, and +saddlery. In this he is akin to Manannan, the teacher of Diarmaid. +Incidents of his career are reflected in the _Triads_, and his union +with Rhiannon may point to an old myth in which they were from the first +a divine pair, parents of Pryderi. This would give point to his +deliverance of Pryderi and Rhiannon from the hostile magician.[347] +Rhiannon resembles the Irish Elysium goddesses, and Manawyddan, like +Manannan, is lord of Elysium in a _Taliesin_ poem.[348] He is a +craftsman and follows agriculture, perhaps a reminiscence of the old +belief that fertility and culture come from the god's land. Manawyddan, +like other divinities, was drawn into the Arthurian cycle, and is one of +those who capture the famous boar, the _Twrch Trwyth_.[349] + +Bran, or Bendigeit Vran ("Bran the Blessed"), probably an old pagan +title which appropriately enough denotes one who figured later in +Christian hagiology, is so huge that no house or ship can hold him. +Hence he wades over to Ireland, and as he draws near is thought to be a +mountain. This may be an archaic method of expressing his divinity--a +gigantic non-natural man like some of the Tuatha Déa and Ossianic +heroes. But Bran also appears as the _Urdawl Ben_, or "Noble Head," +which makes time pass to its bearers like a dream, and when buried +protects the land from invasion. Both as a giant squatting on a rock and +as a head, Bran is equated by Professor Rh[^y]s with Cernunnos, the +squatting god, represented also as a head, and also with the Welsh Urien +whose attribute was a raven, the supposed meaning of Bran's name.[350] +He further equates him with Uthr Ben, "Wonderful Head," the superior +bard, harper and piper of a _Taliesin_ poem.[351] Urien, Bran, and Uthr +are three forms of a god worshipped by bards, and a "dark" divinity, +whose wading over to Ireland signifies crossing to Hades, of which he, +like Yama, who first crossed the rapid waters to the land of death, is +the ruler.[352] But Bran is not a "dark" god in the sense implied here. +Cernunnos is god of a happy underworld, and there is nothing dark or +evil in him or in Bran and his congeners. Professor Rh[^y]s's "dark" +divinities are sometimes, in his view, "light" gods, but they cannot be +both. The Celtic lords of the dead had no "dark" character, and as gods +of fertility they were, so to speak, in league with the sun-god, the +slayer of Bran, according to Professor Rh[^y]s's ingenious theory. And +although to distracted Irish secretaries Ireland may be Hades, its +introduction into this _Mabinogi_ merely points to the interpretation of +a mythico-historic connection between Wales and Ireland. Thus if Bran is +Cernunnos, this is because he is a lord of the underworld of fertility, +the counterpart of which is the distant Elysium, to which Bran seems +rather to belong. Thus, in presence of his head, time passes as a dream +in feasting and joy. This is a true Elysian note, and the tabued door of +the story is also suggestive of the tabus of Elysium, which when broken +rob men of happiness.[353] As to the power of the head in protecting the +land, this points to actual custom and belief regarding the relics of +the dead and the power of divine images or sculptured heads.[354] The +god Bran has become a king and law-giver in the _Mabinogion_ and the +_Triads_,[355] while Geoffrey of Monmouth describes how Belinus and +Brennus, in the Welsh version Beli and Bran, dispute the crown of +Britain, are reconciled, and finally conquer Gaul and Rome.[356] The +mythic Bran is confused with Brennus, leader of the Gauls against Rome +in 390 B.C., and Belinus may be the god Belenos, as well as Beli, father +of Lludd and Caswallawn. But Bran also figures as a Christian +missionary. He is described as hostage at Rome for his son Caradawc, +returning thence as preacher of Christianity to the Cymry--a legend +arising out of a misunderstanding of his epithet "Blessed" and a +confusing of his son with the historic Caractacus.[357] Hence Bran's +family is spoken of as one of the three saintly families of Prydein, and +he is ancestor of many saints.[358] + +Branwen, "White Bosom," daughter of a sea-god, may be a sea-goddess, +"Venus of the northern sea,"[359] unless with Mr. Nutt we connect her +with the cauldron described in her legend,[360] symbol of an orgiastic +cult, and regard her as a goddess of fertility. But the connection is +not clear in the story, though in some earlier myth the cauldron may +have been her property. As Brangwaine, she reappears in romance, giving +a love-potion to Tristram--perhaps a reminiscence of her former +functions as a goddess of love, or earlier of fertility. In the +_Mabinogion_ she is buried in Anglesey at Ynys Bronwen, where a cairn +with bones discovered in 1813 was held to be the grave and remains of +Branwen.[361] + +The children of Dôn, the equivalent of Danu, and probably like her, a +goddess of fertility, are Gwydion, Gilvæthwy, Amæthon, Govannon, and +Arianrhod, with her sons, Dylan and Llew.[362] These correspond, +therefore, in part to the Tuatha Déa, though the only members of the +group who bear names similar to the Irish gods are Govannon (= Goibniu) +and possibly Llew (= Lug). Gwydion as a culture-god corresponds to Ogma. +In the _Triads_ Beli is called father of Arianrhod,[363] and assuming +that this Arianrhod is identical with the daughter of Dôn, Professor +Rh[^y]s regards Beli as husband of Dôn. But the identification is far +from certain, and the theory built upon it that Beli is one with the +Irish Bile, and that both are lords of a dark underworld, has already +been found precarious.[364] In later belief Dôn was associated with the +stars, the constellation Cassiopeia being called her court. She is +described as "wise" in a _Taliesin_ poem.[365] + +This group of divinities is met with mainly in the _Mabinogi_ of Math, +which turns upon Gilvæthwy's illicit love of Math's "foot-holder" +Goewin. To assist him in his _amour_, Gwydion, by a magical trick, +procures for Math from the court of Pryderi certain swine sent him by +Arawn, king of Annwfn. In the battle which follows when the trick is +discovered, Gwydion slays Pryderi by enchantment. Math now discovers +that Gilvæthwy has seduced Goewin, and transforms him and Gwydion +successively into deer, swine, and wolves. Restored to human form, +Gwydion proposes that Arianrhod should be Math's foot-holder, but Math +by a magic test discovers that she is not a virgin. She bears two sons, +Dylan, fostered by Math, and another whom Gwydion nurtures and for whom +he afterwards by a trick obtains a name from Arianrhod, who had sworn +never to name him. The name is Llew Llaw Gyffes, "Lion of the Sure +Hand." By magic, Math and Gwydion form a wife for Llew out of flowers. +She is called Blodeuwedd, and later, at the instigation of a lover, +Gronw, she discovers how Llew can be killed. Gronw attacks and wounds +him, and he flies off as an eagle. Gwydion seeks for Llew, discovers +him, and retransforms him to human shape. Then he changes Blodeuwedd +into an owl, and slays Gronw.[366] Several independent tales have gone +to the formation of this _Mabinogi_, but we are concerned here merely +with the light it may throw on the divine characters who figure in it. + +Math or Math Hen, "the Ancient,"[367] is probably an old divinity of +Gwyned, of which he is called lord. He is a king and a magician, +pre-eminent in wizardry, which he teaches to Gwydion, and in a _Triad_ +he is called one of the great men of magic and metamorphosis of +Britain.[368] More important are his traits of goodness to the +suffering, and justice with no trace of vengeance to the wrong-doer. +Whether these are derived from his character as a god or from the Celtic +kingly ideal, it is impossible to say, though the former is by no means +unlikely. Possibly his supreme magical powers make him the equivalent of +the Irish "god of Druidism," but this is uncertain, since all gods were +more or less dowered with these. + +Gwydion's magical powers are abundantly illustrated in the tale. At +Pryderi's court he changes fungus into horses and dogs, and afterwards +slays Pryderi by power of enchantments; he produces a fleet by magic +before Arianrhod's castle; with Math's help he forms Blodeuwedd out of +flowers; he gives Llew his natural shape when he finds him as a wasted +eagle on a tree, his flesh and the worms breeding in it dropping from +him; he transforms the faithless Blodeuwedd into an owl. Some of these +and other deeds are referred to in the _Taliesin_ poems, while Taliesin +describes himself as enchanted by Gwydion.[369] In the _Triads_ he is +one of the three great astrologers of Prydein, and this emphasis laid on +his powers of divination is significant when it is considered that his +name may be derived from a root _vet_, giving words meaning "saying" or +"poetry," while cognate words are Irish _fáith_, "a prophet" or "poet," +German _wuth_, "rage," and the name of Odinn.[370] The name is +suggestive of the ecstasy of inspiration producing prophetic and poetic +utterance. In the _Mabinogion_ he is a mighty bard, and in a poem, he, +under the name of Gweir, is imprisoned in the Other-world, and there +becomes a bard, thus receiving inspiration from the gods' land.[371] He +is the ideal _fáith_--diviner, prophet, and poet, and thus the god of +those professing these arts. Strabo describes how the Celtic _vates_ +(_fáith_) was also a philosopher, and this character is given in a poem +to Seon (probably = Gwydion), whose artists are poets and +magicians.[372] But he is also a culture-god, bringing swine to men from +the gods' land. For though Pryderi is described as a mortal who has +himself received the swine from Annwfn (Elysium), there is no doubt that +he himself was a lord of Annwfn, and it was probably on account of +Gwydion's theft from Annwfn that he, as Gweir, was imprisoned there +"through the messenger of Pwyll and Pryderi."[373] A raid is here made +directly on the god's land for the benefit of men, and it is +unsuccessful, but in the _Mabinogi_ a different version of the raid is +told. Perhaps Gwydion also brought kine from Annwfn, since he is called +one of the three herds of Britain,[374] while he himself may once have +been an animal god, then an anthropomorphic deity associated with +animals. Thus in the _Mabinogi_, when Gwydion flees with the swine, he +rests each night at a place one of the syllables of which is _Moch_, +"swine"--an ætiological myth explaining why places which were once sites +of the cult of a swine-god, afterwards worshipped as Gwydion, were so +called. + +Gwydion has also a tricky, fraudulent character in the _Mabinogi_, and +although "in his life there was counsel," yet he had a "vicious +muse."[375] It is also implied that he is lover of his sister Arianrhod +and father of Dylan and Llew--the mythic reflections of a time when such +unions, perhaps only in royal houses, were permissible. Instances occur +in Irish tales, and Arthur was also his sister's lover.[376] In later +belief Gwydion was associated with the stars; and the Milky Way was +called Caer Gwydion. Across it he had chased the faithless +Blodeuwedd.[377] Professor Rh[^y]s equates him with Odinn, and regards +both as representing an older Celto-Teutonic hero, though many of the +alleged similarities in their respective mythologies are not too +obvious.[378] + +Amæthon the good is described in _Kulhwych_ as the only husbandman who +could till or dress a certain piece of land, though Kulhwych will not be +able to force him or to make him follow him.[379] This, together with +the name Amæthon, from Cymric _amæth_, "labourer" or "ploughman," throws +some light on his functions.[380] He was a god associated with +agriculture, either as one who made waste places fruitful, or possibly +as an anthropomorphic corn divinity. But elsewhere his taking a roebuck +and a whelp, and in a _Triad_, a lapwing from Arawn, king of Annwfn, led +to the battle of Godeu, in which he fought Arawn, aided by Gwydion, who +vanquished one of Arawn's warriors, Bran, by discovering his name.[381] +Amæthon, who brings useful animals from the gods' land, plays the same +part as Gwydion, bringer of the swine. The dog and deer are frequent +representatives of the corn-spirit, of which Amæthon may have been an +anthropomorphic form, or they, with the lapwing, may have been earlier +worshipful animals, associated with Amæthon as his symbols, while later +myth told how he had procured them from Annwfn. + +The divine functions of Llew Llaw Gyffes are hardly apparent in the +_Mabinogi_. The incident of Blodeuwedd's unfaithfulness is simply that +of the _Märchen_ formula of the treacherous wife who discovers the +secret of her husband's life, and thus puts him at her lover's +mercy.[382] But since Llew is not slain, but changes to eagle form, this +unusual ending may mean that he was once a bird divinity, the eagle +later becoming his symbol. Some myth must have told of his death, or he +was afterwards regarded as a mortal who died, for a poem mentions his +tomb, and adds, "he was a man who never gave justice to any one." Dr. +Skene suggests that truth, not justice, is here meant, and finds in this +a reference to Llew's disguises.[383] Professor Rh[^y]s, for reasons not +held convincing by M. Loth, holds that _Llew_, "lion," was a +misapprehension for his true name _Lleu_, interpreted by him +"light."[384] This meaning he also gives to _Lug_, equating Lug and +Llew, and regarding both as sun-gods. He also equates _Llaw Gyffes_, +"steady _or_ strong hand," with Lug's epithet _Lám fada_, "long hand," +suggesting that _gyffes_ may have meant "long," although it was Llew's +steadiness of hand in shooting which earned him the title.[385] Again, +Llew's rapid growth need not make him the sun, for this was a privilege +of many heroes who had no connection with the sun. Llew's unfortunate +matrimonial affairs are also regarded as a sun myth. Blodeuwedd is a +dawn goddess dividing her love between the sun-god and the prince of +darkness. Llew as the sun is overcome by the latter, but is restored by +the culture-hero Gwydion, who slays the dark rival. The transformation +of Blodeuwedd into an owl means that the Dawn has become the Dusk.[386] +As we have seen, all this is a _Märchen_ formula with no mythical +significance. Evidence of the precariousness of such an interpretation +is furnished from the similar interpretation of the story of Curoi's +wife, Blathnat, whose lover Cúchulainn slew Curoi.[387] Here a supposed +sun-god is the treacherous villain who kills a dark divinity, husband of +a dawn goddess. + +If Llew is a sun-god, the equivalent of Lug, it is curious that he is +never connected with the August festival in Wales which corresponds to +Lugnasad in Ireland. There may be some support to the theory which makes +him a sun-god in a _Triad_ where he is one of the three _ruddroawc_ who +cause a year's sterility wherever they set their feet, though in this +Arthur excels them, for he causes seven years' sterility![388] Does this +point to the scorching of vegetation by the summer sun? The mythologists +have not made use of this incident. On the whole the evidence for Llew +as a sun-god is not convincing. The strongest reason for identifying him +with Lug rests on the fact that both have uncles who are smiths and have +similar names--Govannon and Gavida (Goibniu). Like Amæthon, Govannon, +the artificer or smith (_gôf_, "smith"), is mentioned in _Kulhwych_ as +one whose help must be gained to wait at the end of the furrows to +cleanse the iron of the plough.[389] Here he is brought into connection +with the plough, but the myth to which the words refer is lost. A +_Taliesin_ poem associates him with Math--"I have been with artificers, +with the old Math and with Govannon," and refers to his _Caer_ or +castle.[390] + +Arianrhod, "silver wheel," has a twofold character. She pretends to be a +virgin, and disclaims all knowledge of her son Llew, yet she is mistress +of Gwydion. In the _Triads_ she appears as one of the three blessed (or +white) ladies of Britain.[391] Perhaps these two aspects of her +character may point to a divergence between religion and mythology, the +cult of a virgin goddess of whom myth told discreditable things. More +likely she was an old Earth-goddess, at once a virgin and a fruitful +mother, like Artemis, the virgin goddess, yet neither chaste nor fair, +or like a Babylonian goddess addressed as at once "mother, wife, and +maid." Arianrhod, "beauty famed beyond summer's dawn," is mentioned in a +_Taliesin_ poem, and she was later associated with the constellation +Corona Borealis.[392] Possibly her real name was forgotten, and that of +Arianrhod derived from a place-name, "Caer Arianrhod," associated with +her. The interpretation which makes her a dawn goddess, mother of light, +Lleu, and darkness, Dylan, is far from obvious.[393] Dylan, after his +baptism, rushed into the sea, the nature of which became his. No wave +ever broke under him; he swam like a fish; and hence was called Dylan +Eil Ton or "son of the wave." Govannon, his uncle, slew him, an incident +interpreted as the defeat of darkness, which "hies away to lurk in the +sea." Dylan, however, has no dark traits and is described as a blonde. +The waves lament his death, and, as they dash against the shore, seek to +avenge it. His grave is "where the wave makes a sullen sound," but +popular belief identifies him with the waves, and their noise as they +press into the Conway is his dying groan. Not only is he _Eil Ton_, "son +of the wave," but also _Eil Mor_, "son of the sea."[394] He is thus a +local sea-god, and like Manannan identified with the waves, and yet +separate from them, since they mourn his death. The _Mabinogi_ gives us +the _débris_ of myths explaining how an anthropomorphic sea-god was +connected with the goddess Arianrhod and slain by a god Govannon. + +Another _Mabinogion_ group is that of Pwyll, prince of Dyved, his wife +Rhiannon, and their son Pryderi.[395] Pwyll agrees with Arawn, king of +Annwfn (Elysium), to reign over his kingdom for a year. At the end of +that time he slays Arawn's rival Havgan. Arawn sends him gifts, and +Pwyll is now known as Pen or Head of Annwfn, a title showing that he was +once a god, belonging to the gods' land, later identified with the +Christian Hades. Pwyll now agrees with Rhiannon,[396] who appears +mysteriously on a magic hillock, and whom he captures, to rid her of an +unwelcome suitor Gwawl. He imprisons him in a magical bag, and Rhiannon +weds Pwyll. The story thus resolves itself into the formula of the Fairy +Bride, but it paves the way for the vengeance taken on Pryderi and +Rhiannon by Gwawl's friend Llwyt. Rhiannon has a son who is stolen as +soon as born. She is accused of slaying him and is degraded, but Teyrnon +recovers the child from its super-human robber and calls him Gwri. As he +grows up, Teyrnon notices his resemblance to Pwyll, and takes him to his +court. Rhiannon is reinstated, and because she cries that her anguish +(_pryderi_) is gone, the boy is now called Pryderi. Here, again, we have +_Märchen_ incidents, which also appear in the Fionn saga.[397] + +Though there is little that is mythological here, it is evident that +Pwyll is a god and Rhiannon a goddess, whose early importance, like that +of other Celtic goddesses, appears from her name, a corruption of +Rigantona, "great queen." Elsewhere we hear of her magic birds whose +song charmed Bran's companions for seven years, and of her marriage to +Manawyddan--an old myth in which Manawyddan may have been Pryderi's +father, while possibly in some other myth Pryderi may have been child of +Rigantona and Teyrnon (=Tigernonos, "king").[398] We may postulate an +old Rhiannon saga, fragments of which are to be found in the _Mabinogi_, +and there may have been more than one goddess called Rigantona, later +fused into one. But in the tales she is merely a queen of old romance. + +Pryderi, as has been seen, was despoiled of his swine by Gwydion. They +were the gift of Arawn, but in the _Triads_ they seem to have been +brought from Annwfn by Pwyll, while Pryderi acted as swineherd.[399] +Both Pwyll and Pryderi are thus connected with those myths which told of +the bringing of domestic animals from the gods' land. But since they are +certainly gods, associated with the gods' land, this is perhaps the +result of misunderstanding. A poem speaks of the magic cauldron of Pen +Annwfn, i.e. Pwyll, and this points to a myth explaining his connection +with Annwfn in a different way from the account in the _Mabinogi_. The +poem also tells how Gweir was imprisoned in Caer Sidi (=Annwfn) "through +the messenger of Pwyll and Pryderi."[400] They are thus lords of Annwfn, +whose swine Gweir (Gwydion) tries to steal. Elsewhere Caer Sidi is +associated with Manawyddan and Pryderi, perhaps a reference to their +connection as father and son.[401] Thus Pryderi and Pwyll belong to the +bright Elysium, and may once have been gods of fertility associated with +the under-earth region, which was by no means a world of darkness. +Whatever be the meaning of the death of Pryderi at the hands of Gwydion, +it is connected with later references to his grave.[402] + +A fourth group is that of Beli and his sons, referred to in the +_Mabinogi_ of Branwen, where one of them, Caswallawn, usurps the throne, +and thus makes Manawyddan, like MacGregor, landless. In the _Dream of +Maxen_, the sons of Beli are Lludd, Caswallawn, Nynnyaw, and +Llevelys.[403] Geoffrey calls Beli Heli, and speaks of an earlier king +Belinus, at enmity with his brother Brennius.[404] But probably Beli or +Heli and Belinus are one and the same, and both represent the earlier +god Belenos. Caswellawn becomes Cassivellaunus, opponent of Cæsar, but +in the _Mabinogi_ he is hostile to the race of Llyr, and this may be +connected with whatever underlies Geoffrey's account of the hostility of +Belinus and Brennius (=Bran, son of Llyr), perhaps, like the enmity of +the race of D[^o]n to Pryderi, a reminiscence of the strife of rival +tribes or of Goidel and Brython.[405] As has been seen, the evidence for +regarding Beli as D[^o]n's consort or the equivalent of Bile is slender. +Nor, if he is Belenos, the equivalent of Apollo, is he in any sense a +"dark" god. He is regarded as a victorious champion, preserver of his +"honey isle" and of the stability of his kingdom, in a _Taliesin_ poem +and in the _Triads_.[406] + +The personality of Casswallawn is lost in that of the historic +Cassivellaunus, but in a reference to him in the _Triads_ where, with +Caradawc and Gweirydd, he bears the title "war king," we may see a +glimpse of his divine character, that of a god of war, invisibly leading +on armies to battle, and as such embodied in great chiefs who bore his +name.[407] Nynnyaw appears in Geoffrey's pages as Nennius, who dies of +wounds inflicted by Cæsar, to the great grief of Cassivellaunus.[408] + +The theory that Lludd Llaw Ereint or _Lodens Lamargentios_ represents +_Nodens_ (Nuada) _L[=a]margentios_, the change being the result of +alliteration, has been contested,[409] while if the Welsh Lludd and Nudd +were identical it is strange that they should have become distinct +personalities, Gwyn, son of Nudd, being the lover of Creiddylad, +daughter of Lludd,[410] unless in some earlier myth their love was that +of brother and sister. Lludd is also confused or is identical with Llyr, +just as the Irish Ler is with Alloid. He is probably the son of Beli +who, in the tale of _Lludd and Llevelys_, by the advice of Llevelys rids +his country of three plagues.[411] These are, first, the Coranians who +hear every whisper, and whom he destroys by throwing over them water in +which certain insects given him by Levelys have been bruised. The second +is a shriek on May-eve which makes land and water barren, and is caused +by a dragon which attacks the dragon of the land. These Lludd captures +and imprisons at Dinas Emreis, where they afterwards cause trouble to +Vortigern at the building of his castle. The third is that of the +disappearance of a year's supply of food by a magician, who lulls every +one to sleep and who is captured by Lludd. Though the Coranians appear +in the _Triads_ as a hostile tribe,[412] they may have been a +supernatural folk, since their name is perhaps derived from _còr_, +"dwarf," and they are now regarded as mischievous fairies.[413] They may +thus be analogous to the Fomorians, and their story, like that of the +dragon and the magician who produce blight and loss of food, may be +based on older myth or ritual embodying the belief in powers hostile to +fertility, though it is not clear why those powers should be most active +on May-day. But this may be a misunderstanding, and the dragons are +overcome on May-eve. The references in the tale to Lludd's generosity +and liberality in giving food may reflect his function as a god of +growth, but, like other euhemerised gods, he is also called a mighty +warrior, and is said to have rebuilt the walls of Caer Ludd (London), +his name still surviving in "Ludgate Hill," where he was buried.[414] +This legend doubtless points to some ancient cult of Lludd at this spot. + +Nudd already discussed under his title Nodons, is less prominent than +his son Gwyn, whose fight with Gwthur we have explained as a mythic +explanation of ritual combats for the increase of fertility. He also +appears as a hunter and as a great warrior,[415] "the hope of armies," +and thus he may be a god of fertility who became a god of war and the +chase. But legend associated him with Annwfn, and regarded him, like the +Tuatha Déa, as a king of fairyland.[416] In the legend of S. Collen, the +saint tells two men, whom he overhears speaking of Gwyn and the fairies, +that these are demons. "Thou shalt receive a reproof from Gwyn," said +one of them, and soon after Collen was summoned to meet the king of +Annwfn on Glastonbury Tor. He climbed the hill with a flask of holy +water, and saw on its top a splendid castle, with crowds of beautiful +and youthful folk, while the air resounded with music. He was brought to +Gwyn, who politely offered him food, but "I will not eat of the leaves +of the tree," cried the saint; and when he was asked to admire the +dresses of the crowd, all he would say was that the red signified +burning, the blue coldness. Then he threw the holy water over them, and +nothing was left but the bare hillside.[417] Though Gwyn's court on +Glastonbury is a local Celtic Elysium, which was actually located there, +the story marks the hostility of the Church to the cult of Gwyn, perhaps +practised on hilltops, and this is further seen in the belief that he +hunts souls of the wicked and is connected with Annwfn in its later +sense of hell. But a mediant view is found in _Kulhwych_, where it is +said of him that he restrains the demons of hell lest they should +destroy the people of this world. In the _Triads_ he is, like other +gods, a great magician and astrologer.[418] + +Another group, unknown to the _Mabinogion_, save that Taliesin is one of +the bearers of Bran's head, is found in the _Book of Taliesin_ and in +the late story of Taliesin. These, like the _Arthur_ cycle, often refer +to personages of the _Mabinogion_; hence we gather that local groups of +gods, originally distinct, were later mingled in story, the references +in the poems reflecting this mingling. Late as is the _Hanes Taliesin_ +or story of Taliesin, and expressed as much of it is in a _Märchen_ +formula, it is based on old myths about Cerridwen and Taliesin of which +its compiler made use, following an old tradition already stereotyped in +one of the poems in the _Märchen_ formula of the Transformation +Combat.[419] But the mythical fragments are also mingled with traditions +regarding the sixth century poet Taliesin. The older saga was perhaps +developed in a district south of the Dyfi estuary.[420] In Lake Tegid +dwell Tegid Voel, Cerridwen, and their children--the fair maiden +Creirwy, Morvran, and the ugly Avagddu. To give Avagddu knowledge, his +mother prepares a cauldron of inspiration from which three drops of +inspiration will be produced. These fall on the finger of Gwion, whom +she set to stir it. He put the finger in his mouth, and thus acquired +the inspiration. He fled, and Cerridwen pursued, the rest of the story +being accommodated to the Transformation Combat formula. Finally, +Cerridwen as a hen swallows Gwion as a grain of wheat, and bears him as +a child, whom she throws into the sea. Elphin, who rescues him, calls +him Taliesin, and brings him up as a bard.[421] + +The water-world of Tegid is a submarine Elysium with the customary +cauldron of inspiration, regeneration, and fertility, like the cauldron +associated with a water-world in the _Mabinogion_. "Shall not my chair +be defended from the cauldron of Cerridwen," runs a line in a Taliesin +poem, while another speaks of her chair, which was probably in Elysium +like that of Taliesin himself in Caer Sidi.[422] Further references to +her connection with poetry show that she may have been worshipped by +bards, her cauldron being the source of their inspiration.[423] Her +anger at Gwion may point to some form of the Celtic myth of the theft of +the elements of culture from the gods' land. But the cauldron was first +of all associated with a fertility cult,[424] and Cerridwen must +therefore once have been a goddess of fertility, who, like Brigit, was +later worshipped by bards. She may also have been a corn-goddess, since +she is called a goddess of grain, and tradition associates the pig--a +common embodiment of the corn-spirit--with her.[425] If the tradition is +correct, this would be an instance, like that of Demeter and the pig, of +an animal embodiment of the corn-spirit being connected with a later +anthropomorphic corn-goddess. + +Taliesin was probably an old god of poetic inspiration confused with the +sixth century poet of the same name, perhaps because this boastful poet +identified himself or was identified by other bards with the gods. He +speaks of his "splendid chair, inspiration of fluent and urgent song" in +Caer Sidi or Elysium, and, speaking in the god's name or identifying +himself with him, describes his presence with Llew, Bran, Gwydion, and +others, as well as his creation and his enchantment before he became +immortal.[426] He was present with Arthur when a cauldron was stolen +from Aunwfn, and basing his verses on the mythic transformations and +rebirths of the gods, recounts in highly inflated language his own +numerous forms and rebirths.[427] His claims resemble those of the +_Shaman_ who has the entree of the spirit-world and can transform +himself at will. Taliesin's rebirth is connected with his acquiring of +inspiration. These incidents appear separately in the story of Fionn, +who acquired his inspiration by an accident, and was also said to have +been reborn as Mongan. They are myths common to various branches of the +Celtic people, and applied in different combinations to outstanding gods +or heroes.[428] The _Taliesin_ poems show that there may have been two +gods or two mythic aspects of one god, later combined together. He is +the son of the goddess and dwells in the divine land, but he is also a +culture-hero stealing from the divine land. Perhaps the myths reflect +the encroachment of the cult of a god on that of a goddess, his +worshippers regarding him as her son, her worshippers reflecting their +hostility to the new god in a myth of her enmity to him. Finally, the +legend of the rescue of Taliesin the poet from the waves became a myth +of the divine outcast child rescued by Elphin, and proving himself a +bard when normal infants are merely babbling. + +The occasional and obscure references to the other members of this group +throw little light on their functions, save that Morvran, "sea-crow," is +described in _Kulhwych_ as so ugly and terrible that no one would strike +him at the battle of Camlan. He may have been a war-god, like the +scald-crow goddesses of Ireland, and he is also spoken of in the +_Triads_ as an "obstructor of slaughter" or "support of battle."[429] + +Ingenuity and speculation have busied themselves with trying to prove +that the personages of the Arthurian cycle are the old gods of the +Brythons, and the incidents of the romances fragments of the old +mythology. While some of these personages--those already present in +genuinely old Welsh tales and poems or in Geoffrey's _History_--are +reminiscent of the old gods, the romantic presentment of them in the +cycle itself is so largely imaginative, that nothing certain can be +gained from it for the understanding of the old mythology, much less the +old religion. Incidents which are the common stock of real life as well +as of romance are interpreted mythologically, and it is never quite +obvious why the slaying of one hero by another should signify the +conquest of a dark divinity by a solar hero, or why the capture of a +heroine by one knight when she is beloved of another, should make her a +dawn-goddess sharing her favours, now with the sun-god, now with a +"dark" divinity. Or, even granting the truth of this method, what light +does it throw on Celtic religion? + +We may postulate a local Arthur saga fusing an old Brythonic god with +the historic sixth century Arthur. From this or from Geoffrey's handling +of it sprang the great romantic cycle. In the ninth century Nennius +Arthur is the historic war-chief, possibly Count of Britain, but in the +reference to his hunting the _Porcus Troit_ (the _Twrch Trwyth_) the +mythic Arthur momentarily appears.[430] Geoffrey's Arthur differs from +the later Arthur of romance, and he may have partially rationalised the +saga, which was either of recent formation or else local and obscure, +since there is no reference to Arthur in the _Mabinogion_--a fact which +shows that "in the legends of Gwynedd and Dyfedd he had no place +whatever,"[431] and also that Arthur the god or mythic hero was also +purely local. In Geoffrey Arthur is the fruit of Igerna's _amour_ with +Uther, to whom Merlin has given her husband's shape. Arthur conquers +many hosts as well as giants, and his court is the resort of all +valorous persons. But he is at last wounded by his wife's seducer, and +carried to the Isle of Avallon to be cured of his wounds, and nothing +more is ever heard of him.[432] Some of these incidents occur also in +the stories of Fionn and Mongan, and those of the mysterious begetting +of a wonder child and his final disappearance into fairyland are local +forms of a tale common to all branches of the Celts.[433] This was +fitted to the history of the local god or hero Arthur, giving rise to +the local saga, to which was afterwards added events from the life of +the historic Arthur. This complex saga must then have acquired a wider +fame long before the romantic cycle took its place, as is suggested by +the purely Welsh tales of _Kulhwych_ and the _Dream of Rhonabwy_, in the +former of which the personages (gods) of the _Mabinogion_ figure in +Arthur's train, though he is far from being the Arthur of the romances. +Sporadic references to Arthur occur also in Welsh literature, and to the +earlier saga belongs the Arthur who spoils Elysium of its cauldron in a +_Taliesin_ poem.[434] In the _Triads_ there is a mingling of the +historic, the saga, and the later romance Arthur, but probably as a +result of the growing popularity of the saga Arthur he is added to many +Triads as a more remarkable person than the three whom they +describe.[435] Arthurian place-names over the Brythonic area are more +probably the result of the popularity of the saga than that of the later +romantic cycle, a parallel instance being found in the extent of +Ossianic place-names over the Goidelic area as a result of the spread of +the Fionn saga. + +The character of the romance Arthur--the flower of knighthood and a +great warrior--and the blending of the historic war-leader Arthur with +the mythic Arthur, suggest that the latter was the ideal hero of certain +Brythonic groups, as Fionn and Cúchulainn of certain Goidelic groups. He +may have been the object of a cult as these heroes perhaps were, or he +may have been a god more and more idealised as a hero. If the earlier +form of his name was Artor, "a ploughman," but perhaps with a wider +significance, and having an equivalent in Artaius, a Gaulish god equated +with Mercury,[436] he may have been a god of agriculture who became a +war-god. But he was also regarded as a culture-hero, stealing a cauldron +and also swine from the gods' land, the last incident euhemerised into +the tale of an unsuccessful theft from March, son of Meirchion,[437] +while, like other culture-heroes, he is a bard. To his story was easily +fitted that of the wonder-child, who, having finally disappeared into +Elysium (later located at Glastonbury), would reappear one day, like +Fionn, as the Saviour of his people. The local Arthur finally attained a +fame far exceeding that of any Brythonic god or hero. + +Merlin, or Myrddin, appears in the romances as a great magician who is +finally overcome by the Lady of the Lake, and is in Geoffrey son of a +mysterious invisible personage who visits a woman, and, finally taking +human shape, begets Merlin. As a son who never had a father he is chosen +as the foundation sacrifice for Vortigern's tower by his magicians, but +he confutes them and shows why the tower can never be built, namely, +because of the dragons in the pool beneath it. Then follow his +prophecies regarding the dragons and the future of the country, and the +story of his removal of the Giant's Dance, or Stonehenge, from Ireland +to its present site--an ætiological myth explaining the origin of the +great stone circle. His description of how the giants used the water +with which they washed the stones for the cure of sickness or wounds, +probably points to some ritual for healing in connection with these +megaliths. Finally, we hear of his transformation of the lovelorn Uther +and of his confidant Ulfin, as well as of himself.[438] Here he appears +as little more than an ideal magician, possibly an old god, like the +Irish "god of Druidism," to whose legend had been attached a story of +supernatural conception. Professor Rh[^y]s regards him as a Celtic Zeus +or as the sun, because late legends tell of his disappearance in a glass +house into the sea. The glass house is the expanse of light travelling +with the sun (Merlin), while the Lady of the Lake who comes daily to +solace Merlin in his enchanted prison is a dawn-goddess. Stonehenge was +probably a temple of this Celtic Zeus "whose late legendary self we have +in Merlin."[439] Such late romantic episodes and an ætiological myth can +hardly be regarded as affording safe basis for these views, and their +mythological interpretation is more than doubtful. The sun is never +prisoner of the dawn as Merlin is of Viviane. Merlin and his glass house +disappear for ever, but the sun reappears every morning. Even the most +poetic mythology must conform in some degree to actual phenomena, but +this cannot be said of the systems of mythological interpretation. If +Merlin belongs to the pagan period at all, he was probably an ideal +magician or god of magicians, prominent, perhaps, in the Arthur saga as +in the later romances, and credited with a mysterious origin and an +equally mysterious ending, the latter described in many different ways. + +The boastful Kei of the romances appears already in _Kulhwych_, while in +Geoffrey he is Arthur's seneschal.[440] Nobler traits are his in later +Welsh poetry; he is a mighty warrior, fighting even against a hundred, +though his powers as a toper are also great. Here, too, his death is +lamented.[441] He may thus have been a god of war, and his battle-fury +may be poetically described in a curious passage referring to him in +_Kulhwych_: "His breath lasted nine days and nine nights under water. He +could remain without sleep for the same period. No physician could heal +a wound inflicted by his sword. When he pleased he could make himself as +tall as the tallest tree in the wood. And when it rained hardest, +whatever he carried remained dry above and below his hand to the +distance of a handbreadth, so great was his natural heat. When it was +coldest he was as glowing fuel to his companions."[442] This almost +exactly resembles Cúchulainn's aspect in his battle-fury. In a curious +poem Gwenhyvar (Guinevere) extols his prowess as a warrior above that of +Arthur, and in _Kulhwych_ and elsewhere there is enmity between the +two.[443] This may point to Kei's having been a god of tribes hostile to +those of whom Arthur was hero. + +Mabon, one of Arthur's heroes in _Kulhwych_ and the _Dream of Rhonabwy_, +whose name, from _mab_ (_map_), means "a youth," may be one with the god +Maponos equated with Apollo in Britain and Gaul, perhaps as a god of +healing springs.[444] His mother's name, Modron, is a local form of +_Matrona_, a river-goddess and probably one of the mother-goddesses as +her name implies. In the _Triads_ Mabon is one of the three eminent +prisoners of Prydein. To obtain his help in hunting the magic boar his +prison must be found, and this is done by animals, in accordance with a +_Märchen_ formula, while the words spoken by them show the immense +duration of his imprisonment--perhaps a hint of his immortality.[445] +But he was also said to have died and been buried at Nantlle,[446] +which, like Gloucester, the place of his prison, may have been a site of +his widely extended cult.[447] + + * * * * * + +Taken as a whole the various gods and heroes of the Brythons, so far as +they are known to us, just as they resemble the Irish divinities in +having been later regarded as mortals, magicians, and fairies, so they +resemble them in their functions, dimly as these are perceived. They are +associated with Elysium, they are lords of fertility and growth, of the +sea, of the arts of culture and of war. The prominent position of +certain goddesses may point to what has already been discovered of them +in Gaul and Ireland--their pre-eminence and independence. But, like the +divinities of Gaul and Ireland, those of Wales were mainly local in +character, and only in a few cases attained a wider popularity and cult. + +Certain British gods mentioned on inscriptions may be identified with +some of those just considered--Nodons with Nudd or Lludd, Belenos with +Belinus or Beli, Maponos with Mabon, Taranos (in continental +inscriptions only), with a Taran mentioned in _Kulhwych_.[448] Others +are referred to in classical writings--Andrasta, a goddess of victory, +to whom Boudicca prayed;[449] Sul, a goddess of hot springs, equated +with Minerva at Bath.[450] Inscriptions also mention Epona, the +horse-goddess; Brigantia, perhaps a form of Brigit; Belisama (the Mersey +in Ptolemy),[451] a goddess in Gaulish inscriptions. Others refer to the +group goddesses, the _Matres_. Some gods are equated with Mars--Camulos, +known also on the Continent and perhaps the same as Cumal, father of +Fionn; Belatucadros, "comely in slaughter"; Cocidius, Corotiacus, +Barrex, and Totatis (perhaps Lucan's Teutates). Others are equated with +Apollo in his character as a god of healing--Anextiomarus, Grannos (at +Musselburgh and in many continental inscriptions), Arvalus, Mogons, etc. +Most of these and many others found on isolated inscriptions were +probably local in character, though some, occurring also on the +Continent, had attained a wider popularity.[452] But some of the +inscriptions referring to the latter may be due to Gaulish soldiers +quartered in Britain. + +COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIVINITIES WITH SIMILAR NAMES IN IRELAND, BRITAIN, +AND GAUL. + +_Italics denote names found in Inscriptions._ + +IRELAND. BRITAIN. GAUL. + _Anextiomarus_ _Anextiomarus_ +Anu Anna (?) _Anoniredi_, "chariot of Anu" +Badb _Bodua_ + Beli, Belinus _Belenos_ + Belisama _Belisama_ +Brigit _Brigantia_ _Brigindu_ +Bron Bran Brennus (?) +Buanann _Buanu_ +Cumal _Camulos_ _Camulos_ +Danu Dôn + _Epona_ _Epona_ +Goibniu Govannon + _Grannos_ _Grannos_ +Ler Llyr +Lug Llew or Lleu (?) Lugus, _Lugores_ + Mabon, _Maponos_ _Maponos_ +Manannan Manawyddan + _Matres_ _Matres_ +Mider _Medros_ (?) + Modron _Matrona_ (?) +Nemon _Nemetona_ +Nét _Neton_ +Nuada _Nodons_, Nudd + Hael, Llûdd (?) +Ogma Ogmíos + _Silvanus_ _Silvanus_ + Taran _Taranis_ + _Totatis, Tutatis_ Teutates + +FOOTNOTES: + +[328] The text of the _Mabinogion_ has been edited by Rh[^y]s and Evans, +1887, and it has been translated into English by Lady Guest, and more +critically, into French, by Loth. Many of the _Triads_ will be found in +Loth's second volume. For the poetry see Skene, _Four Ancient Books of +Wales_. + +[329] These incidents are found mainly in the story of Branwen, e.g. +those of the cauldron, a frequent accessory in Irish tales; the +regeneration of the warriors, also found in the story of Mag-tured, +though no cauldron is used; the red-hot house, occurring also in _Mesca +Ulad_; the description of Bran paralleled by that of MacCecht. + +[330] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 277, ii. 124, iii. 122. + +[331] Bp. of S. Davids, _Vestiges of the Gael in Gwynned_, 1851; +Rh[^y]s, _TSC_ 1894-1895, 21. + +[332] Skene, i. 45; Meyer, _TSC_ 1895-1896, 55. + +[333] Cf. John, _The Mabinogion_, 1901, 19. Curoi appears as Kubert, and +Conchobar as Knychur in _Kulhwych_ (Loth, i. 202). A poem of _Taliesin_ +has for subject the death of Corroi, son of Dayry (Curoi mac Daire), +Skene, i. 254. + +[334] Loth, _RC_ x. 356; John, _op. cit._ 19; Nutt, _Arch. Rev._ i. 331. + +[335] The giant Ysppadden in _Kulhwych_ resembles Balor, but has no evil +eye. + +[336] Anwyl, _ZCP_ ii. 127-128, "The merging of the two legends [of Dôn +and Taliesin] may have arisen through the fusion of Penllyn with Ardudwy +and Arvon." + +[337] Professor Rh[^y]s thinks that the Llyr family may be pre-Celtic, +_TSC_ 1894-1895, 29 f.; _CFL_ 552. + +[338] Loth, i. 97 f.; Lady Guest, iii. 143 f. + +[339] See Nutt, _Folk-lore Record_, v. 1 f. + +[340] Loth, i. 298, ii. 243-244; Geoffrey, _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11. + +[341] Loth, i. 224, 265, ii. 215, 244; Geoff. ii. 11. + +[342] Skene, i. 81; Rh[^y]s, _Academy_, Jan. 7, 1882. + +[343] _Triads_, Loth, ii. 293; Nutt, _Folk-lore Record_, v. 9. + +[344] _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11-14. + +[345] _AL_ 131. + +[346] Skene, i. 262. + +[347] See Nutt-Meyer, ii. 17. + +[348] Skene, i. 276. + +[349] Loth, i. 208, 280; see also i. 197, ii. 245, 294. + +[350] See Skene i. 355. The raven is rather the bird of prey come to +devour Urien than his "attribute." + +[351] Skene, i. 298. + +[352] For these theories see Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 90_f_.; _AL_ ch. 11; _CFL_ +552. + +[353] See Ch. XXIV. + +[354] See p. 242. + +[355] Loth, i. 65, ii. 285. + +[356] _Hist. Brit._ iii. 1_f_. Geoffrey says that Billingsgate was +called after Belinus, and that his ashes were preserved in the gate, a +tradition recalling some connection of the god with the gate. + +[357] An early Caradawc saga may have become mingled with the story of +Caractacus. + +[358] Rees, 77. + +[359] So Elton, 291. + +[360] _Folk-lore Record_, v. 29. + +[361] Lady Guest, iii. 134. + +[362] Dôn is sometimes held to be male, but she is distinctly called +sister of Math (Loth, i. 134), and as the equivalent of Danu she must be +female. + +[363] Loth, ii. 209. + +[364] See p. 60, _supra_, and Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 90_f_. + +[365] Lady Guest, iii. 255; Skene, i. 297, 350. + +[366] For this _Mabinogi_ see Loth, i. 117f.; Guest, iii. 189f. + +[367] Skene, i. 286. + +[368] Loth, ii. 229, 257; and for other references to Math, Skene, i. +281, 269, 299. + +[369] Skene, i. 296, 281. + +[370] Loth, ii. 297; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 276. + +[371] Skene, i. 264. + +[372] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 270. Skene, i. 430, 537, gives a different meaning +to _seon_. + +[373] Skene, i. 264. + +[374] Loth, ii. 296. + +[375] Skene, i. 299, 531. + +[376] See p. 224, _infra_. + +[377] Guest, iii. 255; Morris, _Celtic Remains_, 231. + +[378] _HL_ 283 _f_. See also Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ i. 131. + +[379] Loth, i. 240. + +[380] Stokes, _US_ 34. + +[381] _Myvyrian Archæol._ i. 168; Skene, i. 275, 278 f.; Loth, ii. 259. + +[382] See my _Childhood of Fiction_, 127. Llew's vulnerability does not +depend on the discovery of his separable soul, as is usual. The earliest +form of this _Märchen_ is the Egyptian story of the Two Brothers, and +that of Samson and Delilah is another old form of it. + +[383] Skene, i. 314, ii. 342. + +[384] _HL_ 408; _RC_ x. 490. + +[385] _HL_ 237, 319, 398, 408. + +[386] _HL_ 384. + +[387] _HL_ 474, 424. + +[388] Loth, ii. 231. + +[389] Loth, i. 240. + +[390] Skene, i, 286-287. + +[391] Loth, ii. 263. + +[392] Skene, ii. 159; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 157; Guest, iii. 255. + +[393] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 161, 566. + +[394] Skene, i. 282, 288, 310, 543, ii. 145; Loth, i. 135; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ +387. + +[395] Loth, i. 27 f.; Guest, iii. 7 f. + +[396] Rhiannon is daughter of Heveidd Hen or "the Ancient," probably an +old divinity. + +[397] In the _Mabinogi_ and in Fionn tales a mysterious hand snatches +away newly-born children. Cf. _ZCP_ i. 153. + +[398] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 288. + +[399] Loth, ii. 247. + +[400] Skene, i. 264. + +[401] Ibid. i. 276. + +[402] Ibid. i. 310. + +[403] Loth, i. 166. + +[404] _Hist. Brit._ ii. 11, iii. 1, 20, iv. 3. + +[405] Cf. Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 287. + +[406] Skene, i. 431; Loth, ii. 278. Some phrases seem to connect Beli +with the sea--the waves are his cattle, the brine his liquor. + +[407] Loth, ii. 209, 249, 260, 283. + +[408] Geoffrey, _Brit. Hist._ iv. 3. 4. + +[409] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 125 f.; Loth, i. 265; MacBain, _CM_ ix. 66. + +[410] See Loth, i. 269; and Skene, i. 293. + +[411] Loth, i. 173 f. + +[412] Loth, ii. 256, 274. + +[413] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 606. Cf. the Breton fairies, the _Korr_ and +_Korrigan_. + +[414] Geoffrey, iii. 20. + +[415] Loth, i. 253-254; Skene, i. 293. + +[416] Guest, iii. 323. + +[417] Ibid. 325. + +[418] Loth, i. 253, ii. 297. + +[419] See p. 353, _infra_.; Skene, i. 532. + +[420] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 293. + +[421] Guest, iii. 356 f. + +[422] Skene, i. 275, 296. + +[423] Ibid. i. 498, 500. + +[424] See p. 382, _infra_. + +[425] _Mon. Hist. Brit._ i. 698, ii.; Thomas, _Revue de l'hist. des +Religions_, xxxviii. 339. + +[426] Skene, i. 263, 274-276, 278, 281-282, 286-287. His "chair" bestows +immortal youth and freedom from sickness. + +[427] Skene, i. 264, 376 f., 309, 532. See p. 356, _infra_. + +[428] See pp. 350-1, _infra_. Fionn and Taliesin are examples of the +_Märchen_ formula of a hero expelled and brought back to honour, +Nutt-Meyer, ii. 88. + +[429] Loth, i. 209, ii. 238; Skene, ii. 459. + +[430] Nennius, ch. 50, 79. + +[431] Anwyl, _ZCP_ i. 293. + +[432] Geoffrey, viii. 9-xi. 3. + +[433] Nutt-Meyer, ii. 22 f. + +[434] See p. 381, _infra_. + +[435] Loth, ii. 232, 245. + +[436] Rh[^y]s, _AL_, 39 f. Others derive the name from _arto-s_, "bear." +MacBain, 357. + +[437] Loth. ii. 247; Skene, ii. 459. + +[438] Geoffrey, vi. 17-19, vii. viii. 1, 10-12, 19. In a poem (Skene, i. +478), Myrddin is called "the man who speaks from the grave"--a +conception familiar to the Celts, who thought of the dead as living on +in the grave. See p. 340, _infra_. + +[439] Rh[^y]s, _HL_, 154 f., 158-159, 194. + +[440] Geoffrey, ix. 12, etc. + +[441] Skene, ii. 51. + +[442] Loth. i. 225; cf. p. 131, _infra_. From this description Elton +supposes Kei to have been a god of fire. + +[443] _Myv. Arch._ i. 175; Loth, i. 269. Rh[^y]s, _AL_ 59, thinks Merlin +may have been Guinevere's ravisher. + +[444] Holder, i. 414. + +[445] Loth i. 250, 260 f., 280, ii. 215, 244. + +[446] Skene, i. 363, ii. 406; _Myv. Arch._ i. 78. + +[447] Hu Gadarn is mentioned in the _Triads_ as a leader of the Cymry +from the east and their teacher in ploughing. He divided them into +clans, and invented music and song. The monster _avanc_ was drawn by him +from the lake which had burst and caused the flood (see p. 231, +_infra_). Perhaps Hu is an old culture-god of some tribes, but the +_Triads_ referring to him are of late date (Loth, ii. 271, 289, 290-291, +298-299). For the ridiculous Neo-Druidic speculations based on Hu, see +Davies, _Celtic Researches_ and _Mythology and Rites of the Druids_. + +Gurgiunt, son of Belinus, in Geoffrey, iii. 11, may be the French +legendary Gargantua, perhaps an old god. See the works of Sébillot and +Gaidoz on _Gargantua_. + +[448] Loth, i. 270. + +[449] Dio Cassius, lxii. 6. + +[450] Solinus, xxii. 10. See p. 2, _supra_. + +[451] Ptol. ii. 3. 2. + +[452] For all these see Holder, _s.v._ + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CÚCHULAINN CYCLE. + + +The events of the Cúchulainn cycle are supposed to date from the +beginning of the Christian era--King Conchobar's death synchronising +with the crucifixion. But though some personages who are mentioned in +the Annals figure in the tales, on the whole they deal with persons who +never existed. They belong to a world of romance and myth, and embody +the ideals of Celtic paganism, modified by Christian influences and +those of classical tales and romantic sagas of other regions, mainly +Scandinavian. The present form of the tales as they exist in the _Book +of the Dun Cow_ and the _Book of Leinster_ must have been given them in +the seventh or eighth century, but they embody materials of a far older +date. At an early time the saga may have had a more or less definite +form, but new tales were being constantly added to it, and some of the +longer tales are composed of incidents which once had no connection with +each other. + +Cúchulainn is the central figure of the cycle, and its central episode +is that of the _Táin bó Cuailgne_, or "Cattle Spoil of Cooley." Other +personages are Conchobar and Dechtire, Ailill and Medb, Fergus, Conall +Cernach, Cúroi, Deirdre, and the sons of Usnach. Some of these are of +divine descent, some are perhaps euhemerised divinities; Conchobar is +called _día talmaide_, "a terrestrial god," and Dechtire a goddess. The +cycle opens with the birth of Conchobar, son of Cathbad and of Nessa, +daughter of one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, though in an older rescension +of the tale he is Nessa's son by the god Lug. During Conchobar's reign +over Ulster Cúchulainn was born. He was son of Dechtire, either by +Sualtaim, or by her brother Conchobar, or by the god Lug, of whom he may +also be a reincarnation.[453] Like other heroes of saga, he possesses +great strength and skill at a tender age, and, setting out for +Conchobar's court, overpowers the king's "boy corps," and then becomes +their chief. His next adventure is the slaying of the watch-dog of +Culann the smith, and his appeasing the anger of its owner by offering +to act as his watch-dog. Cathbad now announced that his name would +henceforth be Cú Chulainn, "Culann's hound."[454] At the mature age of +seven he obtained Conchobar's spears, sword, shield, and chariot, and +with these he overcame three mighty champions, returning in the +distortion of his "battle-fury" to Emania. To prevent mischief from his +rage, the women went forth naked to meet him. He modestly covered his +eyes, for it was one of his _geasa_ not to look on a woman's breast. +Thus taken unawares, he was plunged into three successive vats of cold +water until his natural appearance was restored to him, although the +water boiled and hissed from his heat.[455] + +As Cúchulainn grew up, his strength, skill, wisdom, and beauty were +unsurpassed. All women fell in love with him, and to forestall a series +of _bonnes fortunes_, the men of Ulster sought a wife for him. But the +hero's heart was set on Emer, daughter of Forgall, whom he wooed in a +strange language which none but she could understand. At last she +consented to be his wife if he would slay a number of warriors. Forgall +was opposed to the match, and with a view to Cúchulainn's destruction +suggested that he should go to Donall in Alba to increase his skill, and +to Scathach if he would excel all other warriors. He agreed, provided +that Forgall would give him whatever he asked for on his return. Arrived +in Alba, he refused the love of Donall's daughter, Dornolla, who swore +to be avenged. Thence he went to Scathach, overcoming all the dangers of +the way, leaping in safety the gulf surrounding her island, after +essaying in vain to cross a narrow, swinging bridge. From Scathach he +learned supreme skill in arms, and overcame her Amazonian rival Aife. He +begat a son by Aife, and instructed her to call him Conla, to give him +his father's ring, to send him to seek Cúchulainn, and to forbid him to +reveal his name. In the sequel, Cúchulainn, unaware that Conla was his +son, slew him in single combat, too late discovering his identity from +the ring which he wore. This is the well-known saga formula of Sohrab +and Rustum, of Theseus and Hippolytus. On his return from Scathach's +isle Cúchulainn destroyed Forgall's _rath_ with many of its inmates, +including Forgall, and carried off Emer. To the ten years which +followed, during which he was the great champion of Ulster, belong many +tales in which he figures prominently. One of these is _The Debility of +the Ultonians_. This was caused by Macha, who, during her pregnancy, was +forced to run a race with Conchobar's horses. She outran them, but gave +birth immediately to twins, and, in her pangs, cursed the men of Ulster, +with a curse that, in time of oppression, they would be overcome with +the weakness of childbirth. From this Cúchulainn was exempt, for he was +not of Ulster, but a son of Lug.[456] Various attempts have been made to +explain this "debility." It may be a myth explaining a Celtic use of the +"couvade," though no example of a simultaneous tribal couvade is known, +unless we have here an instance of Westermarck's "human pairing season +in primitive times," with its consequent simultaneous birth-period for +women and couvade for men.[457] Others, with less likelihood, explain it +as a period of tabu, with cessation from work and warfare, at a funeral +or festival.[458] In any case Macha's curse is a myth explanatory of the +origin of some existing custom, the duration of which is much +exaggerated by the narrator. To this period belong also the tale of +Cúchulainn's visit to Elysium, and others to be referred to later. +Another story describes his attack upon Morrigan because she would +neither yield up the cows which she was driving away nor tell her true +name--an instance of the well-known name tabu. Morrigan took the form of +a bird, and was then recognised by Cúchulainn, who poured scorn upon +her, while she promised to oppose him during the fight of the _Táin_ in +the forms of an eel, a wolf, and a cow, all of which he vowed to +destroy.[459] Like many others in the saga, this story is introductory +to the main episode of the _Táin_. To this we now turn. + +Medb had been wife of Conchobar, but, leaving him, had married in +succession two chiefs called Ailill, the second of whom had a bull, +Findbennach, the White-horned, which she resolved to match by one in +every way its equal. Having been refused the Brown Bull of Cuailgne, she +summoned all her forces to invade Ulster. The moment was inauspicious +for Ulster, for all its men were suffering from their "debility." +Cúchulainn, therefore, went out to encounter the host, and forced Medb +to agree that a succession of her warriors should engage him in single +combat. Among these was his old friend Ferdia, and nothing is so +touching as his reluctance to fight him or so pathetic as his grief when +Ferdia falls. The reluctance is primarily due to the tie of +blood-brotherhood existing between them. Finally, the Ulstermen rose in +force and defeated Medb, but not before she had already captured the +bull and sent it into her own land. There it was fought by the +Findbennach and slew it, rushing back to Ulster with the mangled body on +its horns. But in its frenzy a rock seemed to be another bull, which it +charged; its brains were dashed out, and it fell dead. + +The Morrigan had warned the bull of the approach of Medb's army, and she +had also appeared in the form of a beautiful woman to Cúchulainn +offering him her love, only to be repulsed. Hence she turned against +him, and described how she would oppose him as an eel, a wolf, and a red +heifer--an incident which is probably a variant of that already +described.[460] In each of these shapes she was conquered and wounded by +the hero, and knowing that none whom he hurt could be healed save by +himself, she appeared to him as an old crone milking a cow. At each +draught of the milk which he received from her he blessed her with "the +blessing of gods and not-gods," and so her wounds were healed.[461] For +this, at a later time, she tried to ward off his death, but +unsuccessfully. During the progress of the _Táin_, one of Cúchulainn's +"fairy kinsmen," namely, Lug, who announced himself as his father, +appeared to aid him, while others of the Tuatha Déa threw "herbs of +healing" into the streams in which his wounds were washed.[462] + +During the _Táin_, Cúchulainn slaughtered the wizard Calatin and his +daughters. But Calatin's wife bore three posthumous sons and three +daughters, and through their means the hero was at last slain. +Everything was done to keep him back from the host which now advanced +against Ulster, but finally one of Calatin's daughters took the form of +Niamh and bade him go forth. As he passed to the fight, Calatin's +daughters persuaded him to eat the flesh of a dog--a fatal deed, for it +was one of his _geasa_ never to eat dog's flesh. So it was that in the +fight he was slain by Lugaid,[463] and his soul appeared to the thrice +fifty queens who had loved him, chanting a mystic song of the coming of +Christ and the day of doom--an interesting example of a phantasm +coincidental with death.[464] This and other Christian touches show that +the Christian redactors of the saga felt tenderly towards the old pagan +hero. This is even more marked in the story in which he appears to King +Loegaire and S. Patrick, begging the former to believe in God and the +saint, and praying Patrick to "bring me with thy faithful ones unto the +land of the living."[465] A similar Christianising appears in the story +of Conchobar's death, the result of his mad frenzy on hearing from his +Druid that an earthquake is the result of the shameful crucifixion of +Christ.[466] + +In the saga, Cúchulainn appears as the ideal Celtic warrior, but, like +other ideal warriors, he is a "magnified, non-natural man," many of his +deeds being merely exaggerations of those common among barbaric folk. +Even his "distortion" or battle frenzy is but a magnifying of the wild +frenzy of all wild fighters. To the person of this ideal warrior, some +of whose traits may have been derived from traditional stories of actual +heroes, _Märchen_ and saga episodes attached themselves. Of every ideal +hero, Celtic, Greek, Babylonian, or Polynesian, certain things are +told--his phenomenal strength as a child; his victory over enormous +forces; his visits to the Other-world; his amours with a goddess; his +divine descent. These belong to the common stock of folk-tale episodes, +and accumulate round every great name. Hence, save in the colouring +given to them or the use made of them by any race, they do not afford a +key to the mythic character of the hero. Such deeds are ascribed to +Cúchulainn, as they doubtless were to the ideal heroes of the "undivided +Aryans," but though parallels may be found between him and the Greek +Heracles, they might just as easily be found in non-Aryan regions, e.g. +in Polynesia. Thus the parallels between Cúchulainn and Heracles throw +little light on the personality of the former, though here and there in +such parallels we observe a peculiarly Celtic touch. Thus, while the +Greek hero rescues Hesione from a dragon, it is from three Fomorians +that Cúchulainn rescues Devorgilla, namely, from beings to whom actual +human sacrifice was paid. Thus a _Märchen_ formula of world-wide +existence has been moulded by Celtic religious belief and ritual +practice.[467] + +It was inevitable that the "mythological school" should regard +Cúchulainn as a solar hero. Thus "he reaches his full development at an +unusually early age," as the sun does,[468] but also as do many other +heroes of saga and _Märchen_ who are not solar. The three colours of +Cúchulainn's hair, dark near the skin, red in the middle, golden near +the top, are claimed to be a description of the sun's rays, or of the +three parts into which the Celts divided the day.[469] Elsewhere his +tresses are yellow, like Prince Charlie's in fact and in song, yet he +was not a solar hero. Again, the seven pupils of his eyes perhaps +"referred to the days of the week."[470] Blindness befell all women who +loved him, a reference to the difficulty of gazing at the sun.[471] This +is prosaic! The blindness was a compliment paid to Cúchulainn the blind, +by women who made themselves blind while talking to him, just as Conall +Cernach's mistresses squinted as he did.[472] Cúchulainn's blindness +arose from his habit of sinking one eye into his head and protruding the +other--a well-known solar trait! His "distortion," during which, besides +this "blindness," blood shot upwards from his head and formed a magic +mist, and his anger caused showers of sparks to mount above him, points +to dawn or sunset,[473] though the setting sun would rather suggest a +hero sinking calmly to rest than a mad giant setting out to slaughter +friend and foe. The "distortion," as already pointed out, is the +exaggerated description of the mad warrior rage, just as the fear which +produced death to those who saw him brandish his weapons, was also +produced by Maori warrior methods.[474] Lug, who may be a sun-god, has +no such "distortion." The cooling of the hero in three vats, the waters +of which boil over, and his emergence from them pinky red in colour, +symbolise the sun sinking into the waters and reappearing at dawn.[475] +Might it not describe in an exaggerated way the refreshing bath taken by +frenzied warriors, the water being supposed to grow warm from the heat +of their bodies?[476] One of the hero's _geasa_ was not to see +Manannan's horses, the waves; which, being interpreted, means that the +sun is near its death as it approaches the sea. Yet Lug, a sun-god, +rides the steed Enbarr, a personification of the waves, while Cúchulainn +himself often crossed the sea, and also lived with the sea-god's wife, +Fand, without coming to grief. Again, the magic horses which he drives, +black and grey in colour, are "symbols of day and night,"[477] though it +is not obvious why a grey horse should symbolise day, which is not +always grey even in the isles of the west. Unlike a solar hero, too, +Cúchulainn is most active in winter, and rests for a brief space from +slaughtering at midday--the time of the sun's greatest activity both in +summer and winter. + +Another theory is that every visit of the hero to a strange land +signifies a descent to Hades, suggested by the sun sinking in the west. +Scathach's island may be Hades, but it is more probably Elysium with +some traits borrowed from the Christian idea of hell. But Emer's land, +also visited by Cúchulainn, suggests neither Hades nor Elysium. Emer +calls herself _ingen rig richis garta_, translated by Professor Rh[^y]s +as "daughter of the coal-faced king," i.e. she is daughter of darkness. +Hence she is a dawn-maiden and becomes the sun-hero's wife.[478] There +is nothing in the story to corroborate this theory, apart from the fact +that it is not clear, even to the hypothetical primitive mind, why dawn +and sun should be a divine pair. Emer's words probably mean that she is +"daughter of a king" and "a flame of hospitality" (_richis garta_.)[479] +Cúchulainn, in visiting her, went from west to east, contrary to the +apparent course of the sun. The extravagance of the solar theory is +further seen in the hypothesis that because Cúchulainn has other wives, +the sun-god made love to as many dawn-maidens as there are days in the +year,[480] like the king in Louys' romance with his 366 wives, one for +each day of the year, leap-year included. + +Further examples of the solar theory need not be cited. It is enough to +see in Cúchulainn the ideal warrior, whose traits are bombastic and +obscure exaggerations of actual custom and warfare, or are borrowed from +folk-tale _motifs_ not exclusively Celtic. Possibly he may have been a +war-god, since he is associated with Badb[481] and also with Morrigan. +But he has also some traits of a culture hero. He claims superiority in +wisdom, in law, in politics, in the art of the _Filid_, and in Druidism, +while he brings various things from the world of the gods[482]. In any +case the Celts paid divine honours to heroes, living or dead,[483] and +Cúchulainn, god or ideal hero, may have been the subject of a cult. This +lends point to the theory of M. D'Arbois that Cúchulainn and Conall +Cernach are the equivalents of Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, said by +Diodorus to be worshipped among the Celts near the Ocean.[484] +Cúchulainn, like Pollux, was son of a god, and was nursed, according to +some accounts, by Findchoém, mother of Conall,[485] just as Leda was +mother of Castor as well as of Pollux. But, on the other hand, +Cúchulainn, unlike Pollux, was mortal. M. D'Arbois then identifies the +two pairs of heroes with certain figures on an altar at Cluny. These are +Castor and Pollux; Cernunnos and Smertullos. He equates Castor with +Cernunnos, and Pollux with Smertullos. Smertullos is Cúchulainn, and the +name is explained from an incident in the _Táin_, in which the hero, +reproached for his youth, puts on a false beard before attacking +Morrigan in her form as an eel. This is expressed by _smérthain_, "to +attach", and is thus connected with and gave rise to the name +Smertullos. On the altar Smertullos is attacking an eel or serpent. +Hence Pollux is Smertullos-Cúchulainn.[486] Again, the name Cernunnos +signifies "the horned one," from _cernu_, "horn," a word found in +Conall's epithet Cernach. But this was not given him because he was +horned, but because of the angular shape of his head, the angle (_cern_) +being the result of a blow.[487] The epithet may mean "victorious."[488] +On the whole, the theory is more ingenious than convincing, and we have +no proof that the figures of Castor and Pollux on the altar were +duplicates of the Celtic pair. Cernunnos was an underworld god, and +Conall has no trace of such a character. + +M. D'Arbois also traces the saga in Gaul in the fact that on the menhir +of Kervadel Mercury is figured with a child, Mercury, in his opinion, +being Lug, and the child Cúchulainn.[489] On another altar are depicted +(1) a woodman, Esus, cutting down a tree, and (2) a bull on which are +perched three birds--Tarvos Trigaranos. The two subjects, as M. Reinach +points out, are combined on another altar at Trèves, on which a woodman +is cutting down a tree in which are perched three birds, while a bull's +head appears in the branches.[490] These represent, according to M. +D'Arbois, incidents of the _Táin_--the cutting down of trees by +Cúchulainn and placing them in the way of his enemies, and the warning +of the bull by Morrigan in the bird form which she shared with her +sisters Badb and Macha.[491] Why, then, is Cúchulainn called Esus? +"Esus" comes from a root which gives words meaning "rapid motion," +"anger," "strength"--all shown by the hero.[492] The altars were found +in the land of the Belgic Treveri, and some Belgic tribes may have +passed into Britain and Ireland carrying the Esus-Cúchulainn legend +there in the second century B.C., e.g. the Setantii, dwelling by the +Mersey, and bearing a name similar to that of the hero in his +childhood--Setanta (_Setantios_) as well as the Menapii and Brigantes, +located in Ireland by Ptolemy.[493] In other words, the divine Esus, +with his surname Smertullos, was called in Ireland Setanta, after the +Setantii, and at a later date, Cúchulainn. The princely name Donnotaurus +resembles _Dond tarb_, the "Brown Bull" of the saga, and also suggests +its presence in Gaul, while the name [Greek: dêiotaros], perhaps the +equivalent of _De[^u]io-taruos_, "Divine Bull," is found in +Galatia.[494] Thus the main elements of the saga may have been known to +the continental Celts before it was localised in Ireland,[495] and, it +may be added, if it was brought there by Gallo-British tribes, this +might account for the greater popularity of the native, possibly +pre-Celtic, Fionn saga among the folk, as well as for the finer literary +quality of the Cúchulainn saga. But the identification of Esus with +Cúchulainn rests on slight grounds; the names Esus and Smertullos are +not found in Ireland, and the Gaulish Esus, worshipped with human +sacrifice, has little affinity with the hero, unless his deeds of +slaughter are reminiscent of such rites. It is possible, however, that +the episode of the _Táin_ came from a myth explaining ritual acts. This +myth may have been the subject of the bas-reliefs, carried to Ireland, +and there worked into the saga. + +The folk-versions of the saga, though resembling the literary versions, +are less elaborate and generally wilder, and perhaps represent its +primitive form.[496] The greatest differences are found in versions of +the _Táin_ and of Cúchulainn's death, which, separate in the saga, are +parts of one folk-tale, the death occurring during the fighting over the +bull. The bull is his property, and Medb sends Garbh mac Stairn to take +it from him. He pretends to be a child, goes to bed, and tricks Garbh, +who goes off to get the bull. Cúchulainn arrives before him and +personates the herdsman. Each seizes a horn, and the bull is torn in +two.[497] Does this represent the primitive form of the _Táin_, and, +further, were the bull and Cúchulainn once one and the same--a bull, the +incarnation of a god or vegetation spirit, being later made +anthropomorphic--a hero-god whose property or symbol was a bull? +Instances of this process are not unknown among the Celts.[498] In +India, Indra was a bull and a divine youth, in Greece there was the +bull-Dionysos, and among the Celts the name of the divine bull was borne +by kings.[499] In the saga Morrigan is friendly to the bull, but fights +for Medb; but she is now friendly, now hostile to Cúchulainn, finally, +however, trying to avert his doom. If he had once been the bull, her +friendliness would not be quite forgotten, once he became human and +separate from the bull. When she first met Cúchulainn she had a cow on +whom the Brown Bull was to beget a calf, and she told the hero that "So +long as the calf which is in this cow's body is a yearling, it is up to +that time that thou art in life; and it is this that will lead to the +_Táin_."[500] This suggests that the hero was to die in the battle, but +it shows that the Brown Bull's calf is bound up his life. The Bull was a +reincarnation of a divine swineherd, and if, as in the case of +Cúchulainn, "his rebirth could only be of himself,"[501] the calf was +simply a duplicate of the bull, and, as it was bound up with the hero's +life, bull and hero may well have been one. The life or soul was in the +calf, and, as in all such cases, the owner of the soul and that in which +it is hidden are practically identical. Cúchulainn's "distortion" might +then be explained as representing the bull's fury in fight, and the +folk-tales would be popular forms of an old myth explaining ritual in +which a bull, the incarnation of a tree or vegetation spirit, was slain, +and the sacred tree cut down and consumed, as in Celtic agricultural +ritual. This would be the myth represented on the bas-reliefs, and in +the ritual the bull would be slain, rent, and eaten by his worshippers. +Why, then, should Cúchulainn rend the bull? In the later stages of such +rites the animal was slain, not so much as a divine incarnation as a +sacrifice to the god once incarnated in him. And when a god was thus +separated from his animal form, myths often arose telling how he himself +had slain the animal.[502] In the case of Cúchulainn and the bull, the +god represented by the bull became separate from it, became +anthropomorphic, and in that form was associated with or actually was +the hero Cúchulainn. Bull sacrifices were common among the Celts with +whom the bull had been a divine animal.[503] Possibly a further echo of +this myth and ritual is to be found in the folk-belief that S. Martin +was cut up and eaten in the form of an ox--the god incarnate in the +animal being associated with a saint.[504] Thus the literary versions of +the _Táin_, departing from the hypothetical primitive versions, kept the +bull as the central figure, but introduced a rival bull, and described +its death differently, while both bulls are said to be reincarnations of +divine swine-herds.[505] The idea of a fight for a bull is borrowed from +actual custom, and thus the old form of the story was further distorted. + +The Cúchulainn saga is more coherent than the Fionn saga, because it +possesses one central incident. The "canon" of the saga was closed at an +early date, while that of Fionn has practically never been closed, +mainly because it has been more a saga of the folk than that of +Cúchulainn. In some respects the two may have been rivals, for if the +Cúchulainn saga was introduced by conquerors from Britain or Gaul, it +would not be looked on with favour by the folk. Or if it is the saga of +Ulster as opposed to that of Leinster, rivalry would again ensue. The +Fionn saga lives more in the hearts of the people, though it sometimes +borrows from the other. This borrowing, however, is less than some +critics, e.g. Zimmer, maintain. Many of the likenesses are the result of +the fact that wherever a hero exists a common stock of incidents becomes +his. Hence there is much similarity in all sagas wherever found. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[453] _IT_ i. 134; Nutt-Meyer, ii. 38 f.; Windisch, _Táin_, 342; L. +Duvau, "La Legende de la Conception de Cúchulainn," _RC_ ix. 1 f. + +[454] Windisch, _Táin_, 118 f. For a similar reason Finnchad was called +Cú Cerca, "the hound of Cerc" (_IT_ iii. 377). + +[455] For the boyish exploits, see Windisch, _Táin_, 106 f. + +[456] _RC_ vii. 225; Windisch, _Táin_, 20. Macha is a granddaughter of +Ler, but elsewhere she is called Mider's daughter (_RC_ xvi. 46). + +[457] Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ ii. 654; Westermarck, _Hist. of Human Marriage_, +ch. 2. + +[458] Miss Hull, _Folk-Lore_, xii. 60, citing instances from Jevons, +_Hist. of Religion_, 65. + +[459] Windisch, _IT_ ii. 239. + +[460] Windisch, 184, 312, 330; cf. _IT_ iii. 355; Miss Hull, 164 f.; +Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 468. + +[461] _LL_ 119_a_; _RC_ iii. 175. + +[462] Windisch, 342. + +[463] _RC_ iii. 175 f. + +[464] Ibid. 185. + +[465] Crowe, _Jour. Kilkenny Arch. Soc._ 1870-1871, 371 f. + +[466] _LL_ 79_a_; O'Curry, _MS. Mat_, 640. + +[467] _LL_ 125_a_. See my _Childhood of fiction_, ch. 14. + +[468] Miss Hull, lxxvi. + +[469] "Da Derga's Hostel," _RC_ xxii. 283; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 438. + +[470] _LL_ 68_a_; Rh[^y]s, 437; Ingcel the one-eyed has also many pupils +(_RC_ xxii. 58). + +[471] Miss Hull, lxiii. + +[472] _RC_ viii. 49. + +[473] _LL_ 77_b_; Miss Hull, lxii. + +[474] Other Celtic heroes undergo this distortion, which resembles the +Scandinavian warrior rage followed by languor, as in the case of +Cúchulainn. + +[475] Miss Hull, p. lxvi. + +[476] Irish saints, standing neck deep in freezing water, made it hot. + +[477] _IT_ i. 268; D'Arbois, v. 103; Miss Hull, lxvi. + +[478] _HL_ 448. + +[479] See Meyer, _RC xi_. 435; Windisch, _IT_ i. 589, 740. Though +_richis_ means "charcoal," it is also glossed "flame," hence it could +only be glowing charcoal, without any idea of darkness. + +[480] _HL_ 458. + +[481] _IT_ i. 107. + +[482] _Arch. Rev._ i. 1 f.; _IT_ i. 213; see p. 381, _infra_. + +[483] See p. 164, _infra_. + +[484] Diod. Siculus, iv. 56. + +[485] _IT_ iii. 393. + +[486] _Les Celtes_, 58 f. Formerly M. D'Arbois identified Smertullos +with Lug, ii. 217; Holder, i. 46, 262. For the incident of the beard, +see Windisch, _Táin_, 308. + +[487] _IT_ iii. 395. + +[488] _IT_ i. 420. + +[489] _RC_ xxvii. 319 f. + +[490] _RC_ xviii. 256. + +[491] _Les Celtes_, 63; _RC_ xix. 246. + +[492] D'Arbois, _RC_ xx. 89. + +[493] D'Arbois, _RC_ xxvii. 321; _Les Celtes_, 65. + +[494] _Les Celtes_, 49; Cæsar, vi. 14. + +[495] In contradiction to this, M. D'Arbois elsewhere thinks that Druids +from Britain may have taught the Cúchulainn legend in Gaul (_RC_ xxvii. +319). + +[496] See versions in _Book of the Dean of Lismore_; _CM_ xiii.; +Campbell, _The Fians_, 6 f. + +[497] _CM_ xiii. 327, 514. The same story is told of Fionn, _ibid._ 512. +See also ballad versions in Campbell, _LF_ 3 f. + +[498] See p. 212, _infra_. + +[499] A Galatian king was called Brogitaros, probably a form of +_Brogitaruos_, "bull of the province," a title borne by Conchobar, _tarb +in chóicid_ (_IT_ i. 72). This with the epithets applied to heroes in +the _Triads_, "bull-phantom," "prince bull of combat" (Loth, ii. 232, +243), may be an appellative denoting great strength. + +[500] _IT_ ii. 241 f.; D'Arbois, _Les Druides_, 168. + +[501] Miss Hull, 58. + +[502] See p. 212, _infra_. + +[503] See p. 208, _infra_. + +[504] Fitzgerald, _RC_ vi. 254. + +[505] See p. 243, _infra_. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FIONN SAGA. + + +The most prominent characters in the Fionn saga, after the death of +Fionn's father Cumal, are Fionn, his son Oisin, his grandson Oscar, his +nephew Diarmaid with his _ball-seire_, or "beauty-spot," which no woman +could resist; Fergus famed for wisdom and eloquence; Caoilte mac Ronan, +the swift; Conan, the comic character of the saga; Goll mac Morna, the +slayer of Cumal, but later the devoted friend of Fionn, besides a host +of less important personages. Their doings, like those of the heroes of +saga and epos everywhere, are mainly hunting, fighting, and love-making. +They embody much of the Celtic character--vivacity, valour, kindness, +tenderness, as well as boastfulness and fiery temper. Though dating from +pagan times, the saga throws little light upon pagan beliefs, but +reveals much concerning the manners of the period. Here, as always in +early Celtdom, woman is more than a mere chattel, and occupies a +comparatively high place. The various parts of the saga, like those of +the Finnish _Kalevala_, always existed separately, never as one complete +epos, though always bearing a certain relation to each other. Lonnrot, +in Finland, was able, by adding a few connecting links of his own, to +give unity to the _Kalevala_, and had MacPherson been content to do this +for the Fionn saga, instead of inventing, transforming, and serving up +the whole in the manner of the sentimental eighteenth century, what a +boon would he have conferred on Celtic literature. The various parts of +the saga belong to different centuries and come from different authors, +all, however, imbued with the spirit of the Fionn tradition. + +A date cannot be given to the beginnings of the saga, and additions have +been made to it even down to the eighteenth century, Michael Comyn's +poem of Oisin in Tir na n-Og being as genuine a part of it as any of the +earlier pieces. Its contents are in part written, but much more oral. +Much of it is in prose, and there is a large poetic literature of the +ballad kind, as well as _Märchen_ of the universal stock made purely +Celtic, with Fionn and the rest of the heroic band as protagonists. The +saga embodies Celtic ideals and hopes; it was the literature of the +Celtic folk on which was spent all the riches of the Celtic imagination; +a world of dream and fancy into which they could enter at all times and +disport themselves. Yet, in spite of its immense variety, the saga +preserves a certain unity, and it is provided with a definite framework, +recounting the origin of the heroes, the great events in which they were +concerned, their deaths or final appearances, and the breaking up of the +Fionn band. + +The historic view of the Fians is taken by the annalists, by Keating, +O'Curry, Dr. Joyce, and Dr. Douglas Hyde.[506] According to this view, +they were a species of militia maintained by the Irish kings for the +support of the throne and the defence of the country. From Samhain to +Beltane they were quartered on the people, and from Beltane to Samhain +they lived by hunting. How far the people welcomed this billeting, we +are not told. Their method of cooking the game which they hunted was one +well known to all primitive peoples. Holes were dug in the ground; in +them red-hot stones were placed, and on the stones was laid venison +wrapped in sedge. All was then covered over, and in due time the meat +was done to a turn. Meanwhile the heroes engaged in an elaborate +toilette before sitting down to eat. Their beds were composed of +alternate layers of brushwood, moss, and rushes. The Fians were divided +into _Catha_ of three thousand men, each with its commander, and +officers to each hundred, each fifty, and each nine, a system not unlike +that of the ancient Peruvians. Each candidate for admission to the band +had to undergo the most trying ordeals, rivalling in severity those of +the American Indians, and not improbably genuine though exaggerated +reminiscences of actual tests of endurance and agility. Once admitted he +had to observe certain _geasa_ or "tabus," e.g. not to choose his wife +for her dowry like other Celts, but solely for her good manners, not to +offer violence to a woman, not to flee when attacked before less than +nine warriors, and the like. + +All this may represent some genuine tradition with respect to a warrior +band, with many exaggerations in details and numbers. Some of its +outstanding heroes may have had names derived from or corresponding to +those of the heroes of an existing saga. But as time went on they became +as unhistorical as their ideal prototypes; round their names +crystallised floating myths and tales; things which had been told of the +saga heroes were told of them; their names were given to the personages +of existing folk-tales. This might explain the great divergence between +the "historical" and the romantic aspects of the saga as it now exists. +Yet we cannot fail to see that what is claimed as historical is full of +exaggeration, and, in spite of the pleading of Dr. Hyde and other +patriots, little historic fact can be found in it. Even if this exists, +it is the least important part of the saga. What is important is that +part--nine-tenths of the whole--which "is not true because it cannot be +true." It belongs to the region of the supernatural and the unreal. But +personages, nine-tenths of whose actions belong to this region, must +bear the same character themselves, and for that reason are all the more +interesting, especially when we remember that the Celts firmly believed +in them and in their exploits. A Fionn myth arose as all myths do, +increasing as time went on, and the historical nucleus, if it ever +existed, was swamped and lost. Throughout the saga the Fians are more +than mere mortals, even in those very parts which are claimed as +historical. They are giants; their story "bristles with the +supernatural"; they are the ideal figures of Celtic legend throwing +their gigantic shadows upon the dim and misty background of the past. We +must therefore be content to assume that whether personages called +Fionn, Oisin, Diarmaid, or Conan, ever existed, what we know of them now +is purely mythical. + +Bearing in mind that they are the cherished heroes of popular fancy in +Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, we have now to inquire whether they +were Celtic in origin. We have seen that the Celts were a conquering +people in Ireland, bringing with them their own religion and mythology, +their own sagas and tales reflected now in the mythological and +Cúchulainn cycles, which found a local habitation in Ireland. Cúchulainn +was the hero of a saga which flourished more among the aristocratic and +lettered classes than among the folk, and there are few popular tales +about him. But it is among the folk that the Fionn saga has always been +popular, and for every peasant who could tell a story of Cúchulainn a +thousand could tell one of Fionn. Conquerors often adopt beliefs, +traditions, and customs of the aboriginal folk, after hostilities have +ceased, and if the pre-Celtic people had a popular hero and a saga +concerning him, it is possible that in time it was accepted by the Celts +or by the lower classes among them. But in the process it must have been +completely Celticised, like the aborigines themselves; to its heroes +were given Celtic names, or they may have been associated with existing +Celtic personages like Cumal, and the whole saga was in time adapted to +the conceptions and legendary history of the Celts. Thus we might +account for the fact that it has so largely remained without admixture +with the mythological and Cúchulainn cycles, though its heroes are +brought into relation with the older gods. Thus also we might account +for its popularity as compared with the Cúchulainn saga among the +peasantry in whose veins must flow so much of the aboriginal blood both +in Ireland and the Highlands. In other words, it was the saga of a +non-Celtic people occupying both Ireland and Scotland. If Celts from +Western Europe occupied the west of Scotland at an early date, they may +have been so few in number that their own saga or sagas died out. Or if +the Celtic occupation of the West Highlands originated first from +Ireland, the Irish may have been unable to impose their Cúchulainn saga +there, or if they themselves had already adopted the Fionn saga and +found it again in the Highlands, they would but be the more attached to +what was already localised there. This would cut the ground from the +theory that the Fionn saga was brought to Scotland from Ireland, and it +would account for its popularity in the Highlands, as well as for the +fact that many Fionn stories are attached to Highland as well as to +Irish localities, while many place-names in both countries have a Fian +origin. Finally, the theory would explain the existence of so many +_Märchen_ about Fionn and his men, so few about Cúchulainn. + +Returning to the theory of the historic aspect of the Fians, it should +be noted that, while, when seen through the eyes of the annalists, the +saga belongs to a definite historical period, when viewed by itself it +belongs to a mythic age, and though the Fians are regarded as champions +of Ireland, their foes are usually of a supernatural kind, and they +themselves move in a magic atmosphere. They are also brought into +connection with the unhistoric Tuatha Dé Danann; they fight with them or +for them; they have amours with or wed their women; and some of the gods +even become members of the Fian band. Diarmaid was the darling of the +gods Oengus and Manannan, and in his direst straits was assisted by the +former. In all this we are in the wonderland of myth, not the _terra +firma_ of history. There is a certain resemblance between the Cúchulainn +and Fionn sagas, but no more than that which obtains between all sagas +everywhere. Both contain similar incidents, but these are the stock +episodes of universal saga belief, fitted to the personages of +individual sagas. Hence we need not suppose with Professor Windisch that +the mythic incidents of the Fionn saga are derived from the Cúchulainn +cycle. + +The personages against whom Fionn and his men fight show the mythic +nature of the saga. As champions of Leinster they fight the men of +Ulster and Connaught, but they also war against oversea invaders--the +Lochlanners. While Lochlann may mean any land beyond the sea, like the +Welsh _Llychlyn_ it probably meant "the fabulous land beneath the lakes +or the waves of the sea," or simply the abode of hostile, supernatural +beings. Lochlanners would thus be counterparts of the Fomorians, and the +conflicts of the Fians with them would reflect old myths. But with the +Norse invasions, the Norsemen became the true Lochlanners, against whom +Fionn and his men fight as Charlemagne fought Muhammadans--a sheer +impossibility. Professor Zimmer, however, supposes that the Fionn saga +took shape during the Norse occupation from the ninth century onwards. +Fionn is half Norse, half Irish, and equivalent to Caittil Find, who +commanded the apostate Irish in the ninth century, while Oisin and Oscar +are the Norse Asvin and Asgeirr. But it is difficult to understand why +one who was half a Norseman should become the chosen hero of the Celts +in the very age in which Norsemen were their bitter enemies, and why +Fionn, if of Norse origin, fights against Lochlanners, i.e. Norsemen. It +may also be inquired why the borrowing should have affected the saga +only, not the myths of the gods. No other Celtic scholar has given the +slightest support to this brilliant but audacious theory. On the other +hand, if the saga has Norse affinities, and if it is, in origin, +pre-Celtic, these may be sought in an earlier connection of Ireland with +Scandinavia in the early Bronze Age. Ireland had a flourishing +civilisation then, and exported beautiful gold ornaments to Scandinavia, +where they are still found in Bronze Age deposits.[507] This flourishing +civilisation was overwhelmed by the invasion of the Celtic barbarians. +But if the Scandinavians borrowed gold and artistic decorations from +Ireland, and if the Fionn saga or part of it was already in existence, +why should they not have borrowed some of its incidents, or why, on the +other hand, should not some episodes have found their way from the north +to Ireland? We should also consider, however, that similar incidents may +have been evolved in both countries on similar lines and quite +independently. + +The various contents of the saga can only be alluded to in the briefest +manner. Fionn's birth-story belongs to the well-known "Expulsion and +Return" formula, applied to so many heroes of saga and folk-tale, but +highly elaborated in his case at the hands of the annalists. Thus his +father Cumal, uncle of Conn the Hundred Fighter, 122-157 A.D., wished to +wed Muirne, daughter of Conn's chief druid, Tadg. Tadg refused, knowing +that through this marriage he would lose his ancestral seat. Cumal +seized Muirne and married her, and the king, on Tadg's appeal, sent an +army against him. Cumal was slain; Muirne fled to his sister, and gave +birth to Demni, afterwards known as Fionn. Perhaps in accordance with +old matriarchal usage, Fionn's descent through his mother is emphasised, +while he is related to the ancient gods, Tadg being son of Nuada. This +at once points to the mythical aspect of the saga. Cumal may be +identical with the god Camulos. In a short time, Fionn, now a marauder +and an outlaw, appeared at Conn's Court, and that same night slew one of +the Tuatha Déa, who came yearly and destroyed the palace. For this he +received his rightful heritage--the leadership of the Fians, formerly +commanded by Cumal.[508] Another incident of Fionn's youth tells how he +obtained his "thumb of knowledge." The eating of certain "salmon of +knowledge" was believed to give inspiration, an idea perhaps derived +from earlier totemistic beliefs. The bard Finnéces, having caught one of +the coveted salmon, set his pupil Fionn to cook it, forbidding him to +taste it. But as he was turning the fish Fionn burnt his thumb and +thrust it into his mouth, thus receiving the gift of inspiration. +Hereafter he had only to suck his thumb in order to obtain secret +information.[509] In another story the inspiration is already in his +thumb, as Samson's strength was in his hair, but the power is also +partly in his tooth, under which, after ritual preparation, he has to +place his thumb and chew it.[510] + +Fionn had many wives and sweethearts, one of them, Saar, being mother of +Oisin. Saar was turned into a fawn by a Druid, and fled from Fionn's +house. Long after he found a beast-child in the forest and recognised +him as his son. He nourished him until his beast nature disappeared, and +called him Oisin, "little fawn." Round this birth legend many stories +sprang up--a sure sign of its popularity.[511] Oisin's fame as a poet +far excelled that of Fionn, and he became the ideal bard of the Gaels. + +By far the most passionate and tragic story of the saga is that of +Diarmaid and Grainne, to whom Fionn was betrothed. Grainne put _geasa_ +upon Diarmaid to elope with her, and these he could not break. They +fled, and for many days were pursued by Fionn, who at last overtook +them, but was forced by the Fians to pardon the beloved hero. Meanwhile +Fionn waited for his revenge. Knowing that it was one of Diarmaid's +_geasa_ never to hunt a wild boar, he invited him to the chase of the +boar of Gulban. Diarmaid slew it, and Fionn then bade him measure its +length with his foot. A bristle pierced his heel, and he fell down in +agony, beseeching Fionn to bring him water in his hand, for if he did +this he would heal him. In spite of repeated appeals, Fionn, after +bringing the water, let it drip from his hands. Diarmaid's brave soul +passed away, and on Fionn's character this dire blot was fixed for +ever.[512] + +Other tales relate how several of the Fians were spirited away to the +Land beyond the Seas, how they were rescued, how Diarmaid went to Land +under Waves, and how Fionn and his men were entrapped in a Fairy Palace. +Of greater importance are those which tell the end of the Fian band. +This, according to the annalists, was the result of their exactions and +demands. Fionn was told by his wife, a wise woman, never to drink out of +a horn, but coming one day thirsty to a well, he forgot this tabu, and +so brought the end near. He encountered the sons of Uirgrenn, whom he +had slain, and in the fight with them he fell.[513] Soon after were +fought several battles, culminating in that of Gabhra in which all but a +few Fians perished. Among the survivors were Oisin and Caoilte, who +lingered on until the coming of S. Patrick. Caoilte remained on earth, +but Oisin, whose mother was of the _síd_ folk, went to fairyland for a +time, ultimately returning and joining S. Patrick's company.[514] But a +different version is given in the eighteenth century poem of Michael +Comyn, undoubtedly based on popular tales. Oisin met the Queen of Tir na +n-Og and went with her to fairyland, where time passed as a dream until +one day he stood on a stone against which she had warned him. He saw his +native land and was filled with home-sickness. The queen tried to +dissuade him, but in vain. Then she gave him a horse, warning him not to +set foot on Irish soil. He came to Ireland; and found it all changed. +Some puny people were trying in vain to raise a great stone, and begged +the huge stranger to help them. He sprang from his horse and flung the +stone from its resting-place. But when he turned, his horse was gone, +and he had become a decrepit old man. Soon after he met S. Patrick and +related the tale to him. + +Of most of the tales preserved in twelfth to fifteenth century MSS. it +may be said that in essence they come down to us from a remote +antiquity, like stars pulsing their clear light out of the hidden depths +of space. Many of them exist as folk-tales, often wild and weird in +form, while some folk-tales have no literary parallels. Some are +_Märchen_ with members of the Fian band as heroes, and of these there +are many European parallels. But it is not unlikely that, as in the case +of the Cúchulainn cycle, the folk versions may be truer to the original +forms of the saga than the rounded and polished literary versions. +Whatever the Fians were in origin--gods, mythic heroes, or actual +personages--it is probable that a short _Heldensage_ was formed in early +times. This slowly expanded, new tales were added, and existing +_Märchen_ formulæ were freely made use of by making their heroes the +heroes of the saga. Then came the time when many of the tales were +written down, while later they were adapted to a scheme of Irish +history, the heroes becoming warriors of a definite historic period, or +perhaps connected with such warriors. But these heroes belonged to a +timeless world, whose margins are "the shore of old romance," and it was +as if they, who were not for an age but for all time, scorned to become +the puppets of the page of history. + +The earliest evidence of the attitude of the ecclesiastical world to +these heroes is found in the _Agallamh na Senorach_, or "Colloquy of the +Ancients."[515] This may have been composed in the thirteenth century, +and its author knew scores of Fionn legends. Making use of the tradition +that Caoilte and Oisin had met S. Patrick, he makes Caoilte relate many +of the tales, usually in connection with some place-name of Fian origin. +The saint and his followers are amazed at the huge stature of the Fians, +but Patrick asperges them with holy water, and hosts of demons flee from +them. At each tale which Caoilte tells, the saint says, "Success and +benediction, Caoilte. All this is to us a recreation of spirit and of +mind, were it only not a destruction of devotion and a dereliction of +prayer." But presently his guardian angel appears, and bids him not only +listen to the tales but cause them to be written down. He and his +attendant clerics now lend a willing ear to the recital and encourage +the narrator with their applause. Finally, baptism is administered to +Caoilte and his men, and by Patrick's intercessions Caoilte's relations +and Fionn himself are brought out of hell. In this work the +representatives of paganism are shown to be on terms of friendliness +with the representatives of Christianity. + +But in Highland ballads collected in the sixteenth century by the Dean +of Lismore, as well as in Irish ballads found in MSS. dating from the +seventeenth century onwards, the saint is a sour and intolerant cleric, +and the Fians are equally intolerant and blasphemous pagans. There is no +attempt at compromise; the saint rejoices that the Fian band are in +hell, and Oisin throws contempt on the God of the shaven priests. But +sometimes this contempt is mingled with humour and pathos. Were the +heroes of Oisin's band now alive, scant work would be made of the monks' +bells, books, and psalm-singing. It is true that the saint gives the +weary old man hospitality, but Oisin's eyes are blinded with tears as he +thinks of the departed glories of the Fians, and his ears are tormented +"by jangling bells, droning psalms, and howling clerics." These ballads +probably represent one main aspect of the attitude of the Church to +Celtic paganism. How, then, did the more generous _Colloquy_ come into +being? We must note first that some of the ballads have a milder tone. +Oisin is urged to accept the faith, and he prays for salvation. Probably +these represent the beginning of a reaction in favour of the old heroes, +dating from a time when the faith was well established. There was no +danger of a pagan revival, and, provided the Fians were Christianised, +it might be legitimate to represent them as heroic and noble. The +_Colloquy_ would represent the high-water mark of this reaction among +the lettered classes, for among the folk, to judge by popular tales, the +Fians had never been regarded in other than a favourable light. The +_Colloquy_ re-established the dignity of the Fian band in the eyes of +official Christianity. They are baptized or released from hell, and in +their own nature they are virtuous and follow lofty ideals. "Who or what +was it that maintained you in life?" asks Patrick. And Caoilte gives the +noble reply, "Truth that was in our hearts, and strength in our arms, +and fulfilment in our tongues." Patrick says of Fionn: "He was a king, a +seer, a poet, a lord with a manifold and great train; our magician, our +knowledgeable one, our soothsayer; all whatsoever he said was sweet with +him. Excessive, perchance, as ye deem my testimony of Fionn, although ye +hold that which I say to be overstrained, nevertheless, and by the King +that is above me, he was three times better still." Not only so, but +Caoilte maintains that Fionn and his men were aware of the existence of +the true God. They possessed the _anima naturaliter Christiana_. The +growing appreciation of a wider outlook on life, and possibly +acquaintance with the romances of chivalry, made the composition of the +_Colloquy_ possible, but, again, it may represent a more generous +conception of paganism existing from the time of the first encounter of +Christianity with it in Ireland. + +The strife of creeds in Ireland, the old order changing, giving place to +new, had evidently impressed itself on the minds of Celtic poets and +romancers. It suggested itself to them as providing an excellent +"situation"; hence we constantly hear of the meeting of gods, demigods, +or heroes with the saints of the new era. Frequently they bow before the +Cross, they are baptized and receive the Christian verity, as in the +_Colloquy_ and in some documents of the Cúchulainn cycle. Probably no +other European folk-literature so takes advantage of just this +situation, this meeting of creeds, one old and ready to vanish away, the +other with all the buoyant freshness of youth. + +Was MacPherson's a genuine Celtic epic unearthed by him and by no one +else? No mortal eye save his has ever seen the original, but no one who +knows anything of the contents of the saga can deny that much of his +work is based on materials collected by him. He knew some of the tales +and ballads current among the folk, possibly also some of the Irish MS. +versions. He saw that there was a certain unity among them, and he saw +that it was possible to make it more evident still. He fitted the +floating incidents into an epic framework, adding, inventing, altering, +and moulding the whole into an English style of his own. Later he seems +to have translated the whole into Gaelic. He gave his version to the +world, and found himself famous, but he gave it as the genuine +translation of a genuine Celtic epic. Here was his craft; here he was +the "charlatan of genius." His genius lay in producing an epic which +people were willing to read, and in making them believe it to be not his +work but that of the Celtic heroic age. Any one can write an epic, but +few can write one which thousands will read, which men like +Chateaubriand, Goethe, Napoleon, Byron, and Coleridge will admire and +love, and which will, as it were, crystallise the aspirations of an age +weary with classical formalism. MacPherson introduced his readers to a +new world of heroic deeds, romantic adventure, deathless love, exquisite +sentiments sentimentally expressed. He changed the rough warriors and +beautiful but somewhat unabashed heroines of the saga into sentimental +personages, who suited the taste of an age poised between the bewigged +and powdered formalism of the eighteenth century, and the outburst of +new ideals which was to follow. His _Ossian_ is a cross between Pope's +_Homer_ and Byron's _Childe Harold_. His heroes and heroines are not on +their native heath, and are uncertain whether to mince and strut with +Pope or to follow nature with Rousseau's noble savages and Saint +Pierre's Paul and Virginia. The time has gone when it was heresy to cast +doubt upon the genuineness of MacPherson's epic, but if any one is still +doubtful, let him read it and then turn to the existing versions, +ballads, and tales. He will find himself in a totally different +atmosphere, and will recognise in the latter the true epic note--the +warrior's rage and the warrior's generosity, dire cruelty yet infinite +tenderness, wild lust yet also true love, a world of magic +supernaturalism, but an exact copy of things as they were in that +far-off age. The barbarism of the time is in these old tales--deeds +which make one shiver, customs regarding the relations of the sexes now +found only among savages, social and domestic arrangements which are +somewhat lurid and disgusting. And yet, withal, the note of bravery, of +passion, of authentic life is there; we are held in the grip of genuine +manhood and womanhood. MacPherson gives a picture of the Ossianic age as +he conceived it, an age of Celtic history that "never was on sea or +land." Even his ghosts are un-Celtic, misty and unsubstantial phantasms, +unlike the embodied _revenants_ of the saga which are in agreement with +the Celtic belief that the soul assumed a body in the other world. +MacPherson makes Fionn invariably successful, but in the saga tales he +is often defeated. He mingles the Cúchulainn and Ossianic cycles, but +these, save in a few casual instances, are quite distinct in the old +literature. Yet had not his poem been so great as it is, though so +un-Celtic, it could not have influenced all European literature. But +those who care for genuine Celtic literature, the product of a people +who loved nature, romance, doughty deeds, the beauty of the world, the +music of the sea and the birds, the mountains, valour in men, beauty in +women, will find all these in the saga, whether in its literary or its +popular forms. And through it all sounds the undertone of Celtic pathos +and melancholy, the distant echo + + "Of old unhappy, far-off things + And battles long ago." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[506] See Joyce, _OCR_ 447. + +[507] Montelius, _Les Temps Préhistoriques_, 57, 151; Reinach, _RC_ xxi. +8. + +[508] The popular versions of this early part of the saga differ much in +detail, but follow the main outlines in much the same way. See Curtin, +_HTI_ 204; Campbell, _LF_ 33 f.; _WHT_ iii. 348. + +[509] In a widespread group of tales supernatural knowledge is obtained +by eating part of some animal, usually a certain snake. In many of these +tales the food is eaten by another person than he who obtained it, as in +the case of Fionn. Cf. the Welsh story of Gwion, p. 116, and the +Scandinavian of Sigurd, and other parallels in Miss Cox, _Cinderella_, +496; Frazer, _Arch. Rev._ i. 172 f. The story is thus a folk-tale +formula applied to Fionn, doubtless because it harmonised with Celtic or +pre-Celtic totemistic ideas. But it is based on ancient ideas regarding +the supernatural knowledge possessed by reptiles or fish, and among +American Indians, Maoris, Solomon Islanders, and others there are +figured representations of a man holding such an animal, its tongue +being attached to his tongue. He is a _shaman_, and American Indians +believe that his inspiration comes from the tongue of a mysterious river +otter, caught by him. See Dall, _Bureau of Ethnol._ 3rd report; and Miss +Buckland, _Jour. Anth. Inst._ xxii. 29. + +[510] _TOS_ iv.; O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 396; Joyce, _OCR_ 194, 339. + +[511] For ballad versions see Campbell, _LF_ 198. + +[512] Numerous ballad versions are given in Campbell _LF_ 152 f. The +tale is localised in various parts of Ireland and the Highlands, many +dolmens in Ireland being known as Diarmaid and Grainne's beds. + +[513] For an account differing from this annalistic version, see _ZCP_ +i. 465. + +[514] O'Grady, ii. 102. This, on the whole, agrees with the Highland +ballad version, _LF_ 198. + +[515] _IT_ iv.; O'Grady, _Silva Gad._ text and translation. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GODS AND MEN. + + +Though man usually makes his gods in his own image, they are unlike as +well as like him. Intermediate between them and man are ideal heroes +whose parentage is partly divine, and who may themselves have been gods. +One mark of the Celtic gods is their great stature. No house could +contain Bran, and certain divine people of Elysium who appeared to Fionn +had rings "as thick as a three-ox goad."[516] Even the Fians are giants, +and the skull of one of them could contain several men. The gods have +also the attribute of invisibility, and are only seen by those to whom +they wish to disclose themselves, or they have the power of concealing +themselves in a magic mist. When they appear to mortals it is usually in +mortal guise, sometimes in the form of a particular person, but they can +also transform themselves into animal shapes, often that of birds. The +animal names of certain divinities show that they had once been animals +pure and simple, but when they became anthropomorphic, myths would arise +telling how they had appeared to men in these animal shapes. This, in +part, accounts for these transformation myths. The gods are also +immortal, though in myth we hear of their deaths. The Tuatha Dé Danann +are "unfading," their "duration is perennial."[517] This immortality is +sometimes an inherent quality; sometimes it is the result of eating +immortal food--Manannan's swine, Goibniu's feast of age and his immortal +ale, or the apples of Elysium. The stories telling of the deaths of the +gods in the annalists may be based on old myths in which they were said +to die, these myths being connected with ritual acts in which the human +representatives of gods were slain. Such rites were an inherent part of +Celtic religion. Elsewhere the ritual of gods like Osiris or Adonis, +based on their functions as gods of vegetation, was connected with +elaborate myths telling of their death and revival. Something akin to +this may have occurred among the Celts. + +The divinities often united with mortals. Goddesses sought the love of +heroes who were then sometimes numbered among the gods, and gods had +amours with the daughters of men.[518] Frequently the heroes of the +sagas are children of a god or goddess and a mortal,[519] and this +divine parentage was firmly believed in by the Celts, since personal +names formed of a divine name and _-genos_ or _-gnatos_, "born of," "son +of," are found in inscriptions over the whole Celtic area, or in Celtic +documents--Boduogenos, Camulognata, etc. Those who first bore these +names were believed to be of divine descent on one side. Spirits of +nature or the elements of nature personified might also be parents of +mortals, as a name like Morgen, from _Morigenos_, "Son of the Sea," and +many others suggest. For this and for other reasons the gods frequently +interfere in human affairs, assisting their children or their +favourites. Or, again, they seek the aid of mortals or of the heroes of +the sagas in their conflicts or in time of distress, as when Morrigan +besought healing from Cúchulainn. + +As in the case of early Greek and Roman kings, Celtic kings who bore +divine names were probably believed to be representatives or +incarnations of gods. Perhaps this explains why a chief of the Boii +called himself a god and was revered after his death, and why the Gauls +so readily accepted the divinity of Augustus. Irish kings bear divine +names, and of these Nuada occurs frequently, one king, Irél Fáith, being +identified with Nuada Airgetlam, while in one text _nuadat_ is glossed +_in ríg_, "of the king," as if _Nuada_ had come to be a title meaning +"king." Welsh kings bear the name Nudd (Nodons), and both the actual and +the mythic leader Brennus took their name from the god Bran. King +Conchobar is called _día talmaide_, "a terrestrial god." If kings were +thought to be god-men like the Pharaohs, this might account for the +frequency of tales about divine fatherhood or reincarnation, while it +would also explain the numerous _geasa_ which Irish kings must observe, +unlike ordinary mortals. Prosperity was connected with their observance, +though this prosperity was later thought to depend on the king's +goodness. The nature of the prosperity--mild seasons, abundant crops, +fruit, fish, and cattle--shows that the king was associated with +fertility, like the gods of growth.[520] Hence they had probably been +once regarded as incarnations of such gods. Wherever divine kings are +found, fertility is bound up with them and with the due observance of +their tabus. To prevent misfortune to the land, they are slain before +they grow old and weak, and their vigour passes on to their successors. +Their death benefits their people.[521] But frequently the king might +reign as long as he could hold his own against all comers, or, again, a +slave or criminal was for a time treated as a mock king, and slain as +the divine king's substitute. Scattered hints in Irish literature and in +folk survivals show that some such course as this had been pursued by +the Celts with regard to their divine kings, as it was also +elsewhere.[522] It is not impossible that some at least of the Druids +stood in a similar relation to the gods. Kings and priests were probably +at first not differentiated. In Galatia twelve "tetrarchs" met annually +with three hundred assistants at Drunemeton as the great national +council.[523] This council at a consecrated place (_nemeton_), its +likeness to the annual Druidic gathering in Gaul, and the possibility +that _Dru_- has some connection with the name "Druid," point to a +religious as well as political aspect of this council. The "tetrarchs" +may have been a kind of priest-kings; they had the kingly prerogative of +acting as judges as had the Druids of Gaul. The wife of one of them was +a priestess,[524] the office being hereditary in her family, and it may +have been necessary that her husband should also be a priest. One +tetrarch, Deiotarus, "divine bull," was skilled in augury, and the +priest-kingship of Pessinus was conferred on certain Celts in the second +century B.C., as if the double office were already a Celtic +institution.[525] Mythic Celtic kings consulted the gods without any +priestly intervention, and Queen Boudicca had priestly functions.[526] +Without giving these hints undue emphasis, we may suppose that the +differentiation of the two offices would not be simultaneous over the +Celtic area. But when it did take effect priests would probably lay +claim to the prerogatives of the priest-king as incarnate god. Kings +were not likely to give these up, and where they retained them priests +would be content with seeing that the tabus and ritual and the slaying +of the mock king were duly observed. Irish kings were perhaps still +regarded as gods, though certain Druids may have been divine priests, +since they called themselves creators of the universe, and both +continental and Irish Druids claimed superiority to kings. Further, the +name [Greek: semnotheoi], applied along with the name "Druids" to Celtic +priests, though its meaning is obscure, points to divine pretensions on +their part.[527] + +The incarnate god was probably representative of a god or spirit of +earth, growth, or vegetation, represented also by a tree. A symbolic +branch of such a tree was borne by kings, and perhaps by Druids, who +used oak branches in their rites.[528] King and tree would be connected, +the king's life being bound up with that of the tree, and perhaps at one +time both perished together. But as kings were represented by a +substitute, so the sacred tree, regarded as too sacred to be cut down, +may also have had its _succedaneum_. The Irish _bile_ or sacred tree, +connected with the kings, must not be touched by any impious hand, and +it was sacrilege to cut it down.[529] Probably before cutting down the +tree a branch or something growing upon it, e.g. mistletoe, had to be +cut, or the king's symbolic branch secured before he could be slain. +This may explain Pliny's account of the mistletoe rite. The mistletoe or +branch was the soul of the tree, and also contained the life of the +divine representative. It must be plucked before the tree could be cut +down or the victim slain. Hypothetical as this may be, Pliny's account +is incomplete, or he is relating something of which all the details were +not known to him. The rite must have had some other purpose than that of +the magico-medical use of the mistletoe which he describes, and though +he says nothing of cutting down the tree or slaying a human victim, it +is not unlikely that, as human sacrifice had been prohibited in his +time, the oxen which were slain during the rite took the place of the +latter. Later romantic tales suggest that, before slaying some +personage, the mythico-romantic survivor of a divine priest or king, a +branch carried by him had to be captured by his assailant, or plucked +from the tree which he defended.[530] These may point to an old belief +in tree and king as divine representatives, and to a ritual like that +associated with the Priest of Nemi. The divine tree became the mystic +tree of Elysium, with gold and silver branches and marvellous fruits. +Armed with such a branch, the gift of one of its people, mortals might +penetrate unhindered to the divine land. Perhaps they may be regarded as +romantic forms of the old divine kings with the branch of the divine +tree. + +If in early times the spirit of vegetation was feminine, her +representative would be a woman, probably slain at recurring festivals +by the female worshippers. This would explain the slaying of one of +their number at a festival by Namnite women. But when male spirits or +gods superseded goddesses, the divine priest-king would take the place +of the female representative. On the other hand, just as the goddess +became the consort of the god, a female representative would continue as +the divine bride in the ritual of the sacred marriage, the May Queen of +later folk-custom. Sporadically, too, conservatism would retain female +cults with female divine incarnations, as is seen by the presence of the +May Queen alone in certain folk-survivals, and by many Celtic rituals +from which men were excluded.[531] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[516] O'Grady, ii. 228. + +[517] Ibid. ii. 203. Cf. Cæsar, vi. 14, "the immortal gods" of Gaul. + +[518] Cf. Ch. XXIV.; O'Grady, ii. 110, 172; Nutt-Meyer, i. 42. + +[519] Leahy, ii. 6. + +[520] _IT_ iii. 203; _Trip. Life_, 507; _Annals of the Four Masters_, +A.D. 14; _RC_ xxii. 28, 168. Chiefs as well as kings probably influenced +fertility. A curious survival of this is found in the belief that +herrings abounded in Dunvegan Loch when MacLeod arrived at his castle +there, and in the desire of the people in Skye during the potato famine +that his fairy banner should be waved. + +[521] An echo of this may underlie the words attributed to King Ailill, +"If I am slain, it will be the redemption of many" (O'Grady, ii. 416). + +[522] See Frazer, _Kingship_; Cook, _Folk-Lore_, 1906, "The European +Sky-God." Mr. Cook gives ample evidence for the existence of Celtic +incarnate gods. With his main conclusions I agree, though some of his +inferences seem far-fetched. The divine king was, in his view, a +sky-god; he was more likely to have been the representative of a god or +spirit of growth or vegetation. + +[523] Strabo, xii. 5. 2. + +[524] Plutarch, _de Virt. Mul._ 20. + +[525] Cicero, _de Div._ i. 15, ii. 36; Strabo, xii. 5. 3; Stachelin, +_Gesch. der Kleinasiat. Galater._ + +[526] Livy, v. 34; Dio Cass. lxii. 6. + +[527] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, i. 22; Diog. Laert. i. proem 1; see p. +301, _infra_. + +[528] Pliny, xvi. 95. + +[529] P. 201, _infra_. + +[530] Cf. the tales of Gawain and the Green Knight with his holly bough, +and of Gawain's attempting to pluck the bough of a tree guarded by +Gramoplanz (Weston, _Legend of Sir Gawain_, 22, 86). Cf. also the tale +of Diarmaid's attacking the defender of a tree to obtain its fruit, and +the subsequent slaughter of each man who attacks the hero hidden in its +branches (_TOS_ vol. iii.). Cf. Cook, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 441. + +[531] See Chap. XVIII. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE CULT OF THE DEAD. + + +The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead, or slaying wife or +slaves on the tomb, does not necessarily point to a cult of the dead, +yet when such practices survive over a long period they assume the form +of a cult. These customs flourished among the Celts, and, taken in +connection with the reverence for the sepulchres of the dead, they point +to a worship of ancestral spirits as well as of great departed heroes. +Heads of the slain were offered to the "strong shades"--the ghosts of +tribal heroes whose praises were sung by bards.[532] When such heads +were placed on houses, they may have been devoted to the family ghosts. +The honour in which mythic or real heroes were held may point to an +actual cult, the hero being worshipped when dead, while he still +continued his guardianship of the tribe. We know also that the tomb of +King Cottius in the Alps was a sacred place, that Irish kings were often +inaugurated on ancestral burial cairns, and that Irish gods were +associated with barrows of the dead.[533] + +The cult of the dead culminated at the family hearth, around which the +dead were even buried, as among the Aeduii; this latter custom may have +been general.[534] In any case the belief in the presence of ancestral +ghosts around the hearth was widespread, as existing superstitions show. +In Brittany the dead seek warmth at the hearth by night, and a feast is +spread for them on All Souls' eve, or crumbs are left for them after a +family gathering.[535] But generally the family ghost has become a +brownie, lutin, or pooka, haunting the hearth and doing the household +work.[536] Fairy corresponds in all respects to old ancestral ghost, and +the one has succeeded to the place of the other, while the fairy is even +said to be the ghost of a dead person.[537] Certain archæological +remains have also a connection with this ancient cult. Among Celtic +remains in Gaul are found andirons of clay, ornamented with a ram's +head. M. Dechelette sees in this "the symbol of sacrifice offered to the +souls of ancestors on the altar of the hearth."[538] The ram was already +associated as a sacrificial animal with the cult of fire on the hearth, +and by an easy transition it was connected with the cult of the dead +there. It is found as an emblem on ancient tombs, and the domestic Lar +was purified by the immolation of a ram.[539] Figurines of a ram have +been found in Gaulish tombs, and it is associated with the god of the +underworld.[540] The ram of the andirons was thus a permanent +representative of the victim offered in the cult of the dead. A +mutilated inscription on one of them may stand for _Laribus augustis_, +and certain markings on others may represent the garlands twined round +the victim.[541] Serpents with rams' heads occur on the monuments of the +underworld god. The serpent was a chthonian god or the emblem of such a +god, and it may have been thought appropriate to give it the head of an +animal associated with the cult of the dead. + +The dead were also fed at the grave or in the house. Thus cups were +placed in the recess of a well in the churchyard of Kilranelagh by those +interring a child under five, and the ghost of the child was supposed to +supply the other spirits with water from these cups.[542] In Ireland, +after a death, food is placed out for the spirits, or, at a burial, nuts +are placed in the coffin.[543] In some parts of France, milk is poured +out on the grave, and both in Brittany and in Scotland the dead are +supposed to partake of the funeral feast.[544] These are survivals from +pagan times and correspond to the rites in use among those who still +worship ancestors. In Celtic districts a cairn or a cross is placed over +the spot where a violent or accidental death has occurred, the purpose +being to appease the ghost, and a stone is often added to the cairn by +all passers-by.[545] + +Festivals were held in Ireland on the anniversaries of the death of +kings or chiefs, and these were also utilised for purposes of trade, +pleasure, or politics. They sometimes occurred on the great festivals, +e.g. Lugnasad and Samhain, and were occasionally held at the great +burial-places.[546] Thus the gathering at Taillti on Lugnasad was said +to have been founded by Lug in memory of his foster-mother, Tailtiu, and +the Leinstermen met at Carman on the same day to commemorate King +Garman, or in a variant account, a woman called Carman. She and her sons +had tried to blight the corn of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but the sons were +driven off and she died of grief, begging that a fair should always be +held in her name, and promising abundance of milk, fruit, and fish for +its observance.[547] These may be ætiological myths explaining the +origin of these festivals on the analogy of funeral festivals, but more +likely, since Lugnasad was a harvest festival, they are connected with +the custom of slaying a representative of the corn-spirit. The festival +would become a commemoration of all such victims, but when the custom +itself had ceased it would be associated with one particular personage, +the corn-goddess regarded as a mortal. + +This would be the case where the victim was a woman, but where a male +was slain, the analogy of the slaying of the divine king or his +_succedaneum_ would lead to the festivals being regarded as +commemorative of a king, e.g. Garman. This agrees with the statement +that observance of the festival produced plenty; non-observance, dearth. +The victims were slain to obtain plenty, and the festival would also +commemorate those who had died for this good cause, while it would also +appease their ghosts should these be angry at their violent deaths. +Certain of the dead were thus commemorated at Lugnasad, a festival of +fertility. Both the corn-spirit or divinity slain in the reaping of the +corn, and the human victims, were appeased by its observance.[548] The +legend of Carman makes her hostile to the corn--a curious way of +regarding a corn-goddess. But we have already seen that gods of +fertility were sometimes thought of as causing blight, and in +folk-belief the corn-spirit is occasionally believed to be dangerous. +Such inversions occur wherever revolutions in religion take place. + +The great commemoration of the dead was held on Samhain eve, a festival +intended to aid the dying powers of vegetation, whose life, however, was +still manifested in evergreen shrubs, in the mistletoe, in the sheaf of +corn from last harvest--the abode of the corn-spirit.[549] Probably, +also, human representatives of the vegetation or corn-spirit were slain, +and this may have suggested the belief in the presence of their ghosts +at this festival. Or the festival being held at the time of the death of +vegetation, the dead would naturally be commemorated then. Or, as in +Scandinavia, they may have been held to have an influence on fertility, +as an extension of the belief that certain slain persons represented +spirits of fertility, or because trees and plants growing on the barrows +of the dead were thought to be tenanted by their spirits.[550] In +Scandinavia, the dead were associated with female spirits or _fylgjur_, +identified with the _disir_, a kind of earth-goddesses, living in hollow +hills.[551] The nearest Celtic analogy to these is the _Matres_, +goddesses of fertility. Bede says that Christmas eve was called +_Modranicht_, "Mothers' Night,"[552] and as many of the rites of Samhain +were transferred to Yule, the former date of _Modranicht_ may have been +Samhain, just as the Scandinavian _Disablot_, held in November, was a +festival of the _disir_ and of the dead.[553] It has been seen that the +Celtic Earth-god was lord of the dead, and that he probably took the +place of an Earth-goddess or goddesses, to whom the _Matres_ certainly +correspond. Hence the connection of the dead with female Earth-spirits +would be explained. Mother Earth had received the dead before her place +was taken by the Celtic Dispater. Hence the time of Earth's decay was +the season when the dead, her children, would be commemorated. Whatever +be the reason, Celts, Teutons, and others have commemorated the dead at +the beginning of winter, which was the beginning of a new year, while a +similar festival of the dead at New Year is held in many other lands. + +Both in Ireland and in Brittany, on November eve food is laid out for +the dead who come to visit the houses and to warm themselves at the fire +in the stillness of the night, and in Brittany a huge log burns on the +hearth. We have here returned to the cult of the dead at the +hearth.[554] Possibly the Yule log was once a log burned on the +hearth--the place of the family ghosts--at Samhain, when new fire was +kindled in each house. On it libations were poured, which would then +have been meant for the dead. The Yule log and the log of the Breton +peasants would thus be the domestic aspect of the fire ritual, which had +its public aspect in the Samhain bonfires. + +All this has been in part affected by the Christian feast of All Souls. +Dr. Frazer thinks that the feast of All Saints (November 1st) was +intended to take the place of the pagan cult of the dead. As it failed +to do this, All Souls, a festival of all the dead, was added on November +2nd.[555] To some extent, but not entirely, it has neutralised the pagan +rites, for the old ideas connected with Samhain still survive here and +there. It is also to be noted that in some cases the friendly aspect of +the dead has been lost sight of, and, like the _síd_-folk, they are +popularly connected with evil powers which are in the ascendant on +Samhain eve. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[532] Silius Italicus, v. 652; Lucan, i. 447. Cf. p. 241, _infra_. + +[533] Ammian. Marcell. xv. 10. 7; Joyce, _SH_ i. 45. + +[534] Bulliot, _Fouilles du Mont Beuvray_, Autun, 1899, i. 76, 396. + +[535] Le Braz, ii. 67; Sauvé, _Folk-lore des Hautes Vosges_, 295; +Bérenger-Féraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_, i. 11. + +[536] Hearn, _Aryan Household_, 43 f.; Bérenger-Féraud, i. 33; _Rev. des +Trad._ i. 142; Carmichael, ii. 329; Cosquin, _Trad. Pop. de la +Lorraine_, i. 82. + +[537] Kennedy, 126. The mischievous brownie who overturns furniture and +smashes crockery is an exact reproduction of the Poltergeist. + +[538] Dechelette, _Rev. Arch._ xxxiii, (1898), 63, 245, 252. + +[539] Cicero, _De Leg._ ii. 22. + +[540] Dechelette, 256; Reinach, _BF_ 189. + +[541] Dechelette, 257-258. In another instance the ram is marked with +crosses like those engraved on images of the underworld god with the +hammer. + +[542] Kennedy, 187. + +[543] Lady Wilde, 118; Curtin, _Tales_, 54. + +[544] Le Braz, i. 229; Gregor, 21; Cambry, _Voyage dans le Finistère_, +i. 229. + +[545] Le Braz, ii. 47; _Folk-Lore_, iv. 357; MacCulloch, _Misty Isle of +Skye_, 254; Sébillot, i. 235-236. + +[546] Names of places associated with the great festivals are also those +of the chief pagan cemeteries, Tara, Carman, Taillti, etc. (O'Curry, +_MC_ ii. 523). + +[547] _Rennes Dindsenchas_, _RC_ xv. 313-314. + +[548] Cf. Frazer, _Adonis_, 134. + +[549] Cf. Chambers, _Mediæval Stage_, i. 250, 253. + +[550] See Vigfusson-Powell, _Corpus Poet. Boreale_, i. 405, 419. Perhaps +for a similar reason a cult of the dead may have occurred at the +Midsummer festival. + +[551] Miss Faraday, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 398 f. + +[552] Bede, _de Temp. Rat._ c. xv. + +[553] Vigfusson-Powell, i. 419. + +[554] Curtin, _Tales_, 157; Haddon, _Folk-Lore_, iv. 359; Le Braz, ii. +115 _et passim._ + +[555] Frazer, _Adonis_, 253 f. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +PRIMITIVE NATURE WORSHIP. + + +In early thought everything was a person, in the loose meaning then +possessed by personality, and many such "persons" were worshipped-- +earth, sun, moon, sea, wind, etc. This led later to more complete +personification, and the sun or earth divinity or spirit was more or +less separated from the sun or earth themselves. Some Celtic divinities +were thus evolved, but there still continued a veneration of the objects +of nature in themselves, as well as a cult of nature spirits or +secondary divinities who peopled every part of nature. "Nor will I call +out upon the mountains, fountains, or hills, or upon the rivers, which +are now subservient to the use of man, but once were an abomination and +destruction to them, and to which the blind people paid divine honours," +cries Gildas.[556] This was the true cult of the folk, the "blind +people," even when the greater gods were organised, and it has survived +with modifications in out-of-the-way places, in spite of the coming of +Christianity. + +S. Kentigern rebuked the Cambrians for worshipping the elements, which +God made for man's use.[557] The question of the daughters of Loegaire +also throws much light on Celtic nature worship. "Has your god sons or +daughters?... Have many fostered his sons? Are his daughters dear and +beautiful to men? Is he in heaven or on earth, in the sea, in the +rivers, in the mountains, in the valleys?"[558] The words suggest a +belief in divine beings filling heaven, earth, sea, air, hills, glens, +lochs, and rivers, and following human customs. A naïve faith, full of +beauty and poetry, even if it had its dark and grim aspects! These +powers or personalities had been invoked from time immemorial, but the +invocations were soon stereotyped into definite formulas. Such a formula +is put into the mouth of Amairgen, the poet of the Milesians, when they +were about to invade Erin, and it may have been a magical invocation of +the powers of nature at the beginning of an undertaking or in times of +danger: + + "I invoke the land of Ireland! + Shining, shining sea! + Fertile, fertile mountain! + Wooded vale! + Abundant river, abundant in waters! + Fish abounding lake! + Fish abounding sea! + Fertile earth! + Irruption of fish! Fish there! + Bird under wave! Great fish! + Crab hole! Irruption of fish! + Fish abounding sea!"[559] + +A similar formula was spoken after the destruction of Da Derga's Hostel +by MacCecht on his finding water. He bathed in it and sang-- + + "Cold fountain! Surface of strand ... + Sea of lake, water of Gara, stream of river; + High spring well; cold fountain!"[560] + +The goddess Morrigan, after the defeat of the Fomorians, invokes the +powers of nature and proclaims the victory to "the royal mountains of +Ireland, to its chief waters, and its river mouths."[561] It was also +customary to take oaths by the elements--heaven, earth, sun, fire, moon, +sea, land, day, night, etc., and these punished the breaker of the +oath.[562] Even the gods exacted such an oath of each other. Bres swore +by sun, moon, sea, and land, to fulfil the engagement imposed on him by +Lug.[563] The formulæ survived into Christian times, and the faithful +were forbidden to call the sun and moon gods or to swear by them, while +in Breton folk-custom at the present day oaths by sun, moon, or earth, +followed by punishment of the oath-breaker by the moon, are still in +use.[564] These oaths had originated in a time when the elements +themselves were thought to be divine, and similar adjurations were used +by Greeks and Scandinavians. + +While the greater objects of nature were worshipped for themselves +alone, the Celts also peopled the earth with spirits, benevolent or +malevolent, of rocks, hills, dales, forests, lakes, and streams,[565] +and while greater divinities of growth had been evolved, they still +believed in lesser spirits of vegetation, of the corn, and of fertility, +connected, however, with these gods. Some of these still survive as +fairies seen in meadows, woodlands, or streams, or as demoniac beings +haunting lonely places. And even now, in French folk-belief, sun, moon, +winds, etc., are regarded as actual personages. Sun and moon are husband +and wife; the winds have wives; they are addressed by personal names and +reverenced.[566] Some spirits may already have had a demoniac aspect in +pagan times. The Tuatha Déa conjured up _meisi_, "spectral bodies that +rise from the ground," against the Milesians, and at their service were +malignant sprites--_urtrochta_, and "forms, spectres, and great queens" +called _guidemain_ (false demons). The Druids also sent forth +mischievous spirits called _siabra_. In the _Táin_ there are references +to _bocânachs_, _banânaichs_, and _geniti-glinni_, "goblins, eldritch +beings, and glen-folk."[567] These are twice called Tuatha Dé Danann, +and this suggests that they were nature-spirits akin to the greater +gods.[568] The _geniti-glinni_ would be spirits haunting glen and +valley. They are friendly to Cúchulainn in the _Táin_, but in the _Feast +of Bricriu_ he and other heroes fight and destroy them.[569] In modern +Irish belief they are demons of the air, perhaps fallen angels.[570] + +Much of this is probably pre-Celtic as well as Celtic, but it held its +ground because it was dear to the Celts themselves. They upheld the +aboriginal cults resembling those which, in the lands whence they came, +had been native and local with themselves. Such cults are as old as the +world, and when Christianity expelled the worship of the greater gods, +younger in growth, the ancient nature worship, dowered with immortal +youth, + + "bowed low before the blast + In patient deep disdain," + +to rise again in vigour. Preachers, councils, and laws inveighed against +it. The old rites continued to be practised, or survived under a +Christian dress and colouring. They are found in Breton villages, in +Highland glens, in Welsh and Cornish valleys, in Irish townships, and +only the spread of school-board education, with its materialism and +uninviting common sense, is forcing them at last to yield. + +The denunciations of these cults throw some light upon them. Offerings +at trees, stones, fountains, and cross-roads, the lighting of fires or +candles there, and vows or incantations addressed to them, are +forbidden, as is also the worship of trees, groves, stones, rivers, and +wells. The sun and moon are not to be called lords. Wizardry, and +divination, and the leapings and dancings, songs and choruses of the +pagans, i.e. their orgiastic cults, are not to be practised. +Tempest-raisers are not to ply their diabolical craft.[571] These +denunciations, of course, were not without their effect, and legend told +how the spirits of nature were heard bewailing the power of the +Christian saints, their mournful cries echoing in wooded hollows, +secluded valleys, and shores of lake and river.[572] Their power, though +limited, was not annihilated, but the secrecy in which the old cults +often continued to be practised gave them a darker colour. They were +identified with the works of the devil, and the spirits of paganism with +dark and grisly demons.[573] This culminated in the mediæval witch +persecutions, for witchcraft was in part the old paganism in a new +guise. Yet even that did not annihilate superstition, which still lives +and flourishes among the folk, though the actual worship of +nature-spirits has now disappeared. + + * * * * * + +Perhaps the most important object in nature to the early Celts as to +most primitive folk was the moon. The phases of the moon were apparent +before men observed the solstices and equinoxes, and they formed an easy +method of measuring time. The Celtic year was at first lunar--Pliny +speaks of the Celtic method of counting the beginning of months and +years by the moon--and night was supposed to precede day.[574] The +festivals of growth began, not at sunrise, but on the previous evening +with the rising of the moon, and the name _La Lunade_ is still given to +the Midsummer festival in parts of France.[575] At Vallon de la Suille a +wood on the slope where the festival is held is called _Bois de la +Lune_; and in Ireland, where the festival begins on the previous +evening, in the district where an ascent of Cnoc Aine is made, the +position of the moon must be observed. A similar combination of sun and +moon cults is found in an inscription at Lausanne--_To the genius of the +sun and moon._[576] + +Possibly sun festivals took the place of those of the moon. Traces of +the connection of the moon with agriculture occur in different regions, +the connection being established through the primitive law of +sympathetic magic. The moon waxes and wanes, therefore it must affect +all processes of growth or decay. Dr. Frazer has cited many instances of +this belief, and has shown that the moon had a priority to the sun in +worship, e.g. in Egypt and Babylon.[577] Sowing is done with a waxing +moon, so that, through sympathy, there may be a large increase. But +harvesting, cutting timber, etc., should be done with a waning moon, +because moisture being caused by a waxing moon, it was necessary to +avoid cutting such things as would spoil by moisture at that time. +Similar beliefs are found among the Celts. Mistletoe and other magical +plants were culled with a waxing moon, probably because their power +would thus be greater. Dr. Johnson noted the fact that the Highlanders +sowed their seed with a waxing moon, in the expectation of a better +harvest. For similar occult reasons, it is thought in Brittany that +conception during a waxing moon produces a male child, during a waning +moon a female, while _accouchements_ at the latter time are dangerous. +Sheep and cows should be killed at the new moon, else their flesh will +shrink, but peats should be cut in the last quarter, otherwise they will +remain moist and give out "a power of smoke."[578] + +These ideas take us back to a time when it was held that the moon was +not merely the measurer of time, but had powerful effects on the +processes of growth and decay. Artemis and Diana, moon-goddesses, had +power over all growing things, and as some Celtic goddesses were equated +with Diana, they may have been connected with the moon, more especially +as Gallo-Roman images of Diana have the head adorned with a crescent +moon. In some cases festivals of the moon remained intact, as among the +Celtiberians and other peoples to the north of them, who at the time of +full moon celebrated the festival of a nameless god, dancing all night +before the doors of their houses.[579] The nameless god may have been +the moon, worshipped at the time of her intensest light. Moonlight +dances round a great stone, with singing, on the first day of the year, +occurred in the Highlands in the eighteenth century.[580] Other +survivals of cult are seen in the practices of bowing or baring the head +at new moon, or addressing it with words of adoration or supplication. +In Ireland, Camden found the custom at new moon of saying the Lord's +Prayer with the addition of the words, "Leave us whole and sound as Thou +hast found us." Similar customs exist in Brittany, where girls pray to +the moon to grant them dreams of their future husbands.[581] Like other +races, the Celts thought that eclipses were caused by a monster +attacking the moon, while it could be driven off with cries and shouts. +In 218 B.C. the Celtic allies of Attalus were frightened by an eclipse, +and much later Christian legislation forbade the people to assemble at +an eclipse and shout, _Vince, Luna!_[582] Such a practice was observed +in Ireland in the seventeenth century. At an earlier time, Irish poets +addressed sun and moon as divinities, and they were represented on +altars even in Christian times.[583] + +While the Celts believed in sea-gods--Manannan, Morgen, Dylan--the sea +itself was still personified and regarded as divine. It was thought to +be a hostile being, and high tides were met by Celtic warriors, who +advanced against them with sword and spear, often perishing in the +rushing waters rather than retreat. The ancients regarded this as +bravado. M. Jullian sees in it a sacrifice by voluntary suicide; M. +D'Arbois, a tranquil waiting for death and the introduction to another +life.[584] But the passages give the sense of an actual attack on the +waves--living things which men might terrify, and perhaps with this was +combined the belief that no one could die during a rising tide. +Similarly French fishermen threaten to cut a fog in two with a knife, +while the legend of S. Lunaire tells how he threw a knife at a fog, thus +causing its disappearance.[585] Fighting the waves is also referred to +in Irish texts. Thus Tuirbe Trágmar would "hurl a cast of his axe in the +face of the flood-tide, so that he forbade the sea, which then would not +come over the axe." Cúchulainn, in one of his fits of anger, fought the +waves for seven days, and Fionn fought and conquered the Muireartach, a +personification of the wild western sea.[586] On the French coast +fishermen throw harpoons at certain harmful waves called the Three Witch +Waves, thus drawing their blood and causing them to subside.[587] In +some cases human victims may have been offered to the rising waters, +since certain tales speak of a child set floating on the waves, and +this, repeated every seven years, kept them in their place.[588] + +The sea had also its beneficent aspects. The shore was "a place of +revelation of science," and the sea sympathised with human griefs. At +the Battle of Ventry "the sea chattered, telling the losses, and the +waves raised a heavy, woeful great moan in wailing them."[589] In other +cases in Ireland, by a spell put on the waves, or by the intuitive +knowledge of the listener, it was revealed that they were wailing for a +death or describing some distant event.[590] In the beautiful song sung +by the wife of Cael, "the wave wails against the shore for his death," +and in Welsh myth the waves bewailed the death of Dylan, "son of the +wave," and were eager to avenge it. The noise of the waves rushing into +the vale of Conwy were his dying groans.[591] In Ireland the roaring of +the sea was thought to be prophetic of a king's death or the coming of +important news; and there, too, certain great waves were celebrated in +story--Clidna's, Tuaithe's, and Rudhraidhe's.[592] Nine waves, or the +ninth wave, partly because of the sacred nature of the number nine, +partly because of the beneficent character of the waves, had a great +importance. They formed a barrier against invasion, danger, or +pestilence, or they had a healing effect.[593] + +The wind was also regarded as a living being whose power was to be +dreaded. It punished King Loegaire for breaking his oath. But it was +also personified as a god Vintius, equated with Pollux and worshipped by +Celtic sailors, or with Mars, the war-god who, in his destructive +aspect, was perhaps regarded as the nearest analogue to a god of stormy +winds.[594] Druids and Celtic priestesses claimed the power of +controlling the winds, as did wizards and witches in later days. This +they did, according to Christian writers, by the aid of demons, perhaps +the old divinities of the air. Bishop Agobard describes how the +_tempestarii_ raised tempests which destroyed the fruits of the earth, +and drew "aerial ships" from Magonia, whither the ships carried these +fruits.[595] Magonia may be the upper air ruled over by a sky god +Magounos or Mogounos, equated with Apollo.[596] The winds may have been +his servants, ruled also by earthly magicians. Like Yahweh, as conceived +by Hebrew poets, he "bringeth the winds out of his treasures," and +"maketh lightnings with rain." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[556] Gildas ii. 4. + +[557] Jocelyn, _Vila Kentig._ c. xxxii. + +[558] _Trip. Life_, 315. + +[559] _LL_ 12_b_. The translation is from D'Arbois, ii. 250 f; cf. +O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 190. + +[560] _RC_ xxii. 400. + +[561] _RC_ xii. 109. + +[562] Petrie, _Tara_, 34; _RC_ vi. 168; _LU_ 118. + +[563] Joyce, _OCR_ 50. + +[564] D'Achery, _Spicelegium_, v. 216; Sébillot, i. 16 f., 56, 211. + +[565] Gregory of Tours, _Hist._ ii. 10, speaks of the current belief in +the divinity of waters, birds, and beasts. + +[566] Sébillot, i. 9, 35, 75, 247, etc. + +[567] Joyce, _SH_ ii. 273; Cormac, 87; Stokes, _TIG_ xxxiii., _RC_ xv. +307. + +[568] Miss Hull, 170, 187, 193; _IT_ i. 214; Leahy, i. 126. + +[569] _IT_ i. 287. + +[570] Henderson, _Irish Texts_, ii. 210. + +[571] _Capit. Karoli Magni_, i. 62; _Leges Luitprand._ ii. 38; Canon 23, +2nd Coun. of Arles, Hefele, _Councils_, iii. 471; D'Achery, v. 215. Some +of these attacks were made against Teutonic superstitions, but similar +superstitions existed among the Celts. + +[572] See Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ ii. 498. + +[573] A more tolerant note is heard, e.g., in an Irish text which says +that the spirits which appeared of old were divine ministrants not +demoniacal, while angels helped the ancients because they followed +natural truth. "Cormac's Sword," _IT_ iii. 220-221. Cf. p. 152, _supra_. + +[574] Cæsar, vi. 18; Pliny xxii. 14. Pliny speaks of culling mistletoe +on the sixth day of the moon, which is to them the beginning of months +and years (_sexta luna, quae principia_, etc.). This seems to make the +sixth, not the first, day of the moon that from which the calculation +was made. But the meaning is that mistletoe was culled on the sixth day +of the moon, and that the moon was that by which months and years were +measured. _Luna_, not _sexta luna_, is in apposition with _quae_. Traces +of the method of counting by nights or by the moon survive locally in +France, and the usage is frequent in Irish and Welsh literature. See my +article "Calendar" (Celtic) in Hastings' _Encyclop. of Religion and +Ethics_, iii. 78 f. + +[575] Delocke, "La Procession dite La Lunade," _RC_ ix. 425. + +[576] Monnier, 174, 222; Fitzgerald, _RC_ iv. 189. + +[577] Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, ii. 154 f. + +[578] Pliny, xvi. 45; Johnson, _Journey_, 183; Ramsay, _Scotland in the +Eighteenth Century_, ii. 449; Sébillot, i. 41 f.; MacCulloch, _Misty +Isle of Skye_, 236. In Brittany it is thought that girls may conceive by +the moon's power (_RC_ iii. 452). + +[579] Strabo, iii. 4. 16. + +[580] Brand, _s.v._ "New Year's Day." + +[581] Chambers, _Popular Rhymes_, 35; Sébillot, i. 46, 57 f. + +[582] Polybius, v. 78; _Vita S. Eligii_, ii. 15. + +[583] Osborne, _Advice to his Son_ (1656), 79; _RC_ xx. 419, 428. + +[584] Aristotle, _Nic. Eth._ iii. 77; _Eud. Eth._ iii. 1. 25; Stobæus, +vii. 40; Ælian, xii. 22; Jullian, 54; D'Arbois, vi. 218. + +[585] Sébillot, i. 119. The custom of throwing something at a "fairy +eddy," i.e. a dust storm, is well known on Celtic ground and elsewhere. + +[586] _Folk-Lore,_ iv. 488; Curtin, _HTI_ 324; Campbell, _The Fians_, +158. Fian warriors attacked the sea when told it was laughing at them. + +[587] _Mélusine_, ii. 200. + +[588] Sébillot, ii. 170. + +[589] Meyer, _Cath. Finntraga_, 40. + +[590] _RC_ xvi. 9; _LB_ 32_b_, 55. + +[591] Meyer, _op. cit._ 55; Skene, i. 282, 288, 543; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 387. + +[592] Meyer, 51; Joyce, _PN_ i. 195, ii. 257; _RC_ xv. 438. + +[593] See p. 55, _supra_; _IT_ i. 838, iii. 207; _RC_ ii. 201, ix. 118. + +[594] Holder, _s.v._ "Vintius." + +[595] Agobard, i. 146. + +[596] See Stokes, _RC_ vi. 267. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +RIVER AND WELL WORSHIP. + + +Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, +votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance of the cult of +waters and of water divinities. Mr. Gomme argues that Celtic +water-worship was derived from the pre-Celtic aborigines,[597] but if +so, the Celts must have had a peculiar aptitude for it, since they were +so enthusiastic in its observance. What probably happened was that the +Celts, already worshippers of the waters, freely adopted local cults of +water wherever they came. Some rivers or river-goddesses in Celtic +regions seem to posses pre-Celtic names.[598] + +Treasures were flung into a sacred lake near Toulouse to cause a +pestilence to cease. Caepion, who afterwards fished up this treasure, +fell soon after in battle--a punishment for cupidity, and _aurum +Tolosanum_ now became an expression for goods dishonestly acquired.[599] +A yearly festival, lasting three days, took place at Lake Gévaudan. +Garments, food, and wax were thrown into the waters, and animals were +sacrificed. On the fourth day, it is said, there never failed to spring +up a tempest of rain, thunder, and lightning--a strange reward for this +worship of the lake.[600] S. Columba routed the spirits of a Scottish +fountain which was worshipped as a god, and the well now became sacred, +perhaps to the saint himself, who washed in it and blessed it so that it +cured diseases.[601] + +On inscriptions a river name is prefixed by some divine epithet--_dea_, +_augusta_, and the worshipper records his gratitude for benefits +received from the divinity or the river itself. Bormanus, Bormo or +Borvo, Danuvius (the Danube), and Luxovius are found on inscriptions as +names of river or fountain gods, but goddesses are more +numerous--Acionna, Aventia, Bormana, Brixia, Carpundia, Clutoida, +Divona, Sirona, Ura--well-nymphs; and Icauna (the Yonne), Matrona, and +Sequana (the Seine)--river-goddesses.[602] No inscription to the goddess +of a lake has yet been found. Some personal names like Dubrogenos (son +of the Dubron), Enigenus (son of the Aenus), and the belief of +Virdumarus that one of his ancestors was the Rhine,[603] point to the +idea that river-divinities might have amours with mortals and beget +progeny called by their names. In Ireland, Conchobar was so named from +the river whence his mother Nessa drew water, perhaps because he was a +child of the river-god.[604] + +The name of the water-divinity was sometimes given to the place of his +or her cult, or to the towns which sprang up on the banks of rivers--the +divinity thus becoming a tutelary god. Many towns (e.g. Divonne or +Dyonne, etc.) have names derived from a common Celtic river name Deuona, +"divine." This name in various forms is found all over the Celtic +area,[605] and there is little doubt that the Celts, in their onward +progress, named river after river by the name of the same divinity, +believing that each new river was a part of his or her kingdom. The name +was probably first an appellative, then a personal name, the divine +river becoming a divinity. Deus Nemausus occurs on votive tablets at +Nimes, the name Nemausus being that of the clear and abundant spring +there whence flowed the river of the same name. A similar name occurs in +other regions--Nemesa, a tributary of the Moselle; Nemh, the source of +the Tara and the former name of the Blackwater; and Nimis, a Spanish +river mentioned by Appian. Another group includes the Matrona (Marne), +the Moder, the Madder, the Maronne and Maronna, and others, probably +derived from a word signifying "mother."[606] The mother-river was that +which watered a whole region, just as in the Hindu sacred books the +waters are mothers, sources of fertility. The Celtic mother-rivers were +probably goddesses, akin to the _Matres_, givers of plenty and +fertility. In Gaul, Sirona, a river-goddess, is represented like the +_Matres_. She was associated with Grannos, perhaps as his mother, and +Professor Rh[^y]s equates the pair with the Welsh Modron and Mabon; +Modron is probably connected with Matrona.[607] In any case the Celts +regarded rivers as bestowers of life, health, and plenty, and offered +them rich gifts and sacrifices.[608] + +Gods like Grannos, Borvo, and others, equated with Apollo, presided over +healing springs, and they are usually associated with goddesses, as +their husbands or sons. But as the goddesses are more numerous, and as +most Celtic river names are feminine, female divinities of rivers and +springs doubtless had the earlier and foremost place, especially as +their cult was connected with fertility. The gods, fewer in number, were +all equated with Apollo, but the goddesses were not merged by the Romans +into the personality of one goddess, since they themselves had their +groups of river-goddesses, Nymphs and Naiads. Before the Roman conquest +the cult of water-divinities, friends of mankind, must have formed a +large part of the popular religion of Gaul, and their names may be +counted by hundreds. Thermal springs had also their genii, and they were +appropriated by the Romans, so that the local gods now shared their +healing powers with Apollo, Æsculapius, and the Nymphs. Thus every +spring, every woodland brook, every river in glen or valley, the roaring +cataract, and the lake were haunted by divine beings, mainly thought of +as beautiful females with whom the _Matres_ were undoubtedly associated. +There they revealed themselves to their worshippers, and when paganism +had passed away, they remained as _fées_ or fairies haunting spring, or +well, or river.[609] Scores of fairy wells still exist, and by them +mediæval knights had many a fabled amour with those beautiful beings +still seen by the "ignorant" but romantic peasant. + +Sanctuaries were erected at these springs by grateful worshippers, and +at some of them festivals were held, or they were the resort of +pilgrims. As sources of fertility they had a place in the ritual of the +great festivals, and sacred wells were visited on Midsummer day, when +also the river-gods claimed their human victims. Some of the goddesses +were represented by statues or busts in Gallo-Roman times, if not +earlier, and other images of them which have been found were of the +nature of _ex votos_, presented by worshippers in gratitude for the +goddess's healing gifts. Money, ingots of gold or silver, and models of +limbs or other parts of the body which had been or were desired to be +healed, were also presented. Gregory of Tours says of the Gauls that +they "represent in wood or bronze the members in which they suffer, and +whose healing they desire, and place them in a temple."[610] Contact of +the model with the divinity brought healing to the actual limbs on the +principle of sympathetic magic. Many such models have been discovered. +Thus in the shrine of Dea Sequana was found a vase with over a hundred; +another contained over eight hundred. Inscriptions were engraved on +plaques which were fastened to the walls of temples, or placed in +springs.[611] Leaden tablets with inscriptions were placed in springs by +those who desired healing or when the waters were low, and on some the +actual waters are hardly discriminated from the divinities. The latter +are asked to heal or flow or swell--words which apply more to the waters +than to them, while the tablets, with their frank animism, also show +that, in some cases, there were many elemental spirits of a well, only +some of whom were rising to the rank of a goddess. They are called +collectively _Niskas_--the Nixies of later tradition, but some have +personal names--Lerano, Dibona, Dea--showing that they were tending to +become separate divine personalities. The Peisgi are also appealed to, +perhaps the later Piskies, unless the word is a corrupt form of a Celtic +_peiskos_, or the Latin _piscus_, "fish."[612] This is unlikely, as fish +could not exist in a warm sulphurous spring, though the Celts believed +in the sacred fish of wells or streams. The fairies now associated with +wells or with a water-world beneath them, are usually nameless, and only +in a few cases have a definite name. They, like the older spirits of the +wells, have generally a beneficent character.[613] Thus in the fountains +of Logres dwelt damsels who fed the wayfarer with meat and bread, until +grievous wrong was done them, when they disappeared and the land became +waste.[614] Occasionally, however, they have a more malevolent +character.[615] + +The spirit of the waters was often embodied in an animal, usually a +fish. Even now in Brittany the fairy dweller in a spring has the form of +an eel, while in the seventeenth century Highland wells contained fish +so sacred that no one dared to catch them.[616] In Wales S. Cybi's well +contained a huge eel in whose virtues the villagers believed, and terror +prevailed when any one dared to take it from the water. Two sacred fish +still exist in a holy well at Nant Peris, and are replaced by others +when they die, the dead fish being buried.[617] This latter act, +solemnly performed, is a true sign of the divine or sacred character of +the animal. Many wells with sacred fish exist in Ireland, and the fish +have usually some supernatural quality--they never alter in size, they +become invisible, or they take the form of beautiful women.[618] Any one +destroying such fish was regarded as a sacrilegious person, and +sometimes a hostile tribe killed and ate the sacred fish of a district +invaded by them, just as Egyptians of one nome insulted those of another +by killing their sacred animals.[619] In old Irish beliefs the salmon +was the fish of knowledge. Thus whoever ate the salmon of Connla's well +was dowered with the wisdom which had come to them through eating nuts +from the hazels of knowledge around the well. In this case the sacred +fish was eaten, but probably by certain persons only--those who had the +right to do so. Sinend, who went to seek inspiration from the well, +probably by eating one of its salmon, was overwhelmed by its waters. The +legend of the salmon is perhaps based on old ritual practices of the +occasional eating of a divine animal. In other cases, legends of a +miraculous supply of fish from sacred wells are perhaps later Christian +traditions of former pagan beliefs or customs concerning magical methods +of increasing a sacred or totem animal species, like those used in +Central Australia and New Guinea.[620] The frog is sometimes the sacred +animal, and this recalls the _Märchen_ of the Frog Bridegroom living in +a well, who insisted on marrying the girl who drew its waters. Though +this tale is not peculiar to the Celts, it is not improbable that the +divine animal guardian of a well may have become the hero of a +folk-tale, especially as such wells were sometimes tabu to women.[621] A +fly was the guardian spirit of S. Michael's well in Banffshire. Auguries +regarding health were drawn from its movements, and it was believed that +the fly, when it grew old, transmigrated into another.[622] + +Such beliefs were not peculiarly Celtic. They are found in all European +folk-lore, and they are still alive among savages--the animal being +itself divine or the personification of a divinity. A huge sacred eel +was worshipped by the Fijians; in North America and elsewhere there were +serpent guardians of the waters; and the Semites worshipped the fish of +sacred wells as incarnations or symbols of a god. + +Later Celtic folk-belief associated monstrous and malevolent beings with +rivers and lakes. These may be the older divinities to whom a demoniac +form has been given, but even in pagan times such monstrous beings may +have been believed in, or they may be survivals of the more primitive +monstrous guardians of the waters. The last were dragons or serpents, +conventional forms of the reptiles which once dwelt in watery places, +attacking all who came near. This old idea certainly survived in Irish +and Highland belief, for the Fians conquered huge dragons or serpents in +lochs, or saints chained them to the bottom of the waters. Hence the +common place-name of Loch na piast, "Loch of the Monster." In other +tales they emerge and devour the impious or feast on the dead.[623] The +_Dracs_ of French superstition--river monsters who assume human form and +drag down victims to the depths, where they devour them--resemble these. + +The _Each Uisge_, or "Water-horse," a horse with staring eyes, webbed +feet, and a slimy coat, is still dreaded. He assumes different forms and +lures the unwary to destruction, or he makes love in human shape to +women, some of whom discover his true nature by seeing a piece of +water-weed in his hair, and only escape with difficulty. Such a +water-horse was forced to drag the chariot of S. Fechin of Fore, and +under his influence became "gentler than any other horse."[624] Many +Highland lochs are still haunted by this dreaded being, and he is also +known in Ireland and France, where, however, he has more of a tricky and +less of a demoniac nature.[625] His horse form is perhaps connected with +the similar form ascribed to Celtic water-divinities. Manannan's horses +were the waves, and he was invariably associated with a horse. Epona, +the horse-goddess, was perhaps originally goddess of a spring, and, like +the _Matres_, she is sometimes connected with the waters.[626] Horses +were also sacrificed to river-divinities.[627] But the beneficent +water-divinities in their horse form have undergone a curious +distortion, perhaps as the result of later Christian influences. The +name of one branch of the Fomorians, the Goborchinn, means the +"Horse-headed," and one of their kings was Eochaid Echchenn, or +"Horse-head."[628] Whether these have any connection with the +water-horse is uncertain. + +The foaming waters may have suggested another animal personification, +since the name of the Boyne in Ptolemy, [Greek: bououinda], is derived +from a primitive _bóu-s_, "ox," and _vindo-s_, "white," in Irish _bó +find_, "white cow."[629] But it is not certain that this or the Celtic +cult of the bull was connected with the belief in the _Tarbh Uisge_, or +"Water-bull," which had no ears and could assume other shapes. It dwells +in lochs and is generally friendly to man, occasionally emerging to mate +with ordinary cows. In the Isle of Man the _Tarroo Ushtey_, however, +begets monsters.[630] These Celtic water-monsters have a curious +resemblance to the Australian _Bunyip_. + +The _Uruisg_, often confused with the brownie, haunts lonely places and +waterfalls, and, according to his mood, helps or harms the wayfarer. His +appearance is that of a man with shaggy hair and beard.[631] In Wales +the _afanc_ is a water-monster, though the word first meant "dwarf," +then "water-dwarf," of whom many kinds existed. They correspond to the +Irish water-dwarfs, the _Luchorpáin_, descended with the Fomorians and +Goborchinn from Ham.[632] + +In other cases the old water beings have a more pleasing form, like the +syrens and other fairy beings who haunt French rivers, or the mermaids +of Irish estuaries.[633] In Celtic France and Britain lake fairies are +connected with a water-world like that of Elysium tales, the region of +earlier divinities.[634] They unite with mortals, who, as in the +Swan-maiden tales, lose their fairy brides through breaking a tabu. In +many Welsh tales the bride is obtained by throwing bread and cheese on +the waters, when she appears with an old man who has all the strength of +youth. He presents his daughter and a number of fairy animals to the +mortal. When she disappears into the waters after the breaking of the +tabu, the lake is sometimes drained in order to recover her; the father +then appears and threatens to submerge the whole district. Father and +daughters are earlier lake divinities, and in the bread and cheese we +may see a relic of the offerings to these.[635] + +Human sacrifice to water-divinities is suggested by the belief that +water-monsters devour human beings, and by the tradition that a river +claims its toll of victims every year. In popular rhymes the annual +character of the sacrifice is hinted at, and Welsh legend tells of a +voice heard once a year from rivers or lakes, crying, "The hour is come, +but the man is not."[636] Here there is the trace of an abandoned custom +of sacrifice and of the traditional idea of the anger of the divinity at +being neglected. Such spirits or gods, like the water-monsters, would be +ever on the watch to capture those who trespassed on their domain. In +some cases the victim is supposed to be claimed on Midsummer eve, the +time of the sacrifice in the pagan period.[637] The spirits of wells had +also a harmful aspect to those, at least, who showed irreverence in +approaching them. This is seen in legends about the danger of looking +rashly into a well or neglecting to cover it, or in the belief that one +must not look back after visiting the well. Spirits of wells were also +besought to do harm to enemies. + +Legends telling of the danger of removing or altering a well, or of the +well moving elsewhere because a woman washed her hands in it, point to +old tabus concerning wells. Boand, wife of Nechtain, went to the fairy +well which he and his cup-bearers alone might visit, and when she showed +her contempt for it, the waters rose and destroyed her. They now flow as +the river Boyne. Sinend met with a similar fate for intruding on +Connla's well, in this case the pursuing waters became the Shannon.[638] +These are variants of a story which might be used to explain the origin +of any river, but the legends suggest that certain wells were tabu to +women because certain branches of knowledge, taught by the well, must be +reserved for men.[639] The legends said in effect, "See what came of +women obtruding beyond their proper sphere." Savage "mysteries" are +usually tabu to women, who also exclude men from their sacred rites. On +the other hand, as all tribal lore was once in the hands of the wise +woman, such tabus and legends may have arisen when men began to claim +such lore. In other legends women are connected with wells, as the +guardians who must keep them locked up save when water was drawn. When +the woman neglected to replace the cover, the waters burst forth, +overwhelming her, and formed a loch.[640] The woman is the priestess of +the well who, neglecting part of its ritual, is punished. Even in recent +times we find sacred wells in charge of a woman who instructs the +visitors in the due ritual to be performed.[641] If such legends and +survivals thus point to former Celtic priestesses of wells, these are +paralleled by the Norse Horgabrudar, guardians of wells, now elves +living in the waters.[642] That such legends are based on the ritual of +well-worship is suggested by Boand's walking three times _widdershins_ +round the well, instead of the customary _deiseil_. The due ritual must +be observed, and the stories are a warning against its neglect. + +In spite of twenty centuries of Christianity and the anathemas of saints +and councils, the old pagan practices at healing wells have survived--a +striking instance of human conservatism. S. Patrick found the pagans of +his day worshipping a well called _Slán_, "health-giving," and offering +sacrifices to it,[643] and the Irish peasant to-day has no doubt that +there is something divine about his holy wells. The Celts brought the +belief in the divinity of springs and wells with them, but would +naturally adopt local cults wherever they found them. Afterwards the +Church placed the old pagan wells under the protection of saints, but +part of the ritual often remained unchanged. Hence many wells have been +venerated for ages by different races and through changes in religion +and polity. Thus at the thermal springs of Vicarello offerings have been +found which show that their cult has continued from the Stone Age, +through the Bronze Age, to the days of Roman civilisation, and so into +modern times; nor is this a solitary instance.[644] But it serves to +show that all races, high and low, preserve the great outlines of +primitive nature religion unchanged. In all probability the ritual of +the healing wells has also remained in great part unaltered, and +wherever it is found it follows the same general type. The patient +perambulated the well three times _deiseil_ or sun-wise, taking care not +to utter a word. Then he knelt at the well and prayed to the divinity +for his healing. In modern times the saint, but occasionally the well +itself, is prayed to.[645] Then he drank of the waters, bathed in them, +or laved his limbs or sores, probably attended by the priestess of the +well. Having paid her dues, he made an offering to the divinity of the +well, and affixed the bandage or part of his clothing to the well or a +tree near by, that through it he might be in continuous _rapport_ with +the healing influences. Ritual formulæ probably accompanied these acts, +but otherwise no word was spoken, and the patient must not look back on +leaving the well. Special times, Beltane, Midsummer, or August 1st, were +favourable for such visits,[646] and where a patient was too ill to +present himself at the well, another might perform the ritual for +him.[647] + +The rag or clothing hung on the tree seems to connect the spirit of the +tree with that of the well, and tree and well are often found together. +But sometimes it is thrown into the well, just as the Gaulish villagers +of S. Gregory's day threw offerings of cloth and wool into a sacred +lake.[648] The rag is even now regarded in the light of an offering, and +such offerings, varying from valuable articles of clothing to mere rags, +are still hung on sacred trees by the folk. It thus probably has always +had a sacrificial aspect in the ritual of the well, but as magic and +religion constantly blend, it had also its magical aspect. The rag, once +in contact with the patient, transferred his disease to the tree, or, +being still subtly connected with him, through it the healing properties +passed over to him. + +The offering thrown into the well--a pin, coin, etc., may also have this +double aspect. The sore is often pricked or rubbed with the pin as if to +transfer the disease to the well, and if picked up by another person, +the disease may pass to him. This is also true of the coin.[649] But +other examples show the sacrificial nature of the pin or other trifle, +which is probably symbolic or a survival of a more costly offering. In +some cases it is thought that those who do not leave it at the well from +which they have drunk will die of thirst, and where a coin is offered it +is often supposed to disappear, being taken by the spirit of the +well.[650] The coin has clearly the nature of an offering, and sometimes +it must be of gold or silver, while the antiquity of the custom on +Celtic ground is seen by the classical descriptions of the coins +glittering in the pool of Clitumnus and of the "gold of Toulouse" hid in +sacred tanks.[651] It is also an old and widespread belief that all +water belongs to some divine or monstrous guardian, who will not part +with any of it without a _quid pro quo_. In many cases the two rites of +rag and pin are not both used, and this may show that originally they +had the same purpose--magical or sacrificial, or perhaps both. Other +sacrifices were also made--an animal, food, or an _ex voto_, the last +occurring even in late survivals as at S. Thenew's Well, Glasgow, where +even in the eighteenth century tin cut to represent the diseased member +was placed on the tree, or at S. Winifred's Well in Wales, where +crutches were left. + +Certain waters had the power of ejecting the demon of madness. Besides +drinking, the patient was thrown into the waters, the shock being +intended to drive the demon away, as elsewhere demons are exorcised by +flagellation or beating. The divinity of the waters aided the process, +and an offering was usually made to him. In other cases the sacred +waters were supposed to ward off disease from the district or from those +who drank of them. Or, again, they had the power of conferring +fertility. Women made pilgrimages to wells, drank or bathed in the +waters, implored the spirit or saint to grant them offspring, and made a +due offering.[652] Spirit or saint, by a transfer of his power, produced +fruitfulness, but the idea was in harmony with the recognised power of +water to purify, strengthen, and heal. Women, for a similar reason, +drank or washed in the waters or wore some articles dipped in them, in +order to have an easy delivery or abundance of milk.[653] + +The waters also gave oracles, their method of flowing, the amount of +water in the well, the appearance or non-appearance of bubbles at the +surface when an offering was thrown in, the sinking or floating of +various articles, all indicating whether a cure was likely to occur, +whether fortune or misfortune awaited the inquirer, or, in the case of +girls, whether their lovers would be faithful. The movements of the +animal guardian of the well were also ominous to the visitor.[654] +Rivers or river divinities were also appealed to. In cases of suspected +fidelity the Celts dwelling by the Rhine placed the newly-born child in +a shield on the waters. If it floated the mother was innocent; if it +sank it was allowed to drown, and she was put to death.[655] Girls whose +purity was suspected were similarly tested, and S. Gregory of Tours +tells how a woman accused of adultery was proved by being thrown into +the Saône.[656] The mediæval witch ordeal by water is connected with +this custom, which is, however, widespread.[657] + +The malevolent aspect of the spirit of the well is seen in the "cursing +wells" of which it was thought that when some article inscribed with an +enemy's name was thrown into them with the accompaniment of a curse, the +spirit of the well would cause his death. In some cases the curse was +inscribed on a leaden tablet thrown into the waters, just as, in other +cases, a prayer for the offerer's benefit was engraved on it. Or, again, +objects over which a charm had been said were placed in a well that the +victim who drew water might be injured. An excellent instance of a +cursing-well is that of Fynnon Elian in Denbigh, which must once have +had a guardian priestess, for in 1815 an old woman who had charge of it +presided at the ceremony. She wrote the name of the victim in a book, +receiving a gift at the same time. A pin was dropped into the well in +the name of the victim, and through it and through knowledge of his +name, the spirit of the well acted upon him to his hurt.[658] Obviously +rites like these, in which magic and religion mingle, are not purely +Celtic, but it is of interest to note their existence in Celtic lands +and among Celtic folk. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[597] _Ethnol. in Folklore_, 104 f. + +[598] D'Arbois, _PH_ ii. 132, 169; Dottin, 240. + +[599] Justin, xxxii. 3; Strabo, iv. 1. 13. + +[600] S. Gregory, _In Glor. Conf._ ch. 2. Perhaps the feast and +offerings were intended to cause rain in time of drought. See p. 321, +_infra_. + +[601] Adamman, _Vita Colum._ ii. 10. + +[602] See Holder, _s.v._ + +[603] D'Arbois, _RC_ x. 168, xiv. 377; _CIL_ xii. 33; Propertius, iv. +10. 41. + +[604] See p. 349, _infra_. + +[605] Cf. Ptolemy's [Greek: Dêouana] and [Greek: Dêouna] (ii. 3. 19, 11. +29); the Scots and English Dee; the Divy in Wales; Dêve, Dive, and +Divette in France; Devon in England; Deva in Spain (Ptolemy's [Greek: +Dêoua], ii. 6. 8). The Shannon is surnamed even in the seventh century +"the goddess" (_Trip. Life_, 313). + +[606] Holder, _s.v._; D'Arbois, _PH_ ii. 119, thinks _Matrona_ is +Ligurian. But it seems to have strong Celtic affinities. + +[607] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 27-29, _RC_ iv. 137. + +[608] On the whole subject see Pictet, "Quelques noms celtiques de +rivières," _RC_ ii. 1 f. Orosius, v. 15. 6, describes the sacrifices of +gold, silver, and horses, made to the Rhône. + +[609] Maury, 18. By extension of this belief any divinity might appear +by the haunted spring. S. Patrick and his synod of bishops at an Irish +well were supposed to be _síd_ or gods (p. 64, _supra_.) By a fairy well +Jeanne d'Arc had her first vision. + +[610] Greg. Tours, _Vita Patr._ c. 6. + +[611] See Reinach, _Catal. Sommaire_, 23, 115; Baudot, _Rapport sur les +fouilles faits aux sources de la Seine_, ii. 120; _RC_ ii. 26. + +[612] For these tablets see Nicolson, _Keltic Studies_, 131 f.; Jullian, +_RC_ 1898. + +[613] Sébillot, ii. 195. + +[614] Prologue to Chrestien's _Conte du Graal_. + +[615] Sébillot, ii. 202 f. + +[616] Ibid. 196-197; Martin, 140-141; Dalyell, 411. + +[617] Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 366; _Folk-Lore_, viii. 281. If the fish +appeared when an invalid drank of the well, this was a good omen. For +the custom of burying sacred animals, see Herod, ii. 74; Ælian, xiii. +26. + +[618] Gomme, _Ethnol. in Folklore_, 92. + +[619] _Trip. Life_, 113; Tigernach, _Annals_, A.D. 1061. + +[620] Mackinley, 184. + +[621] Burne, _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, 416; Campbell, _WHT_ ii. 145. + +[622] _Old Stat. Account_, xii. 465. + +[623] S. Patrick, when he cleared Ireland of serpents, dealt in this way +with the worst specimens. S. Columba quelled a monster which terrified +the dwellers by the Ness. Joyce, _PN_ i. 197; Adamnan, _Vita Columb._ +ii. 28; Kennedy, 12, 82, 246; _RC_ iv. 172, 186. + +[624] _RC_ xii. 347. + +[625] For the water-horse, see Campbell, _WHT_ iv. 307; Macdongall, 294; +Campbell, _Superstitions_, 203; and for the Manx _Glashtyn_, a kind of +water-horse, see Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 285. For French cognates, see +Bérenger-Féraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_, i. 349 f. + +[626] Reinach, _CMR_ i. 63. + +[627] Orosius, v. 15. 6. + +[628] _LU_ 2_a_. Of Eochaid is told a variant of the Midas story--the +discovery of his horse's ears. This is also told of Labraid Lore (_RC_ +ii. 98; Kennedy, 256) and of King Marc'h in Brittany and in Wales (Le +Braz, ii. 96; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ 233). Other variants are found in +non-Celtic regions, so the story has no mythological significance on +Celtic ground. + +[629] Ptol. ii. 2. 7. + +[630] Campbell, _WHT_ iv. 300 f.; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 284; Waldron, _Isle +of Man_, 147. + +[631] Macdougall, 296; Campbell, _Superstitions_, 195. For the Uruisg as +Brownie, see _WHT_ ii. 9; Graham, _Scenery of Perthshire_, 19. + +[632] Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ ii. 431, 469, _HL_, 592; _Book of Taliesin_, vii. +135. + +[633] Sébillot, ii. 340; _LL_ 165; _IT_ i. 699. + +[634] Sébillot, ii. 409. + +[635] See Pughe, _The Physicians of Myddfai_, 1861 (these were +descendants of a water-fairy); Rh[^y]s, _Y Cymmrodor_, iv. 164; +Hartland, _Arch. Rev._ i. 202. Such water-gods with lovely daughters are +known in most mythologies--the Greek Nereus and the Nereids, the +Slavonic Water-king, and the Japanese god Ocean-Possessor (Ralston, +_Songs of the Russian People_, 148; Chamberlain, _Ko-ji-ki_, 120). +Manannan had nine daughters (Wood-Martin, i. 135). + +[636] Sébillot, ii. 338, 344; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 243; Henderson, +_Folk-Lore of the N. Counties_, 262. Cf. the rhymes, "L'Arguenon veut +chaque année son poisson," the "fish" being a human victim, and + + "Blood-thirsty Dee + Each year needs three, + But bonny Don, + She needs none." + +[637] Sébillot, ii. 339. + +[638] _Rendes Dindsenchas_, _RC_ xv. 315, 457. Other instances of +punishment following misuse of a well are given in Sébillot, ii. 192; +Rees, 520, 523. An Irish lake no longer healed after a hunter swam his +mangy hounds through it (Joyce, _PN_ ii. 90). A similar legend occurs +with the Votiaks, one of whose sacred lakes was removed to its present +position because a woman washed dirty clothes in it (_L'Anthropologie_, +xv. 107). + +[639] Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 392. + +[640] Girald. Cambr. _Itin. Hib._ ii. 9; Joyce, _OCR_ 97; Kennedy, 281; +O'Grady, i. 233; Skene, ii. 59; Campbell, _WHT_ ii. 147. The waters +often submerge a town, now seen below the waves--the town of Is in +Armorica (Le Braz, i. p. xxxix), or the towers under Lough Neagh. In +some Welsh instances a man is the culprit (Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 379). In +the case of Lough Neagh the keeper of the well was Liban, who lived on +in the waters as a mermaid. Later she was caught and received the +baptismal name of Muirghenn, "sea-birth." Here the myth of a +water-goddess, said to have been baptized, is attached to the legend of +the careless guardian of a spring, with whom she is identified (O'Grady, +ii. 184, 265). + +[641] Roberts, _Cambrian Pop. Antiq._ 246; Hunt, _Popular Romances_, +291; _New Stat. Account_, x. 313. + +[642] Thorpe, _Northern Myth._ ii. 78. + +[643] Joyce, _PN_ ii. 84. _Slán_ occurs in many names of wells. +Well-worship is denounced in the canons of the Fourth Council of Arles. + +[644] Cartailhac, _L'Age de Pierre_, 74; Bulliot et Thiollier, _Mission +de S. Martin_, 60. + +[645] Sébillot, ii. 284. + +[646] Dalyell, 79-80; Sébillot, ii. 282, 374; see p. 266, _infra_. + +[647] I have compiled this account of the ritual from notices of the +modern usages in various works. See, e.g., Moore, _Folk-Lore_, v. 212; +Mackinley, _passim_; Hope, _Holy Wells_; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_; Sébillot, 175 +f.; Dixon, _Gairloch_, 150 f. + +[648] Brand, ii. 68; Greg. _In Glor. Conf._ c. 2. + +[649] Sébillot, ii. 293, 296; _Folk-Lore_, iv. 55. + +[650] Mackinley, 194; Sébillot, ii. 296. + +[651] _Folk-Lore_, iii. 67; _Athenæum_, 1893, 415; Pliny, _Ep._ viii. 8; +Strabo, iv. 287; Diod. Sic. v. 9. + +[652] Walker, _Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot._ vol. v.; Sébillot, ii. 232. In +some early Irish instances a worm swallowed with the waters by a woman +causes pregnancy. See p. 352, _infra_. + +[653] Sébillot, ii. 235-236. + +[654] See Le Braz, i. 61; _Folk-Lore_, v. 214; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 364; +Dalyell, 506-507; Scott, _Minstrelsy_, Introd. xliii; Martin, 7; +Sébillot, ii. 242 f.; _RC_ ii. 486. + +[655] Jullian, _Ep. to Maximin_, 16. The practice may have been +connected with that noted by Aristotle, of plunging the newly-born into +a river, to strengthen it, as he says (_Pol._ vii. 15. 2), but more +probably as a baptismal or purificatory rite. See p. 309, _infra_. + +[656] Lefevre, _Les Gaulois_, 109; Michelet, _Origines du droit +français_, 268. + +[657] See examples of its use in Post, _Grundriss der Ethnol. +Jurisprudenz_, ii. 459 f. + +[658] Roberts, _Cambrian Popular Antiquities_, 246. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +TREE AND PLANT WORSHIP. + + +The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local +cults--Ligurian, Iberian, and others. The _Fagus Deus_ (the divine +beech), the _Sex arbor_ or _Sex arbores_ of Pyrenean inscriptions, and +an anonymous god represented by a conifer on an altar at Toulouse, +probably point to local Ligurian tree cults continued by the Celts into +Roman times.[659] Forests were also personified or ruled by a single +goddess, like _Dea Arduinna_ of the Ardennes and _Dea Abnoba_ of the +Black Forest.[660] But more primitive ideas prevailed, like that which +assigned a whole class of tree-divinities to a forest, e.g. the _Fatæ +Dervones_, spirits of the oak-woods of Northern Italy.[661] Groups of +trees like _Sex arbores_ were venerated, perhaps for their height, +isolation, or some other peculiarity. + +The Celts made their sacred places in dark groves, the trees being hung +with offerings or with the heads of victims. Human sacrifices were hung +or impaled on trees, e.g. by the warriors of Boudicca.[662] These, like +the offerings still placed by the folk on sacred trees, were attached to +them because the trees were the abode of spirits or divinities who in +many cases had power over vegetation. + +Pliny said of the Celts: "They esteem nothing more sacred than the +mistletoe and the tree on which it grows. But apart from this they +choose oak-woods for their sacred groves, and perform no sacred rite +without using oak branches."[663] Maximus of Tyre also speaks of the +Celtic (? German) image of Zeus as a lofty oak, and an old Irish +glossary gives _daur_, "oak," as an early Irish name for "god," and +glosses it by _dia_, "god."[664] The sacred need-fire may have been +obtained by friction from oak-wood, and it is because of the old +sacredness of the oak that a piece of its wood is still used as a +talisman in Brittany.[665] Other Aryan folk besides the Celts regarded +the oak as the symbol of a high god, of the sun or the sky,[666] but +probably this was not its earliest significance. Oak forests were once +more extensive over Europe than they are now, and the old tradition that +men once lived on acorns has been shown to be well-founded by the +witness of archæological finds, e.g. in Northern Italy.[667] A people +living in an oak region and subsisting in part on acorns might easily +take the oak as a representative of the spirit of vegetation or growth. +It was long-lived, its foliage was a protection, it supplied food, its +wood was used as fuel, and it was thus clearly the friend of man. For +these reasons, and because it was the most abiding and living thing men +knew, it became the embodiment of the spirits of life and growth. +Folk-lore survivals show that the spirit of vegetation in the shape of +his representative was annually slain while yet in full vigour, that his +life might benefit all things and be passed on undiminished to his +successor.[668] Hence the oak or a human being representing the spirit +of vegetation, or both together, were burned in the Midsummer fires. +How, then, did the oak come to symbolise a god equated with Zeus. Though +the equation may be worthless, it is possible that the connection lay in +the fact that Zeus and Juppiter had agricultural functions, or that, +when the equation was made, the earlier spirit of vegetation had become +a divinity with functions resembling those of Zeus. The fires were +kindled to recruit the sun's life; they were fed with oak-wood, and in +them an oak or a human victim representing the spirit embodied in the +oak was burned. Hence it may have been thought that the sun was +strengthened by the fire residing in the sacred oak; it was thus "the +original storehouse or reservoir of the fire which was from time to time +drawn out to feed the sun."[669] The oak thus became the symbol of a +bright god also connected with growth. But, to judge by folk survivals, +the older conception still remained potent, and tree or human victim +affected for good all vegetable growth as well as man's life, while at +the same time the fire strengthened the sun. + +Dr. Evans argues that "the original holy object within the central +triliths of Stonehenge was a sacred tree," an oak, image of the Celtic +Zeus. The tree and the stones, once associated with ancestor worship, +had become symbols of "a more celestial Spirit or Spirits than those of +departed human beings."[670] But Stonehenge has now been proved to have +been in existence before the arrival of the Celts, hence such a cult +must have been pre-Celtic, though it may quite well have been adopted by +the Celts. Whether this hypothetical cult was practised by a tribe, a +group of tribes, or by the whole people, must remain obscure, and, +indeed, it may well be questioned whether Stonehenge was ever more than +the scene of some ancestral rites. + +Other trees--the yew, the cypress, the alder, and the ash, were +venerated, to judge by what Lucan relates of the sacred grove at +Marseilles. The Irish Druids attributed special virtues to the hazel, +rowan, and yew, the wood of which was used in magical ceremonies +described in Irish texts.[671] Fires of rowan were lit by the Druids of +rival armies, and incantations said over them in order to discomfit the +opposing host,[672] and the wood of all these trees is still believed to +be efficacious against fairies and witches. + +The Irish _bile_ was a sacred tree, of great age, growing over a holy +well or fort. Five of them are described in the _Dindsenchas_, and one +was an oak, which not only yielded acorns, but nuts and apples.[673] The +mythic trees of Elysium had the same varied fruitage, and the reason in +both cases is perhaps the fact that when the cultivated apple took the +place of acorns and nuts as a food staple, words signifying "nut" or +"acorn" were transferred to the apple. A myth of trees on which all +these fruits grew might then easily arise. Another Irish _bile_ was a +yew described in a poem as "a firm strong god," while such phrases in +this poem as "word-pure man," "judgment of origin," "spell of +knowledge," may have some reference to the custom of writing divinations +in ogham on rods of yew. The other _bile_ were ash-trees, and from one +of them the _Fir Bile_, "men of the tree," were named--perhaps a +totem-clan.[674] The lives of kings and chiefs appear to have been +connected with these trees, probably as representatives of the spirit of +vegetation embodied in the tree, and under their shadow they were +inaugurated. But as a substitute for the king was slain, so doubtless +these pre-eminent sacred trees were too sacred, too much charged with +supernatural force, to be cut down and burned, and the yearly ritual +would be performed with another tree. But in time of feud one tribe +gloried in destroying the _bile_ of another; and even in the tenth +century, when the _bile maighe Adair_ was destroyed by Maelocohlen the +act was regarded with horror. "But, O reader, this deed did not pass +unpunished."[675] Of another _bile_, that of Borrisokane, it was said +that any house in which a fragment of it was burned would itself be +destroyed by fire.[676] + +Tribal and personal names point to belief in descent from tree gods or +spirits and perhaps to totemism. The Eburones were the yew-tree tribe +(_eburos_); the Bituriges perhaps had the mistletoe for their symbol, +and their surname Vivisci implies that they were called "Mistletoe +men."[677] If _bile_ (tree) is connected with the name Bile, that of the +ancestor of the Milesians, this may point to some myth of descent from a +sacred tree, as in the case of the _Fir Bile_, or "men of the +tree."[678] Other names like Guidgen (_Viduo-genos_, "son of the tree"), +Dergen (_Dervo-genos_, "son of the oak"), Guerngen (_Verno-genos_, "son +of the alder"), imply filiation to a tree. Though these names became +conventional, they express what had once been a living belief. Names +borrowed directly from trees are also found---Eburos or Ebur, "yew," +Derua or Deruacus, "oak," etc. + +The veneration of trees growing beside burial mounds or megalithic +monuments was probably a pre-Celtic cult continued by the Celts. The +tree embodied the ghost of the person buried under it, but such a ghost +could then hardly be differentiated from a tree spirit or divinity. Even +now in Celtic districts extreme veneration exists for trees growing in +cemeteries and in other places. It is dangerous to cut them down or to +pluck a leaf or branch from them, while in Breton churchyards the yew is +thought to spread a root to the mouth of each corpse.[679] The story of +the grave of Cyperissa, daughter of a Celtic king in the Danube region, +from which first sprang the "mournful cypress,"[680] is connected with +universal legends of trees growing from the graves of lovers until their +branches intertwine. These embody the belief that the spirit of the dead +is in the tree, which was thus in all likelihood the object of a cult. +Instances of these legends occur in Celtic story. Yew-stakes driven +through the bodies of Naisi and Deirdre to keep them apart, became +yew-trees the tops of which embraced over Armagh Cathedral. A yew sprang +from the grave of Bailé Mac Buain, and an apple-tree from that of his +lover Aillinn, and the top of each had the form of their heads.[681] The +identification of tree and ghost is here complete. + +The elder, rowan, and thorn are still planted round houses to keep off +witches, or sprigs of rowan are placed over doorways--a survival from +the time when they were believed to be tenanted by a beneficent spirit +hostile to evil influences. In Ireland and the Isle of Man the thorn is +thought to be the resort of fairies, and they, like the woodland fairies +or "wood men" are probably representatives of the older tree spirits and +gods of groves and forests.[682] + +Tree-worship was rooted in the oldest nature worship, and the Church had +the utmost difficulty in suppressing it. Councils fulminated against the +cult of trees, against offerings to them or the placing of lights before +them and before wells or stones, and against the belief that certain +trees were too sacred to be cut down or burned. Heavy fines were levied +against those who practised these rites, yet still they continued.[683] +Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, tried to stop the worship of a large +pear-tree standing in the centre of the town and on which the +semi-Christian inhabitants hung animals' heads with much ribaldry. At +last S. Germanus destroyed it, but at the risk of his life. S. Martin of +Tours was allowed to destroy a temple, but the people would not permit +him to attack a much venerated pine-tree which stood beside it--an +excellent example of the way in which the more official paganism fell +before Christianity, while the older religion of the soil, from which it +sprang, could not be entirely eradicated.[684] The Church often effected +a compromise. Images of the gods affixed to trees were replaced by those +of the Virgin, but with curious results. Legends arose telling how the +faithful had been led to such trees and there discovered the image of +the Madonna miraculously placed among the branches.[685] These are +analogous to the legends of the discovery of images of the Virgin in the +earth, such images being really those of the _Matres_. + +Representations of sacred trees are occasionally met with on coins, +altars, and _ex votos_.[686] If the interpretation be correct which sees +a representation of part of the Cúchulainn legend on the Paris and +Trèves altars, the trees figured there would not necessarily be sacred. +But otherwise they may depict sacred trees. + +We now turn to Pliny's account of the mistletoe rite. The Druids held +nothing more sacred than this plant and the tree on which it grew, +probably an oak. Of it groves were formed, while branches of the oak +were used in all religious rites. Everything growing on the oak had been +sent from heaven, and the presence of the mistletoe showed that God had +selected the tree for especial favour. Rare as it was, when found the +mistletoe was the object of a careful ritual. On the sixth day of the +moon it was culled. Preparations for a sacrifice and feast were made +beneath the tree, and two white bulls whose horns had never been bound +were brought there. A Druid, clad in white, ascended the tree and cut +the mistletoe with a golden sickle. As it fell it was caught in a white +cloth; the bulls were then sacrificed, and prayer was made that God +would make His gift prosperous to those on whom He had bestowed it. The +mistletoe was called "the universal healer," and a potion made from it +caused barren animals to be fruitful. It was also a remedy against all +poisons.[687] We can hardly believe that such an elaborate ritual merely +led up to the medico-magical use of the mistletoe. Possibly, of course, +the rite was an attenuated survival of something which had once been +more important, but it is more likely that Pliny gives only a few +picturesque details and passes by the _rationale_ of the ritual. He does +not tell us who the "God" of whom he speaks was, perhaps the sun-god or +the god of vegetation. As to the "gift," it was probably in his mind the +mistletoe, but it may quite well have meant the gift of growth in field +and fold. The tree was perhaps cut down and burned; the oxen may have +been incarnations of a god of vegetation, as the tree also may have +been. We need not here repeat the meaning which has been given to the +ritual,[688] but it may be added that if this meaning is correct, the +rite probably took place at the time of the Midsummer festival, a +festival of growth and fertility. Mistletoe is still gathered on +Midsummer eve and used as an antidote to poisons or for the cure of +wounds. Its Druidic name is still preserved in Celtic speech in words +signifying "all-healer," while it is also called _sùgh an daraich_, "sap +of the oak," and _Druidh lus_, "Druid's weed."[689] + +Pliny describes other Celtic herbs of grace. _Selago_ was culled without +use of iron after a sacrifice of bread and wine--probably to the spirit +of the plant. The person gathering it wore a white robe, and went with +unshod feet after washing them. According to the Druids, _Selago_ +preserved one from accident, and its smoke when burned healed maladies +of the eye.[690] _Samolus_ was placed in drinking troughs as a remedy +against disease in cattle. It was culled by a person fasting, with the +left hand; it must be wholly uprooted, and the gatherer must not look +behind him.[691] _Vervain_ was gathered at sunrise after a sacrifice to +the earth as an expiation--perhaps because its surface was about to be +disturbed. When it was rubbed on the body all wishes were gratified; it +dispelled fevers and other maladies; it was an antidote against +serpents; and it conciliated hearts. A branch of the dried herb used to +asperge a banquet-hall made the guests more convivial[692] + +The ritual used in gathering these plants--silence, various tabus, +ritual purity, sacrifice--is found wherever plants are culled whose +virtue lies in this that they are possessed by a spirit. Other plants +are still used as charms by modern Celtic peasants, and, in some cases, +the ritual of gathering them resembles that described by Pliny.[693] In +Irish sagas plants have magical powers. "Fairy herbs" placed in a bath +restored beauty to women bathing therein.[694] During the _Táin_ +Cúchulainn's wounds were healed with "balsams and healing herbs of fairy +potency," and Diancecht used similar herbs to restore the dead at the +battle of Mag-tured.[695] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[659] Sacaze, _Inscr. des Pyren._ 255; Hirschfeld, _Sitzungsberichte_ +(Berlin, 1896), 448. + +[660] _CIL_ vi. 46; _CIR_ 1654, 1683. + +[661] D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 52. + +[662] Lucan, _Phar._ Usener's ed., 32; Orosius, v. 16. 6; Dio Cass. +lxii. 6. + +[663] Pliny, xvi. 44. The Scholiast on Lucan says that the Druids +divined with acorns (Usener, 33). + +[664] Max. Tyr. _Diss._ viii. 8; Stokes, _RC_ i. 259. + +[665] Le Braz, ii. 18. + +[666] Mr. Chadwick (_Jour. Anth. Inst._ xxx. 26) connects this high god +with thunder, and regards the Celtic Zeus (Taranis, in his opinion) as a +thunder-god. The oak was associated with this god because his +worshippers dwelt under oaks. + +[667] Helbig, _Die Italiker in der Poebene_, 16 f. + +[668] Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_; Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2} iii. 198. + +[669] Frazer, _loc. cit._ + +[670] Evans, _Arch. Rev._ i. 327 f. + +[671] Joyce, _SH_ i. 236. + +[672] O'Curry, _MC_ i. 213. + +[673] _LL_ 199_b_; _Rennes Dindsenchas_, _RC_ xv. 420. + +[674] _RC_ xv. 455, xvi. 279; Hennessey, _Chron. Scot._ 76. + +[675] Keating, 556; Joyce, _PN_ i. 499. + +[676] Wood-Martin, ii. 159. + +[677] D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, 51; Jullian, 41. + +[678] Cook, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 60. + +[679] See Sébillot, i. 293; Le Braz, i. 259; _Folk-Lore Journal_, v. +218; _Folk-Lore Record_, 1882. + +[680] Val. Probus, _Comm. in Georgica_, ii. 84. + +[681] Miss Hull, 53; O'Ourry, _MS. Mat._ 465. Writing tablets, made from +each of the trees when they were cut down, sprang together and could not +be separated. + +[682] _Stat. Account_, iii. 27; Moore, 151; Sébillot, i. 262, 270. + +[683] Dom Martin, i. 124; _Vita S. Eligii_, ii. 16. + +[684] _Acta Sanct._ (Bolland.), July 31; Sulp. Sever. _Vita S. Mart._ +457. + +[685] Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 76; Maury, 13, 299. The story of beautiful +women found in trees may be connected with the custom of placing images +in trees, or with the belief that a goddess might be seen emerging from +the tree in which she dwelt. + +[686] De la Tour, _Atlas des Monnaies Gaul_, 260, 286; Reinach, _Catal. +Sommaire_, 29. + +[687] Pliny, _HN_ xvi. 44. + +[688] See p. 162, _supra_. + +[689] See Cameron, _Gaelic Names of Plants_, 45. In Gregoire de Rostren, +_Dict. françois-celt._ 1732, mistletoe is translated by _dour-dero_, +"oak-water," and is said to be good for several evils. + +[690] Pliny, xxiv. 11. + +[691] Ibid. + +[692] Ibid. xxv. 9. + +[693] See Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_; De Nore, _Coutumes ... des +Provinces de France_, 150 f.; Sauvé, _RC_ vi. 67, _CM_ ix. 331. + +[694] O'Grady, ii. 126. + +[695] Miss Hull, 172; see p. 77, _supra_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ANIMAL WORSHIP. + + +Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic +times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of +divinities. The older cult had been connected with the pastoral stage in +which the animals were divine, or with the agricultural stage in which +they represented the corn-spirit, and perhaps with totemism. We shall +study here (1) traces of the older animal cults; (2) the transformation +of animal gods into symbols; and (3) traces of totemism. + + +1. + + +The presence of a bull with three cranes (_Tarvos Trigaranos_) on the +Paris altar, along with the gods Esus, Juppiter, and Vulcan, suggests +that it was a divine animal, or the subject of a divine myth. As has +been seen, this bull may be the bull of the _Táin bó Cuailgne_. Both it +and its opponent were reincarnations of the swine-herds of two gods. In +the Irish sagas reincarnation is only attributed to gods or heroes, and +this may point to the divinity of the bulls. We have seen that this and +another altar may depict some myth in which the bull was the incarnation +of a tree or vegetation spirit. The divine nature of the bull is +attested by its presence on Gaulish coins as a religious symbol, and by +images of the animal with three horns--an obvious symbol of +divinity.[696] On such an image in bronze the Cimbri, Celticised +Germans, swore. The images are pre-Roman, since they are found at +Hallstadt and La Tène. Personal names like Donnotaurus (the equivalent +of the _Donn Taruos_ of the _Táin_) or Deiotaros ("divine bull"), show +that men were called after the divine animal.[697] Similarly many +place-names in which the word _taruos_ occurs, in Northern Italy, the +Pyrenees, Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere, suggest that the places +bearing these names were sites of a bull cult or that some myth, like +that elaborated in the _Táin_, had been there localised.[698] But, as +possibly in the case of Cúchulainn and the bull, the animal tended to +become the symbol of a god, a tendency perhaps aided by the spread of +Mithraism with its symbolic bull. A god Medros leaning on a bull is +represented at Haguenau, possibly a form of Mider or of Meduris, a +surname of Toutatis, unless Medros is simply Mithras.[699] Echoes of the +cult of the bull or cow are heard in Irish tales of these animals +brought from the _síd_, or of magic bulls or of cows which produced +enormous supplies of milk, or in saintly legends of oxen leading a saint +to the site of his future church.[700] These legends are also told of +the swine,[701] and they perhaps arose when a Christian church took the +place of the site of a local animal cult, legend fusing the old and the +new cult by making the once divine animal point out the site of the +church. A late relic of a bull cult may be found in the carnival +procession of the _Boeuf Gras_ at Paris. + +A cult of a swine-god Moccus has been referred to. The boar was a divine +symbol on standards, coins, and altars, and many bronze images of the +animal have been found. These were temple treasures, and in one case the +boar is three-horned.[702] But it was becoming the symbol of a goddess, +as is seen by the altars on which it accompanies a goddess, perhaps of +fertility, and by a bronze image of a goddess seated on a boar. The +altars occur in Britain, of which the animal may be the emblem--the +"Caledonian monster" of Claudian's poem.[703] The Galatian Celts +abstained from eating the swine, and there has always been a prejudice +against its flesh in the Highlands. This has a totemic appearance.[704] +But the swine is esteemed in Ireland, and in the texts monstrous swine +are the staple article of famous feasts.[705] These may have been +legendary forms of old swine-gods, the feasts recalling sacrificial +feasts on their flesh. Magic swine were also the immortal food of the +gods. But the boar was tabu to certain persons, e.g. Diarmaid, though +whether this is the attenuated memory of a clan totem restriction is +uncertain. In Welsh story the swine comes from Elysium--a myth +explaining the origin of its domestication, while domestication +certainly implies an earlier cult of the animal. When animals come to be +domesticated, the old cult restrictions, e.g. against eating them, +usually pass away. For this reason, perhaps, the Gauls, who worshipped +an anthropomorphic swine-god, trafficked in the animal and may have +eaten it.[706] Welsh story also tells of the magic boar, the _Twrch +Trwyth_, hunted by Arthur, possibly a folk-tale reminiscence of a boar +divinity.[707] Place-names also point to a cult of the swine, and a +recollection of its divinity may underlie the numerous Irish tales of +magical swine.[708] The magic swine which issued from the cave of +Cruachan and destroyed the young crops are suggestive of the +theriomorphic corn-spirit in its occasional destructive aspect.[709] +Bones of the swine, sometimes cremated, have been found in Celtic graves +in Britain and at Hallstadt, and in one case the animal was buried alone +in a tumulus at Hallstadt, just as sacred animals were buried in Egypt, +Greece, and elsewhere.[710] When the animal was buried with the dead, it +may have been as a sacrifice to the ghost or to the god of the +underworld. + +The divinity of the serpent is proved by the occurrence of a horned +serpent with twelve Roman gods on a Gallo-Roman altar.[711] In other +cases a horned or ram's-headed serpent appears as the attribute of a +god, and we have seen that the ram's-headed serpent may be a fusion of +the serpent as a chthonian animal with the ram, sacrificed to the dead. +In Greece Dionysus had the form both of a bull and a horned serpent, the +horn being perhaps derived from the bull symbol. M. Reinach claims that +the primitive elements of the Orphic myth of the Thracian +Dionysos-Zagreus--divine serpents producing an egg whence came the +horned snake Zagreus, occur in dislocated form in Gaul. There enlacing +serpents were believed to produce a magic egg, and there a horned +serpent was worshipped, but was not connected with the egg. But they may +once have been connected, and if so, there may be a common foundation +both for the Greek and the Celtic conceptions in a Celtic element in +Thrace.[712] The resemblances, however, may be mere coincidences, and +horned serpents are known in other mythologies--the horn being perhaps a +symbol of divinity. The horned serpent sometimes accompanies a god who +has horns, possibly Cernunnos, the underworld god, in accordance with +the chthonian character of the serpent.[713] In the Cùchulainn cycle +Loeg on his visit to the Other-world saw two-headed serpents--perhaps a +further hint of this aspect of the animal.[714] + +In all these instances of animal cults examples of the tendency to make +the divine animal anthropomorphic have been seen. We have now to +consider some instances of the complete anthropomorphic process. + + +2. + + +An old bear cult gave place to the cult of a bear goddess and probably +of a god. At Berne--an old Celtic place-name meaning "bear"--was found a +bronze group of a goddess holding a patera with fruit, and a bear +approaching her as if to be fed. The inscription runs, _Deae Artioni +Licinia Sabinilla_.[715] A local bear-cult had once existed at Berne, +and is still recalled in the presence of the famous bears there, but the +divine bear had given place to a goddess whose name and symbol were +ursine. From an old Celtic _Artos_, fem. _Arta_, "bear," were derived +various divine names. Of these _Dea Artio(n)_ means "bear goddess," and +_Artaios_, equated with Mercury, is perhaps a bear god.[716] Another +bear goddess, Andarta, was honoured at Die (Drôme), the word perhaps +meaning "strong bear"--_And_- being an augmentive.[717] Numerous +place-names derived from _Artos_ perhaps witness to a widespread cult of +the bear, and the word also occurs in Welsh, and Irish personal +names--Arthmael, Arthbiu, and possibly Arthur, and the numerous Arts of +Irish texts. Descent from the divine bear is also signified in names +like Welsh _Arthgen_, Irish _Artigan_, from _Artigenos_, "son of the +bear." Another Celtic name for "bear" was the Gaulish _matu_, Irish +_math_, found in _Matugenos_, "son of the bear," and in MacMahon, which +is a corrupt form of _Mac-math-ghamhain_, "son of the bear's son," or +"of the bear."[718] + +Similarly a cult of the stag seems to have given place to that of a god +with stag's horns, represented on many bas-reliefs, and probably +connected with the underworld.[719] The stag, as a grain-eater, may have +been regarded as the embodiment of the corn-spirit, and then associated +with the under-earth region whence the corn sprang, by one of those +inversions of thought so common in the stage of transition from animal +gods to gods with animal symbols. The elk may have been worshipped in +Ireland, and a three antlered stag is the subject of a story in the +Fionn saga.[720] Its third antler, like the third horn of bull or boar, +may be a sign of divinity. + +The horse had also been worshipped, but a goddess Epona (Gaul. _epo-s_, +"horse"), protectress of horses and asses, took its place, and had a +far-spread cult. She rides a horse or mare with its foal, or is seated +among horses, or feeds horses. A representation of a mare suckling a +foal--a design analogous to those in which Epona feeds foals--shows that +her primitive equine nature had not been forgotten.[721] The Gauls were +horse-rearers, and Epona was the goddess of the craft; but, as in other +cases, a cult of the horse must have preceded its domestication, and its +flesh may not have been eaten, or, if so, only sacramentally.[722] +Finally, the divine horse became the anthropomorphic horse-goddess. Her +images were placed in stables, and several inscriptions and statuettes +have been found in such buildings or in cavalry barracks.[723] The +remains of the cult have been found in the Danube and Rhine valleys, in +Eastern Gaul, and in Northern Italy, all Celtic regions, but it was +carried everywhere by Roman cavalry recruited from the Celtic +tribes.[724] Epona is associated with, and often has, the symbols of the +_Matres_, and one inscription reads _Eponabus_, as if there were a group +of goddesses called Epona.[725] A goddess who promoted the fertility of +mares would easily be associated with goddesses of fertility. Epona may +also have been confused with a river-goddess conceived of as a spirited +steed. Water-spirits took that shape, and the _Matres_ were also +river-goddesses. + +A statuette of a horse, with a dedication to a god Rudiobus, otherwise +unknown, may have been carried processionally, while a mule has a +dedication to Segomo, equated elsewhere with Mars. A mule god Mullo, +also equated with Mars, is mentioned on several inscriptions.[726] The +connection with Mars may have been found in the fact that the October +horse was sacrificed to him for fertility, while the horse was probably +associated with fertility among the Celts. The horse was sacrificed both +by Celts and Teutons at the Midsummer festival, undoubtedly as a divine +animal. Traces of the Celtic custom survive in local legends, and may be +interpreted in the fuller light of the Teutonic accounts. In Ireland a +man wearing a horse's head rushed through the fire, and was supposed to +represent all cattle; in other words, he was a surrogate for them. The +legend of Each Labra, a horse which lived in a mound and issued from it +every Midsummer eve to give oracles for the coming year, is probably +connected with the Midsummer sacrifice of the horse.[727] Among the +Teutons the horse was a divine sacrificial animal, and was also sacred +to Freyr, the god of fertility, while in Teutonic survivals a horse's +head was placed in the Midsummer fire.[728] The horse was sporadically +the representative of the corn-spirit, and at Rome the October horse was +sacrificed in that capacity and for fertility.[729] Among the Celts, the +horse sacrificed at Midsummer may have represented the vegetation-spirit +and benefited all domestic animals--the old rite surviving in an +attenuated form, as described above. + +Perhaps the goddess Damona was an animal divinity, if her name is +derived from _damatos_, "sheep," cognate to Welsh _dafad_, "sheep," and +Gaelic _damh_, "ox." Other divine animals, as has been seen, were +associated with the waters, and the use of beasts and birds in +divination doubtless points to their divine character. A cult of +bird-gods may lurk behind the divine name Bran, "raven," and the +reference to the magic birds of Rhiannon in the _Triads_. + + +3. + + +Animal worship is connected with totemism, and certain things point to +its existence among the Celts, or to the existence of conditions out of +which totemism was elsewhere developed. These are descent from animals, +animal tabus, the sacramental eating of an animal, and exogamy. + +(1) _Descent from animals._--Celtic names implying descent from animals +or plants are of two classes, clan and personal names. If the latter are +totemistic, they must be derived from the former, since totemism is an +affair of the clan, while the so-called "personal totem," exemplified by +the American Indian _manitou_, is the guardian but never the ancestor of +a man. Some clan names have already been referred to. Others are the +Bibroci of south-east Britain, probably a beaver clan (_bebros_), and +the Eburones, a yew-tree clan (_eburos_).[730] Irish clans bore animal +names: some groups were called "calves," others "griffins," others "red +deer," and a plant name is seen in _Fir Bile_, "men of the tree."[731] +Such clan totemism perhaps underlies the stories of the "descendants of +the wolf" at Ossory, who became wolves for a time as the result of a +saintly curse. Other instances of lycanthropy were associated with +certain families.[732] The belief in lycanthropy might easily attach +itself to existing wolf-clans, the transformation being then explained +as the result of a curse. The stories of Cormac mac Art, suckled by a +she-wolf, of Lughaid mac Con, "son of a wolf-dog," suckled by that +animal, and of Oisin, whose mother was a fawn, and who would not eat +venison, are perhaps totemistic, while to totemism or to a cult of +animals may be ascribed what early travellers in Ireland say of the +people taking wolves as god-fathers and praying to them to do them no +ill.[733] In Wales bands of warriors at the battle of Cattraeth are +described in Oneurin's _Gododin_ as dogs, wolves, bears, and ravens, +while Owein's band of ravens which fought against Arthur, may have been +a raven clan, later misunderstood as actual ravens.[734] Certain groups +of Dalriad Scots bore animal names--Cinel Gabran, "Little goat clan," +and Cinel Loarn, "Fox clan." Possibly the custom of denoting Highland +clans by animal or plant badges may be connected with a belief in +descent from plants or animals. On many coins an animal is represented +on horseback, perhaps leading a clan, as birds led the Celts to the +Danube area, and these may depict myths telling how the clan totem +animal led the clan to its present territory.[735] Such myths may +survive in legends relating how an animal led a saint to the site of his +church.[736] Celtic warriors wore helmets with horns, and Irish story +speaks of men with cat, dog, or goat heads.[737] These may have been men +wearing a head-gear formed of the skin or head of the clan totem, hence +remembered at a later time as monstrous beings, while the horned helmets +would be related to the same custom. Solinus describes the Britons as +wearing animal skins before going into battle.[738] Were these skins of +totem animals under whose protection they thus placed themselves? The +"forms of beasts, birds, and fishes" which the Cruithne or Picts +tattooed on their bodies may have been totem marks, while the painting +of their bodies with woad among the southern Britons may have been of +the same character, though Cæsar's words hardly denote this. Certain +marks on faces figured on Gaulish coins seem to be tattoo marks.[739] + +It is not impossible that an early wolf-totem may have been associated, +because of the animal's nocturnal wanderings in forests, with the +underworld whence, according to Celtic belief, men sprang and whither +they returned, and whence all vegetation came forth. The Gallo-Roman +Silvanus, probably an underworld god, wears a wolf-skin, and may thus be +a wolf-god. There were various types of underworld gods, and this +wolf-type--perhaps a local wolf-totem ancestor assimilated to a local +"Dispater"--may have been the god of a clan who imposed its mythic wolf +origin on other clans. Some Celtic bronzes show a wolf swallowing a man +who offers no resistance, probably because he is dead. The wolf is much +bigger than the man, and hence may be a god.[740] These bronzes would +thus represent a belief setting forth the return of men to their totem +ancestor after death, or to the underworld god connected with the totem +ancestor, by saying that he devoured the dead, like certain Polynesian +divinities and the Greek Eurynomos. + +In many individual names the first part is the name of an animal or +plant, the second is usually _genos_, "born from," or "son of," e.g. +Artigenos, Matugenos, "son of the bear" (_artos_, _matu_-); Urogenos, +occurring as Urogenertos, "he who has the strength of the son of the +urus"; Brannogenos, "son of the raven"; Cunogenos, "son of the +dog."[741] These names may be derived from clan totem names, but they +date back to a time when animals, trees, and men were on a common +footing, and the possibility of human descent from a tree or an animal +was believed in. Professor Rh[^y]s has argued from the frequency of +personal names in Ireland, like Cúrói, "Hound of Rói," Cú Corb, "Corb's +Hound," Mac Con, "Hound's Son," and Maelchon, "Hound's Slave," that +there existed a dog totem or god, not of the Celts, but of a pre-Celtic +race.[742] This assumes that totemism was non-Celtic, an assumption +based on preconceived notions of what Celtic institutions ought to have +been. The names, it should be observed, are personal, not clan names. + +(2) _Animal tabus._--Besides the dislike of swine's flesh already noted +among certain Celtic groups, the killing and eating of the hare, hen, +and goose were forbidden among the Britons. Cæsar says they bred these +animals for amusement, but this reason assigned by him is drawn from his +knowledge of the breeding of rare animals by rich Romans as a pastime, +since he had no knowledge of the breeding of sacred animals which were +not eaten--a common totemic or animal cult custom.[743] The hare was +used for divination by Boudicca,[744] doubtless as a sacred animal, and +it has been found that a sacred character still attaches to these +animals in Wales. A cock or hen was ceremonially killed and eaten on +Shrove Tuesday, either as a former totemic animal, or, less likely, as a +representative of the corn-spirit. The hare is not killed in certain +districts, but occasionally it is ceremonially hunted and slain +annually, while at yearly fairs the goose is sold exclusively and +eaten.[745] Elsewhere, e.g. in Devon, a ram or lamb is ceremonially +slain and eaten, the eating being believed to confer luck.[746] The +ill-luck supposed to follow the killing of certain animals may also be +reminiscent of totemic tabus. Fish were not eaten by the Pictish Meatæ +and Caledonii, and a dislike of eating certain fresh-water fish was +observed among certain eighteenth century Highlanders.[747] It has been +already seen that certain fish living in sacred wells were tabu, and +were believed to give oracles. Heron's flesh was disliked in Ireland, +and it was considered unlucky to kill a swan in the Hebrides.[748] Fatal +results following upon the killing or eating of an animal with which the +eater was connected by name or descent are found in the Irish sagas. +Conaire was son of a woman and a bird which could take human shape, and +it was forbidden to him to hunt birds. On one occasion he did so, and +for this as well as the breaking of other tabus, he lost his life.[749] +It was tabu to Cúchulainn, "the hound of Culann," to eat dog's flesh, +and, having been persuaded to do this, his strength went from him, and +he perished. Diarmaid, having been forbidden to hunt a boar with which +his life was connected, was induced by Fionn to break this tabu, and in +consequence he lost his life by one of the boar's bristles entering his +foot, or (in a variant) by the boar's killing him. Another instance is +found in a tale of certain men transformed to badgers. They were slain +by Cormac, and brought to his father Tadg to eat. Tadg unaccountably +loathed them, because they were transformed men and his cousins.[750] In +this tale, which may contain the _débris_ of totemic usage, the loathing +arises from the fact that the badgers are men--a common form of myths +explanatory of misunderstood totemic customs, but the old idea of the +relation between a man and his totem is not lost sight of. The other +tales may also be reminiscent of a clan totem tabu, later centred in a +mythic hero. Perhaps the belief in lucky or unlucky animals, or in omens +drawn from their appearance, may be based on old totem beliefs or in +beliefs in the divinity of the animals. + +(3) _Sacramental eating of an animal._--The custom of "hunting the +wren," found over the whole Celtic area, is connected with animal +worship and may be totemistic in origin. In spite of its small size, the +wren was known as the king of birds, and in the Isle of Man it was +hunted and killed on Christmas or S. Stephen's day. The bird was carried +in procession from door to door, to the accompaniment of a chant, and +was then solemnly buried, dirges being sung. In some cases a feather was +left at each house and carefully treasured, and there are traces of a +custom of boiling and eating the bird.[751] In Ireland, the hunt and +procession were followed by a feast, the materials of which were +collected from house to house, and a similar usage obtained in France, +where the youth who killed the bird was called "king."[752] In most of +these districts it was considered unlucky or dangerous to kill the bird +at any other time, yet it might be ceremonially killed once a year, the +dead animal conferred luck, and was solemnly eaten or buried with signs +of mourning. Similar customs with animals which are actually worshipped +are found elsewhere,[753] and they lend support to the idea that the +Celts regarded the wren as a divine animal, or perhaps a totem animal, +that it was necessary to slay it ritually, and to carry it round the +houses of the community to obtain its divine influence, to eat it +sacramentally or to bury it. Probably like customs were followed in the +case of other animals,[754] and these may have given rise to such +stories as that of the eating of MacDatho's wonderful boar, as well as +to myths which regarded certain animals, e.g. the swine, as the immortal +food of the gods. Other examples of ritual survivals of such sacramental +eating have already been noted, and it is not improbable that the eating +of a sacred pastoral animal occurred at Samhain. + +(4) _Exogamy._--Exogamy and the counting of descent through the mother +are closely connected with totemism, and some traces of both are found +among the Celts. Among the Picts, who were, perhaps, a Celtic group of +the Brythonic stock, these customs survived in the royal house. The +kingship passed to a brother of the king by the same mother, or to a +sister's son, while the king's father was never king and was frequently +a "foreigner." Similar rules of succession prevailed in early Aryan +royal houses--Greek and Roman,--and may, as Dr. Stokes thought, have +existed at Tara in Ireland, while in a Fian tale of Oisin he marries the +daughter of the king of Tír na n-Og, and succeeds him as king partly for +that reason, and partly because he had beaten him in the annual race for +the kingship.[755] Such an athletic contest for the kingship was known +in early Greece, and this tale may support the theory of the Celtic +priest-kingship, the holder of the office retaining it as long as he was +not defeated or slain. Traces of succession through a sister's son are +found in the _Mabinogion_, and Livy describes how the mythic Celtic king +Ambicatus sent not his own but his sister's sons to found new +kingdoms.[756] Irish and Welsh divine and heroic groups are named after +the mother, not the father--the children of Danu and of Dôn, and the men +of Domnu. Anu is mother of the gods, Buanann of heroes. The eponymous +ancestor of the Scots is a woman, Scota, and the earliest colonisers of +Ireland are women, not men. In the sagas gods and heroes have frequently +a matronymic, and the father's name is omitted--Lug mac Ethnend, +Conchobar mac Nessa, Indech, son of De Domnann, Corpre, son of Etain, +and others. Perhaps parallel to this is the custom of calling men after +their wives--e.g. the son of Fergus is Fer Tlachtga, Tlachtga's +husband.[757] In the sagas, females (goddesses and heroines) have a high +place accorded to them, and frequently choose their own lovers or +husbands--customs suggestive of the matriarchate. Thus what was once a +general practice was later confined to the royal house or told of divine +or heroic personages. Possibly certain cases of incest may really be +exaggerated accounts of misunderstood unions once permissible by totemic +law. Cæsar speaks of British polyandry, brothers, sons, and fathers +sharing a wife in common.[758] Strabo speaks of Irish unions with +mothers and sisters, perhaps referring not to actual practice but to +reports of saga tales of incest.[759] Dio Cassius speaks of community of +wives among the Caledonians and Meatæ, and Jerome says much the same of +the Scoti and Atecotti.[760] These notices, with the exception of +Cæsar's, are vague, yet they refer to marriage customs different from +those known to their reporters. In Irish sagas incest legends circle +round the descendants of Etain--fathers unite with daughters, a son with +his mother, a woman has a son by her three brothers (just as Ecne was +son of Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba), and is also mother of Crimthan by +that son.[761] Brother and sister unions occur both in Irish and Welsh +story.[762] + +In these cases incest with a mother cannot be explained by totemic +usage, but the cases may be distorted reminiscences of what might occur +under totemism, namely, a son taking the wives of his father other than +his own mother, when those were of a different totem from his own. Under +totemism, brothers and sisters by different mothers having different +totems, might possibly unite, and such unions are found in many +mythologies. Later, when totemism passed away, the unions, regarded with +horror, would be supposed to take place between children by the same +mother. According to totem law, a father might unite with his daughter, +since she was of her mother's totem, but in practice this was frowned +upon. Polygamy also may co-exist with totemism, and of course involves +the counting of descent through the mother as a rule. If, as is +suggested by the "debility" of the Ultonians, and by other evidence, the +couvade was a Celtic institution, this would also point to the existence +of the matriarchate with the Celts. To explain all this as pre-Aryan, or +to say that the classical notices refer to non-Aryan tribes and that the +evidence in the Irish sagas only shows that the Celts had been +influenced by the customs of aboriginal tribes among whom they +lived,[763] is to neglect the fact that the customs are closely bound up +with Celtic life, while it leaves unexplained the influence of such +customs upon a people whose own customs, according to this theory, were +so totally different. The evidence, taken as a whole, points to the +existence of totemism among the early Celts, or, at all events, of the +elements which elsewhere compose it. + + * * * * * + +Celtic animal worship dates back to the primitive hunting and pastoral +period, when men worshipped the animals which they hunted or reared. +They may have apologised to the animal hunted and slain--a form of +worship, or, where animals were not hunted or were reared and +worshipped, one of them may have been slain annually and eaten to obtain +its divine power. Care was taken to preserve certain sacred animals +which were not hunted, and this led to domestication, the abstinence of +earlier generations leading to an increased food supply at a later time, +when domesticated animals were freely slain. But the earlier sacramental +slaying of such animals survived in the religious aspect of their +slaughter at the beginning of winter.[764] The cult of animals was also +connected with totemic usage, though at a later stage this cult was +replaced by that of anthropomorphic divinities, with the older divine +animals as their symbols, sacrificial victims, and the like. This +evolution now led to the removal of restrictions upon slaying and eating +the animals. On the other hand, the more primitive animal cults may have +remained here and there. Animal cults were, perhaps, largely confined to +men. With the rise of agriculture mainly as an art in the hands of +women, and the consequent cult of the Earth-mother, of fertility and +corn-spirits probably regarded as female, the sacramental eating of the +divine animal may have led to the slaying and eating of a human or +animal victim supposed to embody such a spirit. Later the two cults were +bound to coalesce, and the divine animal and the animal embodiment of +the vegetation spirit would not be differentiated. On the other hand, +when men began to take part in women's fertility cults, the fact that +such spirits were female or were perhaps coming to be regarded as +goddesses, may have led men to envisage certain of the anthropomorphic +animal divinities as goddesses, since some of these, e.g. Epona and +Damona, are female. But with the increasing participation of men in +agriculture, the spirits or goddesses of fertility would tend to become +male, or the consorts or mothers of gods of fertility, though the +earlier aspect was never lost sight of, witness the Corn-Mother. The +evolution of divine priest-kings would cause them to take the place of +the earlier priestesses of these cults, one of whom may have been the +divine victim. Yet in local survivals certain cults were still confined +to women, and still had their priestesses.[765] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[696] Reinach, _BF_ 66, 244. The bull and three cranes may be a rebus on +the name of the bull, _Tarvos Trikarenos_, "the three-headed," or +perhaps _Trikeras_, "three-horned." + +[697] Plutarch, _Marius_, 23; Cæsar, vii. 65; D'Arbois, _Les Celtes_, +49. + +[698] Holder, _s.v._ _Tarba_, _Tarouanna_, _Tarvisium_, etc.; D'Arbois, +_Les Druides_, 155; S. Greg. _In Glor. Conf._ 48. + +[699] _CIL_ xiii. 6017; _RC_ xxv. 47; Holder, ii. 528. + +[700] Leahy, ii. 105 f.; Curtin, _MFI_ 264, 318; Joyce, _PN_ i. 174; +Rees, 453. Cf. Ailred, _Life of S. Ninian_, c. 8. + +[701] Jocelyn, _Vita S. Kentig._ c. 24; Rees, 293, 323. + +[702] Tacitus, _Germ._ xlv.; Blanchet, i. 162, 165; Reinach, _BF_ 255 +f., _CMR_ i. 168; Bertrand, _Arch. Celt._ 419. + +[703] Pennant, _Tour in Scotland_, 268; Reinach, _RC_ xxii. 158, _CMR_ +i. 67. + +[704] Pausan, vii. 17, 18; Johnson, _Journey_, 136. + +[705] Joyce, _SH_ ii. 127; _IT_ i. 99, 256 (Bricriu's feast and the tale +of Macdatho's swine). + +[706] Strabo, iv. 4. 3, says these swine attacked strangers. Varro, _de +Re Rustica_, ii. 4, admires their vast size. Cf. Polyb. ii. 4. + +[707] The hunt is first mentioned in Nennius, c. 79, and then appears as +a full-blown folk-tale in _Kulhwych_, Loth, i. 185 f. Here the boar is a +transformed prince. + +[708] I have already suggested, p. 106, _supra_, that the places where +Gwydion halted with the swine of Elysium were sites of a swine-cult. + +[709] _RC_ xiii. 451. Cf. also _TOS_ vi. "The Enchanted Pigs of Oengus," +and Campbell, _LF_ 53. + +[710] _L'Anthropologie_, vi. 584; Greenwell, _British Barrows_, 274, +283, 454; _Arch. Rev._ ii. 120. + +[711] _Rev. Arch._ 1897, 313. + +[712] Reinach, "Zagreus le serpent cornu," _Rev. Arch_. xxxv. 210. + +[713] Reinach, _BF_ 185; Bertrand, 316. + +[714] "Cúchulainn's Sick-bed," D'Arbois, v. 202. + +[715] See Reinach, _CMR_ i. 57. + +[716] _CIL_ xiii. 5160, xii. 2199. Rh[^y]s, however, derives Artaios +from _ar_, "ploughed land," and equates the god with Mercurius Cultor. + +[717] _CIL_ xii. 1556-1558; D'Arbois, _RC_ x. 165. + +[718] For all these place and personal names, see Holder and D'Arbois, +_op. cit. Les Celtes_, 47 f., _Les Druides_, 157 f. + +[719] See p. 32, _supra_; Reinach, _CMR_ i. 72, _Rev. Arch._ ii. 123. + +[720] O'Grady, ii. 123. + +[721] Epona is fully discussed by Reinach in his _Epona_, 1895, and in +articles (illustrated) in _Rev. Arch._ vols. 26, 33, 35, 40, etc. See +also ii. [1898], 190. + +[722] Reinach suggests that this may explain why Vercingetorix, in view +of siege by the Romans, sent away his horses. They were too sacred to be +eaten. Cæsar, vii. 71; Reinach, _RC_ xxvii. 1 f. + +[723] Juvenal, viii. 154; Apul. _Metam._ iii. 27; Min. Felix, _Octav._ +xxvii. 7. + +[724] For the inscriptions, see Holder, _s.v._ "Epona." + +[725] _CIL_ iii. 7904. + +[726] _CIL_ xiii. 3071; Reinach, _BF_ 253, _CMR_ i. 64, _Répert. de la +Stat._ ii. 745; Holder, ii. 651-652. + +[727] Granger, _Worship of the Romans_, 113; Kennedy, 135. + +[728] Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 49, 619, 657, 661-664. + +[729] Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, ii. 281, 315. + +[730] Cæsar, v. 21, 27. Possibly the Dea Bibracte of the Aeduans was a +beaver goddess. + +[731] O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 207; Elton, 298. + +[732] Girald. Cambr. _Top. Hib._ ii. 19, _RC_ ii. 202; _Folk-Lore_, v. +310; _IT_ iii. 376. + +[733] O'Grady, ii. 286, 538; Campbell, _The Fians_, 78; Thiers, _Traité +des Superstitions_, ii. 86. + +[734] Lady Guest, ii. 409 f. + +[735] Blanchet, i. 166, 295, 326, 390. + +[736] See p. 209, _supra_. + +[737] Diod. Sic. v. 30; _IT_ iii. 385; _RC_ xxvi. 139; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ +593. + +[738] _Man. Hist. Brit._ p. x. + +[739] Herodian, iii. 14, 8; Duald MacFirbis in Irish _Nennius_, p. vii; +Cæsar, v. 10; _ZCP_ iii. 331. + +[740] See Reinach, "Les Carnassiers androphages dans l'art +gallo-romain," _CMR_ i. 279. + +[741] See Holder, _s.v._ + +[742] Rh[^y]s, _CB_{4} 267. + +[743] Cæsar, v. 12. + +[744] Dio Cassius, lxii. 2. + +[745] See a valuable paper by N.W. Thomas, "Survivance du Culte des +Animaux dans le Pays de Galles," in _Rev. de l'Hist. des Religions_, +xxxviii. 295 f., and a similar paper by Gomme, _Arch. Rev._ 1889, 217 f. +Both writers seem to regard these cults as pre-Celtic. + +[746] Gomme, _Ethnol. in Folklore_, 30, _Village Community_, 113. + +[747] Dio Cass. lxxii. 21; Logan, _Scottish Gael_, ii. 12. + +[748] Joyce, _SH_ ii. 529; Martin, 71. + +[749] _RC_ xxii. 20, 24, 390-1. + +[750] _IT_ iii. 385. + +[751] Waldron, _Isle of Man_, 49; Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_, +ii. 124. + +[752] Vallancey, _Coll. de Reb. Hib._ iv. No. 13; Clément, _Fétes_, 466. +For English customs, see Henderson, _Folklore of the Northern Counties_, +125. + +[753] Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, ii. 380, 441, 446. + +[754] For other Welsh instances of the danger of killing certain birds, +see Thomas, _op. cit._ xxxviii. 306. + +[755] Frazer, _Kingship_, 261; Stokes, _RC_ xvi. 418; Larminie, _Myths +and Folk-tales_, 327. + +[756] See Rh[^y]s, _Welsh People_, 44; Livy, v. 34. + +[757] Cf. _IT_ iii. 407, 409. + +[758] Cæsar, v. 14. + +[759] Strabo, iv. 5. 4. + +[760] Dio Cass. lxxvi. 12; Jerome, _Adv. Jovin._ ii. 7. Giraldus has +much to say of incest in Wales, probably actual breaches of moral law +among a barbarous people (_Descr. Wales_, ii. 6). + +[761] _RC_ xii. 235, 238, xv. 291, xvi. 149; _LL_ 23_a_, 124_b_. In +various Irish texts a child is said to have three fathers--probably a +reminiscence of polyandry. See p. 74, _supra_, and _RC_ xxiii. 333. + +[762] _IT_ i. 136; Loth, i. 134 f.; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 308. + +[763] Zimmer, "Matriarchy among the Picts," in Henderson, _Leabhar nan +Gleann_. + +[764] See p. 259, _infra_. + +[765] See p. 274, _infra_. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +COSMOGONY. + + +Whether the early Celts regarded Heaven and Earth as husband and wife is +uncertain. Such a conception is world-wide, and myth frequently explains +in different ways the reason of the separation of the two. Among the +Polynesians the children of heaven and earth--the winds, forests, and +seas personified--angry at being crushed between their parents in +darkness, rose up and separated them. This is in effect the Greek myth +of Uranus, or Heaven, and Gæa, or Earth, divorced by their son Kronos, +just as in Hindu myth Dyaus, or Sky, and Prithivi, or Earth, were +separated by Indra. Uranus in Greece gave place to Zeus, and, in India, +Dyaus became subordinate to Indra. Thus the primitive Heaven personified +recedes, and his place is taken by a more individualised god. But +generally Mother Earth remains a constant quantity. Earth was nearer man +and was more unchanging than the inconstant sky, while as the producer +of the fruits of the earth, she was regarded as the source of all +things, and frequently remained as an important divinity when a crowd of +other divinities became prominent. This is especially true of +agricultural peoples, who propitiate Earth with sacrifice, worship her +with orgiastic rites, or assist her processes by magic. With advancing +civilisation such a goddess is still remembered as the friend of man, +and, as in the Eleusinia, is represented sorrowing and rejoicing like +man himself. Or where a higher religion ousts the older one, the ritual +is still retained among the folk, though its meaning may be forgotten. + +The Celts may thus have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all +trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing +how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain, or by pillars. A high +mountain near the sources of the Rhone was called "the column of the +sun," and was so lofty as to hide the sun from the people of the +south.[766] It may have been regarded as supporting the sky, while the +sun moved round it. In an old Irish hymn and its gloss, Brigit and +Patrick are compared to the two pillars of the world, probably alluding +to some old myth of sky or earth resting on pillars.[767] Traces of this +also exist in folk-belief, as in the accounts of islands resting on four +pillars, or as in the legend of the church of Kernitou which rests on +four pillars on a congealed sea and which will be submerged when the sea +liquefies--a combination of the cosmogonic myth with that of a great +inundation.[768] In some mythologies a bridge or ladder connects heaven +and earth. There may be a survival of some such myth in an Irish poem +which speaks of the _drochet bethad_, or "bridge of life," or in the +_drochaid na flaitheanas_, or "bridge of heaven," of Hebridean +folk-lore.[769] + +Those gods who were connected with the sky may have been held to dwell +there or on the mountain supporting it. Others, like the Celtic +Dispater, dwelt underground. Some were connected with mounds and hills, +or were supposed to have taken up their abode in them. Others, again, +dwelt in a distant region, the Celtic Elysium, which, once the Celts +reached the sea, became a far-off island. Those divinities worshipped in +groves were believed to dwell there and to manifest themselves at midday +or midnight, while such objects of nature as rivers, wells, and trees +were held to be the abode of gods or spirits. Thus it is doubtful +whether the Celts ever thought of their gods as dwelling in one Olympus. +The Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have come from heaven, but this may be +the mere assertion of some scribe who knew not what to make of this +group of beings. + +In Celtic belief men were not so much created by gods as descended from +them. "All the Gauls assert that they are descended from Dispater, and +this, they say, has been handed down to them by the Druids."[770] +Dispater was a Celtic underworld god of fertility, and the statement +probably presupposes a myth, like that found among many primitive +peoples, telling how men once lived underground and thence came to the +surface of the earth. But it also points to their descent from the god +of the underworld. Thither the dead returned to him who was ancestor of +the living as well as lord of the dead.[771] On the other hand, if the +earth had originally been thought of as a female, she as Earth-mother +would be ancestress of men. But her place in the myth would easily be +taken by the Earth or Under-earth god, perhaps regarded as her son or +her consort. In other cases, clans, families, or individuals often +traced their descent to gods or divine animals or plants. Classical +writers occasionally speak of the origin of branches of the Celtic race +from eponymous founders, perhaps from their knowledge of existing Celtic +myths.[772] Ammianus Marcellinus also reports a Druidic tradition to the +effect that some Gauls were indigenous, some had come from distant +islands, and others from beyond the Rhine.[773] But this is not so much +a myth of origins, as an explanation of the presence of different +peoples in Gaul--the aborigines, the Celtæ, and the Belgic Gauls. M. +D'Arbois assumes that "distant islands" means the Celtic Elysium, which +he regards as the land of the dead,[774] but the phrase is probably no +more than a distorted reminiscence of the far-off lands whence early +groups of Celts had reached Gaul. + +Of the creation of the world no complete myth has survived, though from +a gloss to the _Senchus Mór_ we learn that the Druids, like the +Br[=a]hmans, boasted that they had made sun, moon, earth, and sea--a +boast in keeping with their supposed powers over the elements.[775] +Certain folk-beliefs, regarding the origin of different parts of nature, +bear a close resemblance to primitive cosmogonic myths, and they may be +taken as _disjecta membra_ of similar myths held by the Celts and +perhaps taught by the Druids. Thus sea, rivers, or springs arose from +the micturition of a giant, fairy, or saint, or from their sweat or +blood. Islands are rocks cast by giants, and mountains are the material +thrown up by them as they were working on the earth. Wells sprang up +from the blood of a martyr or from the touch of a saint's or a fairy's +staff.[776] The sea originated from a magic cask given by God to a +woman. The spigot, when opened, could not be closed again, and the cask +never ceased running until the waters covered the earth--a tale with +savage parallels.[777] In all these cases, giant, saint, or fairy has +doubtless taken the place of a god, since the stories have a very +primitive _facies_. The giant is frequently Gargantua, probably himself +once a divinity. Other references in Irish texts point to the common +cosmogonic myth of the earth having gradually assumed its present form. +Thus many new lakes and plains are said to have been formed in Ireland +during the time of Partholan and Nemed, the plains being apparently +built up out of existing materials.[778] In some cases the formation of +a lake was the result of digging the grave of some personage after whom +the lake was then named.[779] Here we come upon the familiar idea of the +danger of encroaching on the domain of a deity, e.g. that of the +Earth-god, by digging the earth, with the consequent punishment by a +flood. The same conception is found in Celtic stories of a lake or river +formed from the overflowing of a sacred well through human carelessness +or curiosity, which led to the anger of the divinity of the well.[780] +Or, again, a town or castle is submerged on account of the wickedness of +its inhabitants, the waters being produced by the curse of God or a +saint (replacing a pagan god) and forming a lake.[781] These may be +regarded as forms of a Celtic deluge-myth, which in one case, that of +the Welsh story of the ship of Nevyd, which saved Dwyvan and Dwyfach and +a pair of all kinds of animals when Lake Llion overflowed, has +apparently borrowed from the Biblical story.[782] In other cases lakes +are formed from the tears of a god, e.g. Manannan, whose tears at the +death of his son formed three lochs in Erin.[783] Apollonius reports +that the waters of Eridanus originated from the tears of Apollo when +driven from heaven by his father.[784] This story, which he says is +Celtic, has been clothed by him in a Greek form, and the god in question +may have been Belenos, equated with Apollo. Sometimes the formation of +streams was ascribed to great hail-storms--an evident mythic rendering +of the damage done by actual spates, while the Irish myths of +"illimitable sea-bursts," of which three particular instances are often +mentioned, were doubtless the result of the experience of tidal waves. + +Although no complete account of the end of all things, like that of the +Scandinavian Ragnarok, has survived, scattered hints tell of its former +existence. Strabo says that the Druids taught that "fire and water must +one day prevail"--an evident belief in some final cataclysm.[785] This +is also hinted at in the words of certain Gauls to Alexander, telling +him that what they feared most of all was the fall of the heavens upon +their heads.[786] In other words, they feared what would be the signal +of the end of all things. On Irish ground the words of Conchobar may +refer to this. He announced that he would rescue the captives and spoil +taken by Medb, unless the heavens fell, and the earth burst open, and +the sea engulphed all things.[787] Such a myth mingled with Christian +beliefs may underlie the prophecy of Badb after Mag-tured regarding the +evils to come and the end of the world, and that of Fercertne in the +_Colloquy of the Two Sages_.[788] Both have a curious resemblance to the +Sybil's prophecy of doom in the Voluspa. If the gods themselves were +involved in such a catastrophe, it would not be surprising, since in +some aspects their immortality depended on their eating and drinking +immortal food and drink.[789] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[766] Avienus, _Ora Maritima_, 644 f. + +[767] _IT_ i. 25; Gaidoz, _ZCP_ i. 27. + +[768] _Annales de Bretagne_, x. 414. + +[769] _IT_ i. 50, cf. 184; _Folk-Lore_, vi. 170. + +[770] Cæsar, vi. 18. + +[771] See p. 341, _infra_. + +[772] Diod. Sic. v. 24; Appian, _Illyrica_, 2. + +[773] Amm. Marcel, xv. 9. + +[774] D'Arbois, ii. 262, xii. 220. + +[775] _Antient Laws of Ireland_, i. 23. In one MS. Adam is said to have +been created thus--his body of earth, his blood of the sea, his face of +the sun, his breath of the wind, etc. This is also found in a Frisian +tale (Vigfusson-Powell, _Corpus Poet. Bor._ i. 479), and both stories +present an inversion of well-known myths about the creation of the +universe from the members of a giant. + +[776] Sébillot, i. 213 f., ii. 6, 7, 72, 97, 176, 327-328. Cf. _RC_ xv. +482, xvi. 152. + +[777] Sébillot, ii. 6. + +[778] _LL_ 56; Keating, 117, 123. + +[779] _RC_ xv. 429, xvi. 277. + +[780] See p. 191, _supra_. + +[781] Sébillot, ii. 41 f., 391, 397; see p. 372, _infra_. + +[782] _Triads_ in Loth, ii. 280, 299; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 583, 663. + +[783] _RC_ xvi. 50, 146. + +[784] Apoll. iv. 609 f. + +[785] Strabo, iv. 4. 4. + +[786] Arrian, _Anab._ i. 4. 7; Strabo, vii. 3. 8. Cf. Jullian, 85. + +[787] _LL_ 94; Miss Hull, 205. + +[788] _RC_ xii. 111, xxvi. 33. + +[789] A possible survival of a world-serpent myth may be found in "Da +Derga's Hostel" (_RC_ xxii. 54), where we hear of Leviathan that +surrounds the globe and strikes with his tail to overwhelm the world. +But this may be a reflection of Norse myths of the Midgard serpent, +sometimes equated with Leviathan. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SACRIFICE, PRAYER, AND DIVINATION. + + +The Semites are often considered the worst offenders in the matter of +human sacrifice, but in this, according to classical evidence, they were +closely rivalled by the Celts of Gaul. They offered human victims on the +principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order +to divine the future from the entrails of the victim. We shall examine +the Celtic custom of human sacrifice from these points of view first. + +Cæsar says that those afflicted with disease or engaged in battle or +danger offer human victims or vow to do so, because unless man's life be +given for man's life, the divinity of the gods cannot be appeased.[790] +The theory appears to have been that the gods sent disease or ills when +they desired a human life, but that any life would do; hence one in +danger might escape by offering another in his stead. In some cases the +victims may have been offered to disease demons or diseases personified, +such as Celtic imagination still believes in,[791] rather than to gods, +or, again, they may have been offered to native gods of healing. Coming +danger could also be averted on the same principle, and though the +victims were usually slaves, in times of great peril wives and children +were sacrificed.[792] After a defeat, which showed that the gods were +still implacable, the wounded and feeble were slain, or a great leader +would offer himself.[793] Or in such a case the Celts would turn their +weapons against themselves, making of suicide a kind of sacrifice, +hoping to bring victory to the survivors.[794] + +The idea of the victim being offered on the principle of a life for a +life is illustrated by a custom at Marseilles in time of pestilence. One +of the poorer classes offered himself to be kept at the public expense +for some time. He was then led in procession, clad in sacred boughs, and +solemnly cursed, and prayer was made that on him might fall the evils of +the community. Then he was cast headlong down. Here the victim stood for +the lives of the city and was a kind of scape-victim, like those at the +Thargelia.[795] + +Human victims were also offered by way of thanksgiving after victory, +and vows were often made before a battle, promising these as well as +part of the spoil. For this reason the Celts would never ransom their +captives, but offered them in sacrifice, animals captured being +immolated along with them.[796] The method of sacrifice was slaughter by +sword or spear, hanging, impaling, dismembering, and drowning. Some gods +were propitiated by one particular mode of sacrifice--Taranis by +burning, Teutates by suffocation, Esus (perhaps a tree-god) by hanging +on a tree. Drowning meant devoting the victim to water-divinities.[797] + +Other propitiatory sacrifices took place at intervals, and had a general +or tribal character, the victims being criminals or slaves or even +members of the tribe. The sacrificial pile had the rude outline of a +human form, the limbs of osier, enclosing human as well as some animal +victims, who perished by fire. Diodorus says that the victims were +malefactors who had been kept in prison for five years, and that some of +them were impaled.[798] This need not mean that the holocausts were +quinquennial, for they may have been offered yearly, at Midsummer, to +judge by the ritual of modern survivals.[799] The victims perished in +that element by which the sun-god chiefly manifested himself, and by the +sacrifice his powers were augmented, and thus growth and fertility were +promoted. These holocausts were probably extensions of an earlier +slaying of a victim representing the spirit of vegetation, though their +value in aiding fertility would be still in evidence. This is suggested +by Strabo's words that the greater the number of murders the greater +would be the fertility of the land, probably meaning that there would +then be more criminals as sacrificial victims.[800] Varro also speaks of +human sacrifice to a god equated with Saturn, offered because of all +seeds the human race is the best, i.e. human victims are most productive +of fertility.[801] Thus, looked at in one way, the later rite was a +propitiatory sacrifice, in another it was an act of magico-religious +ritual springing from the old rite of the divine victim. But from both +points of view the intention was the same--the promotion of fertility in +field and fold. + +Divination with the bodies of human victims is attested by Tacitus, who +says that "the Druids consult the gods in the palpitating entrails of +men," and by Strabo, who describes the striking down of the victim by +the sword and the predicting of the future from his convulsive +movements.[802] To this we shall return. + +Human sacrifice in Gaul was put down by the Romans, who were amazed at +its extent, Suetonius summing up the whole religion in a +phrase--_druidarum religionem diræ immanitatis_.[803] By the year 40 +A.D. it had ceased, though victims were offered symbolically, the Druids +pretending to strike them and drawing a little blood from them.[804] +Only the pressure of a higher civilisation forced the so-called +philosophic Druids to abandon their revolting customs. Among the Celts +of Britain human sacrifice still prevailed in 77 A.D.[805] Dio Cassius +describes the refinements of cruelty practised on female victims +(prisoners of war) in honour of the goddess Andrasta--their breasts cut +off and placed over their mouths, and a stake driven through their +bodies, which were then hung in the sacred grove.[806] Tacitus speaks of +the altars in Mona (Anglesey) laved with human blood. As to the Irish +Celts, patriotic writers have refused to believe them guilty of such +practices,[807] but there is no _a priori_ reason which need set them +apart from other races on the same level of civilisation in this custom. +The Irish texts no doubt exaggerate the number of the victims, but they +certainly attest the existence of the practice. From the _Dindsenchas_, +which describes many archaic usages, we learn that "the firstlings of +every issue and the chief scions of every clan" were offered to Cromm +Cruaich--a sacrifice of the first-born,--and that at one festival the +prostrations of the worshippers were so violent that three-fourths of +them perished, not improbably an exaggerated memory of orgiastic +rites.[808] Dr. Joyce thinks that these notices are as incredible as the +mythic tales in the _Dindsenchas_. Yet the tales were doubtless quite +credible to the pagan Irish, and the ritual notices are certainly +founded on fact. Dr. Joyce admits the existence of foundation sacrifices +in Ireland, and it is difficult to understand why human victims may not +have been offered on other occasions also. + +The purpose of the sacrifice, namely, fertility, is indicated in the +poetical version of the cult of Cromm-- + + "Milk and corn + They would ask from him speedily, + In return for one-third of their healthy issue."[809] + +The Nemedian sacrifice to the Fomorians is said to have been two-thirds +of their children and of the year's supply of corn and milk[810]--an +obvious misunderstanding, the victims really being offered to obtain +corn and milk. The numbers are exaggerated,[811] but there can be no +doubt as to the nature of the sacrifice--the offering of an agricultural +folk to the divinities who helped or retarded growth. Possibly part of +the flesh of the victims, at one time identified with the god, was +buried in the fields or mixed with the seed-corn, in order to promote +fertility. The blood was sprinkled on the image of the god. Such +practices were as obnoxious to Christian missionaries as they had been +to the Roman Government, and we learn that S. Patrick preached against +"the slaying of yoke oxen and milch cows and the burning of the +first-born progeny" at the Fair of Taillte.[812] As has been seen, the +Irish version of the Perseus and Andromeda story, in which the victim is +offered not to a dragon, but to the Fomorians, may have received this +form from actual ritual in which human victims were sacrificed to the +Fomorians.[813] In a Japanese version of the same story the maiden is +offered to the sea-gods. Another tale suggests the offering of human +victims to remove blight. In this case the land suffers from blight +because the adulteress Becuma, married to the king of Erin, has +pretended to be a virgin. The Druids announced that the remedy was to +slay the son of an undefiled couple and sprinkle the doorposts and the +land with his blood. Such a youth was found, but at his mother's request +a two-bellied cow, in which two birds were found, was offered in his +stead.[814] In another instance in the _Dindsenchas_, hostages, +including the son of a captive prince, are offered to remove plagues--an +equivalent to the custom of the Gauls.[815] + +Human sacrifices were also offered when the foundation of a new building +was laid. Such sacrifices are universal, and are offered to propitiate +the Earth spirits or to provide a ghostly guardian for the building. A +Celtic legend attaches such a sacrifice to the founding of the monastery +at Iona. S. Oran agrees to adopt S. Columba's advice "to go under the +clay of this island to hallow it," and as a reward he goes straight to +heaven.[816] The legend is a semi-Christian form of the memory of an old +pagan custom, and it is attached to Oran probably because he was the +first to be buried in the island. In another version, nothing is said of +the sacrifice. The two saints are disputing about the other world, and +Oran agrees to go for three days into the grave to settle the point at +issue. At the end of that time the grave is opened, and the triumphant +Oran announces that heaven and hell are not such as they are alleged to +be. Shocked at his latitudinarian sentiments, Columba ordered earth to +be piled over him, lest he cause a scandal to the faith, and Oran was +accordingly buried alive.[817] In a Welsh instance, Vortigern's castle +cannot be built, for the stones disappear as soon as they are laid. Wise +men, probably Druids, order the sacrifice of a child born without a +father, and the sprinkling of the site with his blood.[818] "Groaning +hostages" were placed under a fort in Ireland, and the foundation of the +palace of Emain Macha was also laid with a human victim.[819] Many +similar legends are connected with buildings all over the Celtic area, +and prove the popularity of the pagan custom. The sacrifice of human +victims on the funeral pile will be discussed in a later chapter. + +Of all these varieties of human sacrifice, those offered for fertility, +probably at Beltane or Midsummer, were the most important. Their +propitiatory nature is of later origin, and their real intention was to +strengthen the divinity by whom the processes of growth were directed. +Still earlier, one victim represented the divinity, slain that his life +might be revived in vigour. The earth was sprinkled with his blood and +fed with his flesh in order to fertilise it, and possibly the +worshippers partook sacramentally of the flesh. Propitiatory holocausts +of human victims had taken the place of the slain representative of a +god, but their value in promoting fertility was not forgotten. The +sacramental aspect of the rite is perhaps to be found in Pliny's words +regarding "the slaying of a human being as a most religious act and +eating the flesh as a wholesome remedy" among the Britons.[820] This may +merely refer to "medicinal cannibalism," such as still survives in +Italy, but the passage rather suggests sacramental cannibalism, the +eating of part of a divine victim, such as existed in Mexico and +elsewhere. Other acts of cannibalism are referred to by classical +writers. Diodorus says the Irish ate their enemies, and Pausanias +describes the eating the flesh and drinking the blood of children among +the Galatian Celts. Drinking out of a skull the blood of slain +(sacrificial) enemies is mentioned by Ammianus and Livy, and Solinus +describes the Irish custom of bathing the face in the blood of the slain +and drinking it.[821] In some of these cases the intention may simply +have been to obtain the dead enemy's strength, but where a sacrificial +victim was concerned, the intention probably went further than this. The +blood of dead relatives was also drunk in order to obtain their virtues, +or to be brought into closer _rapport_ with them.[822] This is analogous +to the custom of blood brotherhood, which also existed among the Celts +and continued as a survival in the Western Isles until a late date.[823] + +One group of Celtic human sacrifices was thus connected with primitive +agricultural ritual, but the warlike energies of the Celts extended the +practice. Victims were easily obtained, and offered to the gods of war. +Yet even these sacrifices preserved some trace of the older rite, in +which the victim represented a divinity or spirit. + +Head-hunting, described in classical writings and in Irish texts, had +also a sacrificial aspect. The heads of enemies were hung at the +saddle-bow or fixed on spears, as the conquerors returned home with +songs of victory.[824] This gruesome picture often recurs in the texts. +Thus, after the death of Cúchulainn, Conall Cernach returned to Emer +with the heads of his slayers strung on a withy. He placed each on a +stake and told Emer the name of the owner. A Celtic _oppidum_ or a +king's palace must have been as gruesome as a Dayak or Solomon Island +village. Everywhere were stakes crowned with heads, and the walls of +houses were adorned with them. Poseidonius tells how he sickened at such +a sight, but gradually became more accustomed to it.[825] A room in the +palace was sometimes a store for such heads, or they were preserved in +cedar-wood oil or in coffers. They were proudly shown to strangers as a +record of conquest, but they could not be sold for their weight in +gold.[826] After a battle a pile of heads was made and the number of the +slain was counted, and at annual festivals warriors produced the tongues +of enemies as a record of their prowess.[827] + +These customs had a religious aspect. In cutting off a head the Celt +saluted the gods, and the head was offered to them or to ancestral +spirits, and sometimes kept in grove or temple.[828] The name given to +the heads of the slain in Ireland, the "mast of Macha," shows that they +were dedicated to her, just as skulls found under an altar had been +devoted to the Celtic Mars.[829] Probably, as among Dayaks, American +Indians, and others, possession of a head was a guarantee that the ghost +of its owner would be subservient to its Celtic possessor, either in +this world or in the next, since they are sometimes found buried in +graves along with the dead.[830] Or, suspended in temples, they became +an actual and symbolical offering of the life of their owners, if, as is +probable, the life or soul was thought to be in the head. Hence, too, +the custom of drinking from the skull of the slain had the intention of +transferring his powers directly to the drinker.[831] Milk drunk from +the skull of Conall Cernach restored to enfeebled warriors their +pristine strength,[832] and a folk-survival in the Highlands--that of +drinking from the skull of a suicide (here taking the place of the slain +enemy) in order to restore health--shows the same idea at work. All +these practices had thus one end, that of the transference of spirit +force--to the gods, to the victor who suspended the head from his house, +and to all who drank from the skull. Represented in bas-relief on houses +or carved on dagger-handles, the head may still have been thought to +possess talismanic properties, giving power to house or weapon. Possibly +this cult of human heads may have given rise to the idea of a divine +head like those figured on Gaulish images, or described, e.g., in the +story of Bran. His head preserved the land from invasion, until Arthur +disinterred it,[833] the story being based on the belief that heads or +bodies of great warriors still had a powerful influence.[834] The +representation of the head of a god, like his whole image, would be +thought to possess the same preservative power. + +A possible survival of the sacrifice of the aged may be found in a +Breton custom of applying a heavy club to the head of old persons to +lighten their death agonies, the clubs having been formerly used to kill +them. They are kept in chapels, and are regarded with awe.[835] + +Animal victims were also frequently offered. The Galatian Celts made a +yearly sacrifice to their Artemis of a sheep, goat, or calf, purchased +with money laid by for each animal caught in the chase. Their dogs were +feasted and crowned with flowers.[836] Further details of this ritual +are unfortunately lacking. Animals captured in war were sacrificed to +the war-gods by the Gauls, or to a river-god, as when the horses of the +defeated host were thrown into the Rhine by the Gaulish conquerors of +Mallius.[837] We have seen that the white oxen sacrificed at the +mistletoe ritual may once have been representatives of the +vegetation-spirit, which also animated the oak and the mistletoe. Among +the insular Celts animal sacrifices are scarcely mentioned in the texts, +probably through suppression by later scribes, but the lives of Irish +saints contain a few notices of the custom, e.g. that of S. Patrick, +which describes the gathering of princes, chiefs, and Druids at Tara to +sacrifice victims to idols.[838] In Ireland the peasantry still kill a +sheep or heifer for S. Martin on his festival, and ill-luck is thought +to follow the non-observance of the rite.[839] Similar sacrifices on +saints' days in Scotland and Wales occurred in Christian times.[840] An +excellent instance is that of the sacrifice of bulls at Gairloch for the +cure of lunatics on S. Maelrubha's day (August 25th). Libations of milk +were also poured out on the hills, ruined chapels were perambulated, +wells and stones worshipped, and divination practised. These rites, +occurring in the seventeenth century, were condemned by the Presbytery +of Dingwall, but with little effect, and some of them still +survive.[841] In all these cases the saint has succeeded to the ritual +of an earlier god. Mr. Cook surmises that S. Maelrubha was the successor +of a divine king connected with an oak and sacred well, the god or +spirit of which was incarnate in him. These divine kings may at one time +have been slain, or a bull, similarly incarnating the god or spirit, may +have been killed as a surrogate. This slaying was at a later time +regarded as a sacrifice and connected with the cure of madness.[842] The +rite would thus be on a parallel with the slaying of the oxen at the +mistletoe gathering, as already interpreted. Eilean Maree (Maelrubha), +where the tree and well still exist, was once known as Eilean mo righ +("the island of my king"), or Eilean a Mhor Righ ("of the great king"), +the king having been worshipped as a god. This piece of corroborative +evidence was given by the oldest inhabitant to Sir Arthur Mitchell.[843] +The people also spoke of the god Mourie. + +Other survivals of animal sacrifice are found in cases of cattle-plague, +as in Morayshire sixty years ago, in Wales, Devon, and the Isle of Man. +The victim was burned and its ashes sprinkled on the herd, or it was +thrown into the sea or over a precipice.[844] Perhaps it was both a +propitiatory sacrifice and a scape-animal, carrying away the disease, +though the rite may be connected with the former slaying of a divine +animal whose death benefited all the cattle of the district. In the +Hebrides the spirits of earth and air were propitiated every quarter by +throwing outside the door a cock, hen, duck, or cat, which was supposed +to be seized by them. If the rite was neglected, misfortune was sure to +follow. The animal carried away evils from the house, and was also a +propitiatory sacrifice. + +The blood of victims was sprinkled on altars, images, and trees, or, as +among the Boii, it was placed in a skull adorned with gold.[845] Other +libations are known mainly from folk-survivals. Thus Breton fishermen +salute reefs and jutting promontories, say prayers, and pour a glass of +wine or throw a biscuit or an old garment into the sea.[846] In the +Hebrides a curious rite was performed on Maundy Thursday. After midnight +a man walked into the sea, and poured ale or gruel on the waters, at the +same time singing: + + "O God of the sea, + Put weed in the drawing wave, + To enrich the ground, + To shower on us food." + +Those on shore took up the strain in chorus.[847] Thus the rite was +described by one who took part in it a century ago, but Martin, writing +in the seventeenth century, gives other details. The cup of ale was +offered with the words, "Shony, I give you this cup of ale, hoping that +you will be so kind as to send plenty of seaweed for enriching our +ground for the ensuing year." All then went in silence to the church and +remained there for a time, after which they indulged in an orgy +out-of-doors. This orgiastic rite may once have included the intercourse +of the sexes--a powerful charm for fertility. "Shony" was some old +sea-god, and another divinity of the sea, Brianniul, was sometimes +invoked for the same purpose.[848] Until recently milk was poured on +"Gruagach stones" in the Hebrides, as an offering to the Gruagach, a +brownie who watched over herds, and who had taken the place of a +god.[849] + + +PRAYER. + + +Prayer accompanied most rites, and probably consisted of traditional +formulæ, on the exact recital of which depended their value. The Druids +invoked a god during the mistletoe rite, and at a Galatian sacrifice, +offered to bring birds to destroy grasshoppers, prayer was made to the +birds themselves.[850] In Mona, at the Roman invasion, the Druids raised +their arms and uttered prayers for deliverance, at the same time cursing +the invaders, and Boudicca invoked the protection of the goddess +Andrasta in a similar manner.[851] Chants were sung by the "priestesses" +of Sena to raise storms, and they were also sung by warriors both before +and after a battle, to the accompaniment of a measured dance and the +clashing of arms.[852] These warrior chants were composed by bards, and +probably included invocations of the war-gods and the recital of famous +deeds. They may also have been of the nature of spells ensuring the help +of the gods, like the war-cries uttered by a whole army to the sound of +trumpets.[853] These consisted of the name of a god, of a tribe or clan, +or of some well-known phrase. As the recital of a divine name is often +supposed to force the god to help, these cries had thus a magical +aspect, while they also struck terror into the foe.[854] Warriors also +advanced dancing to the fray, and they are depicted on coins dancing on +horseback or before a sword, which was worshipped by the Celts.[855] The +Celtiberian festival at the full moon consisted entirely of dancing. The +dance is a primitive method of expressing religious emotion, and where +it imitates certain actions, it is intended by magical influence to +crown the actions themselves with success. It is thus a kind of acted +prayer with magical results. + + +DIVINATION. + + +A special class of diviners existed among the Celts, but the Druids +practised divination, as did also the unofficial layman. Classical +writers speak of the Celts as of all nations the most devoted to, and +the most experienced in, the science of divination. Divination with a +human victim is described by Diodorus. Libations were poured over him, +and he was then slain, auguries being drawn from the method of his fall, +the movements of his limbs, and the flowing of his blood. Divination +with the entrails was used in Galatia, Gaul, and Britain.[856] Beasts +and birds also provided omens. The course taken by a hare let loose gave +an omen of success to the Britons, and in Ireland divination was used +with a sacrificial animal.[857] Among birds the crow was pre-eminent, +and two crows are represented speaking into the ears of a man on a +bas-relief at Compiègne. The Celts believed that the crow had shown +where towns should be founded, or had furnished a remedy against poison, +and it was also an arbiter of disputes.[858] Artemidorus describes how, +at a certain place, there were two crows. Persons having a dispute set +out two heaps of sweetmeats, one for each disputant. The birds swooped +down upon them, eating one and dispersing the other. He whose heap had +been scattered won the case.[859] Birds were believed to have guided the +migrating Celts, and their flight furnished auguries, because, as +Deiotaurus gravely said, birds never lie. Divination by the voices of +birds was used by the Irish Druids.[860] + +Omens were drawn from the direction of the smoke and flames of sacred +fires and from the condition of the clouds.[861] Wands of yew were +carried by Druids--"the wand of Druidism" of many folk-tales--and were +used perhaps as divining-rods. Ogams were also engraved on rods of yews, +and from these Druids divined hidden things. By this means the Druid +Dalan discovered where Etain had been hidden by the god Mider. The +method used may have been that of drawing one of the rods by lot and +then divining from the marks upon it. A similar method was used to +discover the route to be taken by invaders, the result being supposed to +depend on divine interposition.[862] The knowledge of astronomy ascribed +by Cæsar to the Druids was probably of a simple kind, and much mixed +with astrology, and though it furnished the data for computing a simple +calendar, its use was largely magical.[863] Irish diviners forecast the +time to build a house by the stars, and the date at which S. Columba's +education should begin, was similarly discovered.[864] + +The _Imbas Forosnai_, "illumination between the hands," was used by the +_Filé_ to discover hidden things. He chewed a piece of raw flesh and +placed it as an offering to the images of the gods whom he desired to +help him. If enlightenment did not come by the next day, he pronounced +incantations on his palms, which he then placed on his cheeks before +falling asleep. The revelation followed in a dream, or sometimes after +awaking.[865] Perhaps the animal whose flesh was eaten was a sacred one. +Another method was that of the _Teinm Laegha_. The _Filé_ made a verse +and repeated it over some person or thing regarding which he sought +information, or he placed his staff on the person's body and so obtained +what he sought. The rite was also preceded by sacrifice; hence S. +Patrick prohibited both it and the _Imbas Forosnai_.[866] Another +incantation, the _Cétnad_, was sung through the fist to discover the +track of stolen cattle or of the thief. If this did not bring +enlightenment, the _Filé_ went to sleep and obtained the knowledge +through a dream.[867] Another _Cétnad_ for obtaining information +regarding length of life was addressed to the seven daughters of the +sea. Perhaps the incantation was repeated mechanically until the seer +fell into a kind of trance. Divination by dreams was also used by the +continental Celts.[868] + +Other methods resemble "trance-utterance." "A great obnubilation was +conjured up for the bard so that he slept a heavy sleep, and things +magic-begotten were shewn to him to enunciate," apparently in his sleep. +This was called "illumination by rhymes," and a similar method was used +in Wales. When consulted, the seer roared violently until he was beside +himself, and out of his ravings the desired information was gathered. +When aroused from this ecstatic condition, he had no remembrance of what +he had uttered. Giraldus reports this, and thinks, with the modern +spiritualist, that the utterance was caused by spirits.[869] The +resemblance to modern trance-utterance and to similar methods used by +savages is remarkable, and psychological science sees in it the +promptings of the subliminal self in sleep. + +The _taghairm_ of the Highlanders was a survival from pagan times. The +seer was usually bound in a cow's hide--the animal, it may be +conjectured, having been sacrificed in earlier times. He was left in a +desolate place, and while he slept spirits were supposed to inspire his +dreams.[870] Clothing in the skin of a sacrificial animal, by which the +person thus clothed is brought into contact with it and hence with the +divinity to which it is offered, or with the divine animal itself where +the victim is so regarded, is a widespread custom. Hence, in this Celtic +usage, contact with divinity through the hide would be expected to +produce enlightenment. For a like reason the Irish sacrificed a sheep +for the recovery of the sick, and clothed the patient in its skin.[871] +Binding the limbs of the seer is also a widespread custom, perhaps to +restrain his convulsions or to concentrate the psychic force. + +Both among the continental and Irish Celts those who sought hidden +knowledge slept on graves, hoping to be inspired by the spirits of the +dead.[872] Legend told how, the full version of the _Táin_ having been +lost, Murgan the _Filé_ sang an incantation over the grave of Fergus mac +Roig. A cloud hid him for three days, and during that time the dead man +appeared and recited the saga to him. + +In Ireland and the Highlands, divination by looking into the +shoulder-blade of a sheep was used to discover future events or things +happening at a distance, a survival from pagan times.[873] The scholiast +on Lucan describes the Druidic method of chewing acorns and then +prophesying, just as, in Ireland, eating nuts from the sacred hazels +round Connla's well gave inspiration.[874] The "priestesses" of Sena and +the "Druidesses" of the third century had the gift of prophecy, and it +was also ascribed freely to the _Filid_, the Druids, and to Christian +saints. Druids are said to have prophesied the coming of S. Patrick, and +similar prophecies are put in the mouths of Fionn and others, just as +Montezuma's priests foretold the coming of the Spaniards.[875] The word +used for such prophecies--_baile_, means "ecstasy," and it suggests that +the prophet worked himself into a frenzy and then fell into a trance, in +which he uttered his forecast. Prophecies were also made at the birth of +a child, describing its future career.[876] Careful attention was given +to the utterances of Druidic prophets, e.g. Medb's warriors postponed +their expedition for fifteen days, because the Druids told them they +would not succeed if they set out sooner.[877] + +Mythical personages or divinities are said in the Irish texts to have +stood on one leg, with one arm extended, and one eye closed, when +uttering prophecies or incantations, and this was doubtless an attitude +used by the seer.[878] A similar method is known elsewhere, and it may +have been intended to produce greater force. From this attitude may have +originated myths of beings with one arm, one leg, and one eye, like some +Fomorians or the _Fachan_ whose weird picture Campbell of Islay drew +from verbal descriptions.[879] + +Early Celtic saints occasionally describe lapses into heathenism in +Ireland, not characterised by "idolatry," but by wizardry, dealing in +charms, and _fidlanna_, perhaps a kind of divination with pieces of +wood.[880] But it is much more likely that these had never really been +abandoned. They belong to the primitive element of religion and magic +which people cling to long after they have given up "idolatry." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[790] Cæsar, vi. 16. + +[791] Rh[^y]s, _CB_{4} 68. + +[792] Justin, xxvi. 2; Pomp. Mela, iii. 2. + +[793] Diod. Sic. xxii. 9. + +[794] See Jullian, 53. + +[795] Servius on _Æneid_, iii. 57. + +[796] Cæsar, vi. 16; Livy, xxxviii. 47; Diod. Sic. v. 32, xxxi. 13; +Athenæus, iv. 51; Dio Cass., lxii. 7. + +[797] Diod. Sic, xxxiv. 13; Strabo, iv. 4; Orosius, v. 16; Schol. on +Lucan, Usener's ed. 32. + +[798] Cæsar, vi. 16; Strabo, iv. 4; Diod. Sic. v. 32; Livy, xxxviii. 47. + +[799] Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, 529 f. + +[800] Strabo, _ibid._ 4. 4. + +[801] S. Aug. _de Civ. Dei_, vii. 19. + +[802] Tac. _Ann._ xiv. 30; Strabo, iv. 4. 4. + +[803] Suet. _Claud._ 25. + +[804] Pomp. Mela, iii. 2. 18. + +[805] Pliny, _HN_ xxx. 4. 13. + +[806] Dio. Cass. lxii. 6. + +[807] O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 222; Joyce, _SH_ i. ch. 9. + +[808] _RC_ xvi. 35. + +[809] _LL_ 213_b_. + +[810] See p. 52, _supra_. + +[811] See, however, accounts of reckless child sacrifices in Ellis, +_Polynesian Researches_, i. 252, and Westermarck, _Moral Ideas_, i. 397. + +[812] O'Curry, _MC_ Intro, dcxli. + +[813] _LU_ 126_a_. A folk-version is given by Larminie, _West Irish +Folk-Tales_, 139. + +[814] _Book of Fermoy_, 89_a_. + +[815] O'Curry, _MC_ Intro. dcxl, ii. 222. + +[816] Adamnan, _Vita S. Col._ Reeve's ed. 288. + +[817] Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_, ii. 317. + +[818] Nennius, _Hist. Brit._ 40. + +[819] Stokes, _TIG_ xli.; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 9. + +[820] Pliny, _HN_ xxx. 1. The feeding of Ethni, daughter of Crimthann, +on human flesh that she might sooner attain maturity may be an instance +of "medicinal cannibalism" (_IT_ iii. 363). The eating of parents among +the Irish, described by Strabo (iv. 5), was an example of "honorific +cannibalism." See my article "Cannibalism" in Hastings' _Encycl. of Rel. +and Ethics_, iii, 194. + +[821] Diod. Sic. vi. 12; Paus. x. 22. 3; Amm. Marc. xxvii. 4; Livy, +xxiii. 24; Solin. xxii. 3. + +[822] This custom continued in Ireland until Spenser's time. + +[823] Leahy, i. 158; Giraldus, _Top. Hib._ iii. 22; Martin, 109. + +[824] Sil. Ital. iv. 213; Diod. Sic. xiv. 115; Livy, x. 26; Strabo, iv. +4. 5; Miss Hull, 92. + +[825] Diod. Sic. v. 29; Strabo, iv. 4. 5. + +[826] D'Arbois, v. 11; Diod. Sic. v. 29; Strabo, _loc. cit._ + +[827] _Annals of the Four Masters_, 864; _IT_ i. 205. + +[828] Sil. Ital. iv. 215, v. 652; Lucan, _Phar._ i. 447; Livy, xxiii. +24. + +[829] See p. 71, _supra_; _CIL_ xii. 1077. A dim memory of head-taking +survived in the seventeenth century in Eigg, where headless skeletons +were found, of which the islanders said that an enemy had cut off their +heads (Martin, 277). + +[830] Belloguet, _Ethnol. Gaul._ iii. 100. + +[831] Sil. Ital. xiii. 482; Livy, xxiii. 24; Florus, i. 39. + +[832] _ZCP_ i. 106. + +[833] Loth, i. 90 f., ii. 218-219. Sometimes the weapons of a great +warrior had the same effect. The bows of Gwerthevyr were hidden in +different parts of Prydein and preserved the land from Saxon invasion, +until Gwrtheyrn, for love of a woman, dug them up (Loth, ii. 218-219). + +[834] See p. 338, _infra_. In Ireland, the brain of an enemy was taken +from the head, mixed with lime, and made into a ball. This was allowed +to harden, and was then placed in the tribal armoury as a trophy. + +[835] _L'Anthropologie_, xii. 206, 711. Cf. the English tradition of the +"Holy Mawle," said to have been used for the same purpose. Thorns, +_Anecdotes and Traditions_, 84. + +[836] Arrian, _Cyneg._ xxxiii. + +[837] Cæsar, vi. 17; Orosius, v. 16. 6. + +[838] D'Arbois, i. 155. + +[839] Curtin, _Tales of the Fairies_, 72; _Folk-Lore_, vii. 178-179. + +[840] Mitchell, _Past in the Present_, 275. + +[841] Mitchell, _op. cit._ 271 f. + +[842] Cook, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 332. + +[843] Mitchell, _loc. cit._ 147. The corruption of "Maelrubha" to +"Maree" may have been aided by confusing the name with _mo_ or _mhor +righ_. + +[844] Mitchell, _loc. cit._; Moore, 92, 145; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 305; +Worth, _Hist. of Devonshire_, 339; Dalyell, _passim_. + +[845] Livy, xxiii. 24. + +[846] Sébillot, ii. 166-167; _L'Anthrop._ xv. 729. + +[847] Carmichael, _Carm. Gad._ i. 163. + +[848] Martin, 28. A scribe called "Sonid," which might be the equivalent +of "Shony," is mentioned in the Stowe missal (_Folk-Lore_, 1895). + +[849] Campbell, _Superstitions_, 184 f; _Waifs and Strays of Celtic +Trad._ ii. 455. + +[850] Aelian, xvii. 19. + +[851] Tacitus, _Ann._ xiv. 30; Dio Cass. lxii. 6. + +[852] Appian, _Celtica_, 8; Livy, xxi. 28, xxxviii. 17, x. 26. + +[853] Livy, v. 38, vii. 23; Polybius, ii. 29. Cf. Watteville, _Le cri de +guerre chez les differents peuples_, Paris, 1889. + +[854] Livy, v. 38. + +[855] Appian, vi. 53; Muret et Chabouillet, _Catalogue des monnaies +gauloises_, 6033 f., 6941 f. + +[856] Diod. v. 31; Justin, xxvi. 2, 4; Cicero, _de Div._ ii. 36, 76; +Tac. _Ann._ xiv. 30; Strabo, iii. 3. 6. + +[857] Dio Cass. lxii. 6. + +[858] Reinach, _Catal. Sommaire_, 31; Pseudo-Plutarch, _de Fluviis_, vi. +4; _Mirab. Auscult._ 86. + +[859] Strabo, iv. 4. 6. + +[860] Justin, xxiv, 4; Cicero, _de Div._ i. 15. 26. (Cf. the two magic +crows which announced the coming of Cúchulainn to the other world +(D'Arbois, v. 203); Irish _Nennius_, 145; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 224; cf. for +a Welsh instance, Skene, i. 433.) + +[861] Joyce, _SH_ i. 229; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 224, _MS Mat._ 284. + +[862] _IT_ i. 129; Livy, v. 34; Loth, _RC_ xvi. 314. The Irish for +consulting a lot is _crann-chur_, "the act of casting wood." + +[863] Cæsar, vi. 14. + +[864] O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 46, 224; Stokes, _Three Irish Homilies_, 103. + +[865] Cormac, 94. Fionn's divination by chewing his thumb is called +_Imbas Forosnai_ (_RC_ xxv. 347). + +[866] _Antient Laws of Ireland_, i. 45. + +[867] Hyde, _Lit. Hist. of Ireland_, 241. + +[868] Justin, xliii. 5. + +[869] O'Grady, ii. 362; Giraldus, _Descr. Camb._ i. 11. + +[870] Pennant, _Tour in Scotland_, i. 311; Martin, 111. + +[871] Richardson, _Folly of Pilgrimages_, 70. + +[872] Tertullian, _de Anima_, 57; _Coll. de Reb. Hib._ iii. 334. + +[873] Campbell, _Superstitions_, 263; Curtin, _Tales_, 84. + +[874] Lucan, ed. Usener, 33. + +[875] See examples in O'Curry, _MS Mat._ 383 f. + +[876] Miss Hull, 19, 20, 23. + +[877] _LU_ 55. + +[878] _RC_ xii. 98, xxi. 156, xxii. 61. + +[879] _RC_ xv. 432; _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.M. 2530; Campbell, +_WHT_ iv. 298. + +[880] See "Adamnan's Second Vision." _RC_ xii. 441. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +TABU. + + +The Irish _geis_, pl. _geasa_, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two +senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous +consequences, and also an obligation to do something commanded by +another. + +As a tabu the _geis_ had a large place in Irish life, and was probably +known to other branches of the Celts.[881] It followed the general +course of tabu wherever found. Sometimes it was imposed before birth, or +it was hereditary, or connected with totemism. Legends, however, often +arose giving a different explanation to _geasa_, long after the customs +in which they originated had been forgotten. It was one of Diarmaid's +_geasa_ not to hunt the boar of Ben Gulban, and this was probably +totemic in origin. But legend told how his father killed a child, the +corpse being changed into a boar by the child's father, who said its +span of life would be the same as Diarmaid's, and that he would be slain +by it. Oengus put _geasa_ on Diarmaid not to hunt it, but at Fionn's +desire he broke these, and was killed.[882] Other _geasa_--those of +Cúchulainn not to eat dog's flesh, and of Conaire never to chase +birds--also point to totemism. + +In some cases _geasa_ were based on ideas of right and wrong, honour or +dishonour, or were intended to cause avoidance of unlucky days. Others +are unintelligible to us. The largest number of _geasa_ concerned kings +and chiefs, and are described, along with their corresponding +privileges, in the _Book of Rights_. Some of the _geasa_ of the king of +Connaught were not to go to an assembly of women at Leaghair, not to sit +in autumn on the sepulchral mound of the wife of Maine, not to go in a +grey-speckled garment on a grey-speckled horse to the heath of Cruachan, +and the like.[883] The meaning of these is obscure, but other examples +are more obvious and show that all alike corresponded to the tabus +applying to kings in primitive societies, who are often magicians, +priests, or even divine representatives. On them the welfare of the +tribe and the making of rain or sunshine, and the processes of growth +depend. They must therefore be careful of their actions, and hence they +are hedged about with tabus which, however unmeaning, have a direct +connection with their powers. Out of such conceptions the Irish kingly +_geasa_ arose. Their observance made the earth fruitful, produced +abundance and prosperity, and kept both the king and his land from +misfortune. In later times these were supposed to be dependent on the +"goodness" or the reverse of the king, but this was a departure from the +older idea, which is clearly stated in the _Book of Rights_.[884] The +kings were divinities on whom depended fruitfulness and plenty, and who +must therefore submit to obey their _geasa_. Some of their prerogatives +seem also to be connected with this state of things. Thus they might eat +of certain foods or go to certain places on particular days.[885] In +primitive societies kings and priests often prohibit ordinary mortals +from eating things which they desire for themselves by making them +_tabu_, and in other cases the fruits of the earth can only be eaten +after king or priest has partaken of them ceremonially. This may have +been the case in Ireland. The privilege relating to places may have +meant that these were sacred and only to be entered by the king at +certain times and in his sacred capacity. + +As a reflection from this state of things, the heroes of the sagas, +Cúchulainn and Fionn, had numerous _geasa_ applicable to themselves, +some of them religious, some magical, others based on primitive ideas of +honour, others perhaps the invention of the narrators.[886] + +_Geasa_, whether in the sense of tabus or of obligations, could be +imposed by any one, and must be obeyed, for disobedience produced +disastrous effects. Probably the obligation was framed as an incantation +or spell, and the power of the spell being fully believed in, obedience +would follow as a matter of course.[887] Examples of such _geasa_ are +numerous in Irish literature. Cúchulainn's father-in-law put _geasa_ on +him that he should know no rest until he found out the cause of the +exile of the sons of Doel. And Grainne put _geasa_ on Diarmaid that he +should elope with her, and this he did, though the act was repugnant to +him. + +Among savages the punishment which is supposed to follow tabu-breaking +is often produced through auto-suggestion when a tabu has been +unconsciously infringed and this has afterwards been discovered. Fear +produces the result which is feared. The result is believed, however, to +be the working of divine vengeance. In the case of Irish _geasa_, +destruction and death usually followed their infringement, as in the +case of Diarmaid and Cúchulainn. But the best instance is found in the +tale of _The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel_, in which the _síd_-folk +avenge themselves for Eochaid's action by causing the destruction of his +descendant Conaire, who is forced to break his _geasa_. These are first +minutely detailed; then it is shown how, almost in spite of himself, +Conaire was led on to break them, and how, in the sequel, his tragic +death occurred.[888] Viewed in this light as the working of divine +vengeance to a remote descendant of the offender by forcing him to break +his tabus, the story is one of the most terrible in the whole range of +Irish literature. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[881] The religious interdictions mentioned by Cæsar (vi. 13) may be +regarded as tabus, while the spoils of war placed in a consecrated place +(vi. 18), and certain animals among the Britons (v. 12), were clearly +under tabu. + +[882] Joyce, _OCR_ 332 f. + +[883] _Book of Rights_, ed. O'Donovan, 5. + +[884] _Book of Rights_, 7. + +[885] Ibid. 3 f. + +[886] _LL_ 107; O'Grady, ii. 175. + +[887] In Highland tales _geasa_ is translated "spells." + +[888] _RC_ xxii. 27 f. The story of _Da Choca's Hostel_ has for its +subject the destruction of Cormac through breaking his _geasa_ (_RC_ +xxi. 149 f.). + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FESTIVALS. + + +The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and +equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the +seasons. Later, the year was a lunar one, and there is some evidence of +attempts at synchronising solar and lunar time. But time was mainly +measured by the moon, while in all calculations night preceded day.[889] +Thus _oidhche Samhain_ was the night preceding Samhain (November 1st), +not the following night. The usage survives in our "sennight" and +"fortnight." In early times the year had two, possibly three divisions, +marking periods in pastoral or agricultural life, but it was afterwards +divided into four periods, while the year began with the winter +division, opening at Samhain. A twofold, subdivided into a fourfold +division is found in Irish texts,[890] and may be tabulated as +follows:-- + + 1st quarter, _Geimredh_, beginning with the +_A_. Geimredh festival of _Samhain_, November 1st. + (winter half) + 2nd quarter, _Earrach_, beginning February + 1st (sometimes called _Oimelc_). + + + 3rd quarter, _Samradh_, beginning with the +_B_. Samhradh festival of _Beltane_, May 1st (called also + (summer half) _Cét-soman_ or _Cét-samain_, 1st day of + _Samono-s_; cf. Welsh _Cyntefyn_). + + 4th quarter, _Foghamhar_, beginning with + the festival of _Lugnasadh_, August 1st + (sometimes called _Brontroghain_). + +These divisions began with festivals, and clear traces of three of them +occur over the whole Celtic area, but the fourth has now been merged in +S. Brigit's day. Beltane and Samhain marked the beginning of the two +great divisions, and were perhaps at first movable festivals, according +as the signs of summer or winter appeared earlier or later. With the +adoption of the Roman calendar some of the festivals were displaced, +e.g. in Gaul, where the Calends of January took the place of Samhain, +the ritual being also transferred. + +None of the four festivals is connected with the times of equinox and +solstice. This points to the fact that originally the Celtic year was +independent of these. But Midsummer day was also observed not only by +the Celts, but by most European folk, the ritual resembling that of +Beltane. It has been held, and an old tradition in Ireland gives some +support to the theory, that under Christian influences the old pagan +feast of Beltane was merged in that of S. John Baptist on Midsummer +day.[891] But, though there are Christian elements in the Midsummer +ritual, denoting a desire to bring it under Church influence, the pagan +elements in folk-custom are strongly marked, and the festival is deeply +rooted in an earlier paganism all over Europe. Without much acquaintance +with astronomy, men must have noted the period of the sun's longest +course from early times, and it would probably be observed ritually. The +festivals of Beltane and Midsummer may have arisen independently, and +entered into competition with each other. Or Beltane may have been an +early pastoral festival marking the beginning of summer when the herds +went out to pasture, and Midsummer a more purely agricultural festival. +And since their ritual aspect and purpose as seen in folk-custom are +similar, they may eventually have borrowed each from the other. Or they +may be later separate fixed dates of an earlier movable summer festival. +For our purpose we may here consider them as twin halves of such a +festival. Where Midsummer was already observed, the influence of the +Roman calendar would confirm that observance. The festivals of the +Christian year also affected the older observances. Some of the ritual +was transferred to saints' days within the range of the pagan festival +days, thus the Samhain ritual is found observed on S. Martin's day. In +other cases, holy days took the place of the old festivals--All Saints' +and All Souls' that of Samhain, S. Brigit's day that of February 1st, S. +John Baptist's day that of Midsummer, Lammas that of Lugnasad, and some +attempt was made to hallow, if not to oust, the older ritual. + +The Celtic festivals being primarily connected with agricultural and +pastoral life, we find in their ritual survivals traces not only of a +religious but of a magical view of things, of acts designed to assist +the powers of life and growth. The proof of this will be found in a +detailed examination of the surviving customs connected with them. + + +SAMHAIN. + + +Samhain,[892] beginning the Celtic year, was an important social and +religious occasion. The powers of blight were beginning their +ascendancy, yet the future triumph of the powers of growth was not +forgotten. Probably Samhain had gathered up into itself other feasts +occurring earlier or later. Thus it bears traces of being a harvest +festival, the ritual of the earlier harvest feast being transferred to +the winter feast, as the Celts found themselves in lands where harvest +is not gathered before late autumn. The harvest rites may, however, have +been associated with threshing rather than ingathering. Samhain also +contains in its ritual some of the old pastoral cults, while as a New +Year feast its ritual is in great part that of all festivals of +beginnings. + +New fire was brought into each house at Samhain from the sacred +bonfire,[893] itself probably kindled from the need-fire by the friction +of pieces of wood. This preserved its purity, the purity necessary to a +festival of beginnings.[894] The putting away of the old fires was +probably connected with various rites for the expulsion of evils, which +usually occur among many peoples at the New Year festival. By that +process of dislocation which scattered the Samhain ritual over a wider +period and gave some of it to Christmas, the kindling of the Yule log +may have been originally connected with this festival. + +Divination and forecasting the fate of the inquirer for the coming year +also took place. Sometimes these were connected with the bonfire, stones +placed in it showing by their appearance the fortune or misfortune +awaiting their owners.[895] Others, like those described by Burns in his +"Hallowe'en," were unconnected with the bonfire and were of an erotic +nature.[896] + +The slaughter of animals for winter consumption which took place at +Samhain, or, as now, at Martinmas, though connected with economic +reasons, had a distinctly religious aspect, as it had among the Teutons. +In recent times in Ireland one of the animals was offered to S. Martin, +who may have taken the place of a god, and ill-luck followed the +non-observance of the custom.[897] The slaughter was followed by general +feasting. This later slaughter may be traced back to the pastoral stage, +in which the animals were regarded as divine, and one was slain annually +and eaten sacramentally. Or, if the slaughter was more general, the +animals would be propitiated. But when the animals ceased to be +worshipped, the slaughter would certainly be more general, though still +preserving traces of its original character. The pastoral sacrament may +also have been connected with the slaying and eating of an animal +representing the corn-spirit at harvest time. In one legend S. Martin is +associated with the animal slain at Martinmas, and is said to have been +cut up and eaten in the form of an ox,[898] as if a former divine animal +had become an anthropomorphic divinity, the latter being merged in the +personality of a Christian saint. + +Other rites, connected with the Calends of January as a result of +dislocation, point also in this direction. In Gaul and Germany riotous +processions took place with men dressed in the heads and skins of +animals.[899] This rite is said by Tille to have been introduced from +Italy, but it is more likely to have been a native custom.[900] As the +people ate the flesh of the slain animals sacramentally, so they clothed +themselves in the skins to promote further contact with their divinity. +Perambulating the township sunwise dressed in the skin of a cow took +place until recently in the Hebrides at New Year, in order to keep off +misfortune, a piece of the hide being burned and the smoke inhaled by +each person and animal in the township.[901] Similar customs have been +found in other Celtic districts, and these animal disguises can hardly +be separated from the sacramental slaughter at Samhain.[902] + +Evils having been or being about to be cast off in the New Year ritual, +a few more added to the number can make little difference. Hence among +primitive peoples New Year is often characterised by orgiastic rites. +These took place at the Calends in Gaul, and were denounced by councils +and preachers.[903] In Ireland the merriment at Samhain is often +mentioned in the texts,[904] and similar orgiastic rites lurk behind the +Hallowe'en customs in Scotland and in the licence still permitted to +youths in the quietest townships of the West Highlands at Samhain eve. + +Samhain, as has been seen, was also a festival of the dead, whose ghosts +were fed at this time.[905] + +As the powers of growth were in danger and in eclipse in winter, men +thought it necessary to assist them. As a magical aid the Samhain +bonfire was chief, and it is still lit in the Highlands. Brands were +carried round, and from it the new fire was lit in each house. In North +Wales people jumped through the fire, and when it was extinct, rushed +away to escape the "black sow" who would take the hindmost.[906] The +bonfire represented the sun, and was intended to strengthen it. But +representing the sun, it had all the sun's force, hence those who jumped +through it were strengthened and purified. The Welsh reference to the +hindmost and to the black sow may point to a former human sacrifice, +perhaps of any one who stumbled in jumping through the fire. Keating +speaks of a Druidic sacrifice in the bonfire, whether of man or beast is +not specified.[907] Probably the victim, like the scapegoat, was laden +with the accumulated evils of the year, as in similar New Year customs +elsewhere. Later belief regarded the sacrifice, if sacrifice there was, +as offered to the powers of evil--the black sow, unless this animal is a +reminiscence of the corn-spirit in its harmful aspect. Earlier powers, +whether of growth or of blight, came to be associated with Samhain as +demoniac beings--the "malignant bird flocks" which blighted crops and +killed animals, the _samhanach_ which steals children, and Mongfind the +banshee, to whom "women and the rabble" make petitions on Samhain +eve.[908] Witches, evil-intentioned fairies, and the dead were +particularly active then. + +Though the sacrificial victim had come to be regarded as an offering to +the powers of blight, he may once have represented a divinity of growth +or, in earlier times, the corn-spirit. Such a victim was slain at +harvest, and harvest is often late in northern Celtic regions, while the +slaying was sometimes connected not with the harvest field, but with the +later threshing. This would bring it near the Samhain festival. The +slaying of the corn-spirit was derived from the earlier slaying of a +tree or vegetation-spirit embodied in a tree and also in a human or +animal victim. The corn-spirit was embodied in the last sheaf cut as +well as in an animal or human being.[909] This human victim may have +been regarded as a king, since in late popular custom a mock king is +chosen at winter festivals.[910] In other cases the effigy of a saint is +hung up and carried round the different houses, part of the dress being +left at each. The saint has probably succeeded to the traditional ritual +of the divine victim.[911] The primitive period in which the corn-spirit +was regarded as female, with a woman as her human representative, is +also recalled in folk-custom. The last sheaf is called the Maiden or the +Mother, while, as in Northamptonshire, girls choose a queen on S. +Catharine's day, November 26th, and in some Christmas pageants "Yule's +wife," as well as Yule, is present, corresponding to the May queen of +the summer festival.[912] Men also masqueraded as women at the Calends. +The dates of these survivals may be explained by that dislocation of the +Samhain festival already pointed out. This view of the Samhain human +sacrifices is supported by the Irish offerings to the Fomorians--gods of +growth, later regarded as gods of blight, and to Cromm Cruaich, in both +cases at Samhain.[913] With the evolution of religious thought, the +slain victim came to be regarded as an offering to evil powers. + +This aspect of Samhain, as a festival to promote and assist festivity, +is further seen in the belief in the increased activity of fairies at +that time. In Ireland, fairies are connected with the Tuatha Dé Danann, +the divinities of growth, and in many folk-tales they are associated +with agricultural processes. The use of evergreens at Christmas is +perhaps also connected with the carrying of them round the fields in +older times, as an evidence that the life of nature was not +extinct.[914] + +Samhain may thus be regarded as, in origin, an old pastoral and +agricultural festival, which in time came to be looked upon as affording +assistance to the powers of growth in their conflict with the powers of +blight. Perhaps some myth describing this combat may lurk behind the +story of the battle of Mag-tured fought on Samhain between the Tuatha Dé +Danann and the Fomorians. While the powers of blight are triumphant in +winter, the Tuatha Déa are represented as the victors, though they +suffer loss and death. Perhaps this enshrines the belief in the +continual triumph of life and growth over blight and decay, or it may +arise from the fact that Samhain was both a time of rejoicing for the +ingathered harvest, and of wailing for the coming supremacy of winter +and the reign of the powers of blight. + + +BELTANE. + + +In Cormac's _Glossary_ and other texts, "Beltane" is derived from +_bel-tene_, "a goodly fire," or from _bel-dine_, because newly-born +(_dine_) cattle were offered to Bel, an idol-god.[915] The latter is +followed by those who believe in a Celtic Belus, connected with Baal. No +such god is known, however, and the god Belenos is in no way connected +with the Semitic divinity. M. D'Arbois assumes an unknown god of death, +Beltene (from _beltu_, "to die"), whose festival Beltane was.[916] But +Beltane was a festival of life, of the sun shining in his strength. Dr. +Stokes gives a more acceptable explanation of the word. Its primitive +form was _belo-te_[_p_]_niâ_, from _belo-s_, "clear," "shining," the +root of the names Belenos and Belisama, and _te_[_p_]_nos_, "fire." Thus +the word would mean something like "bright fire," perhaps the sun or the +bonfire, or both.[917] + +The folk-survivals of the Beltane and Midsummer festivals show that both +were intended to promote fertility. + +One of the chief ritual acts at Beltane was the kindling of bonfires, +often on hills. The house-fires in the district were often extinguished, +the bonfire being lit by friction from a rotating wheel--the German +"need-fire."[918] The fire kept off disease and evil, hence cattle were +driven through it, or, according to Cormac, between two fires lit by +Druids, in order to keep them in health during the year.[919] Sometimes +the fire was lit beneath a sacred tree, or a pole covered with greenery +was surrounded by the fuel, or a tree was burned in the fire.[920] These +trees survive in the Maypole of later custom, and they represented the +vegetation-spirit, to whom also the worshippers assimilated themselves +by dressing in leaves. They danced sunwise round the fire or ran through +the fields with blazing branches or wisps of straw, imitating the course +of the sun, and thus benefiting the fields.[921] For the same reason the +tree itself was probably borne through the fields. Houses were decked +with boughs and thus protected by the spirit of vegetation.[922] + +An animal representing the spirit of vegetation may have been slain. In +late survivals of Beltane at Dublin, a horse's skull and bones were +thrown into the fire,[923] the attenuated form of an earlier sacrifice +or slaying of a divine victim, by whom strength was transferred to all +the animals which passed through the fire. In some cases a human victim +may have been slain. This is suggested by customs surviving in +Perthshire in the eighteenth century, when a cake was broken up and +distributed, and the person who received a certain blackened portion was +called the "Beltane carline" or "devoted." A pretence was made of +throwing him into the fire, or he had to leap three times through it, +and during the festival he was spoken of as "dead."[924] Martin says +that malefactors were burned in the fire,[925] and though he cites no +authority, this agrees with the Celtic use of criminals as victims. +Perhaps the victim was at one time a human representative of the +vegetation-spirit. + +Beltane cakes or bannocks, perhaps made of the grain of the sacred last +sheaf from the previous harvest, and therefore sacramental in character, +were also used in different ways in folk-survivals. They were rolled +down a slope--a magical imitative act, symbolising and aiding the course +of the sun. The cake had also a divinatory character. If it broke on +reaching the foot of the slope this indicated the approaching death of +its owner. In another custom in Perthshire, part of a cake was thrown +over the shoulder with the words, "This I give to thee, preserve thou my +horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; this to thee, O fox, +preserve thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded crow; this to thee, O +eagle." Here there is an appeal to beneficial and noxious powers, +whether this was the original intention of the rite.[926] But if the +cakes were made of the last sheaf, they were probably at one time eaten +sacramentally, their sacrificial use emerging later. + +The bonfire was a sun-charm, representing and assisting the sun. +Rain-charms were also used at Beltane. Sacred wells were visited and the +ceremony performed with their waters, these perhaps being sprinkled over +the tree or the fields to promote a copious rainfall for the benefit of +vegetation. The use of such rites at Beltane and at other festivals may +have given rise to the belief that wells were especially efficacious +then for purposes of healing. The custom of rolling in the grass to +benefit by May dew was probably connected with magical rites in which +moisture played an important part.[927] + +The idea that the powers of growth had successfully combated those of +blight may have been ritually represented. This is suggested by the +mimic combats of Summer and Winter at this time, to which reference has +already been made. Again, the May king and queen represent earlier +personages who were regarded as embodying the spirits of vegetation and +fertility at this festival, and whose marriage or union magically +assisted growth and fertility, as in numerous examples of this ritual +marriage elsewhere.[928] It may be assumed that a considerable amount of +sexual licence also took place with the same magical purpose. Sacred +marriage and festival orgy were an appeal to the forces of nature to +complete their beneficial work, as well as a magical aid to them in that +work. Analogy leads to the supposition that the king of the May was +originally a priest-king, the incarnation of the spirit of vegetation. +He or his surrogate was slain, while his bodily force was unabated, in +order that it might be passed on undiminished to his successor. But the +persistent place given to the May queen rather than to the king suggests +the earlier prominence of women and of female spirits of fertility or of +a great Mother-goddess in such rites. It is also significant that in the +Perthshire ritual the man chosen was still called the _Beltane carlane_ +or _cailleach_ ("old woman"). And if, as Professor Pearson maintains, +witch orgies are survivals of old sex-festivals, then the popular belief +in the activity of witches on Beltane eve, also shows that the festival +had once been mainly one in which women took part. Such orgies often +took place on hills which had been the sites of a cult in former +times.[929] + + +MIDSUMMER. + + +The ritual of the Midsummer festival did not materially differ from that +of Beltane, and as folk-survivals show, it was practised not only by the +Celts, but by many other European peoples. It was, in fact, a primitive +nature festival such as would readily be observed by all under similar +psychic conditions and in like surroundings. A bonfire was again the +central rite of this festival, the communal nature of which is seen in +the fact that all must contribute materials to it. In local survivals, +mayor and priest, representing the earlier local chief and priest, were +present, while a service in church preceded the procession to the scene +of the bonfire. Dancing sunwise round the fire to the accompaniment of +songs which probably took the place of hymns or tunes in honour of the +Sun-god, commonly occurred, and by imitating the sun's action, may have +been intended to make it more powerful. The livelier the dance the +better would be the harvest.[930] As the fire represented the sun, it +possessed the purifying and invigorating powers of the sun; hence +leaping through the fire preserved from disease, brought prosperity, or +removed barrenness. Hence also cattle were driven through the fire. But +if any one stumbled as he leaped, ill-luck was supposed to follow him. +He was devoted to the _fadets_ or spirits,[931] and perhaps, like the +"devoted" Beltane victim, he may formerly have been sacrificed. Animal +sacrifices are certainly found in many survivals, the victims being +often placed in osier baskets and thrown into the fire. In other +districts great human effigies of osier were carried in procession and +burned.[932] + +The connection of such sacrifices with the periodical slaying of a +representative of the vegetation-spirit has been maintained by Mannhardt +and Dr. Frazer.[933] As has been seen, periodic sacrifices for the +fertility of the land are mentioned by Cæsar, Strabo, and Diodorus, +human victims and animals being enclosed in an osier image and +burned.[934] These images survive in the osier effigies just referred +to, while they may also be connected with the custom of decking the +human representatives of the spirit of vegetation in greenery. The +holocausts may be regarded as extensions of the earlier custom of +slaying one victim, the incarnation of a vegetation-spirit. This slaying +was gradually regarded as sacrificial, but as the beneficial effect of +the sacrifice on growth was still believed in, it would naturally be +thought that still better effects would be produced if many victims were +offered. The victims were burned in a fire representing the sun, and +vegetation was thus doubly benefited, by the victims and by the sun-god. + +The oldest conception of the vegetation-spirit was that of a tree-spirit +which had power over rain, sunshine, and every species of fruitfulness. +For this reason a tree had a prominent place both in the Beltane and +Midsummer feasts. It was carried in procession, imparting its benefits +to each house or field. Branches of it were attached to each house for +the same purpose. It was then burned, or it was set up to procure +benefits to vegetation during the year and burned at the next Midsummer +festival.[935] The sacred tree was probably an oak, and, as has been +seen, the mistletoe rite probably took place on Midsummer eve, as a +preliminary to cutting down the sacred tree and in order to secure the +life or soul of the tree, which must first be secured before the tree +could be cut down. The life of the tree was in the mistletoe, still +alive in winter when the tree itself seemed to be dead. Such beliefs as +this concerning the detachable soul or life survive in _Märchen_, and +are still alive among savages.[936] + +Folk-survivals show that a human or an animal representative of the +vegetation-spirit, brought into connection with the tree, was also slain +or burned along with the tree.[937] Thus the cutting of the mistletoe +would be regarded as a preliminary to the slaying of the human victim, +who, like the tree, was the representative of the spirit of vegetation. + +The bonfire representing the sun, and the victims, like the tree, +representing the spirit of vegetation, it is obvious why the fire had +healing and fertilising powers, and why its ashes and the ashes or the +flesh of the victims possessed the same powers. Brands from the fire +were carried through the fields or villages, as the tree had been, or +placed on the fields or in houses, where they were carefully preserved +for a year. All this aided growth and prosperity, just as the smoke of +the fire, drifting over the fields, produced fertility. Ashes from the +fire, and probably the calcined bones or even the flesh of the victims, +were scattered on the fields or preserved and mixed with the seed corn. +Again, part of the flesh may have been eaten sacramentally, since, as +has been seen, Pliny refers to the belief of the Celts in the eating of +human flesh as most wholesome. + +In the Stone Age, as with many savages, a circle typified the sun, and +as soon as the wheel was invented its rolling motion at once suggested +that of the sun. In the _Edda_ the sun is "the beautiful, the shining +wheel," and similar expressions occur in the _Vedas_. Among the Celts +the wheel of the sun was a favourite piece of symbolism, and this is +seen in various customs at the Midsummer festival. A burning wheel was +rolled down a slope or trundled through the fields, or burning brands +were whirled round so as to give the impression of a fiery wheel. The +intention was primarily to imitate the course of the sun through the +heavens, and so, on the principle of imitative magic, to strengthen it. +But also, as the wheel was rolled through the fields, so it was hoped +that the direct beneficial action of the sun upon them would follow. +Similar rites might be performed not only at Midsummer, but at other +times, to procure blessing or to ward off evil, e.g. carrying fire round +houses or fields or cattle or round a child _deiseil_ or sunwise,[938] +and, by a further extension of thought, the blazing wheel, or the +remains of the burning brands thrown to the winds, had also the effect +of carrying off accumulated evils.[939] + +Beltane and Midsummer thus appear as twin halves of a spring or early +summer festival, the intention of which was to promote fertility and +health. This was done by slaying the spirit of vegetation in his +representative--tree, animal, or man. His death quickened the energies +of earth and man. The fire also magically assisted the course of the +sun. Survival of the ancient rites are or were recently found in all +Celtic regions, and have been constantly combated by the Church. But +though they were continued, their true meaning was forgotten, and they +were mainly performed for luck or out of sheer conservatism. Sometimes a +Christian aspect was given to them, e.g. by connecting the fires with S. +John, or by associating the rites with the service of the Church, or by +the clergy being present at them. But their true nature was still +evident as acts of pagan worship and magic which no veneer of +Christianity could ever quite conceal.[940] + + +LUGNASAD. + + +The 1st of August, coming midway between Beltane and Samhain, was an +important festival among the Celts. In Christian times the day became +Lammas, but its name still survives in Irish as Lugnasad, in Gaelic as +Lunasdal or Lunasduinn, and in Manx as Laa Luanys, and it is still +observed as a fair or feast in many districts. Formerly assemblies at +convenient centres were held on this day, not only for religious +purposes, but for commerce and pleasure, both of these being of course +saturated with religion. "All Ireland" met at Taillti, just as "all +Gaul" met at Lugudunum, "Lug's town," or Lyons, in honour of Augustus, +though the feast there had formerly been in honour of the god +Lugus.[941] The festival was here Romanised, as it was also in Britain, +where its name appears as _Goel-aoust_, _Gul-austus_, and _Gwyl Awst_, +now the "August feast," but formerly the "feast of Augustus," the name +having replaced one corresponding to Lugnasad.[942] + +Cormac explains the name Lugnasad as a festival of Lugh mac Ethlenn, +celebrated by him in the beginning of autumn, and the _Rennes +Dindsenchas_ accounts for its origin by saying that Lug's foster-mother, +Tailtiu, having died on the Calends of August, he directed an assembly +for lamentation to be held annually on that day at her tomb.[943] Lug is +thus the founder of his own festival, for that it was his, and not +Tailtiu's, is clear from the fact that his name is attached to it. As +Lammas was a Christian harvest thanksgiving, so also was Lugnasad a +pagan harvest feast, part of the ritual of which passed over to Samhain. +The people made glad before the sun-god--Lug perhaps having that +character--who had assisted them in the growth of the things on which +their lives depended. Marriages were also arranged at this feast, +probably because men had now more leisure and more means for entering +upon matrimony. Possibly promiscuous love-making also occurred as a +result of the festival gladness, agricultural districts being still +notoriously immoral. Some evidence points to the connection of the feast +with Lug's marriage, though this has been allegorised into his wedding +the "sovereignty of Erin." Perhaps we have here a hint of the rite of +the sacred marriage, for the purpose of magically fertilising the fields +against next year's sowing. + +Due observance of the feast produced abundance of corn, fruit, milk, and +fish. Probably the ritual observed included the preservation of the last +sheaf as representing the corn-spirit, giving some of it to the cattle +to strengthen them, and mingling it with next year's corn to impart to +it the power of the corn-spirit. It may also have included the slaying +of an animal or human incarnation of the corn-spirit, whose flesh and +blood quickened the soil and so produced abundance next year, or, when +partaken of by the worshippers, brought blessings to them. To neglect +such rites, abundant instances of which exist in folk-custom, would be +held to result in scarcity. This would also explain, as already +suggested, why the festival was associated with the death of Tailtiu or +of Carman. The euhemerised queen-goddess Tailtiu and the woman Carman +had once been corn-goddesses, evolved from more primitive corn-spirits, +and slain at the feast in their female representatives. The story of +their death and burial at the festival was a dim memory of this ancient +rite, and since the festival was also connected with the sun-god Lug, it +was easy to bring him into relationship with the earlier goddess. +Elsewhere the festival, in its memorial aspect, was associated with a +king, probably because male victims had come to be representatives of a +corn-god who had taken the place of the goddess. + + * * * * * + +Some of the ritual of these festivals is illustrated by scattered +notices in classical writers, and on the whole they support our theory +that the festivals originated in a female cult of spirits or goddesses +of fertility. Strabo speaks of sacrifices offered to Demeter and Kore, +according to the ritual followed at Samothrace, in an island near +Britain, i.e. to native goddesses equated with them. He also describes +the ritual of the Namnite women on an island in the Loire. They are +called Bacchantes because they conciliated Bacchus with mysteries and +sacrifices; in other words, they observed an orgiastic cult of a god +equated with Bacchus. No man must set foot on the island, but the women +left it once a year for intercourse with the other sex. Once a year the +temple of the god was unroofed, and roofed again before sunset. If any +woman dropped her load of materials (and it was said this always +happened), she was torn in pieces and her limbs carried round the +temple.[944] Dionysius Periegetes says the women were crowned with ivy, +and celebrated their mysteries by night in honour of Earth and +Proserpine with great clamour.[945] Pliny also makes a reference to +British rites in which nude women and girls took part, their bodies +stained with woad.[946] + +At a later time, S. Gregory of Tours speaks of the image of a goddess +Berecynthia drawn on a litter through the streets, fields, and vineyards +of Augustodunum on the days of her festival, or when the fields were +threatened with scarcity. The people danced and sang before it. The +image was covered with a white veil.[947] Berecynthia has been +conjectured by Professor Anwyl to be the goddess Brigindu, worshipped at +Valnay.[948] + +These rites were all directed towards divinities of fertility. But in +harvest customs in Celtic Scotland and elsewhere two sheaves of corn +were called respectively the Old Woman and the Maiden, the corn-spirit +of the past year and that of the year to come, and corresponding to +Demeter and Kore in early Greek agricultural ritual. As in Greece, so +among the Celts, the primitive corn-spirits had probably become more +individualised goddesses with an elaborate cult, observed on an island +or at other sacred spots. The cult probably varied here and there, and +that of a god of fertility may have taken the place of the cult of +goddesses. A god was worshipped by the Namnite women, according to +Strabo, goddesses according to Dionysius. The mangled victim was +probably regarded as representative of a divinity, and perhaps part of +the flesh was mixed with the seed-corn, like the grain of the Maiden +sheaf, or buried in the earth. This rite is common among savages, and +its presence in old European ritual is attested by survivals. That these +rites were tabu to men probably points to the fact that they were +examples of an older general custom, in which all such rites were in the +hands of women who cultivated the earth, and who were the natural +priestesses of goddesses of growth and fertility, of vegetation and the +growing corn. Another example is found in the legend and procession of +Godiva at Coventry--the survival of a pagan cult from which men were +excluded.[949] + +Pliny speaks of the nudity of the women engaged in the cult. Nudity is +an essential part of all primitive agricultural rites, and painting the +body is also a widespread ritual act. Dressing with leaves or green +stuff, as among the Namnite women, and often with the intention of +personating the spirit of vegetation, is also customary. By unveiling +the body, and especially the sexual organs, women more effectually +represented the goddess of fertility, and more effectually as her +representatives, or through their own powers, magically conveyed +fertility to the fields. Nakedness thus became a powerful +magico-religious symbol, and it is found as part of the ritual for +producing rain.[950] + +There is thus abundant evidence of the cult of fertility, vegetation, +and corn-spirits, who tended to become divinities, male or female. Here +and there, through conservatism, the cult remained in the hands of +women, but more generally it had become a ritual in which both men and +women took part--that of the great agricultural festivals. Where a +divinity had taken the place of the vaguer spirits, her image, like that +of Berecynthia, was used in the ritual, but the image was probably the +successor of the tree which embodied the vegetation-spirit, and was +carried through the fields to fertilise them. Similar processions of +images, often accompanied by a ritual washing of the image in order to +invigorate the divinity, or, as in the similar May-day custom, to +produce rain, are found in the Teutonic cult of Nerthus, the Phrygian of +Cybele, the Hindu of Bhavani, and the Roman ritual of the Bona Dea. The +image of Berecynthia was thus probably washed also. Washing the images +of saints, usually to produce rain, has sometimes taken the place of the +washing of a divine image, and similarly the relics of a saint are +carried through a field, as was the tree or image. The community at Iona +perambulated a newly sown field with S. Columba's relics in time of +drought, and shook his tunic three times in the air, and were rewarded +by a plentiful rain, and later, by a bounteous harvest.[951] + +Many of these local cults were pre-Celtic, but we need not therefore +suppose that the Celts, or the Aryans as a whole, had no such +cults.[952] The Aryans everywhere adopted local cults, but this they +would not have done if, as is supposed, they had themselves outgrown +them. The cults were local, but the Celts had similar local cults, and +easily accepted those of the people they conquered. We cannot explain +the persistence of such primitive cults as lie behind the great Celtic +festivals, both in classical times and over the whole area of Europe +among the peasantry, by referring them solely to a pre-Aryan folk. They +were as much Aryan as pre-Aryan. They belong to those unchanging strata +of religion which have so largely supplied the soil in which its later +and more spiritual growths have flourished. And among these they still +emerge, unchanged and unchanging, like the gaunt outcrops of some +ancient rock formation amid rich vegetation and fragrant flowers. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[889] Pliny, xvi. 45; Cæsar, vi. 18. See my article "Calendar (Celtic)" +in Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Rel. and Ethics_, iii. 78 f., for a full +discussion of the problems involved. + +[890] O'Donovan, _Book of Rights_, Intro. lii f. + +[891] O'Donovan, li.; Bertrand, 105; Keating, 300. + +[892] Samhain may mean "summer-end," from _sam_, "summer," and _fuin_, +"sunset" or "end," but Dr. Stokes (_US_ 293) makes _samani_- mean +"assembly," i.e. the gathering of the people to keep the feast. + +[893] Keating, 125, 300. + +[894] See MacBain, _CM_ ix. 328. + +[895] Brand, i. 390; Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth +Century_, ii. 437; _Stat. Account_, xi. 621. + +[896] Hazlitt, 297-298, 340; Campbell, _Witchcraft_, 285 f. + +[897] Curtin, 72. + +[898] Fitzgerald, _RC_ vi. 254. + +[899] See Chambers, _Mediæval Stage_, App. N, for the evidence from +canons and councils regarding these. + +[900] Tille, _Yule and Christmas_, 96. + +[901] Chambers, _Popular Rhymes_, 166. + +[902] Hutchinson, _View of Northumberland_, ii. 45; Thomas, _Rev. de +l'Hist. des Rel._ xxxviii. 335 f. + +[903] _Patrol. Lot._ xxxix. 2001. + +[904] _IT_ i. 205; _RC_ v. 331; Leahy, i. 57. + +[905] See p. 169, _supra_. + +[906] The writer has himself seen such bonfires in the Highlands. See +also Hazlitt, 298; Pennant, _Tour_, ii. 47; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 515, _CFL_ i. +225-226. In Egyptian mythology, Typhon assailed Horus in the form of a +black swine. + +[907] Keating, 300. + +[908] Joyce, _SH_ ii. 556; _RC_ x. 214, 225, xxiv. 172; O'Grady, ii. +374; _CM_ ix. 209. + +[909] See Mannhardt, _Mythol. Forschung._ 333 f.; Frazer, _Adonis_, +_passim_; Thomas, _Rev. de l'Hist. des Rel._ xxxviii. 325 f. + +[910] Hazlitt, 35; Chambers, _Mediæval Stage_, i. 261. + +[911] Chambers, _Book of Days_, ii. 492; Hazlitt, 131. + +[912] Hazlitt, 97; Davies, _Extracts from Munic. Records of York_, 270. + +[913] See p. 237, _supra_; _LL_ 16, 213. + +[914] Chambers, _Med. Stage_, i. 250 f. + +[915] Cormac, _s.v._ "Belltaine," "Bel"; _Arch. Rev._ i. 232. + +[916] D'Arbois, ii. 136. + +[917] Stokes, _US_ 125, 164. See his earlier derivation, dividing the +word into _belt_, connected with Lithuan. _baltas_, "white," and _aine_, +the termination in _sechtmaine_, "week" (_TIG_ xxxv.). + +[918] Need-fire (Gael. _Teinne-eiginn_, "necessity fire") was used to +kindle fire in time of cattle plague. See Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 608 f.; +Martin, 113; Jamieson's _Dictionary_, _s.v._ "neidfyre." + +[919] Cormac, _s.v._; Martin, 105, says that the Druids extinguished all +fires until their dues were paid. This may have been a tradition in the +Hebrides. + +[920] Joyce, _PN_ i. 216; Hone, _Everyday Book_, i. 849, ii. 595. + +[921] Pennant, _Tour in Scotland_, i. 291. + +[922] Hazlitt, 339, 397. + +[923] Hone, _Everyday Book_, ii. 595. See p. 215, _supra_. + +[924] Sinclair, _Stat. Account_, xi. 620. + +[925] Martin, 105. + +[926] For these usages see Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the +Eighteenth Century_, ii. 439 f.; Sinclair, _Stat. Account_, v. 84, xi. +620, xv. 517. For the sacramental and sacrificial use of similar loaves, +see Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, i. 94, ii. 78; Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ iii. +1239 f. + +[927] _New Stat. Account_, Wigtownshire, 208; Hazlitt, 38, 323, 340. + +[928] See Miss Owen, _Folk-lore of the Musquakie Indians_, 50; Frazer, +_Golden Bough_{2}, ii. 205. + +[929] For notices of Beltane survivals see Keating, 300; Campbell, +_Journey from Edinburgh_, i. 143; Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen_, ii. +439 f.; _Old Stat. Account_, v. 84, xi. 620, xv. 517; Gregor, _Folk-lore +of N.E. of Scotland_, 167. The paganism of the survivals is seen in the +fact that Beltane fires were frequently prohibited by Scottish +ecclesiastical councils. + +[930] Meyrac, _Traditions ... des Ardennes_, 68. + +[931] Bertrand, 119. + +[932] Ibid. 407; Gaidoz, 21; Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, 514, 523; Brand, +i. 8, 323. + +[933] Mannhardt, _op. cit._ 525 f.; Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, iii. 319. + +[934] P. 234, _supra_. + +[935] Frazer, _op. cit._ i. 74; Brand, i. 222, 237, 246, 318; Hone, +_Everyday Book_, ii. 595; Mannhardt, _op. cit._ 177; Grimm, _Teut. +Myth._ 621, 777 f. + +[936] See my _Childhood of Fiction_, ch. v. + +[937] Frazer, i. 82, ii. 247 f., 275; Mannhardt, 315 f. + +[938] Martin, 117. The custom of walking _deiseil_ round an object still +survives, and, as an imitation of the sun's course, it is supposed to +bring good luck or ward off evil. For the same reason the right hand +turn was of good augury. Medb's charioteer, as she departed for the war, +made her chariot turn to the right to repel evil omens (_LU_ 55). +Curiously enough, Pliny (xxviii. 2) says that the Gauls preferred the +left-hand turn in their religious rites, though Athenæus refers to the +right-hand turn among them. _Deiseil_ is from _dekso-s_, "right," and +_svel_, "to turn." + +[939] Hone, i. 846; Hazlitt, ii. 346. + +[940] This account of the Midsummer ritual is based on notices found in +Hone, _Everyday Book_; Hazlitt, ii. 347 f.; Gaidoz, _Le Dieu Soleil_; +Bertrand; Deloche, _RC_ ix. 435; _Folk-Lore_, xii. 315; Frazer, _Golden +Bough_{2}, iii. 266 f.; Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ ii. 617 f.; Monnier, 186 f. + +[941] _RC_ xvi. 51; Guiraud, _Les Assemblées provinciales dans l'Empire +Romain_. + +[942] D'Arbois, i. 215, _Les Celtes_, 44; Loth, _Annales de Bretagne_, +xiii. No. 2. + +[943] _RC_ xvi. 51. + +[944] Strabo, iv. 4. 6. + +[945] Dion. Per. v. 570. + +[946] Pliny, xxii. 1. + +[947] Greg, _de Glor. Conf._ 477; Sulp. Sev. _Vita S. Martini_, 9; Pass. +S. Symphor. Migne, _Pat. Graec._ v. 1463, 1466. The cult of Cybele had +been introduced into Gaul, and the ritual here described resembles it, +but we are evidently dealing here with the cult of a native goddess. +See, however, Frazer, _Adonis_, 176. + +[948] Anwyl, _Celtic Religion_, 41. + +[949] See Hartland, _Science of Fairy-Tales_, 84 f. + +[950] Professor Rh[^y]s suggests that nudity, being a frequent symbol of +submission to a conqueror, acquired a similar significance in religious +rites (_AL_ 180). But the magical aspect of nudity came first in time. + +[951] Adamnan, _Vita S. Col._ ii. 45. + +[952] See Gomme, _Ethnology in Folk-lore_, 30 f., _Village Community_, +114. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ACCESSORIES OF CULT. + +TEMPLES. + + +In primitive religion the place of worship is seldom a temple made with +hands, but rather an enclosed space in which the symbol or image of the +god stands. The sacredness of the god makes the place of his cult +sacred. Often an open space in the forest is the scene of the regular +cult. There the priests perform the sacred rites; none may enter it but +themselves; and the trembling worshipper approaches it with awe lest the +god should slay him if he came too near. + +The earliest temples of the Gauls were sacred groves, one of which, near +Massilia, is described by Lucan. No bird built in it, no animal lurked +near, the leaves constantly shivered when no breeze stirred them. Altars +stood in its midst, and the images of the gods were misshapen trunks of +trees. Every tree was stained with sacrificial blood. The poet then +describes marvels heard or seen in the grove--the earth groaning, dead +yews reviving, trees surrounded with flame yet not consumed, and huge +serpents twining round the oaks. The people feared to approach the +grove, and even the priest would not walk there at midday or midnight +lest he should then meet its divine guardian.[953] Dio speaks of human +sacrifices offered to Andrasta in a British grove, and in 61 A.D. the +woods of Mona, devoted to strange rites, were cut down by Roman +soldiers.[954] The sacred _Dru-nemeton_ of the Galatian Celts may have +been a grove.[955] Place-names also point to the widespread existence of +such groves, since the word _nemeton_, "grove," occurs in many of them, +showing that the places so called had been sites of a cult. In Ireland, +_fid-nemed_ stood for "sacred grove."[956] The ancient groves were still +the objects of veneration in Christian times, though fines were levied +against those who still clung to the old ways.[957] + +Sacred groves were still used in Gallo-Roman times, and the Druids may +have had a preference for them, a preference which may underlie the +words of the scholiast on Lucan, that "the Druids worship the gods +without temples in woods." But probably more elaborate temples, great +tribal sanctuaries, existed side by side with these local groves, +especially in Cisalpine Gaul, where the Boii had a temple in which were +stored the spoils of war, while the Insubri had a similar temple.[958] +These were certainly buildings. The "consecrated place" in Transalpine +Gaul, which Cæsar mentions, and where at fixed periods judgments were +given, might be either a grove or a temple. Cæsar uses the same phrase +for sacred places where the spoils of war were heaped; these may have +been groves, but Diodorus speaks of treasure collected in "temples and +sacred places" ([Greek: en tois hierois chai temenesin]), and Plutarch +speaks of the "temple" where the Arverni hung Cæsar's sword.[959] The +"temple" of the Namnite women, unroofed and re-roofed in a day, must +have been a building. There is no evidence that the insular Celts had +temples. In Gallo-Roman times, elaborate temples, perhaps occupying +sites of earlier groves or temples, sprang up over the Romano-Celtic +area. They were built on Roman models, many of them were of great size, +and they were dedicated to Roman or Gallo-Roman divinities.[960] Smaller +shrines were built by grateful worshippers at sacred springs to their +presiding divinity, as many inscriptions show. In the temples stood +images of the gods, and here were stored sacred vessels, sometimes made +of the skulls of enemies, spoils of war dedicated to the gods, money +collected for sacred purposes, and war standards, especially those which +bore divine symbols. + +The old idea that stone circles were Druidic temples, that human +sacrifices were offered on the "altar-stone," and libations of blood +poured into the cup-markings, must be given up, along with much of the +astronomical lore associated with the circles. Stonehenge dates from the +close of the Neolithic Age, and most of the smaller circles belong to +the early Bronze Age, and are probably pre-Celtic. In any case they were +primarily places of sepulture. As such they would be the scene of +ancestor worship, but yet not temples in the strict sense of the word. +The larger circles, burial-places of great chiefs or kings, would become +central places for the recurring rites of ghost-worship, possibly also +rallying places of the tribe on stated occasions. But whether this +ghost-worship was ever transmuted into the cult of a god at the circles +is uncertain and, indeed, unlikely. The Celts would naturally regard +these places as sacred, since the ghosts of the dead, even those of a +vanquished people, are always dangerous, and they also took over the +myths and legends[961] associated with them, such, e.g., as regarded the +stones themselves, or trees growing within the circles, as embodiments +of the dead, while they may also have used them as occasional places of +secondary interment. Whether they were ever led to copy such circles +themselves is uncertain, since their own methods of interment seem to +have been different. We have seen that the gods may in some cases have +been worshipped at tumuli, and that Lugnasad was, at some centres, +connected with commemorative cults at burial-places (mounds, not +circles). But the reasons for this are obscure, nor is there any hint +that other Celtic festivals were held near burial mounds. Probably such +commemorative rites at places of sepulture during Lugnasad were only +part of a wider series occurring elsewhere, and we cannot assume from +such vague notices that stone circles were Druidic temples where worship +of an Oriental nature was carried on. + +Professor Rh[^y]s is disposed to accept the old idea that Stonehenge was +the temple of Apollo in the island of the Hyperboreans, mentioned by +Diodorus, where the sun-god was worshipped.[962] But though that temple +was circular, it had walls adorned with votive offerings. Nor does the +temple unroofed yearly by the Namnite women imply a stone circle, for +there is not the slightest particle of evidence that the circles were +ever roofed in any way.[963] Stone circles with mystic trees growing in +them, one of them with a well by which entrance was gained to Tír fa +Tonn, are mentioned in Irish tales. They were connected with magic +rites, but are not spoken of as temples.[964] + + +ALTARS. + + +Lucan describes realistically the awful sacrifices of the Gauls on cruel +altars not a whit milder than those of Diana, and he speaks of "altars +piled with offerings" in the sacred grove at Marseilles.[965] Cicero +says that human victims were sacrificed on altars, and Tacitus describes +the altars of Mona smeared with human blood.[966] "Druids' altars" are +mentioned in the Irish "Expedition of Dathi," and Cormac speaks of +_indelba_, or altars adorned with emblems.[967] Probably many of these +altars were mere heaps of stone like the Norse _horg_, or a great block +of stone. Some sacrifices, however, were too extensive to be offered on +an altar, but in such cases the blood would be sprinkled upon it. Under +Roman influence, Celtic altars took the form of those of the conquerors, +with inscriptions containing names of native or Roman gods and +bas-reliefs depicting some of these. The old idea that dolmens were +Celtic altars is now abandoned. They were places of sepulture of the +Neolithic or early Bronze Age, and were originally covered with a mound +of earth. During the era of Celtic paganism they were therefore hidden +from sight, and it is only in later times that the earth has been +removed and the massive stones, arranged so as to form a species of +chamber, have been laid bare. + + +IMAGES. + + +The Gauls, according to Cæsar, possessed _plurima simulacra_ of the +native Mercury, but he does not refer to images of other gods. We need +not infer from this that the Celts had a prejudice against images, for +among the Irish Celts images are often mentioned, and in Gaul under +Roman rule many images existed. + +The existence of images among the Celts as among other peoples, may owe +something to the cult of trees and of stones set up over the dead. The +stone, associated with the dead man's spirit, became an image of +himself, perhaps rudely fashioned in his likeness. A rough-hewn tree +trunk became an image of the spirit or god of trees. On the other hand, +some anthropomorphic images, like the palæolithic or Mycenæan figurines, +may have been fashioned without the intermediary of tree-trunk or stone +pillar. Maximus of Tyre says that the Celtic image of Zeus was a lofty +oak, perhaps a rough-hewn trunk rather than a growing tree, and such +roughly carved tree-trunks, images of gods, are referred to by Lucan in +his description of the Massilian grove.[968] Pillar stones set up over +the graves of the dead are often mentioned in Irish texts. These would +certainly be associated with the dead; indeed, existing legends show +that they were believed to be tenanted by the ghosts and to have the +power of motion. This suggests that they had been regarded as images of +the dead. Other stones honoured in Ireland were the _cloch labrais_, an +oracular stone; the _lia fail_, or coronation stone, which shouted when +a king of the Milesian race seated himself upon it; and the _lia +adrada_, or stone of adoration, apparently a boundary stone.[969] The +_plurima simulacra_ of the Gaulish Mercury may have been boundary stones +like those dedicated to Mercury or Hermes among the Romans and Greeks. +Did Cæsar conclude, or was it actually the case, that the Gauls +dedicated such stones to a god of boundaries who might be equated with +Mercury? Many such standing stones still exist in France, and their +number must have been greater in Cæsar's time. Seeing them the objects +of superstitious observances, he may have concluded that they were +_simulacra_ of a god. Other Romans besides himself had been struck by +the resemblance of these stones to their Hermai, and perhaps the Gauls, +if they did not already regard them as symbols of a god, acquiesced in +the resemblance. Thus, on the menhir of Kervadel are sculptured four +figures, one being that of Mercury, dating from Gallo-Roman times. +Beneath another, near Peronne, a bronze statuette of Mercury was +discovered.[970] This would seem to show that the Gauls had a cult of +pillar stones associated with a god of boundaries. Cæsar probably uses +the word _simulacrum_ in the sense of "symbol" rather than "image," +though he may have meant native images not fully carved in human shape, +like the Irish _cérmand_, _cerstach_, ornamented with gold and silver, +the "chief idol" of north Ireland, or like the similarly ornamented +"images" of Cromm Cruaich and his satellites.[971] The adoration of +sacred stones continued into Christian times and was much opposed by the +Church.[972] S. Samson of Dol (sixth century) found men dancing round a +_simulacrum abominabile_, which seems to have been a kind of standing +stone, and having besought them to desist, he carved a cross upon +it.[973] Several _menhirion_ in France are now similarly +ornamented.[974] + +The number of existing Gallo-Roman images shows that the Celts had not +adopted a custom which was foreign to them, and they must have already +possessed rude native images. The disappearance of these would be +explained if they were made of perishable material. Wooden images of the +_Matres_ have been occasionally found, and these may be pre-Roman. Some +of the images of the three-headed and crouching gods show no sign of +Roman influences in their modelling, and they may have been copied from +earlier images of wood. We also find divine figures on pre-Roman +coins.[975] Certain passages in classical writings point to the +existence of native images. A statue of a goddess existed in a temple at +Marseilles, according to Justin, and the Galatian Celts had images of +the native Juppiter and Artemis, while the conquering Celts who entered +Rome bowed to the seated senators as to statues of the gods.[976] The +Gauls placed rich ornaments on the images of the gods, and presumably +these were native "idols." + +"Idols" are frequently mentioned in Irish texts, and there is no doubt +that these mean images.[977] Cormac mac Art refused to worship "idols," +and was punished by the Druids.[978] The idols of Cromm Cruaich and his +satellites, referred to in the _Dindsenchas_, were carved to represent +the human form; the chief one was of gold, the others of stone. These +were miraculously overthrown by S. Patrick; but in the account of the +miracle the chief idol was of stone adorned with gold and silver, the +others, numbering twelve, were ornamented with bronze.[979] They stood +in Mag Slecht, and similar sacred places with groups of images evidently +existed elsewhere, e.g. at Rath Archaill, "where the Druid's altars and +images are."[980] The lady Cessair, before coming to Ireland, is said to +have taken advice of her _laimh-dhia_, or "hand gods," perhaps small +images used for divination.[981] + +For the British Celts the evidence is slender, but idolatry in the sense +of "image-worship" is frequently mentioned in the lives of early +saints.[982] Gildas also speaks of images "mouldering away within and +without the deserted temples, with stiff and deformed features."[983] +This pathetic picture of the forsaken shrines of forgotten gods may +refer to Romano-Celtic images, but the "stiff and deformed features" +suggest rather native art, the art of a people unskilful at reproducing +the human form, however artistic they may have been in other directions. + +If the native Celts of Ireland had images, there is no reason to +suppose, especially considering the evidence just adduced, that the +Gauls, or at least the Druids, were antagonistic to images. This last is +M. Reinach's theory, part of a wider hypothesis that the Druids were +pre-Celtic, but became the priests of the Celts, who till then had no +priests. The Druids prohibited image-worship, and this prohibition +existed in Gaul, _ex hypothesi_, from the end of palæolithic times. +Pythagoras and his school were opposed to image-worship, and the +classical writers claimed a connection between the Pythagoreans and the +Druids. M. Reinach thinks there must have been some analogy between +them, and that was hostility to anthropomorphism. But the analogy is +distinctly stated to have lain in the doctrine of immortality or +metempsychosis. Had the Druids been opposed to image-worship, classical +observers could not have failed to notice the fact. M. Reinach then +argues that the Druids caused the erection of the megalithic monuments +in Gaul, symbols not images. They are thus Druidic, though not Celtic. +The monuments argue a powerful priesthood; the Druids were a powerful +priesthood; therefore the Druids caused the monuments to be built. This +is not a powerful argument![984] + +As has been seen, some purely Celtic images existed in Gaul. The Gauls, +who used nothing but wood for their houses, probably knew little of the +art of carving stone. They would therefore make most of their images of +wood--a perishable material. The insular Celts had images, and if, as +Cæsar maintained, the Druids came from Britain to Gaul, this points at +least to a similarity of cult in the two regions. Youthful Gauls who +aspired to Druidic knowledge went to Britain to obtain it. Would the +Druids of Gaul have permitted this, had they been iconoclasts? No single +text shows that the Druids had any antipathy to images, while the Gauls +certainly had images of worshipful animals. Further, even if the Druids +were priests of a pre-Celtic folk, they must have permitted the making +of images, since many "menhir-statues" exist on French soil, at Aveyron, +Tarn, and elsewhere.[985] The Celts were in constant contact with +image-worshipping peoples, and could hardly have failed to be influenced +by them, even if such a priestly prohibition existed, just as Israel +succumbed to images in spite of divine commands. That they would have +been thus influenced is seen from the number of images of all kinds +dating from the period after the Roman conquest. + +Incidental proofs of the fondness of the Celts for images are found in +ecclesiastical writings and in late survivals. The procession of the +image of Berecynthia has already been described, and such processions +were common in Gaul, and imply a regular folk-custom. S. Martin of Tours +stopped a funeral procession believing it to be such a pagan rite.[986] +Councils and edicts prohibited these processions in Gaul, but a more +effectual way was to Christianise them. The Rogation tide processions +with crucifix and Madonna, and the carrying of S. John's image at the +Midsummer festivals, were a direct continuation of the older practices. +Images were often broken by Christian saints in Gaul, as they had been +over-turned by S. Patrick in Ireland. "Stiff and deformed" many of them +must have been, if one may judge from the _Groah-goard_ or "Venus of +Quinipily," for centuries the object of superstitious rites in +Brittany.[987] With it may be compared the fetich-stone or image of +which an old woman in the island of Inniskea, the guardian of a sacred +well, had charge. It was kept wrapped up to hide it from profane eyes, +but at certain periods it was brought out for adoration.[988] + +The images and bas-reliefs of the Gallo-Roman period fall mainly into +two classes. In the first class are those representing native +divinities, like Esus, Tarvos Trigaranos, Smertullos, Cernunnos, the +horned and crouching gods, the god with the hammer, and the god with the +wheel. Busts and statues of some water-goddesses exist, but more +numerous are the representations of Epona. One of these is provided with +a box pedestal in which offerings might be placed. The _Matres_ are +frequently figured, usually as three seated figures with baskets of +fruit or flowers, or with one or more infants, like the Madonna. Images +of triple-headed gods, supposed to be Cernunnos, have been found, but +are difficult to place in any category.[989] + +To the images of the second class is usually attached the Roman name of +a god, but generally the native Celtic name is added, but the images +themselves are of the traditional Roman type. Among statues and +statuettes of bronze, that of Mercury occurs most often. This may point +to the fact that Cæsar's _simulacra_ of the native Mercury were images, +and that the old preference for representing this god continued in Roman +times. Small figures of divinities in white clay have been found in +large numbers, and may have been _ex votos_ or images of household +_lararia_.[990] + + +SYMBOLS. + + +Images of the gods in Gaul can be classified by means of their +symbols--the mallet and cup (a symbol of plenty) borne by the god with +the hammer, the wheel of the sun-god, the cornucopia and torque carried +by Cernunnos. Other symbols occur on images, altars, monuments, and +coins. These are the swastika and triskele, probably symbols of the +sun;[991] single or concentric circles, sometimes with rays;[992] +crosses; and a curious S figure. The triskele and the circles are +sometimes found on faces figured on coins. They may therefore have been +tattoo markings of a symbolic character. The circle and cross are often +incised on bronze images of Dispater. Much speculation has been aroused +by the S figure, which occurs on coins, while nine models of this symbol +hang from a ring carried by the god with the wheel, but the most +probable is that which sees in it a thunderbolt.[993] But lacking any +old text interpreting these various symbols, all explanations of them +must be conjectural. Some of them are not purely Celtic, but are of +world-wide occurrence. + + +CULT OF WEAPONS. + + +Here some reference may be made to the Celtic cult of weapons. As has +been seen, a hammer is the symbol of one god, and it is not unlikely +that a cult of the hammer had preceded that of the god to whom the +hammer was given as a symbol. Esus is also represented with an axe. We +need not repeat what has already been said regarding the primitive and +universal cult of hammer or axe,[994] but it is interesting to notice, +in connection with other evidence for a Celtic cult of weapons, that +there is every reason to believe that the phrase _sub ascia dedicare_, +which occurs in inscriptions on tombs from Gallia Lugdunensis, usually +with the figure of an axe incised on the stone, points to the cult of +the axe, or of a god whose symbol the axe was.[995] In Irish texts the +power of speech is attributed to weapons, but, according to the +Christian scribe, this was because demons spoke from them, for the +people worshipped arms in those days.[996] Thus it may have been +believed that spirits tenanted weapons, or that weapons had souls. +Evidence of the cult itself is found in the fact that on Gaulish coins a +sword is figured, stuck in the ground, or driving a chariot, or with a +warrior dancing before it, or held in the hand of a dancing +warrior.[997] The latter are ritual acts, and resemble that described by +Spenser as performed by Irish warriors in his day, who said prayers or +incantations before a sword stuck in the earth.[998] Swords were also +addressed in songs composed by Irish bards, and traditional remains of +such songs are found in Brittany.[999] They represent the chants of the +ancient cult. Oaths were taken by weapons, and the weapons were believed +to turn against those who lied.[1000] The magical power of weapons, +especially of those over which incantations had been said, is frequently +referred to in traditional tales and Irish texts.[1001] A reminiscence +of the cult or of the magical power of weapons may be found in the +wonderful "glaives of light" of Celtic folk-tales, and the similar +mystical weapon of the Arthurian romances. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[953] Lucan, _Pharsalia_, iii. 399 f. + +[954] Dio Cass. lxii. 7; Tac. _Ann._ xiv. 30. + +[955] Strabo, xii. 51. _Drunemeton_ may mean "great temple" (D'Arbois, +_Les Celtes_, 203). + +[956] _Antient Laws of Ireland_, i. 164. + +[957] Holder, ii. 712. Cf. "Indiculus" in Grimm, _Teut. Myth._ 1739, "de +sacris silvarum, quas nimidas (= nemeta) vocant." + +[958] Livy, xxiii. 24; Polyb. ii. 32. + +[959] Cæsar, vi. 13, 17; Diod. Sic. v. 27; Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 26. + +[960] See examples in Dom Martin, i. 134 f.; cf. Greg. Tours, _Hist. +Franc._ i. 30. + +[961] See Reinach, "Les monuments de pierre brute dans le langage et les +croyances populaires," _Rev. Arch._ 1893, i. 339; Evans, "The Roll-Right +Stones," _Folk-Lore_, vi. 20 f. + +[962] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 194; Diod. Sic. ii. 47. + +[963] Rh[^y]s, 197. + +[964] Joyce, _OCR_ 246; Kennedy, 271. + +[965] Lucan, i. 443, iii. 399f. + +[966] Cicero, _pro Fonteio_, x. 21; Tac. _Ann._ xiv. 30. Cf. Pomp. Mela, +iii. 2. 18. + +[967] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 284; Cormac, 94. Cf. _IT_ iii. 211, for the +practice of circumambulating altars. + +[968] Max. Tyr. _Dissert._ viii. 8; Lucan, iii. 412f. + +[969] _Antient Laws of Ireland_, iv. 142. + +[970] _Rev. Arch._ i. pl. iii-v.; Reinach, _RC_ xi. 224, xiii. 190. + +[971] Stokes, _Martyr. of Oengus_, 186-187. + +[972] See the Twenty-third Canon of Council of Arles, the Twenty-third +of the Council of Tours, 567, and ch. 65 of the _Capitularia_, 789. + +[973] Mabillon, _Acta_, i. 177. + +[974] Reinach, _Rev. Arch._ 1893, xxi. 335. + +[975] Blanchet, i. 152-153, 386. + +[976] Justin, xliii. 5; Strabo, xii. 5. 2; Plutarch, _de Virt. Mul._ +xx.; Livy, v. 41. + +[977] Cormac, 94. + +[978] Keating, 356. See also Stokes, _Martyr. of Oengus_, 186; _RC_ xii. +427, § 15; Joyce, _SH_ 274 f. + +[979] _LL_ 213_b_; _Trip. Life_, i. 90, 93. + +[980] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 284. + +[981] Keating, 49. + +[982] Jocelyn, _Vita S. Kentig._ 27, 32, 34; Ailred, _Vita S. Ninian._ +6. + +[983] Gildas, § 4. + +[984] For the whole argument see Reinach, _RC_ xiii. 189 f. Bertrand, +_Rev. Arch._ xv. 345, supports a similar theory, and, according to both +writers, Gallo-Roman art was the result of the weakening of Druidic +power by the Romans. + +[985] L'Abbé Hermet, Assoc. pour l'avancement des Sciences, _Compte +Rendu_, 1900, ii. 747; _L'Anthropologie_, v. 147. + +[986] _Corp. Scrip. Eccl. Lat._ i. 122. + +[987] Monnier, 362. The image bears part of an inscription ... LIT... +and it has been thought that this read ILITHYIA originally. The name is +in keeping with the rites still in use before the image. This would make +it date from Roman times. If so, it is a poor specimen of the art of the +period. But it may be an old native image to which later the name of the +Roman goddess was given. + +[988] Roden, _Progress of the Reformation in Ireland_, 51. The image was +still existing in 1851. + +[989] For figures of most of these, see _Rev. Arch._ vols. xvi., xviii., +xix., xxxvi.; _RC_ xvii. 45, xviii. 254, xx. 309, xxii. 159, xxiv. 221; +Bertrand, _passim_; Courcelle-Seneuil, _Les Dieux Gaulois d'apres les +Monuments Figures_, Paris, 1910. + +[990] See Courcelle-Seneuil, _op. cit._; Reinach, _BF passim_, +_Catalogue Sommaire du Musée des Ant. nat._{4} 115-116. + +[991] Reinach, _Catal._ 29, 87; _Rev. Arch._ xvi. 17; Blanchet, i. 169, +316; Huchet, _L'art gaulois_, ii. 8. + +[992] Blanchet, i. 158; Reinach, _BF_ 143, 150, 152. + +[993] Blanchet, i. 17; Flouest, _Deux Stèles_ (Append.), Paris, 1885; +Reinach, _BF_ 33. + +[994] P. 30, _supra_. + +[995] Hirschfeld in _CIL_ xiii. 256. + +[996] _RC_ xii. 107; Joyce, _SH_ i. 131. + +[997] Blanchet, i. 160 f.; Muret de la Tour, _Catalogue_, 6922, 6941, +etc. + +[998] _View of the State of Ireland_, 57. + +[999] _RC_ xx. 7; Martin, _Études de la Myth. Celt._ 164. + +[1000] _IT_ i. 206; _RC_ ix. 144. + +[1001] _CM_ xiii. 168 f.; Miss Hull, 44, 221, 223. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE DRUIDS. + + +Pliny thought that the name "Druid" was a Greek appellation derived from +the Druidic cult of the oak ([Greek: _drus_]).[1002] The word, however, +is purely Celtic, and its meaning probably implies that, like the +sorcerer and medicine-man everywhere, the Druid was regarded as "the +knowing one." It is composed of two parts--_dru_-, regarded by M. +D'Arbois as an intensive, and _vids_, from _vid_, "to know," or +"see."[1003] Hence the Druid was "the very knowing or wise one." It is +possible, however, that _dru_- is connected with the root which gives +the word "oak" in Celtic speech--Gaulish _deruo_, Irish _dair_, Welsh +_derw_--and that the oak, occupying a place in the cult, was thus +brought into relation with the name of the priesthood. The Gaulish form +of the name was probably _druis_, the Old Irish was _drai_. The modern +forms in Irish and Scots Gaelic, _drui_ and _draoi_ mean "sorcerer." + +M. D'Arbois and others, accepting Cæsar's dictum that "the system (of +Druidism) is thought to have been devised in Britain, and brought thence +into Gaul," maintain that the Druids were priests of the Goidels in +Britain, who imposed themselves upon the Gaulish conquerors of the +Goidels, and that Druidism then passed over into Gaul about 200 +B.C.[1004] But it is hardly likely that, even if the Druids were +accepted as priests by conquering Gauls in Britain, they should have +affected the Gauls of Gaul who were outside the reflex influence of the +conquered Goidels, and should have there obtained that power which they +possessed. Goidels and Gauls were allied by race and language and +religion, and it would be strange if they did not both possess a similar +priesthood. Moreover, the Goidels had been a continental people, and +Druidism was presumably flourishing among them then. Why did it not +influence kindred Celtic tribes without Druids, _ex hypothesi_, at that +time? Further, if we accept Professor Meyer's theory that no Goidel set +foot in Britain until the second century A.D., the Gauls could not have +received the Druidic priesthood from the Goidels. + +Cæsar merely says, "it is thought (_existimatur_) that Druidism came to +Gaul from Britain."[1005] It was a pious opinion, perhaps his own, or +one based on the fact that those who wished to perfect themselves in +Druidic art went to Britain. This may have been because Britain had been +less open to foreign influences than Gaul, and its Druids, unaffected by +these, were thought to be more powerful than those of Gaul. Pliny, on +the other hand, seems to think that Druidism passed over into Britain +from Gaul.[1006] + +Other writers--Sir John Rh[^y]s, Sir G.L. Gomme, and M. Reinach--support +on different grounds the theory that the Druids were a pre-Celtic +priesthood, accepted by the Celtic conquerors. Sir John Rh[^y]s thinks +that the Druidism of the aborigines of Gaul and Britain made terms with +the Celtic conquerors. It was accepted by the Goidels, but not by the +Brythons. Hence in Britain there were Brythons without Druids, +aborigines under the sway of Druidism, and Goidels who combined Aryan +polytheism with Druidism. Druidism was also the religion of the +aborigines from the Baltic to Gibraltar, and was accepted by the +Gauls.[1007] But if so, it is difficult to see why the Brythons, akin to +them, did not accept it. Our knowledge of Brythonic religion is too +scanty for us to prove that the Druids had or had not sway over them, +but the presumption is that they had. Nor is there any historical +evidence to show that the Druids were originally a non-Celtic +priesthood. Everywhere they appear as the supreme and dominant +priesthood of the Celts, and the priests of a conquered people could +hardly have obtained such power over the conquerors. The relation of the +Celts to the Druids is quite different from that of conquerors, who +occasionally resort to the medicine-men of the conquered folk because +they have stronger magic or greater influence with the autochthonous +gods. The Celts did not resort to the Druids occasionally; _ex +hypothesi_ they accepted them completely, were dominated by them in +every department of life, while their own priests, if they had any, +accepted this order of things without a murmur. All this is incredible. +The picture drawn by Cæsar, Strabo, and others of the Druids and their +position among the Celts as judges, choosers of tribal chiefs and kings, +teachers, as well as ministers of religion, suggests rather that they +were a native Celtic priesthood, long established among the people. + +Sir G.L. Gomme supports the theory that the Druids were a pre-Celtic +priesthood, because, in his opinion, much of their belief in magic as +well as their use of human sacrifice and the redemption of one life by +another, is opposed to "Aryan sentiment." Equally opposed to this are +their functions of settling controversies, judging, settling the +succession to property, and arranging boundaries. These views are +supported by a comparison of the position of the Druids relatively to +the Celts with that of non-Aryan persons in India who render occasional +priestly services to Hindu village communities.[1008] Whether this +comparison of occasional Hindu custom with Celtic usage two thousand +years ago is just, may be questioned. As already seen, it was no mere +occasional service which the Druids rendered to the Celts, and it is +this which makes it difficult to credit this theory. Had the Celtic +house-father been priest and judge in his own clan, would he so readily +have surrendered his rights to a foreign and conquered priesthood? On +the other hand, kings and chiefs among the Celts probably retained some +priestly functions, derived from the time when the offices of the +priest-king had not been differentiated. Cæsar's evidence certainly does +not support the idea that "it is only among the rudest of the so-called +Celtic tribes that we find this superimposing of an apparently official +priesthood." According to him, the power of the Druids was universal in +Gaul, and had their position really corresponded to that of the pariah +priests of India, occasional priests of Hindu villages, the determined +hostility of the Roman power to them because they wielded such an +enormous influence over Celtic thought and life, is inexplainable. If, +further, Aryan sentiment was so opposed to Druidic customs, why did +Aryan Celts so readily accept the Druids? In this case the receiver is +as bad as the thief. Sir G.L. Gomme clings to the belief that the Aryans +were people of a comparatively high civilisation, who had discarded, if +they ever possessed, a savage "past." But old beliefs and customs still +survive through growing civilisation, and if the views of Professor +Sergi and others are correct, the Aryans were even less civilised than +the peoples whom they conquered.[1009] Shape-shifting, magic, human +sacrifice, priestly domination, were as much Aryan as non-Aryan, and if +the Celts had a comparatively pure religion, why did they so soon allow +it to be defiled by the puerile superstitions of the Druids? + +M. Reinach, as we have seen, thinks that the Celts had no images, +because these were prohibited by their priests. This prohibition was +pre-Celtic in Gaul, since there are no Neolithic images, though there +are great megalithic structures, suggesting the existence of a great +religious aristocracy. This aristocracy imposed itself on the +Celts.[1010] We have seen that there is no reason for believing that the +Celts had no images, hence this argument is valueless. M. Reinach then +argues that the Celts accepted Druidism _en bloc_, as the Romans +accepted Oriental cults and the Greeks the native Pelasgic cults. But +neither Romans nor Greeks abandoned their own faith. Were the Celts a +people without priests and without religion? We know that they must have +accepted many local cults, but that they adopted the whole aboriginal +faith and its priests _en bloc_ is not credible. M. Reinach also holds +that when the Celts appear in history Druidism was in its decline; the +Celt, or at least the military caste among the Celts, was reasserting +itself. But the Druids do not appear as a declining body in the pages of +Cæsar, and their power was still supreme, to judge by the hostility of +the Roman Government to them. If the military caste rebelled against +them, this does not prove that they were a foreign body. Such a strife +is seen wherever priest and soldier form separate castes, each desiring +to rule, as in Egypt. + +Other writers argue that we do not find Druids existing in the Danube +region, in Cisalpine territory, nor in Transalpine Gaul, "outside the +limits of the region occupied by the Celtæ."[1011] This could only have +weight if any of the classical writers had composed a formal treatise on +the Druids, showing exactly the regions where they existed. They merely +describe Druidism as a general Celtic institution, or as they knew it in +Gaul or Britain, and few of them have any personal knowledge of it. +There is no reason to believe that Druids did not exist wherever there +were Celts. The Druids and Semnotheoi of the Celts and Galatæ referred +to _c._ 200 B.C. were apparently priests of other Celts than those of +Gaul, and Celtic groups of Cisalpine Gaul had priests, though these are +not formally styled Druids.[1012] The argument _ex silentio_ is here of +little value, since the references to the Druids are so brief, and it +tells equally against their non-Celtic origin, since we do not hear of +Druids in Aquitania, a non-Celtic region.[1013] + +The theory of the non-Celtic origin of the Druids assumes that the Celts +had no priests, or that these were effaced by the Druids. The Celts had +priests called _gutuatri_ attached to certain temples, their name +perhaps meaning "the speakers," those who spoke to the gods.[1014] The +functions of the Druids were much more general, according to this +theory, hence M. D'Arbois supposes that, before their intrusion, the +Celts had no other priests than the _gutuatri_.[1015] But the +probability is that they were a Druidic class, ministers of local +sanctuaries, and related to the Druids as the Levites were to the +priests of Israel, since the Druids were a composite priesthood with a +variety of functions. If the priests and servants of Belenos, described +by Ausonius and called by him _oedituus Beleni_, were _gutuatri_, then +the latter must have been connected with the Druids, since he says they +were of Druidic stock.[1016] Lucan's "priest of the grove" may have been +a _gutuatros_, and the priests (_sacerdotes_) and other ministers +(_antistites_) of the Boii may have been Druids properly so called and +_gutuatri_.[1017] Another class of temple servants may have existed. +Names beginning with the name of a god and ending in _gnatos_, +"accustomed to," "beloved of," occur in inscriptions, and may denote +persons consecrated from their youth to the service of a grove or +temple. On the other hand, the names may mean no more than that those +bearing them were devoted to the cult of one particular god. + +Our supposition that the _gutuatri_ were a class of Druids is supported +by classical evidence, which tends to show that the Druids were a great +inclusive priesthood with different classes possessing different +functions--priestly, prophetic, magical, medical, legal, and poetical. +Cæsar attributes these to the Druids as a whole, but in other writers +they are in part at least in the hands of different classes. Diodorus +refers to the Celtic philosophers and theologians (Druids), diviners, +and bards, as do also Strabo and Timagenes, Strabo giving the Greek form +of the native name for the diviners, [Greek: ouateis], the Celtic form +being probably _vátis_ (Irish, _fáith_).[1018] These may have been also +poets, since _vátis_ means both singer and poet; but in all three +writers the bards are a fairly distinct class, who sing the deeds of +famous men (so Timagenes). Druid and diviner were also closely +connected, since the Druids studied nature and moral philosophy, and the +diviners were also students of nature, according to Strabo and +Timagenes. No sacrifice was complete without a Druid, say Diodorus and +Strabo, but both speak of the diviners as concerned with sacrifice. +Druids also prophesied as well as diviners, according to Cicero and +Tacitus.[1019] Finally, Lucan mentions only Druids and bards.[1020] +Diviners were thus probably a Druidic sub-class, standing midway between +the Druids proper and the bards, and partaking of some of the functions +of both. Pliny speaks of "Druids and this race of prophets and +doctors,"[1021] and this suggests that some were priests, some diviners, +while some practised an empiric medical science. + +On the whole this agrees with what is met with in Ireland, where the +Druids, though appearing in the texts mainly as magicians, were also +priests and teachers. Side by side with them were the _Filid_, "learned +poets,"[1022] composing according to strict rules of art, and higher +than the third class, the Bards. The _Filid_, who may also have been +known as _Fáthi_, "prophets,"[1023] were also diviners according to +strict rules of augury, while some of these auguries implied a +sacrifice. The Druids were also diviners and prophets. When the Druids +were overthrown at the coming of Christianity, the _Filid_ remained as a +learned class, probably because they had abandoned all pagan practices, +while the Bards were reduced to a comparatively low status. M. D'Arbois +supposes that there was rivalry between the Druids and the _Filid_, who +made common cause with the Christian missionaries, but this is not +supported by evidence. The three classes in Gaul--Druids, _Vates_, and +Bards--thus correspond to the three classes in Ireland--Druids, _Fáthi_ +or _Filid_, and Bards.[1024] + +We may thus conclude that the Druids were a purely Celtic priesthood, +belonging both to the Goidelic and Gaulish branches of the Celts. The +idea that they were not Celtic is sometimes connected with the +supposition that Druidism was something superadded to Celtic religion +from without, or that Celtic polytheism was not part of the creed of the +Druids, but sanctioned by them, while they had a definite theological +system with only a few gods.[1025] These are the ideas of writers who +see in the Druids an occult and esoteric priesthood. The Druids had +grown up _pari passu_ with the growth of the native religion and magic. +Where they had become more civilised, as in the south of Gaul, they may +have given up many magical practices, but as a class they were addicted +to magic, and must have taken part in local cults as well as in those of +the greater gods. That they were a philosophic priesthood advocating a +pure religion among polytheists is a baseless theory. Druidism was not a +formal system outside Celtic religion. It covered the whole ground of +Celtic religion; in other words, it was that religion itself. + +The Druids are first referred to by pseudo-Aristotle and Sotion in the +second century B.C., the reference being preserved by Diogenes Laertius: +"There are among the Celtæ and Galatæ those called Druids and +Semnotheoi."[1026] The two words may be synonymous, or they may describe +two classes of priests, or, again, the Druids may have been Celtic, and +the Semnotheoi Galatic (? Galatian) priests. Cæsar's account comes next +in time. Later writers gives the Druids a lofty place and speak vaguely +of the Druidic philosophy and science. Cæsar also refers to their +science, but both he and Strabo speak of their human sacrifices. +Suetonius describes their religion as cruel and savage, and Mela, who +speaks of their learning, regards their human sacrifices as +savagery.[1027] Pliny says nothing of the Druids as philosophers, but +hints at their priestly functions, and connects them with magico-medical +rites.[1028] These divergent opinions are difficult to account for. But +as the Romans gained closer acquaintance with the Druids, they found +less philosophy and more superstition among them. For their cruel rites +and hostility to Rome, they sought to suppress them, but this they never +would have done had the Druids been esoteric philosophers. It has been +thought that Pliny's phrase, "Druids and that race of prophets and +doctors," signifies that, through Roman persecution, the Druids were +reduced to a kind of medicine-men.[1029] But the phrase rather describes +the varied functions of the Druids, as has been seen, nor does it refer +to the state to which the repressive edict reduced them, but to that in +which it found them. Pliny's information was also limited. + +The vague idea that the Druids were philosophers was repeated +parrot-like by writer after writer, who regarded barbaric races as +Rousseau and his school looked upon the "noble savage." Roman writers, +sceptical of a future life, were fascinated by the idea of a barbaric +priesthood teaching the doctrine of immortality in the wilds of Gaul. +For this teaching the poet Lucan sang their praises. The Druids probably +first impressed Greek and Latin observers by their magic, their +organisation, and the fact that, like many barbaric priesthoods, but +unlike those of Greece and Rome, they taught certain doctrines. Their +knowledge was divinely conveyed to them; "they speak the language of the +gods;"[1030] hence it was easy to read anything into this teaching. Thus +the Druidic legend rapidly grew. On the other hand, modern writers have +perhaps exaggerated the force of the classical evidence. When we read of +Druidic associations we need not regard these as higher than the +organised priesthoods of barbarians. Their doctrine of metempsychosis, +if it was really taught, involved no ethical content as in +Pythagoreanism. Their astronomy was probably astrological[1031]; their +knowledge of nature a series of cosmogonic myths and speculations. If a +true Druidic philosophy and science had existed, it is strange that it +is always mentioned vaguely and that it exerted no influence upon the +thought of the time. + +Classical sentiment also found a connection between the Druidic and +Pythagorean systems, the Druids being regarded as conforming to the +doctrines and rules of the Greek philosopher.[1032] It is not improbable +that some Pythagorean doctrines may have reached Gaul, but when we +examine the point at which the two systems were supposed to meet, +namely, the doctrine of metempsychosis and immortality, upon which the +whole idea of this relationship was founded, there is no real +resemblance. There are Celtic myths regarding the rebirth of gods and +heroes, but the eschatological teaching was apparently this, that the +soul was clothed with a body in the other-world. There was no doctrine +of a series of rebirths on this earth as a punishment for sin. The +Druidic teaching of a bodily immortality was mistakenly assumed to be +the same as the Pythagorean doctrine of the soul reincarnated in body +after body. Other points of resemblance were then discovered. The +organisation of the Druids was assumed by Ammianus to be a kind of +corporate life--_sodaliciis adstricti consortiis_--while the Druidic +mind was always searching into lofty things,[1033] but those who wrote +most fully of the Druids knew nothing of this. + +The Druids, like the priests of all religions, doubtless sought after +such knowledge as was open to them, but this does not imply that they +possessed a recondite philosophy or a secret theology. They were +governed by the ideas current among all barbaric communities, and they +were at once priests, magicians, doctors, and teachers. They would not +allow their sacred hymns to be written down, but taught them in +secret,[1034] as is usual wherever the success of hymn or prayer depends +upon the right use of the words and the secrecy observed in imparting +them to others. Their ritual, as far as is known to us, differs but +little from that of other barbarian folk, and it included human +sacrifice and divination with the victim's body. They excluded the +guilty from a share in the cult--the usual punishment meted out to the +tabu-breaker in all primitive societies. + +The idea that the Druids taught a secret doctrine--monotheism, +pantheism, or the like--is unsupported by evidence. Doubtless they +communicated secrets to the initiated, as is done in barbaric mysteries +everywhere, but these secrets consist of magic and mythic formulæ, the +exhibition of _Sacra_, and some teaching about the gods or about moral +duties. These are kept secret, not because they are abstract doctrines, +but because they would lose their value and because the gods would be +angry if they were made too common. If the Druids taught religious and +moral matters secretly, these were probably no more than an extension of +the threefold maxim inculcated by them according to Diogenes Laertius: +"To worship the gods, to do no evil, and to exercise courage."[1035] To +this would be added cosmogonic myths and speculations, and magic and +religious formulæ. This will become more evident as we examine the +position and power of the Druids. + +In Gaul, and to some extent in Ireland, the Druids formed a priestly +corporation--a fact which helped classical observers to suppose that +they lived together like the Pythagorean communities. While the words of +Ammianus--_sodaliciis adstricti consortiis_--may imply no more than some +kind of priestly organisation, M. Bertrand founds on them a theory that +the Druids were a kind of monks living a community life, and that Irish +monasticism was a transformation of this system.[1036] This is purely +imaginative. Irish Druids had wives and children, and the Druid +Diviciacus was a family man, while Cæsar says not a word of community +life among the Druids. The hostility of Christianity to the Druids would +have prevented any copying of their system, and Irish monasticism was +modelled on that of the Continent. Druidic organisation probably denoted +no more than that the Druids were bound by certain ties, that they were +graded in different ranks or according to their functions, and that they +practised a series of common cults. In Gaul one chief Druid had +authority over the others, the position being an elective one.[1037] The +insular Druids may have been similarly organised, since we hear of a +chief Druid, _primus magus_, while the _Filid_ had an _Ard-file_, or +chief, elected to his office.[1038] The priesthood was not a caste, but +was open to those who showed aptitude for it. There was a long +novitiate, extending even to twenty years, just as, in Ireland, the +novitiate of the _File_ lasted from seven to twelve years.[1039] + +The Druids of Gaul assembled annually in a central spot, and there +settled disputes, because they were regarded as the most just of +men.[1040] Individual Druids also decided disputes or sat as judges in +cases of murder. How far it was obligatory to bring causes before them +is unknown, but those who did not submit to a decision were interdicted +from the sacrifices, and all shunned them. In other words, they were +tabued. A magico-religious sanction thus enforced the judgments of the +Druids. In Galatia the twelve tetrarchs had a council of three hundred +men, and met in a place called Drunemeton to try cases of murder.[1041] +Whether it is philologically permissible to connect _Dru_- with the +corresponding syllable in "Druid" or not, the likeness to the Gaulish +assembly at a "consecrated place," perhaps a grove (_nemeton_), is +obvious. We do not know that Irish Druids were judges, but the _Filid_ +exercised judgments, and this may be a relic of their connection with +the Druids.[1042] + +Diodorus describes the Druids exhorting combatants to peace, and taming +them like wild beasts by enchantment.[1043] This suggests interference +to prevent the devastating power of the blood-feud or of tribal wars. +They also appear to have exercised authority in the election of rulers. +Convictolitanis was elected to the magistracy by the priests in Gaul, +"according to the custom of the State."[1044] In Ireland, after +partaking of the flesh of a white bull, probably a sacrificial animal, a +man lay down to sleep, while four Druids chanted over him "to render his +witness truthful." He then saw in a vision the person who should be +elected king, and what he was doing at the moment.[1045] Possibly the +Druids used hypnotic suggestion; the medium was apparently clairvoyant. + +Dio Chrysostom alleges that kings were ministers of the Druids, and +could do nothing without them.[1046] This agrees on the whole with the +witness of Irish texts. Druids always accompany the king, and have great +influence over him. According to a passage in the _Táin_, "the men of +Ulster must not speak before the king, the king must not speak before +his Druid," and even Conchobar was silent until the Druid Cathbad had +spoken.[1047] This power, resembling that of many other priesthoods, +must have helped to balance that of the warrior class, and it is the +more credible when we recall the fact that the Druids claimed to have +made the universe.[1048] The priest-kingship may have been an old Celtic +institution, and this would explain why, once the offices were +separated, priests had or claimed so much political power. + +That political power must have been enhanced by their position as +teachers, and it is safe to say that submission to their powers was +inculcated by them. Both in Gaul and in Ireland they taught others than +those who intended to become Druids.[1049] As has been seen, their +teachings were not written down, but transmitted orally. They taught +immortality, believing that thus men would be roused to valour, +buttressing patriotism with dogma. They also imparted "many things +regarding the stars and their motions, the extent of the universe and +the earth, the nature of things, and the power and might of the immortal +gods." Strabo also speaks of their teaching in moral science.[1050] As +has been seen, it is easy to exaggerate all this. Their astronomy was +probably of a humble kind and mingled with astrology; their natural +philosophy a mass of cosmogonic myths and speculations; their theology +was rather mythology; their moral philosophy a series of maxims such as +are found in all barbaric communities. Their medical lore, to judge from +what Pliny says, was largely magical. Some Druids, e.g. in the south of +Gaul, may have had access to classical learning, and Cæsar speaks of the +use of Greek characters among them. This could hardly have been general, +and in any case must have superseded the use of a native script, to +which the use of ogams in Ireland, and perhaps also in Gaul, was +supplementary. The Irish Druids may have had written books, for King +Loegaire desired that S. Patrick's books and those of the Druids should +be submitted to the ordeal by water as a test of their owners' +claims.[1051] + +In religious affairs the Druids were supreme, since they alone "knew the +gods and divinities of heaven."[1052] They superintended and arranged +all rites and attended to "public and private sacrifices," and "no +sacrifice was complete without the intervention of a Druid."[1053] The +dark and cruel rites of the Druids struck the Romans with horror, and +they form a curious contrast to their alleged "philosophy." They used +divination and had regular formulæ of incantation as well as ritual acts +by which they looked into the future.[1054] Before all matters of +importance, especially before warlike expeditions, their advice was +sought because they could scan the future. + +Name-giving and a species of baptism were performed by the Druids or on +their initiative. Many examples of this occur in Irish texts, thus of +Conall Cernach it is said, "Druids came to baptize the child into +heathenism, and they sang the heathen baptism (_baithis geintlídhe_) +over the little child", and of Ailill that he was "baptized in Druidic +streams".[1055] In Welsh story we read that Gwri was "baptized with the +baptism which was usual at that time".[1056] Similar illustrations are +common at name-giving among many races,[1057] and it is probable that +the custom in the Hebrides of the midwife dropping three drops of water +on the child _in Nomine_ and giving it a temporary name, is a survival +of this practice. The regular baptism takes place later, but this +preliminary rite keeps off fairies and ensures burial in consecrated +ground, just as the pagan rite was protective and admitted to the tribal +privileges.[1058] + +In the burial rites, which in Ireland consisted of a lament, sacrifices, +and raising a stone inscribed with ogams over the grave, Druids took +part. The Druid Dergdamsa pronounced a discourse over the Ossianic hero +Mag-neid, buried him with his arms, and chanted a rune. The ogam +inscription would also be of Druidic composition, and as no sacrifice +was complete without the intervention of Druids, they must also have +assisted at the lavish sacrifices which occurred at Celtic funerals. + +Pliny's words, "the Druids and that race of prophets and doctors", +suggest that the medical art may have been in the hands of a special +class of Druids though all may have had a smattering of it. It was +mainly concerned with the use of herbs, and was mixed up with magical +rites, which may have been regarded as of more importance than the +actual medicines used.[1059] In Ireland Druids also practised the +healing art. Thus when Cúchulainn was ill, Emer said, "If it had been +Fergus, Cúchulainn would have taken no rest till he had found a Druid +able to discover the cause of that illness."[1060] But other persons, +not referred to as Druids, are mentioned as healers, one of them a +woman, perhaps a reminiscence of the time when the art was practised by +women.[1061] These healers may, however, have been attached to the +Druidic corporation in much the same way as were the bards. + +Still more important were the magical powers of the Druids--giving or +withholding sunshine or rain, causing storms, making women and cattle +fruitful, using spells, rhyming to death, exercising shape-shifting and +invisibility, and producing a magic sleep, possibly hypnotic. They were +also in request as poisoners.[1062] Since the Gauls went to Britain to +perfect themselves in Druidic science, it is possible that the insular +Druids were more devoted to magic than those of Gaul, but since the +latter are said to have "tamed the people as wild beasts are tamed", it +is obvious that this refers to their powers as magicians rather than to +any recondite philosophy possessed by them. Yet they were clear-sighted +enough to use every means by which they might gain political power, and +some of them may have been open to the influence of classical learning +even before the Roman invasion. In the next chapter the magic of the +Druids will be described in detail. + +The Druids, both in Gaul (at the mistletoe rite) and in Ireland, were +dressed in white, but Strabo speaks of their scarlet and gold +embroidered robes, their golden necklets and bracelets.[1063] Again, the +chief Druid of the king of Erin wore a coloured cloak and had earrings +of gold, and in another instance a Druid wears a bull's hide and a +white-speckled bird headpiece with fluttering wings.[1064] There was +also some special tonsure used by the Druids,[1065] which may have +denoted servitude to the gods, as it was customary for a warrior to vow +his hair to a divinity if victory was granted him. Similarly the Druid's +hair would be presented to the gods, and the tonsure would mark their +minister. + +Some writers have tried to draw a distinction between the Druids of Gaul +and of Ireland, especially in the matter of their priestly +functions.[1066] But, while a few passages in Irish texts do suggest +that the Irish Druids were priests taking part in sacrifices, etc., +nearly all passages relating to cult or ritual seem to have been +deliberately suppressed. Hence the Druids appear rather as magicians--a +natural result, since, once the people became Christian, the priestly +character of the Druids would tend to be lost sight of. Like the Druids +of Gaul, they were teachers and took part in political affairs, and this +shows that they were more than mere magicians. In Irish texts the word +"Druid" is somewhat loosely used and is applied to kings and poets, +perhaps because they had been pupils of the Druids. But it is impossible +to doubt that the Druids in Ireland fulfilled functions of a public +priesthood. They appear in connection with all the colonies which came +to Erin, the annalists regarding the priests or medicine-men of +different races as Druids, through lack of historic perspective. But one +fact shows that they were priests of the Celtic religion in Ireland. The +euhemerised Tuatha Dé Danann are masters of Druidic lore. Thus both the +gods and the priests who served them were confused by later writers. The +opposition of Christian missionaries to the Druids shows that they were +priests; if they were not, it remains to be discovered what body of men +did exercise priestly functions in pagan Ireland. In Ireland their +judicial functions may have been less important than in Gaul, and they +may not have been so strictly organised; but here we are in the region +of conjecture. They were exempt from military service in Gaul, and many +joined their ranks on this account, but in Ireland they were "bonny +fechters," just as in Gaul they occasionally fought like mediæval +bishops.[1067] In both countries they were present on the field of +battle to perform the necessary religious or magical rites. + +Since the Druids were an organised priesthood, with powers of teaching +and of magic implicitly believed in by the folk, possessing the key of +the other-world, and dominating the whole field of religion, it is easy +to see how much veneration must have been paid them. Connoting this with +the influence of the Roman Church in Celtic regions and the power of the +Protestant minister in the Highlands and in Wales, some have thought +that there is an innate tendency in the Celt to be priest-ridden. If +this be true, we can only say, "the people wish to have it so, and the +priests--pagan, papist, or protestant--bear rule through their means!" + +Thus a close examination of the position and functions of the Druids +explains away two popular misconceptions. They were not possessed of any +recondite and esoteric wisdom. And the culling of mistletoe instead of +being the most important, was but a subordinate part of their functions. + +In Gaul the Roman power broke the sway of the Druids, aided perhaps by +the spread of Christianity, but it was Christianity alone which routed +them in Ireland and in Britain outside the Roman pale. The Druidic +organisation, their power in politics and in the administration of +justice, their patriotism, and also their use of human sacrifice and +magic, were all obnoxious to the Roman Government, which opposed them +mainly on political grounds. Magic and human sacrifice were suppressed +because they were contrary to Roman manners. The first attack was in the +reign of Augustus, who prohibited Roman citizens from taking part in the +religion of the Druids.[1068] Tiberius next interdicted the Druids, but +this was probably aimed at their human sacrifices, for the Druids were +not suppressed, since they existed still in the reign of Claudius, who +is said to have abolished _Druidarum religionem dirae +immanitatis_.[1069] The earlier legislation was ineffective; that of +Claudius was more thorough, but it, too, was probably aimed mainly at +human sacrifice and magic, since Aurelius Victor limits it to the +"notorious superstitions" of the Druids.[1070] It did not abolish the +native religion, as is proved by the numerous inscriptions to Celtic +gods, and by the fact that, as Mela informs us, human victims were still +offered symbolically,[1071] while the Druids were still active some +years later. A parallel is found in the British abolition of S[=a]ti in +India, while permitting the native religion to flourish. + +Probably more effective was the policy begun by Augustus. Magistrates +were inaugurated and acted as judges, thus ousting the Druids, and +native deities and native ritual were assimilated to those of Rome. +Celtic religion was Romanised, and if the Druids retained priestly +functions, it could only be by their becoming Romanised also. Perhaps +the new State religion in Gaul simply ignored them. The annual assembly +of deputies at Lugudunum round the altar of Rome and Augustus had a +religious character, and was intended to rival and to supersede the +annual gathering of the Druids.[1072] The deputies elected a flamen of +the province who had surveillance of the cult, and there were also +flamens for each city. Thus the power of the Druids in politics, law, +and religion was quietly undermined, while Rome also struck a blow at +their position as teachers by establishing schools throughout +Gaul.[1073] + +M. D'Arbois maintains that, as a result of persecution, the Druids +retired to the depths of the forests, and continued to teach there in +secret those who despised the new learning of Rome, basing his opinion +on passages of Lucan and Mela, both writing a little after the +promulgation of the laws.[1074]. But neither Lucan nor Mela refer to an +existing state of things, and do not intend their readers to suppose +that the Druids fled to woods and caverns. Lucan speaks of them +_dwelling_ in woods, i.e. their sacred groves, and resuming their rites +after Cæsar's conquest not after the later edicts, and he does not speak +of the Druids teaching there.[1075] Mela seems to be echoing Cæsar's +account of the twenty years' novitiate, but adds to it that the teaching +was given in secret, confusing it, however, with that given to others +than candidates for the priesthood. Thus he says: "Docent multa +nobilissimos gentis clam et diu vicenis annis aut in specu aut in +abditis saltibus,"[1076] but there is not the slightest evidence that +this secrecy was the result of the edicts. Moreover, the attenuated +sacrificial rites which he describes were evidently practised quite +openly. Probably some Druids continued their teaching in their secret +and sacred haunts, but it is unlikely that noble Gauls would resort to +them when Greco-Roman culture was now open to them in the schools, where +they are found receiving instruction in 21 A.D.[1077] Most of the Druids +probably succumbed to the new order of things. Some continued the old +rites in a modified manner as long as they could obtain worshippers. +Others, more fanatical, would suffer from the law when they could not +evade its grasp. Some of these revolted against Rome after Nero's death, +and it was perhaps to this class that those Druids belonged who +prophesied the world-empire of the Celts in 70 A.D.[1078] The fact that +Druids existed at this date shows that the proscription had not been +complete. But the complete Romanising of Gaul took away their +occupation, though even in the fourth century men still boasted of their +Druidic descent.[1079] + +The insular Druids opposed the legions in Southern Britain, and in Mona +in 62 A.D. they made a last stand with the warriors against the Romans, +gesticulating and praying to the gods. But with the establishment of +Roman power in Britain their fate must have resembled that of the Druids +of Gaul. A recrudescence of Druidism is found, however, in the presence +of _magi_ (Druids) with Vortigern after the Roman withdrawal.[1080] +Outside the Roman pale the Druids were still rampant and practised their +rites as before, according to Pliny.[1081] Much later, in the sixth +century, they opposed Christian missionaries in Scotland, just as in +Ireland they opposed S. Patrick and his monks, who combated "the +hard-hearted Druids." Finally, Christianity was victorious and the +powers of the Druids passed in large measure to the Christian clergy or +remained to some extent with the _Filid_.[1082] In popular belief the +clerics had prevailed less by the persuasive power of the gospel, than +by successfully rivalling the magic of the Druids. + +Classical writers speak of _Dryades_ or "Druidesses" in the third +century. One of them predicted his approaching death to Alexander +Severus, another promised the empire to Diocletian, others were +consulted by Aurelian.[1083] Thus they were divineresses, rather than +priestesses, and their name may be the result of misconception, unless +they assumed it when Druids no longer existed as a class. In Ireland +there were divineresses--_ban-filid_ or _ban-fáthi_, probably a distinct +class with prophetic powers. Kings are warned against "pythonesses" as +well as Druids, and Dr. Joyce thinks these were Druidesses.[1084] S. +Patrick also armed himself against "the spells of women" and of +Druids.[1085] Women in Ireland had a knowledge of futurity, according to +Solinus, and the women who took part with the Druids like furies at +Mona, may have been divineresses.[1086] In Ireland it is possible that +such women were called "Druidesses," since the word _ban-drui_ is met +with, the women so called being also styled _ban-fili_, while the fact +that they belonged to the class of the _Filid_ brings them into +connection with the Druids.[1087] But _ban-drui_ may have been applied +to women with priestly functions, such as certainly existed in +Ireland--e.g. the virgin guardians of sacred fires, to whose functions +Christian nuns succeeded.[1088] We know also that the British queen +Boudicca exercised priestly functions, and such priestesses, apart from +the _Dryades_, existed among the continental Celts. Inscriptions at +Arles speak of an _antistita deae_, and at Le Prugnon of a _flaminica +sacerdos_ of the goddess Thucolis.[1089] These were servants of a +goddess like the priestess of the Celtic Artemis in Galatia, in whose +family the priesthood was hereditary.[1090] The virgins called +Gallizenæ, who practised divination and magic in the isle of Sena, were +priestesses of a Gaulish god, and some of the women who were "possessed +by Dionysus" and practised an orgiastic cult on an island in the Loire, +were probably of the same kind.[1091] They were priestesses of some +magico-religious cult practised by women, like the guardians of the +sacred fire in Ireland, which was tabu to men. M. Reinach regards the +accounts of these island priestesses as fictions based on the story of +Circe's isle, but even if they are garbled, they seem to be based on +actual observation and are paralleled from other regions.[1092] + +The existence of such priestesses and divineresses over the Celtic area +is to be explained by our hypothesis that many Celtic divinities were at +first female and served by women, who were possessed of the tribal lore. +Later, men assumed their functions, and hence arose the great +priesthoods, but conservatism sporadically retained such female cults +and priestesses, some goddesses being still served by women--the +Galatian Artemis, or the goddesses of Gaul, with their female servants. +Time also brought its revenges, for when paganism passed away, much of +its folk-ritual and magic remained, practised by wise women or witches, +who for generations had as much power over ignorant minds as the +Christian priesthood. The fact that Cæsar and Tacitus speak of Germanic +but not of Celtic priestesses, can hardly, in face of these scattered +notices, be taken as a proof that women had no priestly _rôle_ in Celtic +religion. If they had not, that religion would be unique in the world's +history. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1002] Pliny, _HN_ xvi. 249. + +[1003] D'Arbois, _Les Druides_, 85, following Thurneysen. + +[1004] D'Arbois, _op. cit._ 12 f.; Deloche, _Revue des Deux Mondes_, +xxxiv. 466; Desjardins, _Geog. de la Gaule Romaine_, ii. 518. + +[1005] Cæsar, vi. 13. + +[1006] Pliny, _HN_ xxx. 1. + +[1007] Rh[^y]s, _CB_{4} 69 f. + +[1008] Gomme, _Ethnol. in Folk-lore_, 58, _Village Community_, 104. + +[1009] Sergi, _The Mediterranean Race_, 295. + +[1010] Reinach, "L'Art plastique en Gaule et le Druidisme," _RC_ xiii. +189. + +[1011] Holmes, _Cæsar's Conquest of Gaul_, 15; Dottin, 270. + +[1012] Diog. Laert. i. 1; Livy xxiii. 24. + +[1013] Desjardins, _op. cit._ ii. 519; but cf. Holmes, 535. + +[1014] _Gutuatros_ is perhaps from _gutu_-, "voice" (Holder, i. 2046; +but see Loth, _RC_ xxviii. 120). The existence of the _gutuatri_ is +known from a few inscriptions (see Holder), and from Hirtius, _de Bell. +Gall._ viii. 38, who mentions a _gutuatros_ put to death by Cæsar. + +[1015] D'Arbois, _Les Druides_, 2 f., _Les Celtes_, 32. + +[1016] Ausonius, _Professor._ v. 7, xi. 24. + +[1017] Lucan, iii. 424; Livy, xxiii. 24. + +[1018] Diod. Sic. v. 31; Strabo, iv. 4. 4; Timagenes _apud_ Amm. Marc. +xv. 9. + +[1019] Cicero, _de Div._ i. 41. 90; Tac. _Hist._ iv. 54. + +[1020] _Phars._ i. 449 f. + +[1021] _HN_ xxx. i. + +[1022] _Filid_, sing. _File_, is from _velo_, "I see" (Stokes, _US_ +277). + +[1023] _Fáthi_ is cognate with _Vates_. + +[1024] In Wales there had been Druids as there were Bards, but all trace +of the second class is lost. Long after the Druids had passed away, the +fiction of the _derwydd-vardd_ or Druid-bard was created, and the later +bards were held to be depositories of a supposititious Druidic +theosophy, while they practised the old rites in secret. The late word +_derwydd_ was probably invented from _derw_, "oak," by some one who knew +Pliny's derivation. See D'Arbois, _Les Druides_, 81. + +[1025] For these views see Dottin, 295; Holmes, 17; Bertrand, 192-193, +268-269. + +[1026] Diog. Laert. i. proem. 1. For other references see Cæsar, vi. 13, +14; Strabo, iv. 4. 4; Amm. Marc. xv. 9; Diod. Sic, v. 28; Lucan, i. 460; +Mela, iii. 2. + +[1027] Suet. _Claud._ 25; Mela, iii. 2. + +[1028] Pliny, xxx. 1. + +[1029] D'Arbois, _Les Druides_, 77. + +[1030] Diod. Sic. v. 31. 4. + +[1031] See Cicero, _de Div._ i. 41. + +[1032] Diod. Sic. v. 28; Amm. Marc. xv. 9; Hippolytus, _Refut. Hær._ i. +22. + +[1033] Amm. Marc. xv. 9. + +[1034] Cæsar, vi. 14. + +[1035] Diog. Laert. 6. Celtic enthusiasts see in this triple maxim +something akin to the Welsh triads, which they claim to be Druidic! + +[1036] Bertrand, 280. + +[1037] Cæsar, vi. 13. + +[1038] _Trip. Life_, ii. 325, i. 52, ii. 402; _IT_ i. 373; _RC_ xxvi. +33. The title _rig-file_, "king poet," sometimes occurs. + +[1039] Cæsar, vi. 14. + +[1040] Cæsar, vi. 13; Strabo, iv. 4. 4. + +[1041] Strabo, xii. 5. 2. + +[1042] Their judicial powers were taken from them because their speech +had become obscure. Perhaps they gave their judgments in archaic +language. + +[1043] Diod. Sic. v. 31. 5. + +[1044] Cæsar, vii. 33. + +[1045] _IT_ i. 213; D'Arbois, v. 186. + +[1046] Dio, _Orat._ xlix. + +[1047] _LL_ 93. + +[1048] _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, i. 22. + +[1049] Cæsar, vi. 13, 14; Windisch, _Táin_, line 1070 f.; _IT_ i. 325; +_Arch. Rev._ i. 74; _Trip. Life_, 99; cf. O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 201. + +[1050] Cæsar, vi. 14; Strabo, iv. 4. 4. + +[1051] _Trip. Life_, 284. + +[1052] Lucan, i. 451. + +[1053] Diod. v. 31. 4; cf. Cæsar, vi. 13, 16; Strabo, iv. 4. 5. + +[1054] See p. 248, _supra_. + +[1055] _RC_ xiv. 29; Miss Hull, 4, 23, 141; _IT_ iii. 392, 423; Stokes, +_Félire_, Intro. 23. + +[1056] Loth, i. 56. + +[1057] See my art. "Baptism (Ethnic)" in Hastings' _Encyclopædia of +Religion and Ethics_, ii. 367 f. + +[1058] Carmichael, _Carm. Gadel._ i. 115. + +[1059] See p. 206, _supra_. + +[1060] _IT_ i. 215. + +[1061] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 221, 641. + +[1062] _RC_ xvi. 34. + +[1063] Pliny, _HN_ xvi. 45; _Trip. Life_, ii. 325; Strabo, iv. 275. + +[1064] _RC_ xxii. 285; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 215. + +[1065] Reeves' ed. of Adamnan's _Life of S. Col._ 237; Todd, _S. +Patrick_, 455; Joyce, _SH_ i. 234. For the relation of the Druidic +tonsure to the peculiar tonsure of the Celtic Church, see Rh[^y]s, _HL_ +213, _CB_{4} 72; Gougaud, _Les Chrétientés Celtiques_, 198. + +[1066] See Hyde, _Lit. Hist. of Ireland_, 88; Joyce, _SH_ i. 239. + +[1067] Cæsar, vi. 14, ii. 10. + +[1068] Suetonius, _Claud._ 25. + +[1069] Pliny _HN_ xxx. 1; Suet. _Claud._ 25. + +[1070] _de Cæsaribus_, 4, "famosæ superstitiones"; cf. p. 328, _infra_. + +[1071] Mela, iii. 2. + +[1072] Mommsen, _Rom. Gesch._ v. 94. + +[1073] Bloch (Lavisse), _Hist. de France_, i. 2, 176 f., 391 f.; Duruy, +"Comment périt l'institution Druidique," _Rev. Arch._ xv. 347; de +Coulanges, "Comment le Druidisme a disparu," _RC_ iv. 44. + +[1074] _Les Druides_, 73. + +[1075] _Phars._ i. 453, "Ye Druids, after arms were laid aside, sought +once again your barbarous ceremonials.... In remote forests do ye +inhabit the deep glades." + +[1076] Mela, iii. 2. + +[1077] Tacit. iii. 43. + +[1078] Ibid. iv. 54. + +[1079] Ausonius, _Prof._ v. 12, xi. 17. + +[1080] Nennius, 40. In the Irish version they are called "Druids." See +p. 238, _supra_. + +[1081] Pliny, xxx. 1. + +[1082] Adamnan, _Vita S. Col._, i. 37. ii. 35, etc.; Reeves' _Adamnan_, +247 f.; Stokes, _Three Homilies_, 24 f.; _Antient Laws of Ireland_, i. +15; _RC_ xvii. 142 f.; _IT_ i. 23. + +[1083] Lampridius, _Alex. Sev._ 60; Vopiscus, _Numerienus_, 14, +_Aurelianus_, 44. + +[1084] Windisch, _Táin_, 31, 221; cf. Meyer, _Contributions to Irish +Lexicog._ 176 Joyce, _SH_ i. 238. + +[1085] _IT_ i. 56. + +[1086] Solinus, 35; Tac. _Ann._ xiv. 30. + +[1087] _RC_ xv. 326, xvi. 34, 277; Windisch, _Táin_, 331. In _LL_ 75_b_ +we hear of "three Druids and three Druidesses." + +[1088] See p. 69, _supra_; Keating, 331. + +[1089] Jullian, 100; Holder, _s.v._ "Thucolis." + +[1090] Plutarch, _Vir. mul._ 20. + +[1091] Mela, iii. 6; Strabo, iv. 4. 6. + +[1092] Reinach, _RC_ xviii. 1 f. The fact that the rites were called +Dionysiac is no reason for denying the fact that some orgiastic rites +were practised. Classical writers usually reported all barbaric rites in +terms of their own religion. M. D'Arbois (vi. 325) points out that Circe +was not a virgin, and had not eight companions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +MAGIC. + + +The Celts, like all other races, were devoted to magical practices, many +of which could be used by any one, though, on the whole, they were in +the hands of the Druids, who in many aspects were little higher than the +shamans of barbaric tribes. But similar magical rites were also +attributed to the gods, and it is probably for this reason that the +Tuatha Dé Danann and many of the divinities who appear in the +_Mabinogion_ are described as magicians. Kings are also spoken of as +wizards, perhaps a reminiscence of the powers of the priest king. But +since many of the primitive cults had been in the hands of women, and as +these cults implied a large use of magic, they may have been the +earliest wielders of magic, though, with increasing civilisation, men +took their place as magicians. Still side by side with the +magic-wielding Druids, there were classes of women who also dealt in +magic, as we have seen. Their powers were feared, even by S. Patrick, +who classes the "spells of women" along with those of Druids, and, in a +mythic tale, by the father of Connla, who, when the youth was fascinated +by a goddess, feared that he would be taken by the "spells of women" +(_brichta ban_).[1093] In other tales women perform all such magical +actions as are elsewhere ascribed to Druids.[1094] And after the Druids +had passed away precisely similar actions--power over the weather, the +use of incantations and amulets, shape-shifting and invisibility, +etc.--were, and still are in remote Celtic regions, ascribed to witches. +Much of the Druidic art, however, was also supposed to be possessed by +saints and clerics, both in the past and in recent times. But women +remained as magicians when the Druids had disappeared, partly because of +female conservatism, partly because, even in pagan times, they had +worked more or less secretly. At last the Church proscribed them and +persecuted them. + +Each clan, tribe, or kingdom had its Druids, who, in time of war, +assisted their hosts by magic art. This is reflected back upon the +groups of the mythological cycle, each of which has its Druids who play +no small part in the battles fought. Though Pliny recognises the +priestly functions of the Druids, he associates them largely with magic, +and applies the name _magus_ to them.[1095] In Irish ecclesiastical +literature, _drui_ is used as the translation of _magus_, e.g. in the +case of the Egyptian magicians, while _magi_ is used in Latin lives of +saints as the equivalent of the vernacular _druides_.[1096] In the sagas +and in popular tales _Druidecht_, "Druidism," stands for "magic," and +_slat an draoichta_, "rod of Druidism," is a magic wand.[1097] The +Tuatha Dé Danann were said to have learned "Druidism" from the four +great master Druids of the region whence they had come to Ireland, and +even now, in popular tales, they are often called "Druids" or "Danann +Druids."[1098] Thus in Ireland at least there is clear evidence of the +great magical power claimed by Druids. + +That power was exercised to a great extent over the elements, some of +which Druids claimed to have created. Thus the Druid Cathbad covered the +plain over which Deirdre was escaping with "a great-waved sea."[1099] +Druids also produced blinding snow-storms, or changed day into +night--feats ascribed to them even in the Lives of Saints.[1100] Or they +discharge "shower-clouds of fire" on the opposing hosts, as in the case +of the Druid Mag Ruith, who made a magic fire, and flying upwards +towards it, turned it upon the enemy, whose Druid in vain tried to +divert it.[1101] When the Druids of Cormac dried up all the waters in +the land, another Druid shot an arrow, and where it fell there issued a +torrent of water.[1102] The Druid Mathgen boasted of being able to throw +mountains on the enemy, and frequently Druids made trees or stones +appear as armed men, dismaying the opposing host in this way. They could +also fill the air with the clash of battle, or with the dread cries of +eldritch things.[1103] Similar powers are ascribed to other persons. The +daughters of Calatin raised themselves aloft on an enchanted wind, and +discovered Cúchulainn when he was hidden away by Cathbad. Later they +produced a magic mist to discomfit the hero.[1104] Such mists occur +frequently in the sagas, and in one of them the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived +in Ireland. The priestesses of Sena could rouse sea and wind by their +enchantments, and, later, Celtic witches have claimed the same power. + +In folk-survivals the practice of rain-making is connected with sacred +springs, and even now in rural France processions to shrines, usually +connected with a holy well, are common in time of drought. Thus people +and priest go to the fountain of Baranton in procession, singing hymns, +and there pray for rain. The priest then dips his foot in the water, or +throws some of it on the rocks.[1105] In other cases the image of a +saint is carried to a well and asperged, as divine images formerly were, +or the waters are beaten or thrown into the air.[1106] Another custom +was that a virgin should clean out a sacred well, and formerly she had +to be nude.[1107] Nudity also forms part of an old ritual used in Gaul. +In time of drought the girls of the village followed the youngest virgin +in a state of nudity to seek the herb _belinuntia_. This she uprooted, +and was then led to a river and there asperged by the others. In this +case the asperging imitated the falling rain, and was meant to produce +it automatically. While some of these rites suggest the use of magic by +the folk themselves, in others the presence of the Christian priest +points to the fact that, formerly, a Druid was necessary as the rain +producer. In some cases the priest has inherited through long ages the +rain-making or tempest-quelling powers of the pagan priesthood, and is +often besought to exercise them.[1108] + +Causing invisibility by means of a spell called _feth fiada_, which made +a person unseen or hid him in a magic mist, was also used by the Druids +as well as by Christian saints. S. Patrick's hymn, called _Fâed Fiada_, +was sung by him when his enemies lay in wait, and caused a glamour in +them. The incantation itself, _fith-fath_, is still remembered in +Highland glens.[1109] In the case of S. Patrick he and his followers +appeared as deer, and this power of shape-shifting was wielded both by +Druids and women. The Druid Fer Fidail carried off a maiden by taking +the form of a woman, and another Druid deceived Cúchulainn by taking the +form of the fair Niamh.[1110] Other Druids are said to have been able to +take any shape that pleased them.[1111] These powers were reflected back +upon the gods and mythical personages like Taliesin or Amairgen, who +appear in many forms. The priestesses of Sena could assume the form of +animals, and an Irish Circe in the _Rennes Dindsenchas_ called Dalb the +Rough changed three men and their wives into swine by her spells.[1112] +This power of transforming others is often described in the sagas. The +children of Lir were changed to swans by their cruel stepmother; Saar, +the mother of Oisin, became a fawn through the power of the Druid Fear +Doirche when she rejected his love; and similarly Tuirrenn, mother of +Oisin's hounds, was transformed into a stag-hound by the fairy mistress +of her husband Iollann.[1113] In other instances in the sagas, women +appear as birds.[1114] These transformation tales may be connected with +totemism, for when this institution is decaying the current belief in +shape-shifting is often made use of to explain descent from animals or +the tabu against eating certain animals. In some of these Irish +shape-shifting tales we find this tabu referred to. Thus, when the +children of Lir were turned into swans, it was proclaimed that no one +should kill a swan. The reason of an existing tabu seemed to be +sufficiently explained when it was told that certain human beings had +become swans. It is not impossible that the Druids made use of hypnotic +suggestion to persuade others that they had assumed another form, as Red +Indian shamans have been known to do, or even hallucinated others into +the belief that their own form had been changed. + +By a "drink of oblivion" Druids and other persons could make one forget +even the most dearly beloved. Thus Cúchulainn was made to forget Fand, +and his wife Emer to forget her jealousy.[1115] This is a reminiscence +of potent drinks brewed from herbs which caused hallucinations, e.g. +that of the change of shape. In other cases they were of a narcotic +nature and caused a deep sleep, an instance being the draught given by +Grainne to Fionn and his men.[1116] Again, the "Druidic sleep" is +suggestive of hypnotism, practised in distant ages and also by +present-day savages. When Bodb suspected his daughter of lying he cast +her into a "Druidic sleep," in which she revealed her wickedness.[1117] +In other cases spells are cast upon persons so that they are +hallucinated, or are rendered motionless, or, "by the sleight of hand of +soothsayers," maidens lose their chastity without knowing it.[1118] +These point to knowledge of hypnotic methods of suggestion. Or, again, a +spectral army is opposed to an enemy's force to whom it is an +hallucinatory appearance--perhaps an exaggeration of natural hypnotic +powers.[1119] + +Druids also made a "hedge," the _airbe druad_, round an army, perhaps +circumambulating it and saying spells so that the attacking force might +not break through. If any one could leap this "hedge," the spell was +broken, but he lost his life. This was done at the battle of Cul Dremne, +at which S. Columba was present and aided the heroic leaper with his +prayers.[1120] + +A primitive piece of sympathetic magic used still by savages is recorded +in the _Rennes Dindsenchas_. In this story one man says spells over his +spear and hurls it into his opponent's shadow, so that he falls +dead.[1121] Equally primitive is the Druidic "sending" a wisp of straw +over which the Druid sang spells and flung it into his victim's face, so +that he became mad. A similar method is used by the Eskimo _angekok_. +All madness was generally ascribed to such a "sending." + +Several of these instances have shown the use of spells, and the Druid +was believed to possess powerful incantations to discomfit an enemy or +to produce other magical results. A special posture was +adopted--standing on one leg, with one arm outstretched and one eye +closed, perhaps to concentrate the force of the spell,[1122] but the +power lay mainly in the spoken words, as we have seen in discussing +Celtic formulæ of prayer. Such spells were also used by the _Filid_, or +poets, since most primitive poetry has a magical aspect. Part of the +training of the bard consisted in learning traditional incantations, +which, used with due ritual, produced the magic result.[1123] Some of +these incantations have already come before our notice, and probably +some of the verses which Cæsar says the Druids would not commit to +writing were of the nature of spells.[1124] The virtue of the spell lay +in the spoken formula, usually introducing the name of a god or spirit, +later a saint, in order to procure his intervention, through the power +inherent in the name. Other charms recount an effect already produced, +and this, through mimetic magic, is supposed to cause its repetition. +The earliest written documents bearing upon the paganism of the insular +Celts contain an appeal to "the science of Goibniu" to preserve butter, +and another, for magical healing, runs, "I admire the healing which +Diancecht left in his family, in order to bring health to those he +succoured." These are found in an eighth or ninth century MS., and, with +their appeal to pagan gods, were evidently used in Christian +times.[1125] Most Druidic magic was accompanied by a spell-- +transformation, invisibility, power over the elements, and the discovery +of hidden persons or things. In other cases spells were used in medicine +or for healing wounds. Thus the Tuatha Dé Danann told the Fomorians that +they need not oppose them, because their Druids would restore the slain +to life, and when Cúchulainn was wounded we hear less of medicines than +of incantations used to stanch his blood.[1126] In other cases the Druid +could remove barrenness by spells. + +The survival of the belief in spells among modern Celtic peoples is a +convincing proof of their use in pagan times, and throws light upon +their nature. In Brittany they are handed down in certain families, and +are carefully guarded from the knowledge of others. The names of saints +instead of the old gods are found in them, but in some cases diseases +are addressed as personal beings. In the Highlands similar charms are +found, and are often handed down from male to female, and from female to +male. They are also in common use in Ireland. Besides healing diseases, +such charms are supposed to cause fertility or bring good luck, or even +to transfer the property of others to the reciter, or, in the case of +darker magic, to cause death or disease.[1127] In Ireland, sorcerers +could "rime either a man or beast to death," and this recalls the power +of satire in the mouth of _File_ or Druid. It raised blotches on the +face of the victim, or even caused his death.[1128] Among primitive +races powerful internal emotion affects the body in curious ways, and in +this traditional power of the satire or "rime" we have probably an +exaggerated reference to actual fact. In other cases the "curse of +satire" affected nature, causing seas and rivers to sink back.[1129] The +satires made by the bards of Gaul, referred to by Diodorus, may have +been believed to possess similar powers.[1130] Contrariwise, the +_Filid_, on uttering an unjust judgment, found their faces covered with +blotches.[1131] + +A magical sleep is often caused by music in the sagas, e.g. by the harp +of Dagda, or by the branch carried by visitants from Elysium.[1132] Many +"fairy" lullabies for producing sleep are even now extant in Ireland and +the Highlands.[1133] As music forms a part of all primitive religion, +its soothing powers would easily be magnified. In orgiastic rites it +caused varying emotions until the singer and dancer fell into a deep +slumber, and the tales of those who joined in a fairy dance and fell +asleep, awaking to find that many years had passed, are mythic +extensions of the power of music in such orgiastic cults. The music of +the _Filid_ had similar powers to that of Dagda's harp, producing +laughter, tears, and a delicious slumber,[1134] and Celtic folk-tales +abound in similar instances of the magic charm of music. + +We now turn to the use of amulets among the Celts. Some of these were +symbolic and intended to bring the wearer under the protection of the +god whom they symbolised. As has been seen, a Celtic god had as his +symbol a wheel, probably representing the sun, and numerous small wheel +discs made of different materials have been found in Gaul and +Britain.[1135] These were evidently worn as amulets, while in other +cases they were offered to river divinities, since many are met with in +river beds or fords. Their use as protective amulets is shown by a stele +representing a person wearing a necklace to which is attached one of +these wheels. In Irish texts a Druid is called Mag Ruith, explained as +_magus rotarum_, because he made his Druidical observations by +wheels.[1136] This may point to the use of such amulets in Ireland. A +curious amulet, connected with the Druids, became famous in Roman times +and is described by Pliny. This was the "serpents' egg," formed from the +foam produced by serpents twining themselves together. The serpents +threw the "egg" into the air, and he who sought it had to catch it in +his cloak before it fell, and flee to a running stream, beyond which the +serpents, like the witches pursuing Tam o' Shanter, could not follow +him. This "egg" was believed to cause its owner to obtain access to +kings or to gain lawsuits, and a Roman citizen was put to death in the +reign of Claudius for bringing such an amulet into court. Pliny had seen +this "egg." It was about the size of an apple, with a cartilaginous skin +covered with discs.[1137] Probably it was a fossil echinus, such as has +been found in Gaulish tombs.[1138] Such "eggs" were doubtless connected +with the cult of the serpent, or some old myth of an egg produced by +serpents may have been made use of to account for their formation. This +is the more likely, as rings or beads of glass found in tumuli in Wales, +Cornwall, and the Highlands are called "serpents' glass" (_glain +naidr_), and are believed to be formed in the same way as the "egg." +These, as well as old spindle-whorls called "adder stones" in the +Highlands, are held to have magical virtues, e.g. against the bite of a +serpent, and are highly prized by their owners.[1139] + +Pliny speaks also of the Celtic belief in the magical virtues of coral, +either worn as an amulet or taken in powder as a medicine, while it has +been proved that the Celts during a limited period of their history +placed it on weapons and utensils, doubtless as an amulet.[1140] Other +amulets--white marble balls, quartz pebbles, models of the tooth of the +boar, or pieces of amber, have been found buried with the dead.[1141] +Little figures of the boar, the horse, and the bull, with a ring for +suspending them to a necklet, were worn as amulets or images of these +divine animals, and phallic amulets were also worn, perhaps as a +protection against the evil eye.[1142] + +A cult of stones was probably connected with the belief in the magical +power of certain stones, like the _Lia Fail_, which shrieked aloud when +Conn knocked against it. His Druids explained that the number of the +shrieks equalled the number of his descendants who should be kings of +Erin.[1143] This is an ætiological myth accounting for the use of this +fetich-stone at coronations. Other stones, probably the object of a cult +or possessing magical virtues, were used at the installation of chiefs, +who stood on them and vowed to follow in the steps of their +predecessors, a pair of feet being carved on the stone to represent +those of the first chief.[1144] Other stones had more musical +virtues--the "conspicuous stone" of Elysium from which arose a hundred +strains, and the melodious stone of Loch Láig. Such beliefs existed into +Christian times. S. Columba's stone altar floated on the waves, and on +it a leper had crossed in the wake of the saint's coracle to Erin. But +the same stone was that on which, long before, the hero Fionn had +slipped.[1145] + +Connected with the cult of stones are magical observances at fixed rocks +or boulders, regarded probably as the abode of a spirit. These +observances are in origin pre-Celtic, but were practised by the Celts. +Girls slide down a stone to obtain a lover, pregnant women to obtain an +easy delivery, or contact with such stones causes barren women to have +children or gives vitality to the feeble. A small offering is usually +left on the stone.[1146] Similar rites are practised at megalithic +monuments, and here again the custom is obviously pre-Celtic in origin. +In this case the spirits of the dead must have been expected to assist +the purposes of the rites, or even to incarnate themselves in the +children born as a result of barren women resorting to these +stones.[1147] Sometimes when the purpose of the stones has been +forgotten and some other legendary origin attributed to them, the custom +adapts itself to the legend. In Ireland many dolmens are known, not as +places of sepulture, but as "Diarmaid and Grainne's beds"--the places +where these eloping lovers slept. Hence they have powers of fruitfulness +and are visited by women who desire children. The rite is thus one of +sympathetic magic. + +Holed dolmens or naturally pierced blocks are used for the magical cure +of sickness both in Brittany and Cornwall, the patient being passed +through the hole.[1148] Similar rites are used with trees, a slit being +often made in the trunk of a sapling, and a sickly child passed through +it. The slit is then closed and bound, and if it joins together at the +end of a certain time, this is a proof that the child will +recover.[1149] In these rites the spirit in stone or tree was supposed +to assist the process of healing, or the disease was transferred to +them, or, again, there was the idea of a new birth with consequent +renewed life, the act imitating the process of birth. These rites are +not confined to Celtic regions, but belong to that universal use of +magic in which the Celts freely participated. + +Since Christian writers firmly believed in the magical powers of the +Druids, aided however by the devil, they taught that Christian saints +had miraculously overcome them with their own weapons. S. Patrick +dispelled snow-storms and darkness raised by Druids, or destroyed Druids +who had brought down fire from heaven. Similar deeds are attributed to +S. Columba and others.[1150] The moral victory of the Cross was later +regarded also as a magical victory. Hence also lives of Celtic saints +are full of miracles which are simply a reproduction of Druidic +magic--controlling the elements, healing, carrying live coals without +hurt, causing confusion by their curses, producing invisibility or +shape-shifting, making the ice-cold waters of a river hot by standing in +them at their devotions, or walking unscathed through the fiercest +storms.[1151] They were soon regarded as more expert magicians than the +Druids themselves. They may have laid claim to magical powers, or +perhaps they used a natural shrewdness in such a way as to suggest +magic. But all their power they ascribed to Christ. "Christ is my +Druid"--the true miracle-worker, said S. Columba. Yet they were imbued +with the superstitions of their own age. Thus S. Columba sent a white +stone to King Brude at Inverness for the cure of his Druid Broichan, who +drank the water poured over it, and was healed.[1152] Soon similar +virtues were ascribed to the relics of the saints themselves, and at a +later time, when most Scotsmen ceased to believe in the saints, they +thought that the ministers of the kirk had powers like those of pagan +Druid and Catholic saint. Ministers were levitated, or shone with a +celestial light, or had clairvoyant gifts, or, with dire results, cursed +the ungodly or the benighted prelatist. They prophesied, used +trance-utterance, and exercised gifts of healing. Angels ministered to +them, as when Samuel Rutherford, having fallen into a well when a child, +was pulled out by an angel.[1153] The substratum of primitive belief +survives all changes of creed, and the folk impartially attributed +magical powers to pagan Druid, Celtic saints, old crones and witches, +and Presbyterian ministers. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1093] _IT_ i. 56; D'Arbois, v. 387. + +[1094] See, e.g., "The Death of Muirchertach," _RC_ xxiii. 394. + +[1095] _HN_ xxx. 4, 13. + +[1096] Zimmer, _Gloss. Hibern._ 183; Reeves, _Adamnan_, 260. + +[1097] Kennedy, 175; cf. _IT_ i. 220. + +[1098] See _RC_ xii. 52 f.; D'Arbois, v. 403-404; O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ +505; Kennedy, 75, 196, 258. + +[1099] D'Arbois, v. 277. + +[1100] Stokes, _Three Middle Irish Homilies_, 24; _IT_ iii. 325. + +[1101] _RC_ xii. 83; Miss Hull, 215; D'Arbois, v. 424; O'Curry, _MC_ ii. +215. + +[1102] Keating, 341; O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 271. + +[1103] _RC_ xii. 81. + +[1104] Miss Hull, 240 f. + +[1105] Maury, 14. + +[1106] Sébillot, ii. 226 f., i. 101, ii. 225; Bérenger-Féraud, +_Superstitions et Survivances_, iii. 169 f.; _Stat. Account_, viii. 52. + +[1107] _Rev. des Trad._ 1893, 613; Sébillot, ii. 224. + +[1108] Bérenger-Féraud, iii. 218 f.; Sébillot, i. 100, 109; _RC_ ii. +484; Frazer, _Golden Bough_{2}, i. 67. + +[1109] D'Arbois, v. 387; _IT_ i. 52; Dixon, _Gairloch_, 165; Carmichael, +_Carm. Gad._ ii. 25. + +[1110] _RC_ xvi. 152; Miss Hull, 243. + +[1111] D'Arbois, v. 133; _IT_ ii. 373. + +[1112] Mela, iii. 6; _RC_ xv. 471. + +[1113] Joyce, _OCR_ 1 f.; Kennedy, 235. + +[1114] Bird-women pursued by Cúchulainn; D'Arbois, v. 178; for other +instances see O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 426; Miss Hull, 82. + +[1115] D'Arbois, v. 215. + +[1116] Joyce, _OCR_ 279. + +[1117] Ibid. 86. + +[1118] _RC_ xxiii. 394; Jocelyn, _Vita S. Kent._ c. 1. + +[1119] _RC_ xv. 446. + +[1120] O'Conor, _Rer. Hib. Scrip._ ii. 142; Stokes, _Lives of Saints_, +xxviii. + +[1121] _RC_ xv. 444. + +[1122] See p. 251, _supra_. + +[1123] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 240. + +[1124] See pp. 248, 304, _supra_; Cæsar, _vi_. 14. + +[1125] Zimmer, _Gloss. Hiber._ 271. Other Irish incantations, appealing +to the saints, are found in the _Codex Regularum_ at Klosternenburg +(_RC_ ii. 112). + +[1126] Leahy, i. 137; Kennedy, 301. + +[1127] Sauvé, _RC_ vi. 67 f.; Carmichael, _Carm. Gadel._, _passim_; _CM_ +xii. 38; Joyce, _SH_ i. 629 f.; Camden, _Britannia_, iv. 488; Scot, +_Discovery of Witchcraft_, iii. 15. + +[1128] For examples see O'Curry, _MS. Met._ 248; D'Arbois, ii. 190; _RC_ +xii. 71, xxiv. 279; Stokes, _TIG_ xxxvi. f. + +[1129] Windisch, _Táin_, line 3467. + +[1130] Diod. Sic. v. 31. + +[1131] D'Arbois, i. 271. + +[1132] _RC_ xii. 109; Nutt-Meyer, i. 2; D'Arbois, v. 445. + +[1133] Petrie, _Ancient Music of Ireland_, i. 73; _The Gael_, i. 235 +(fairy lullaby of MacLeod of MacLeod). + +[1134] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 255. + +[1135] _Archæologia_, xxxix. 509; _Proc. Soc. Ant._ iii. 92; Gaidoz, _Le +Dieu Gaul. du Soleil_, 60 f. + +[1136] _IT_ iii. 409; but see Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 215. + +[1137] Pliny, _HN_ xxix. 3. 54. + +[1138] _Rev. Arch._ i. 227, xxxiii. 283. + +[1139] Hoare, _Modern Wiltshire_, 56; Camden, _Britannia_, 815; Hazlitt, +194; Campbell, _Witchcraft_, 84. In the Highlands spindle-whorls are +thought to have been perforated by the adder, which then passes through +the hole to rid itself of its old skin. + +[1140] Pliny, xxxii. 2. 24; Reinach, _RC_ xx. 13 f. + +[1141] _Rev. Arch._ i. 227; Greenwell, _British Barrows_, 165; Elton, +66; Renel, 95f., 194f. + +[1142] Reinach, _BF_ 286, 289, 362. + +[1143] O'Curry, _MS Mat._ 387. See a paper by Hartland, "The Voice of +the Stone of Destiny," _Folk-lore Journal_, xiv. 1903. + +[1144] Petrie, _Trans. Royal Irish Acad._ xviii. pt. 2. + +[1145] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 393 f. + +[1146] Sébillot, i. 334 f. + +[1147] Trollope, _Brittany_, ii. 229; Bérenger-Féraud, _Superstitions et +Survivances_, i. 529 f.; Borlase, _Dolmens of Ireland_, iii. 580, 689, +841 f. + +[1148] _Rev. des Trad._ 1894, 494; Bérenger-Féraud, i. 529, ii. 367; +Elworthy, _Evil Eye_, 70. + +[1149] Bérenger-Féraud, i. 523; Elworthy, 69, 106; Reinach, +_L'Anthropologie_, iv. 33. + +[1150] Kennedy, 324; Adamnan, _Vita S. Col._ ii. 35. + +[1151] Life of S. Fechin of Fore, _RC_ xii. 333; Life of S. Kieran, +O'Grady, ii. 13; Amra Cholumbchille, _RC_ xx. 41; Life of S. Moling, +_RC_ xxvii. 293; and other lives _passim_. See also Plummer, _Vitæ +Sanctorum Hiberniæ_. + +[1152] Adamnan, ii. 34. This pebble was long preserved, but mysteriously +disappeared when the person who sought it was doomed to die. + +[1153] Wodrow, _Analecta_, _passim_; Walker, _Six Saints of the +Covenant_, ed. by Dr. Hay Fleming. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE STATE OF THE DEAD. + + +Among all the problems with which man has busied himself, none so +appeals to his hopes and fears as that of the future life. Is there a +farther shore, and if so, shall we reach it? Few races, if any, have +doubted the existence of a future state, but their conceptions of it +have differed greatly. But of all the races of antiquity, outside Egypt, +the Celts seem to have cherished the most ardent belief in the world +beyond the grave, and to have been preoccupied with its joys. Their +belief, so far as we know it, was extremely vivid, and its chief +characteristic was life in the body after death, in another +region.[1154] This, coupled with the fact that it was taught as a +doctrine by the Druids, made it the admiration of classical onlookers. +But besides this belief there was another, derived from the ideas of a +distant past, that the dead lived on in the grave--the two conceptions +being connected. And there may also have been a certain degree of belief +in transmigration. Although the Celts believed that the soul could exist +apart from the body, there seems to be no evidence that they believed in +a future existence of the soul as a shade. This belief is certainly +found in some late Welsh poems, where the ghosts are described as +wandering in the Caledonian forest, but these can hardly be made use of +as evidence for the old pagan doctrine. The evidence for the latter may +be gathered from classical observers, from archæology and from Irish +texts. + +Cæsar writes: "The Druids in particular wish to impress this on them +that souls do not perish, but pass from one to another (_ab aliis ... ad +alios_) after death, and by this chiefly they think to incite men to +valour, the fear of death being overlooked." Later he adds, that at +funerals all things which had been dear to the dead man, even living +creatures, were thrown on the funeral pyre, and shortly before his time +slaves and beloved clients were also consumed.[1155] Diodorus says: +"Among them the doctrine of Pythagoras prevailed that the souls of men +were immortal, and after completing their term of existence they live +again, the soul passing into another body. Hence at the burial of the +dead some threw letters addressed to dead relatives on the funeral pile, +believing that the dead would read them in the next world."[1156] +Valerius Maximus writes: "They would fain make us believe that the souls +of men are immortal. I would be tempted to call these breeches-wearing +folk fools, if their doctrine were not the same as that of the +mantle-clad Pythagoras." He also speaks of money lent which would be +repaid in the next world, because men's souls are immortal.[1157] These +passages are generally taken to mean that the Celts believed simply in +transmigration of the Pythagorean type. Possibly all these writers cite +one common original, but Cæsar makes no reference to Pythagoras. A +comparison with the Pythagorean doctrine shows that the Celtic belief +differed materially from it. According to the former, men's souls +entered new bodies, even those of animals, in this world, and as an +expiation. There is nothing of this in the Celtic doctrine. The new body +is not a prison-house of the soul in which it must expiate its former +sins, and the soul receives it not in this world but in another. The +real point of connection was the insistence of both upon immortality, +the Druids teaching that it was bodily immortality. Their doctrine no +more taught transmigration than does the Christian doctrine of the +resurrection. Roman writers, aware that Pythagoras taught immortality +_via_ a series of transmigrations, and that the Druids taught a doctrine +of bodily immortality, may have thought that the receiving of a new body +meant transmigration. Themselves sceptical of a future life or believing +in a traditional gloomy Hades, they were bound to be struck with the +vigour of the Celtic doctrine and its effects upon conduct. The only +thing like it of which they knew was the Pythagorean doctrine. Looked at +in this light, Cæsar's words need not convey the idea of transmigration, +and it is possible that he mistranslated some Greek original. Had these +writers meant that the Druids taught transmigration, they could hardly +have added the passages regarding debts being paid in the other world, +or letters conveyed there by the dead, or human sacrifices to benefit +the dead there. These also preclude the idea of a mere immortality of +the soul. The dead Celt continued to be the person he had been, and it +may have been that not a new body, but the old body glorified, was +tenanted by his soul beyond the grave. This bodily immortality in a +region where life went on as on this earth, but under happier +conditions, would then be like the Vedic teaching that the soul, after +the burning of the body, went to the heaven of Yama, and there received +its body complete and glorified. The two conceptions, Hindu and Celtic, +may have sprung from early "Aryan" belief. + +This Celtic doctrine appears more clearly from what Lucan says of the +Druidic teaching. "From you we learn that the bourne of man's existence +is not the silent halls of Erebus, in another world (or region, _in orbe +alio_) the spirit animates the members. Death, if your lore be true, is +but the centre of a long life." For this reason, he adds, the Celtic +warrior had no fear of death.[1158] Thus Lucan conceived the Druidic +doctrine to be one of bodily immortality in another region. That region +was not a gloomy state; rather it resembled the Egyptian Aalu with its +rich and varied existence. Classical writers, of course, may have known +of what appears to have been a sporadic Celtic idea, derived from old +beliefs, that the soul might take the form of an animal, but this was +not the Druidic teaching. Again, if the Gauls, like the Irish, had myths +telling of the rebirth of gods or semi-divine beings, these may have +been misinterpreted by those writers and regarded as eschatological. But +such myths do not concern mortals. Other writers, Timagenes, Strabo, and +Mela,[1159] speak only of the immortality of the soul, but their +testimony is probably not at variance with that of Lucan, since Mela +appears to copy Cæsar, and speaks of accounts and debts being passed on +to the next world. + +This theory of a bodily immortality is supported by the Irish sagas, in +which ghosts, in our sense of the word, do not exist. The dead who +return are not spectres, but are fully clothed upon with a body. Thus, +when Cúchulainn returns at the command of S. Patrick, he is described +exactly as if he were still in the flesh. "His hair was thick and black +... in his head his eye gleamed swift and grey.... Blacker than the side +of a cooking spit each of his two brows, redder than ruby his lips." His +clothes and weapons are fully described, while his chariot and horses +are equally corporeal.[1160] Similar descriptions of the dead who return +are not infrequent, e.g. that of Caoilte in the story of Mongan, whom +every one believes to be a living warrior, and that of Fergus mac Roich, +who reappeared in a beautiful form, adorned with brown hair and clad in +his former splendour, and recited the lost story of the _Táin_.[1161] +Thus the Irish Celts believed that in another world the spirit animated +the members. This bodily existence is also suggested in Celtic versions +of the "Dead Debtor" folk-tale cycle. Generally an animal in whose shape +a dead man helps his benefactor is found in other European versions, but +in the Celtic stories not an animal but the dead man himself appears as +a living person in corporeal form.[1162] Equally substantial and +corporeal, eating, drinking, lovemaking, and fighting are the divine +folk of the _síd_ or of Elysium, or the gods as they are represented in +the texts. To the Celts, gods, _síde_, and the dead, all alike had a +bodily form, which, however, might become invisible, and in other ways +differed from the earthly body. + +The archæological evidence of burial customs among the Celts also bears +witness to this belief. Over the whole Celtic area a rich profusion of +grave-goods has been found, consisting of weapons, armour, chariots, +utensils, ornaments, and coins.[1163] Some of the interments undoubtedly +point to sacrifice of wife, children, or slaves at the grave. Male and +female skeletons are often in close proximity, in one case the arm of +the male encircling the neck of the female. In other cases the remains +of children are found with these. Or while the lower interment is richly +provided with grave-goods, above it lie irregularly several skeletons, +without grave-goods, and often with head separated from the body, +pointing to decapitation, while in one case the arms had been tied +behind the back.[1164] All this suggests, taken in connection with +classical evidence regarding burial customs, that the future life was +life in the body, and that it was a _replica_ of this life, with the +same affections, needs, and energies. Certain passages in Irish texts +also describe burials, and tell how the dead were interred with +ornaments and weapons, while it was a common custom to bury the dead +warrior in his armour, fully armed, and facing the region whence enemies +might be expected. Thus he was a perpetual menace to them and prevented +their attack.[1165] Possibly this belief may account for the elevated +position of many tumuli. Animals were also sacrificed. Hostages were +buried alive with Fiachra, according to one text, and the wives of +heroes sometimes express their desire to be buried along with their dead +husbands.[1166] + +The idea that the body as well as the soul was immortal was probably +linked on to a very primitive belief regarding the dead, and one shared +by many peoples, that they lived on in the grave. This conception was +never forgotten, even in regions where the theory of a distant land of +the dead was evolved, or where the body was consumed by fire before +burial. It appears from such practices as binding the dead with cords, +or laying heavy stones or a mound of earth on the grave, probably to +prevent their egress, or feeding the dead with sacrificial food at the +grave, or from the belief that the dead come forth not as spirits, but +in the body from the grave. This primitive conception, of which the +belief in a subterranean world of the dead is an extension, long +survived among various races, e.g. the Scandinavians, who believed in +the barrow as the abiding place of the dead, while they also had their +conception of Hel and Valhalla, or among the Slavs, side by side with +Christian conceptions.[1167] It also survived among the Celts, though +another belief in the _orbis alius_ had arisen. This can be shown from +modern and ancient folk-belief and custom. + +In numerous Celtic folk-tales the dead rise in the body, not as ghosts, +from the grave, which is sometimes described as a house in which they +live. They perform their ordinary occupations in house or field; they +eat with the living, or avenge themselves upon them; if scourged, blood +is drawn from their bodies; and, in one curious Breton tale, a dead +husband visits his wife in bed and she then has a child by him, because, +as he said, "sa compte d'enfants" was not yet complete.[1168] In other +stories a corpse becomes animated and speaks or acts in presence of the +living, or from the tomb itself when it is disturbed.[1169] The earliest +literary example of such a tale is the tenth century "Adventures of +Nera," based on older sources. In this Nera goes to tie a withy to the +foot of a man who has been hung. The corpse begs a drink, and then +forces Nera to carry him to a house, where he kills two sleepers.[1170] +All such stories, showing as they do that a corpse is really living, +must in essence be of great antiquity. Another common belief, found over +the Celtic area, is that the dead rise from the grave, not as ghosts, +when they will, and that they appear _en masse_ on the night of All +Saints, and join the living.[1171] + +As a result of such beliefs, various customs are found in use, +apparently to permit of the corpse having freedom of movement, contrary +to the older custom of preventing its egress from the grave. In the west +of Ireland the feet of the corpse are left free, and the nails are drawn +from the coffin at the grave. In the Hebrides the threads of the shroud +are cut or the bindings of feet, hands, and face are raised when the +body is placed in the coffin, and in Brittany the arms and feet are left +free when the corpse is dressed.[1172] The reason is said to be that the +spirit may have less trouble in getting to the spirit world, but it is +obvious that a more material view preceded and still underlies this +later gloss. Many stories are told illustrating these customs, and the +earlier belief, Christianised, appears in the tale of a woman who +haunted her friends because they had made her grave-clothes so short +that the fires of Purgatory burnt her knees.[1173] + +Earlier customs recorded among the Celts also point to the existence of +this primitive belief influencing actual custom. Nicander says that the +Celts went by night to the tombs of great men to obtain oracles, so much +did they believe that they were still living there.[1174] In Ireland, +oracles were also sought by sleeping on funeral cairns, and it was to +the grave of Fergus that two bards resorted in order to obtain from him +the lost story of the _Táin_. We have also seen how, in Ireland, armed +heroes exerted a sinister influence upon enemies from their graves, +which may thus have been regarded as their homes--a belief also +underlying the Welsh story of Bran's head. + +Where was the world of the dead situated? M. Reinach has shown, by a +careful comparison of the different uses of the word _orbis_, that +Lucan's words do not necessarily mean "another world," but "another +region," i.e. of this world.[1175] If the Celts cherished so firmly the +belief that the dead lived on in the grave, a belief in an underworld of +the dead was bound in course of time to have been evolved as part of +their creed. To it all graves and tumuli would give access. Classical +observers apparently held that the Celtic future state was like their +own in being an underworld region, since they speak of the dead Celts as +_inferi_, or as going _ad Manes_, and Plutarch makes Camma speak of +descending to her dead husband.[1176] What differentiated it from their +own gloomy underworld was its exuberant life and immortality. This +aspect of a subterranean land presented no difficulty to the Celt, who +had many tales of an underworld or under-water region more beautiful and +blissful than anything on earth. Such a subterranean world must have +been that of the Celtic Dispater, a god of fertility and growth, the +roots of things being nourished from his kingdom. From him men had +descended,[1177] probably a myth of their coming forth from his +subterranean kingdom, and to him they returned after death to a blissful +life. + +Several writers, notably M. D'Arbois, assume that the _orbis alius_ of +the dead was the Celtic island Elysium. But that Elysium _never_ appears +in the tales as a land of the dead. It is a land of gods and deathless +folk who are not those who have passed from this world by death. Mortals +may reach it by favour, but only while still in life. It might be argued +that Elysium was regarded in pagan times as the land of the dead, but +after Christian eschatological views prevailed, it became a kind of +fairyland. But the existing tales give no hint of this, and, after being +carefully examined, they show that Elysium had always been a place +distinct from that of the departed, though there may have arisen a +tendency to confuse the two. + +If there was a genuine Celtic belief in an island of the dead, it could +have been no more than a local one, else Cæsar would not have spoken as +he does of the Celtic Dispater. Such a local belief now exists on the +Breton coast, but it is mainly concerned with the souls of the +drowned.[1178] A similar local belief may explain the story told by +Procopius, who says that Brittia (Britain), an island lying off the +mouth of the Rhine, is divided from north to south by a wall beyond +which is a noxious region. This is a distorted reminiscence of the Roman +wall, which would appear to run in this direction if Ptolemy's map, in +which Scotland lies at right angles to England, had been consulted. +Thither fishermen from the opposite coast are compelled to ferry over at +dead of night the shades of the dead, unseen to them, but marshalled by +a mysterious leader.[1179] Procopius may have mingled some local belief +with the current tradition that Ulysses' island of the shades lay in the +north, or in the west.[1180] In any case his story makes of the gloomy +land of the shades a very different region from the blissful Elysium of +the Celts and from their joyous _orbis alius_, nor is it certain that he +is referring to a Celtic people. + +Traces of the idea of an underworld of the dead exist in Breton +folk-belief. The dead must travel across a subterranean ocean, and +though there is scarcely any tradition regarding what happens on +landing, M. Sébillot thinks that formerly "there existed in the +subterranean world a sort of centralisation of the different states of +the dead." If so, this must have been founded on pagan belief. The +interior of the earth is also believed to be the abode of fabulous +beings, of giants, and of fantastic animals, and there is also a +subterranean fairy world. In all this we may see a survival of the older +belief, modified by Christian teaching, since the Bretons suppose that +purgatory and hell are beneath the earth and accessible from its +surface.[1181] + +Some British folk-lore brought to Greece by Demetrius and reported by +Plutarch might seem to suggest that certain persons--the mighty +dead--were privileged to pass to the island Elysium. Some islands near +Britain were called after gods and heroes, and the inhabitants of one of +these were regarded as sacrosanct by the Britons, like the priestesses +of Sena. They were visited by Demetrius, who was told that the storms +which arose during his visit were caused by the passing away of some of +the "mighty" or of the "great souls." It may have been meant that such +mighty ones passed to the more distant islands, but this is certainly +not stated. In another island, Kronos was imprisoned, watched over by +Briareus, and guarded by demons.[1182] Plutarch refers to these islands +in another work, repeating the story of Kronos, and saying that his +island is mild and fragrant, that people live there waiting on the god +who sometimes appears to them and prevents their departing. Meanwhile +they are happy and know no care, spending their time in sacrificing and +hymn-singing or in studying legends and philosophy. + +Plutarch has obviously mingled Celtic Elysium beliefs with the classical +conception of the Druids.[1183] In Elysium there is no care, and +favoured mortals who pass there are generally prevented from returning +to earth. The reference to Kronos may also be based partly on myths of +Celtic gods of Elysium, partly on tales of heroes who departed to +mysterious islands or to the hollow hills where they lie asleep, but +whence they will one day return to benefit their people. So Arthur +passed to Avalon, but in other tales he and his warriors are asleep +beneath Craig-y-Ddinas, just as Fionn and his men rest within this or +that hill in the Highlands. Similar legends are told of other Celtic +heroes, and they witness to the belief that great men who had died would +return in the hour of their people's need. In time they were thought not +to have died at all, but to be merely sleeping and waiting for their +hour.[1184] The belief is based on the idea that the dead are alive in +grave or barrow, or in a spacious land below the earth, or that dead +warriors can menace their foes from the tomb. + +Thus neither in old sagas, nor in _Märchen_, nor in popular tradition, +is the island Elysium a world of the dead. For the most part the pagan +eschatology has been merged in that of Christianity, while the Elysium +belief has remained intact and still survives in a whole series of +beautiful tales. + +The world of the dead was in all respects a _replica_ of this world, but +it was happier. In existing Breton and Irish belief--a survival of the +older conception of the bodily state of the dead--they resume their +tools, crafts, and occupations, and they preserve their old feelings. +Hence, when they appear on earth, it is in bodily form and in their +customary dress. Like the pagan Gauls, the Breton remembers unpaid +debts, and cannot rest till they are paid, and in Brittany, Ireland, and +the Highlands the food and clothes given to the poor after a death, feed +and clothe the dead in the other world.[1185] If the world of the dead +was subterranean,--a theory supported by current folk-belief,[1186]--the +Earth-goddess or the Earth-god, who had been first the earth itself, +then a being living below its surface and causing fertility, could not +have become the divinity of the dead until the multitude of single +graves or barrows, in each of which the dead lived, had become a wide +subterranean region of the dead. This divinity was the source of life +and growth; hence he or she was regarded as the progenitor of mankind, +who had come forth from the underworld and would return there at death. +It is not impossible that the Breton conception of Ankou, death +personified, is a reminiscence of the Celtic Dispater. He watches over +all things beyond the grave, and carries off the dead to his kingdom. +But if so he has been altered for the worse by mediæval ideas of "Death +the skeleton".[1187] He is a grisly god of death, whereas the Celtic Dis +was a beneficent god of the dead who enjoyed a happy immortality. They +were not cold phantasms, but alive and endowed with corporeal form and +able to enjoy the things of a better existence, and clad in the +beautiful raiment and gaudy ornaments which were loved so much on earth. +Hence Celtic warriors did not fear death, and suicide was extremely +common, while Spanish Celts sang hymns in praise of death, and others +celebrated the birth of men with mourning, but their deaths with +joy.[1188] Lucan's words are thus the truest expression of Celtic +eschatology--"In another region the spirit animates the members; death, +if your lore be true, is but the passage to enduring life." + +There is no decisive evidence pointing to any theory of moral +retribution beyond the grave among the pagan Celts. Perhaps, since the +hope of immortality made warriors face death without a tremor, it may +have been held, as many other races have believed, that cowards would +miss the bliss of the future state. Again, in some of the Irish +Christian visions of the other-world and in existing folk-belief, +certain characteristics of hell may not be derived from Christian +eschatology, e.g. the sufferings of the dead from cold.[1189] This might +point to an old belief in a cold region whither some of the dead were +banished. In the _Adventures of S. Columba's Clerics_, hell is reached +by a bridge over a glen of fire,[1190] and a narrow bridge leading to +the other world is a common feature in most mythologies. But here it may +be borrowed from Scandinavian sources, or from such Christian writings +as the _Dialogues_ of S. Gregory the Great.[1191] It might be contended +that the Christian doctrine of hell has absorbed an earlier pagan theory +of retribution, but of this there is now no trace in the sagas or in +classical references to the Celtic belief in the future life. Nor is +there any reference to a day of judgment, for the passage in which +Loegaire speaks of the dead buried with their weapons till "the day of +Erdathe," though glossed "the day of judgment of the Lord," does not +refer to such a judgment.[1192] If an ethical blindness be attributed to +the Celts for their apparent lack of any theory of retribution, it +should be remembered that we must not judge a people's ethics wholly by +their views of future punishment. Scandinavians, Greeks, and Semites up +to a certain stage were as unethical as the Celts in this respect, and +the Christian hell, as conceived by many theologians, is far from +suggesting an ethical Deity. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1154] Skene, i. 370. + +[1155] Cæsar, vi. 14, 19. + +[1156] Diod. Sic. v, 28. + +[1157] Val. Max. vi. 6. 10. + +[1158] _Phars._ i. 455 f. + +[1159] Amm. Marc. xv. 9; Strabo, iv. 4; Mela, iii. 2. + +[1160] Miss Hull, 275. + +[1161] Nutt-Meyer, i. 49; Miss Hull, 293. + +[1162] Larminie, 155; Hyde, _Beside the Fire_, 21, 153; _CM_ xiii. 21; +Campbell, _WHT_, ii. 21; Le Braz{2}, i. p. xii. + +[1163] Von Sacken, _Das Grabfeld von Hallstatt_; Greenwell, _British +Barrows_; _RC_ x. 234; _Antiquary_, xxxvii. 125; Blanchet, ii. 528 f.; +Anderson, _Scotland in Pagan Times_. + +[1164] _L'Anthropologie_, vi. 586; Greenwell, _op. cit._ 119. + +[1165] Nutt-Meyer, i. 52; O'Donovan, _Annals_, i. 145, 180; _RC_ xv. 28. +In one case the enemy disinter the body of the king of Connaught, and +rebury it face downwards, and then obtain a victory. This nearly +coincides with the dire results following the disinterment of Bran's +head (O'Donovan, i. 145; cf. p. 242, _supra_). + +[1166] _LU_ 130_a_; _RC_ xxiv. 185; O'Curry, _MC_ i. p. cccxxx; +Campbell, _WHT_ iii. 62; Leahy, i. 105. + +[1167] Vigfusson-Powell, _Corpus Poet. Boreale_, i. 167, 417-418, 420; +and see my _Childhood of Fiction_, 103 f. + +[1168] Larminie, 31; Le Braz{2}, ii. 146, 159, 161, 184, 257 (the _rôle_ +of the dead husband is usually taken by a _lutin_ or _follet_, Luzel, +_Veillées Bretons_, 79); _Rev. des Trad. Pop._ ii. 267; _Ann. de +Bretagne_, viii. 514. + +[1169] Le Braz{2}, i. 313. Cf. also an incident in the _Voyage of +Maelduin_. + +[1170] _RC_ x. 214f. Cf. Kennedy, 162; Le Braz{2}, i. 217, for variants. + +[1171] Curtin, _Tales_, 156; see p. 170, _supra_. + +[1172] Curtin, _Tales_, 156; Campbell, _Superstitions_, 241; +_Folk-Lore_, xiii. 60; Le Braz{2}, i. 213. + +[1173] _Folk-Lore_, ii. 26; Yeats, _Celtic Twilight_, 166. + +[1174] Tertullian, _de Anima_, 21. + +[1175] Reinach, _RC_ xxii. 447. + +[1176] Val. Max. vi. 6; Mela, iii. 2. 19; Plut. _Virt. mul_ 20. + +[1177] See p. 229, _supra_. + +[1178] Le Braz{2}, i. p. xxxix. This is only one out of many local +beliefs (cf. Sébillot, ii. 149). + +[1179] Procop. _De Bello Goth._ vi. 20. + +[1180] Claudian, _In Rufin._ i. 123. + +[1181] Sébillot, i. 418 f. + +[1182] _de Defectu Orac._ 18. An occasional name for Britain in the +_Mabinogion_ is "the island of the Mighty" (Loth, i. 69, _et passim_). +To the storm incident and the passing of the mighty, there is a curious +parallel in Fijian belief. A clap of thunder was explained as "the noise +of a spirit, we being near the place in which spirits plunge to enter +the other world, and a chief in the neighbourhood having just died" +(Williams, _Fiji_, i. 204). + +[1183] _de Facie Lun[oe]_, 26. + +[1184] See Hartland, _Science of Fairy Tales_, 209; Macdougall, _Folk +and Hero Tales_, 73, 263; Le Braz{2}, i. p. xxx. Mortals sometimes +penetrated to the presence of these heroes, who awoke. If the visitor +had the courage to tell them that the hour had not yet come, they fell +asleep again, and he escaped. In Brittany, rocky clefts are believed to +be the entrance to the world of the dead, like the cave of Lough Dearg. +Similar stories were probably told of these in pagan times, though they +are now adapted to Christian beliefs in purgatory or hell. + +[1185] Le Braz{2}, i. p. xl, ii. 4; Curtin, 10; MacPhail, _Folk-Lore_, +vi. 170. + +[1186] See p. 338, _supra_, and Logan, _Scottish Gael_, ii. 374; +_Folk-Lore,_ viii. 208, 253. + +[1187] Le Braz{2}, i. 96, 127, 136f., and Intro, xlv. + +[1188] Philostratus, _Apoll. of Tyana_, v. 4; Val. Max. ii. 6. 12. + +[1189] Le Braz{1}, ii. 91; Curtin, _Tales_, 146. The punishment of +suffering from ice and snow appears in the _Apocalypse of Paul_ and in +later Christian accounts of hell. + +[1190] _RC_ xxvi. 153. + +[1191] Bk. iv. ch. 36. + +[1192] _Erdathe_, according to D'Arbois, means (1) "the day in which the +dead will resume his colour," from _dath_, "colour"; (2) "the agreeable +day," from _data_, "agreeable" (D'Arbois, i. 185; cf. _Les Druides_, +135). + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +REBIRTH AND TRANSMIGRATION. + + +In Irish sagas, rebirth is asserted only of divinities or heroes, and, +probably because this belief was obnoxious to Christian scribes, while +some MSS. tell of it in the case of certain heroic personages, in others +these same heroes are said to have been born naturally. There is no +textual evidence that it was attributed to ordinary mortals, and it is +possible that, if classical observers did not misunderstand the Celtic +doctrine of the future life, their references to rebirth may be based on +mythical tales regarding gods or heroes. We shall study these tales as +they are found in Irish texts. + +In the mythological cycle, as has been seen, Etain, in insect form, fell +into a cup of wine. She was swallowed by Etar, and in due time was +reborn as a child, who was eventually married by Eochaid Airem, but +recognized and carried off by her divine spouse Mider. Etain, however, +had quite forgotten her former existence as a goddess.[1193] + +In one version of Cúchulainn's birth story Dechtire and her women fly +away as birds, but are discovered at last by her brother Conchobar in a +strange house, where Dechtire gives birth to a child, of whom the god +Lug is apparently the father. In another version the birds are not +Dechtire and her women, for she accompanies Conchobar as his charioteer. +They arrive at the house, the mistress of which gives birth to a child, +which Dechtire brings up. It dies, and on her return from the burial +Dechtire swallows a small animal when drinking. Lug appears to her by +night, and tells her that he was the child, and that now she was with +child by him (i.e. he was the animal swallowed by her). When he was born +he would be called Setanta, who was later named Cúchulainn. Cúchulainn, +in this version, is thus a rebirth of Lug, as well as his father.[1194] + +In the _Tale of the Two Swineherds_, Friuch and Rucht are herds of the +gods Ochall and Bodb. They quarrel, and their fighting in various animal +shapes is fully described. Finally they become two worms, which are +swallowed by two cows; these then give birth to the Whitehorn and to the +Black Bull of Cuailgne, the animals which were the cause of the _Táin._ +The swineherds were probably themselves gods in the older versions of +this tale.[1195] + +Other stories relate the rebirth of heroes. Conchobar is variously said +to be son of Nessa by her husband Cathbad, or by her lover Fachtna. But +in the latter version an incident is found which points to a third +account. Nessa brings Cathbad a draught from a river, but in it are two +worms which he forces her to swallow. She gives birth to a son, in each +of whose hands is a worm, and he is called Conchobar, after the name of +the river into which he fell soon after his birth. The incident closes +with the words, "It was from these worms that she became pregnant, say +some."[1196] Possibly the divinity of the river had taken the form of +the worms and was reborn as Conchobar. We may compare the story of the +birth of Conall Cernach. His mother was childless, until a Druid sang +spells over a well in which she bathed, and drank of its waters. With +the draught she swallowed a worm, "and the worm was in the hand of the +boy as he lay in his mother's womb; and he pierced the hand and consumed +it."[1197] + +The personality of Fionn is also connected with the rebirth idea. In one +story, Mongan, a seventh-century king, had a dispute with his poet +regarding the death of the hero Fothad. The Fian Caoilte returns from +the dead to prove Mongan right, and he says, "We were with thee, with +Fionn." Mongan bids him be silent, because he did not wish his identity +with Fionn to be made known. "Mongan, however, was Fionn, though he +would not let it be told."[1198] In another story Mongan is son of +Manannan, who had prophesied of this event. Manannan appeared to the +wife of Fiachna when he was fighting the Saxons, and told her that +unless she yielded herself to him her husband would be slain. On hearing +this she agreed, and next day the god appeared fighting with Fiachna's +forces and routed the slain. "So that this Mongan is a son of Manannan +mac Lir, though he is called Mongan son of Fiachna."[1199] In a third +version Manannan makes the bargain with Fiachna, and in his form sleeps +with the woman. Simultaneously with Mongan's birth, Fiachna's attendant +had a son who became Mongan's servant, and a warrior's wife bears a +daughter who became his wife. Manannan took Mongan to the Land of +Promise and kept him there until he was sixteen.[1200] Many magical +powers and the faculty of shape-shifting are attributed to Mongan, and +in some stories he is brought into connection with the _síd_.[1201] +Probably a myth told how he went to Elysium instead of dying, for he +comes from "the Land of Living Heart" to speak with S. Columba, who took +him to see heaven. But he would not satisfy the saints' curiosity +regarding Elysium, and suddenly vanished, probably returning +there.[1202] + +This twofold account of Mongan's birth is curious. Perhaps the idea that +he was a rebirth of Fionn may have been suggested by the fact that his +father was called Fiachna Finn, while it is probable that some old myth +of a son of Manannan's called Mongan was attached to the personality of +the historic Mongan. + +About the era of Mongan, King Diarmaid had two wives, one of whom was +barren. S. Finnen gave her holy water to drink, and she brought forth a +lamb; then, after a second draught, a trout, and finally, after a third, +Aed Slane, who became high king of Ireland in 594. This is a +Christianised version of the story of Conall Cernach's birth.[1203] + +In Welsh mythology the story of Taliesin affords an example of rebirth. +After the transformation combat of the goddess Cerridwen and Gwion, +resembling that of the swine-herds, Gwion becomes a grain of wheat, +which Cerridwen in the form of a hen swallows, with the result that he +is reborn of her as Taliesin.[1204] + +Most of these stories no longer exist in their primitive form, and +various ideas are found in them--conception by magical means, divine +descent through the _amour_ of a divinity and a mortal, and rebirth. + +As to the first, the help of magician or priest is often invoked in +savage society and even in European folk-custom in case of barrenness. +Prayers, charms, potions, or food are the means used to induce +conception, but perhaps at one time these were thought to cause it of +themselves. In many tales the swallowing of a seed, fruit, insect, etc., +results in the birth of a hero or heroine, and it is probable that these +stories embody actual belief in such a possibility. If the stories of +Conall Cernach and Aed Slane are not attenuated instances of rebirth, +say, of the divinity of a well, they are examples of this belief. The +gift of fruitfulness is bestowed by Druid and saint, but in the story of +Conall it is rather the swallowing of the worm than the Druid's +incantation that causes conception, and is the real _motif_ of the tale. + +Where the rebirth of a divinity occurs as the result of the swallowing +of a small animal, it is evident that the god has first taken this form. +The Celt, believing in conception by swallowing some object, and in +shape-shifting, combined his information, and so produced a third idea, +that a god could take the form of a small animal, which, when swallowed, +became his rebirth.[1205] If, as the visits of barren women to dolmens +and megalithic monuments suggest, the Celts believed in the possibility +of the spirit of a dead man entering a woman and being born of her or at +least aiding conception,--a belief held by other races,[1206]--this may +have given rise to myths regarding the rebirth of gods by human mothers. +At all events this latter Celtic belief is paralleled by the American +Indian myths, e.g. of the Thlinkeet god Yehl who transformed himself now +into a pebble, now into a blade of grass, and, being thus swallowed by +women, was reborn. + +In the stories of Etain and of Lud, reborn as Setanta, this idea of +divine transformation and rebirth occurs. A similar idea may underlie +the tale of Fionn and Mongan. As to the tales of Gwion and the +Swineherds, the latter the servants of gods, and perhaps themselves +regarded once as divinities, who in their rebirth as bulls are certainly +divine animals, they present some features which require further +consideration. The previous transformations in both cases belong to the +Transformation Combat formula of many _Märchen_, and obviously were not +part of the original form of the myths. In all such _Märchen_ the +antagonists are males, hence the rebirth incident could not form part of +them. In the Welsh tale of Gwion and in the corresponding Taliesin poem, +the ingenious fusion of the _Märchen_ formula with an existing myth of +rebirth must have taken place at an early date.[1207] This is also true +of _The Two Swineherds_, but in this case, since the myth told how two +gods took the form of worms and were reborn of cows, the formula had to +be altered. Both remain alive at the end of the combat, contrary to the +usual formula, because both were males and both were reborn. The fusion +is skilful, because the reborn personages preserve a remembrance of +their former transformations,[1208] just as Mongan knows of his former +existence as Fionn. In other cases there is no such remembrance. Etain +had forgotten her former existence, and Cúchulainn does not appear to +know that he is a rebirth of Lug. + +The relation of Lug to Cúchulainn deserves further inquiry. While the +god is reborn he is also existing as Lug, just as having been swallowed +as a worm by Dechtire, he appears in his divine form and tells her he +will be born of her. In the _Táin_ he appears fighting for Cúchulainn, +whom he there calls his son. There are thus two aspects of the hero's +relationship to Lug; in one he is a rebirth of the god, in the other he +is his son, as indeed he seems to represent himself in _The Wooing of +Emer_, and as he is called by Laborcham just before his death.[1209] In +one of the birth-stories he is clearly Lug's son by Dechtire. But both +versions may simply be different aspects of one belief, namely, that a +god could be reborn as a mortal and yet continue his divine existence, +because all birth is a kind of rebirth. The men of Ulster sought a wife +for Cúchulainn, "knowing that his rebirth would be of himself," i.e. his +son would be himself even while he continued to exist as his father. +Examples of such a belief occur elsewhere, e.g. in the _Laws_ of Manu, +where the husband is said to be reborn of his wife, and in ancient +Egypt, where the gods were called "self-begotten," because each was +father to the son who was his true image or himself. Likeness implied +identity, in primitive belief. Thus the belief in mortal descent from +the gods among the Celts may have involved the theory of a divine +avatar. The god became father of a mortal by a woman, and part of +himself passed over to the child, who was thus the god himself. + +Conchobar was also a rebirth of a god, but he was named from the river +whence his mother had drawn water containing the worms which she +swallowed. This may point to a lost version in which he was the son of a +river-god by Nessa. This was quite in accordance with Celtic belief, as +is shown by such names as Dubrogenos, from _dubron_, "water," and +_genos_, "born of"; Divogenos, Divogena, "son or daughter of a god," +possibly a river-god, since _deivos_ is a frequent river name; and +Rhenogenus, "son of the Rhine."[1210] The persons who first bore these +names were believed to have been begotten by divinities. Mongan's +descent from Manannan, god of the sea, is made perfectly clear, and the +Welsh name Morgen = _Morigenos_, "son of the sea," probably points to a +similar tale now lost. Other Celtic names are frequently pregnant with +meaning, and tell of a once-existing rich mythology of divine _amours_ +with mortals. They show descent from deities--Camulogenus (son of +Camulos), Esugenos (son of Esus), Boduogenus (son of Bodva); or from +tree-spirits--Dergen (son of the oak), Vernogenus (son of the alder); or +from divine animals--Arthgen (son of the bear), Urogenus (son of the +urus).[1211] What was once an epithet describing divine filiation became +later a personal name. So in Greece names like Apollogenes, Diogenes, +and Hermogenes, had once been epithets of heroes born of Apollo, Zeus, +and Hermes. + +Thus it was a vital Celtic belief that divinities might unite with +mortals and beget children. Heroes enticed away to Elysium enjoyed the +love of its goddesses--Cúchulainn that of Fand; Connla, Bran, and Oisin +that of unnamed divinities. So, too, the goddess Morrigan offered +herself to Cúchulainn. The Christian Celts of the fifth century retained +this belief, though in a somewhat altered form. S. Augustine and others +describe the shaggy demons called _dusii_ by the Gauls, who sought the +couches of women in order to gratify their desires.[1212] The _dusii_ +are akin to the _incubi_ and _fauni_, and do not appear to represent the +higher gods reduced to the form of demons by Christianity, but rather a +species of lesser divinities, once the object of popular devotion. + +These beliefs are also connected with the Celtic notions of +transformation and transmigration--the one signifying the assuming of +another shape for a time, the other the passing over of the soul or the +personality into another body, perhaps one actually existing, but more +usually by actual rebirth. As has been seen, this power of +transformation was claimed by the Druids and by other persons, or +attributed to them, and they were not likely to minimise their powers, +and would probably boast of them on all occasions. Such boasts are put +into the mouths of the Irish Amairgen and the Welsh Taliesin. As the +Milesians were approaching Ireland, Amairgen sang verses which were +perhaps part of a ritual chant: + + "I am the wind which blows over the sea, + I am the wave of the ocean, + I am the bull of seven battles, + I am the eagle on the rock... + I am a boar for courage, + I am a salmon in the water, etc."[1213] + +Professor Rh[^y]s points out that some of these verses need not mean +actual transformation, but mere likeness, through "a primitive formation +of predicate without the aid of a particle corresponding to such a word +as 'like.'"[1214] Enough, however, remains to show the claim of the +magician. Taliesin, in many poems, makes similar claims, and says, "I +have been in a multitude of shapes before I assumed a consistent +form"--that of a sword, a tear, a star, an eagle, etc. Then he was +created, without father or mother.[1215] Similar pretensions are common +to the medicine-man everywhere. But from another point of view they may +be mere poetic extravagances such as are common in Celtic poetry.[1216] +Thus Cúchulainn says: "I was a hound strong for combat ... their little +champion ... the casket of every secret for the maidens," or, in another +place, "I am the bark buffeted from wave to wave ... the ship after the +losing of its rudder ... the little apple on the top of the tree that +little thought of its falling."[1217] These are metaphoric descriptions +of a comparatively simple kind. The full-blown bombast appears in the +_Colloquy of the Two Sages_, where Nede and Fercertne exhaust language +in describing themselves to each other.[1218] Other Welsh bards besides +Taliesin make similar boasts to his, and Dr. Skene thinks that their +claims "may have been mere bombast."[1219] Still some current belief in +shape-shifting, or even in rebirth, underlies some of these boastings +and gives point to them. Amairgen's "I am" this or that, suggests the +inherent power of transformation; Taliesin's "I have been," the actual +transformations. Such assertions do not involve "the powerful +pantheistic doctrine which is at once the glory and error of Irish +philosophy," as M. D'Arbois claims,[1220] else are savage medicine-men, +boastful of their shape-shifting powers, philosophic pantheists. The +poems are merely highly developed forms of primitive beliefs in +shape-shifting, such as are found among all savages and barbaric folk, +but expressed in the boastful language in which the Celt delighted. + +How were the successive shape-shiftings effected? To answer this we +shall first look at the story of Tuan Mac Caraill, who survived from the +days of Partholan to those of S. Finnen. He was a decrepit man at the +coming of Nemed, and one night, having lain down to sleep, he awoke as a +stag, and lived in this form to old age. In the same way he became a +boar, a hawk, and a salmon, which was caught and eaten by Cairell's +wife, of whom he was born as Tuan, with a perfect recollection of his +different forms.[1221] + +This story, the invention of a ninth or tenth century Christian scribe +to account for the current knowledge of the many invasions of +Ireland,[1222] must have been based on pagan myths of a similar kind, +involving successive transformations and a final rebirth. Such a myth +may have been told of Taliesin, recounting his transformations and his +final rebirth, the former being replaced at a later time by the episode +of the Transformation Combat, involving no great lapse of time. Such a +series of successive shapes--of every beast, a dragon, a wolf, a stag, a +salmon, a seal, a swan--were ascribed to Mongan and foretold by +Manannan, and Mongan refers to some of them in his colloquy with S. +Columba--"when I was a deer ... a salmon ... a seal ... a roving wolf +... a man."[1223] Perhaps the complete story was that of a fabulous hero +in human form, who assumed different shapes, and was finally reborn. But +the transformation of an old man, or an old animal, into new youthful +and vigorous forms might be regarded as a kind of transmigration--an +extension of the transformation idea, but involving no metempsychosis, +no passing of the soul into another body by rebirth. Actual +transmigration or rebirth occurs only at the end of the series, and, as +in the case of Etain, Lug, etc., the pre-existent person is born of a +woman after being swallowed by her. Possibly the transformation belief +has reacted on the other, and obscured a belief in actual metempsychosis +as a result of the soul of an ancestor passing into a woman and being +reborn as her next child. Add to this that the soul is often thought of +as a tiny animal, and we see how a _point d'appui_ for the more +materialistic belief was afforded. The insect or worms of the rebirth +stories may have been once forms of the soul. It is easy also to see +how, a theory of conception by swallowing various objects being already +in existence, it might be thought possible that eating a salmon--a +transformed man--would cause his rebirth from the eater. + +The Celts may have had no consistent belief on this subject, the general +idea of the future life being of a different kind. Or perhaps the +various beliefs in transformation, transmigration, rebirth, and +conception by unusual means, are too inextricably mingled to be +separated. The nucleus of the tales seems to be the possibility of +rebirth, and the belief that the soul was still clad in a bodily form +after death and was itself a material thing. But otherwise some of them +are not distinctively Celtic, and have been influenced by old _Märchen_ +formulæ of successive changes adopted by or forced upon some person, who +is finally reborn. This formulæ is already old in the fourteenth century +B.C. Egyptian story of the _Two Brothers_. + +Such Celtic stories as these may have been known to classical authors, +and have influenced their statements regarding eschatology. Yet it can +hardly be said that the tales themselves bear witness to a general +transmigration doctrine current among the Celts, since the stories +concern divine or heroic personages. Still the belief may have had a +certain currency among them, based on primitive theories of soul life. +Evidence that it existed side by side with the more general doctrines of +the future life may be found in old or existing folk-belief. In some +cases the dead have an animal form, as in the _Voyage of Maelduin_, +where birds on an island are said to be souls, or in the legend of S. +Maelsuthain, whose pupils appear to him after death as birds.[1224] The +bird form of the soul after death is still a current belief in the +Hebrides. Butterflies in Ireland, and moths in Cornwall, and in France +bats or butterflies, are believed to be souls of the dead.[1225] King +Arthur is thought by Cornishmen to have died and to have been changed +into the form of a raven, and in mediæval Wales souls of the wicked +appear as ravens, in Brittany as black dogs, petrels, or hares, or serve +their term of penitence as cows or bulls, or remain as crows till the +day of judgment.[1226] Unbaptized infants become birds; drowned sailors +appear as beasts or birds; and the souls of girls deceived by lovers +haunt them as hares.[1227] + +These show that the idea of transmigration may not have been foreign to +the Celtic mind, and it may have arisen from the idea that men assumed +their totem animal's shape at death. Some tales of shape-shifting are +probably due to totemism, and it is to be noted that in Kerry peasants +will not eat hares because they contain the souls of their +grandmothers.[1228] On the other hand, some of these survivals may mean +no more than that the soul itself has already an animal form, in which +it would naturally be seen after death. In Celtic folk-belief the soul +is seen leaving the body in sleep as a bee, butterfly, gnat, mouse, or +mannikin.[1229] Such a belief is found among most savage races, and +might easily be mistaken for transmigration, or also assist the +formation of the idea of transmigration. Though the folk-survivals show +that transmigration was not necessarily alleged of all the dead, it may +have been a sufficiently vital belief to colour the mythology, as we see +from the existing tales, adulterated though these may have been. + +The general belief has its roots in primitive ideas regarding life and +its propagation--ideas which some hold to be un-Celtic and un-Aryan. But +Aryans were "primitive" at some period of their history, and it would be +curious if, while still in a barbarous condition, they had forgotten +their old beliefs. In any case, if they adopted similar beliefs from +non-Aryan people, this points to no great superiority on their part. +Such beliefs originated the idea of rebirth and transmigration.[1230] +Nevertheless this was not a characteristically Celtic eschatological +belief; that we find in the theory that the dead lived on in the body or +assumed a body in another region, probably underground. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1193] For textual details see Zimmer, _Zeit. für Vergl. Sprach._ +xxviii. 585 f. The tale is obviously archaic. For a translation see +Leahy, i. 8 f. + +[1194] _IT_ i. 134 f.; D'Arbois, v. 22. There is a suggestion in one of +the versions of another story, in which Setanta is child of Conchobar +and his sister Dechtire. + +[1195] _IT_ iii. 245; _RC_ xv. 465; Nutt-Meyer, ii. 69. + +[1196] Stowe MS. 992, _RC_ vi. 174; _IT_ ii. 210; D'Arbois, v. 3f. + +[1197] _IT_ iii. 393. Cf. the story of the wife of Cormac, who was +barren till her mother gave her pottage. Then she had a daughter (_RC_ +xxii. 18). + +[1198] Nutt-Meyer, i. 45 f., text and translation. + +[1199] Ibid. 42 f. + +[1200] Ibid. 58. The simultaneous birth formula occurs in many +_Märchen_, though that of the future wife is not common. + +[1201] Nutt-Meyer, i. 52, 57, 85, 87. + +[1202] _ZCP_ ii. 316 f. Here Mongan comes directly from Elysium, as does +Oisin before meeting S. Patrick. + +[1203] _IT_ iii. 345; O'Grady, ii. 88. Cf. Rees, 331. + +[1204] Guest, iii. 356 f.; see p. 116, _supra_. + +[1205] In some of the tales the small animal still exists independently +after the birth, but this is probably not their primitive form. + +[1206] See my _Religion: Its Origin and Forms_, 76-77. + +[1207] Skene, i. 532. After relating various shapes in which he has +been, the poet adds that he has been a grain which a hen received, and +that he rested in her womb as a child. The reference in this early poem +from a fourteenth century MS. shows that the fusion of the _Märchen_ +formula with a myth of rebirth was already well known. See also Guest, +iii. 362, for verses in which the transformations during the combat are +exaggerated. + +[1208] Skene, i. 276, 532. + +[1209] Miss Hull, 67; D'Arbois, v. 331. + +[1210] For various forms of _geno_-, see Holder, i. 2002; Stokes, _US_ +110. + +[1211] For all these names see Holder, _s.v._ + +[1212] S. Aug. _de Civ. Dei_, xv. 23; Isidore, _Orat._ viii. 2. 103. +_Dusios_ may be connected with Lithuanian _dvaese_, "spirit," and +perhaps with [Greek: Thehos] (Holder, _s.v._). D'Arbois sees in the +_dusii_ water-spirits, and compares river-names like Dhuys, Duseva, +Dusius (vi. 182; _RC_ xix. 251). The word may be connected with Irish +_duis_, glossed "noble" (Stokes, _TIG_ 76). The Bretons still believe in +fairies called _duz_, and our word _dizzy_ may be connected with +_dusios_, and would then have once signified the madness following on +the _amour_, like Greek [Greek: nympholeptos], or "the inconvenience of +their succubi," described by Kirk in his _Secret Commonwealth of the +Elves_. + +[1213] _LL_ 12_b_; _TOS_ v. 234. + +[1214] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 549. + +[1215] Skene, i. 276, 309, etc. + +[1216] Sigerson, _Bards of the Gael_, 379. + +[1217] Miss Hull, 288; Hyde, _Lit. Hist. of Ireland_, 300. + +[1218] _RC_ xxvi. 21. + +[1219] Skene, ii. 506. + +[1220] D'Arbois, ii. 246, where he also derives Erigena's pantheism from +Celtic beliefs, such as he supposes to be exemplified by these poems. + +[1221] _LU_ 15_a_; D'Arbois, ii. 47 f.; Nutt-Meyer, ii. 294 f. + +[1222] Another method of accounting for this knowledge was to imagine a +long-lived personage like Fintan who survived for 5000 years. D'Arbois, +ii. ch. 4. Here there was no transformation or rebirth. + +[1223] Nutt-Meyer, i. 24; _ZCP_ ii. 316. + +[1224] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 78. + +[1225] Wood-Martin, _Pagan Ireland_, 140; _Choice Notes_, 61; Monnier, +143; Maury, 272. + +[1226] _Choice Notes_, 69; Rees, 92; Le Braz{2}, ii. 82, 86, 307; _Rev. +des Trad. Pop._ xii. 394. + +[1227] Le Braz{2}, ii. 80; _Folk-lore Jour._ v. 189. + +[1228] _Folk-Lore_, iv. 352. + +[1229] Carmichael, _Carm. Gadel._ ii. 334; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ 602; Le +Braz{2}, i. 179, 191, 200. + +[1230] Mr. Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_, derived the origin of the rebirth +conception from orgiastic cults. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +ELYSIUM. + + +The Celtic conception of Elysium, the product at once of religion, +mythology, and romantic imagination, is found in a series of Irish and +Welsh tales. We do not know that a similar conception existed among the +continental Celts, but, considering the likeness of their beliefs in +other matters to those of the insular Celts, there is a strong +probability that it did. There are four typical presentations of the +Elysium conception. In Ireland, while the gods were believed to have +retired within the hills or _síd_, it is not unlikely that some of them +had always been supposed to live in these or in a subterranean world, +and it is therefore possible that what may be called the subterranean or +_síd_ type of Elysium is old. But other types also appear--that of a +western island Elysium, of a world below the waters, and of a world +co-extensive with this and entered by a mist. + +The names of the Irish Elysium are sometimes of a general character--Mag +Mór, "the Great Plain"; Mag Mell, "the Pleasant Plain"; Tír n'Aill, "the +Other-world"; Tir na m-Beo, "the Land of the Living"; Tír na n-Og, "the +Land of Youth"; and Tír Tairngiri, "the Land of Promise"--possibly of +Christian origin. Local names are Tír fa Tonn, "Land under Waves"; +I-Bresail and the Land of Falga, names of the island Elysium. The last +denotes the Isle of Man as Elysium, and it may have been so regarded by +Goidels in Britain at an early time.[1231] To this period may belong the +tales of Cúchulainn's raid on Falga, carried at a later time to Ireland. +Tír Tairngiri is also identified with the Isle of Man.[1232] + +A brief résumé of the principal Elysium tales is necessary as a +preliminary to a discussion of the problems which they involve, though +it can give but little idea of the beauty and romanticism of the tales +themselves. These, if not actually composed in pagan times, are based +upon story-germs current before the coming of Christianity to Ireland. + +1. _The síd Elysium._--In the story of Etain, when Mider discovered her +in her rebirth, he described the land whither he would carry her, its +music and its fair people, its warm streams, its choice mead and wine. +There is eternal youth, and love is blameless. It is within Mider's +_síd_, and Etain accompanies him there. In the sequel King Eochaid's +Druid discovers the _síd_, which is captured by the king, who then +regains Etain.[1233] Other tales refer to the _síd_ in similar terms, +and describe its treasures, its food and drink better than those of +earth. It is in most respects similar to the island Elysium, save that +it is localised on earth. + +2. _The island Elysium._--The story of the voyage of Bran is found +fragmentarily in the eleventh century _LU_, and complete in the +fourteenth and sixteenth century MSS. It tells how Bran heard mysterious +music when asleep. On waking he found a silver branch with blossoms, and +next day there appeared a mysterious woman singing the glory of the land +overseas, its music, its wonderful tree, its freedom from pain and +death. It is one of thrice fifty islands to the west of Erin, and there +she dwells with thousands of "motley women." Before she disappears the +branch leaps into her hand. Bran set sail with his comrades and met +Manannan crossing the sea in his chariot. The god told him that the sea +was a flowery plain, Mag Mell, and that all around, unseen to Bran, were +people playing and drinking "without sin." He bade him sail on to the +Land of Women. Then the voyagers went on and reached the Isle of Joy, +where one of their number remained behind. At last they came to the Land +of Women, and we hear of their welcome, the dreamlike lapse of time, the +food and drink which had for each the taste he desired. Finally the tale +recounts their home-sickness, the warning they received not to set foot +on Erin, how one of their number leaped ashore and turned to ashes, how +Bran from his boat told of his wanderings and then disappeared for +ever.[1234] + +Another story tells how Connla was visited by a goddess from Mag Mell. +Her people dwell in a _síd_ and are called "men of the _síd_." She +invites him to go to the immortal land, and departs, leaving him an +apple, which supports him for a month without growing less. Then she +reappears and tells Connla that "the Ever-Living Ones" desire him to +join them. She bids him come with her to the Land of Joy where there are +only women. He steps into her crystal boat and vanishes from his father +and the Druid who has vainly tried to exercise his spells against +her.[1235] In this tale there is a confusion between the _síd_ and the +island Elysium. + +The eighteenth century poem of Oisin in Tír na n-Og is probably based on +old legends, and describes how Niam, daughter of the king of Tír na +n-Og, placed _geasa_ on Oisin to accompany her to that land of immortal +youth and beauty. He mounted on her steed, which plunged forwards across +the sea, and brought them to the land where Oisin spent three hundred +years before returning to Ireland, and there suffering, as has been +seen, from the breaking of the tabu not to set foot on the soil of +Erin.[1236] + +In _Serglige Conculaind_, "Cúchulainn's Sickness," the goddess Fand, +deserted by Manannan, offers herself to the hero if he will help her +sister's husband Labraid against his enemies in Mag Mell. Labraid lives +in an island frequented by troops of women, and possessing an +inexhaustible vat of mead and trees with magic fruit. It is reached with +marvellous speed in a boat of bronze. After a preliminary visit by his +charioteer Laeg, Cúchulainn goes thither, vanquishes Labraid's foes, and +remains a month with Fand. He returns to Ireland, and now we hear of the +struggle for him between his wife Emer and Fand. But Manannan suddenly +appears, reawakens Fand's love, and she departs with him. The god shakes +his cloak between her and Cúchulainn to prevent their ever meeting +again.[1237] In this story Labraid, Fand, and Liban, Fand's sister, +though dwellers on an island Elysium, are called _síd_-folk. The two +regions are partially confused, but not wholly, since Manannan is +described as coming from his own land (Elysium) to woo Fand. Apparently +Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword (who, though called "chief of the +_síde_", is certainly a war-god) is at enmity with Manannan's hosts, and +it is these with whom Cúchulainn has to fight.[1238] + +In an Ossianic tale several of the Fians were carried off to the Land of +Promise. After many adventures, Fionn, Diarmaid, and others discover +them, and threaten to destroy the land if they are not restored. Its +king, Avarta, agrees to the restoration, and with fifteen of his men +carries the Fians to Erin on one horse. Having reached there, he bids +them look at a certain field, and while they are doing so, he and his +men disappear.[1239] + +3. _Land under Waves._--Fiachna, of the men of the _síd_, appeared to +the men of Connaught, and begged their help against Goll, who had +abducted his wife. Loegaire and his men dive with Fiachna into Loch +Naneane, and reach a wonderful land, with marvellous music and where the +rain is ale. They and the _síd_-folk attack the fort of Mag Mell and +defeat Goll. Each then obtains a woman of the _síde_, but at the end of +a year they become homesick. They are warned not to descend from +horseback in Erin. Arrived among their own people, they describe the +marvels of Tír fa Tonn, and then return there, and are no more +seen.[1240] Here, again, the _síd_ Elysium and Land under Waves are +confused, and the divine tribes are at war, as in the story of +Cúchulainn. + +In a section of the Ossianic tale just cited, Fionn and his men arrive +on an island, where Diarmaid reaches a beautiful country at the bottom +of a well. This is Tír fa Tonn, and Diarmaid fights its king who has +usurped his nephew's inheritance, and thus recovers it for him.[1241] + +4. _Co-extensive with this world._--An early example of this type is +found in the _Adventures of Cormac_. A divine visitant appeared to +Cormac and gave him in exchange for his wife, son, and daughter, his +branch of golden apples, which when shaken produced sweetest music, +dispelling sorrow. After a year Cormac set out to seek his family, and +as he journeyed encountered a mist in which he discovered a strange +house. Its master and mistress--Manannan and his consort--offered him +shelter. The god brought in a pig, every quarter of which was cooked in +the telling of a true tale, the pig afterwards coming to life again. +Cormac, in his tale, described how he had lost his family, whereupon +Manannan made him sleep, and brought his wife and children in. Later he +produced a cup which broke when a lie was told, but became whole again +when a true word was spoken. The god said Cormac's wife had now a new +husband, and the cup broke, but was restored when the goddess declared +this to be a lie. Next morning all had disappeared, and Cormac and his +family found themselves in his own palace, with cup and branch by their +side.[1242] Similarly, in _The Champion's Ecstasy_, a mysterious +horseman appears out of a mist to Conn and leads him to a palace, where +he reveals himself as the god Lug, and where there is a woman called +"the Sovereignty of Erin." Beside the palace is a golden tree.[1243] In +the story of Bran, Mag Mell is said to be all around the hero, though he +knows it not--an analogous conception to what is found in these tales, +and another instance is that of the mysterious house entered by +Conchobar and Dechtire.[1244] Mag Mell may thus have been regarded as a +mysterious district of Erin. This magic mist enclosing a marvellous +dwelling occurs in many other tales, and it was in a mist that the +Tuatha Déa came to Ireland. + +A certain correspondence to these Irish beliefs is found in Brythonic +story, but here the Elysium conception has been influenced by Christian +ideas. Elysium is called _Annwfn_, meaning "an abyss," "the state of the +dead," "hell," and it is also conceived of as _is elfydd_, "beneath the +earth."[1245] But in the tales it bears no likeness to these meanings of +the word, save in so far as it has been confused by their Christian +redactors with hell. It is a region on the earth's surface or an over-or +under-sea world, in which some of the characteristics of the Irish +Elysium are found--a cauldron, a well of drink sweeter than wine, and +animals greatly desired by mortals, while it is of great beauty and its +people are not subject to death or disease. Hence the name _Annwfn_ has +probably taken the place of some earlier pagan title of Elysium. + +In the tale of Pwyll, the earliest reference to _Annwfn_ occurs. It is +ruled by Arawn, at war with Hafgan. Arawn obtains the help of Pwyll by +exchanging kingdoms with him for a year, and Pwyll defeats Hafgan. It is +a beautiful land, where merriment and feasting go on continuously, and +its queen is of great loveliness. It has no subterranean character, and +is conceived apparently as contiguous to Pwyll's kingdom.[1246] In other +tales it is the land whence Gwydion and others obtain various +animals.[1247] The later folk-conception of the demoniac dogs of Annwfn +may be based on an old myth of dogs with which its king hunted. These +are referred to in the story of Pwyll.[1248] + +_Annwfn_ is also the name of a land under waves or over sea, called also +_Caer Sidi_, "the revolving castle," about which "are ocean's streams." +It is "known to Manawyddan and Pryderi," just as the Irish Elysium was +ruled by Manannan.[1249] Another "Caer of Defence" is beneath the +waves.[1250] Perhaps the two ideas were interchangeable. The people of +this land are free from death and disease, and in it is "an abundant +well, sweeter than white wine the drink in it." There also is a cauldron +belonging to the lord of Annwfn, which was stolen by Arthur and his men. +Such a cauldron is the property of people belonging to a water world in +the _Mabinogion_.[1251] + +The description of the isle of Avallon (later identified with +Glastonbury), whither Arthur was carried, completes the likeness to the +Irish Elysium. No tempest, excess of heat or cold, nor noxious animal +afflicts it; it is blessed with eternal spring and with fruit and +flowers growing without labour; it is the land of eternal youth, +unvisited by death or disease. It has a _regia virgo_ lovelier than her +lovely attendants; she cured Arthur of his wounds, hence she is the +Morgen of other tales, and she and her maidens may be identified with +the divine women of the Irish isle of women. Morgen is called a _dea +phantastica_, and she may be compared with Liban, who cured Cúchulainn +of his sickness.[1252] + +The identification of Avallon with Glastonbury is probably post-pagan, +and the names applied to Glastonbury--Avallon, _Insula Pomonum_, _Insula +vitrea_--may be primitive names of Elysium. William of Malmesbury +derives _Insula Pomonum_ in its application to Glastonbury from a native +name _Insula Avallonioe_, which he connects with the Brythonic _avalla_, +"apples," because Glastenig found an apple tree there.[1253] The name +may thus have been connected with marvellous apple trees, like those of +the Irish Elysium. But he also suggests that it may be derived from the +name of Avalloc, living there with his daughters. Avalloc is evidently +the "Rex Avallon" (Avallach) to whose palace Arthur was carried and +healed by the _regia virgo_.[1254] He may therefore have been a mythic +lord of Elysium, and his daughters would correspond to the maidens of +the isle. William also derives "Glastonbury" from the name of an +eponymous founder Glastenig, or from its native name _Ynesuuitron_, +"Glass Island." This name reappears in Chretien's _Eric_ in the form +"l'isle de verre." Giraldus explains the name from the glassy waters +around Glastonbury, but it may be an early name of Elysium.[1255] Glass +must have appealed to the imagination of Celt, Teuton, and Slav, for we +hear of Merlin's glass house, a glass fort discovered by Arthur, a glass +tower attacked by the Milesians, Etain's glass _grianan_, and a boat of +glass which conveyed Connla to Elysium. In Teutonic and Slavonic myth +and _Märchen_, glass mountains, on which dwell mysterious personages, +frequently occur. + +The origin of the Celtic Elysium belief may be found in universal myths +of a golden age long ago in some distant Elysian region, where men had +lived with the gods. Into that region brave mortals might still +penetrate, though it was lost to mankind as a whole. In some mythologies +this Elysium is the land whither men go after death. Possibly the Celtic +myth of man's early intercourse with the gods in a lost region took two +forms. In one it was a joyful subterranean region whither the Celt hoped +to go after death. In the other it was not recoverable, nor was it the +land of the dead, but favoured mortals might reach it in life. The +Celtic Elysium belief, as known through the tales just cited, is always +of this second kind. We surmise, however, that the land of the dead was +a joyous underworld ruled over by a god of fertility and of the dead, +and from that region men had originally come forth. The later +association of gods with the _síd_ was a continuation of this belief, +but now the _síd_ are certainly not a land of the dead, but Elysium pure +and simple. There must therefore have been at an early period a tendency +to distinguish between the happy region of the dead, and the distant +Elysium, if the two were ever really connected. The subject is obscure, +but it is not impossible that another origin of the Elysium idea may be +found in the phenomenon of the setting sun: it suggested to the +continental Celts that far off there was a divine land where the sun-god +rested. When the Celts reached the coast this divine western land would +necessarily be located in a far-off island, seen perhaps on the horizon. +Hence it would also be regarded as connected with the sea-god, Manannan, +or by whatsoever name he was called. The distant Elysium, whether on +land or across the sea, was conceived in identical terms, and hence also +whenever the hollow hills or _síd_ were regarded as an abode of the +gods, they also were described just as Elysium was. + +The idea of a world under the waters is common to many mythologies, and, +generally speaking, it originated in the animistic belief that every +part of nature has its indwelling spirits. Hence the spirits or gods of +the waters were thought of as dwelling below the waters. Tales of +supernatural beings appearing out of the waters, the custom of throwing +offerings therein, the belief that human beings were carried below the +surface or could live in the region beneath the waves, are all connected +with this animistic idea. Among the Celts this water-world assumed many +aspects of Elysium, and it has names in common with it, e.g. it is +called Mag Mell. Hence in many popular tales it is hardly differentiated +from the island Elysium; oversea and under-waves are often synonymous. +Hence, too, the belief that such water-worlds as I-Bresail, or Welsh +fairy-lands, or sunken cities off the Breton coast, rise periodically to +the surface, and would remain there permanently, like an island Elysium, +if some mortal would fulfil certain conditions.[1256] + +The Celtic belief in Tír fa Tonn is closely connected with the current +belief in submerged towns or lands, found in greatest detail on the +Breton coast. Here there are many such legends, but most prominent are +those which tell how the town of Is was submerged because of the +wickedness of its people, or of Dahut, its king's daughter, who +sometimes still seeks the love of mortals. It is occasionally seen below +the waves or even on their surface.[1257] Elsewhere in Celtic regions +similar legends are found, and the submersion is the result of a curse, +of the breaking of a tabu, or of neglect to cover a sacred well.[1258] +Probably the tradition of actual cataclysms or inroads of the sea, such +as the Celts encountered on the coasts of Holland, may account for some +of these legends, which then mingled with myths of the divine +water-world. + +The idea that Elysium is co-extensive with this world and hidden in a +mist is perhaps connected with the belief in the magical powers of the +gods. As the Druids could raise a mist at will, so too might the gods, +who then created a temporary Elysium in it. From such a mist, usually on +a hill, supernatural beings often emerged to meet mortals, and in +_Märchen_ fairyland is sometimes found within a mist.[1259] It was +already believed that part of the gods' land was not far off; it was +invisibly on or within the hills on whose slopes men saw the mist +swirling mysteriously. Hence the mist may simply have concealed the +_síd_ of the gods. But there may also have been a belief that this world +was actually interpenetrated by the divine world, for this is believed +of fairyland in Welsh and Irish folk-lore. Men may unwittingly interfere +with it, or have it suddenly revealed to them, or be carried into it and +made invisible.[1260] + +In most of the tales Elysium is a land without grief or death, where +there is immortal youth and peace, and every kind of delight. But in +some, while the sensuous delights are still the same, the inhabitants +are at war, invite the aid of mortals to overcome their foes, and are +even slain in fight. Still in both groups Elysium is a land of gods and +supernatural folk whither mortals are invited by favour. It is never the +world of the dead; its people are not mortals who have died and gone +thither. The two conceptions of Elysium as a land of peace and +deathlessness, and as a land where war and death may occur, may both be +primitive. The latter may have been formed by reflecting back on the +divine world the actions of the world of mortals, and it would also be +on a parallel with the conception of the world of the dead where +warriors perhaps still fought, since they were buried with their +weapons. There were also myths of gods warring with each other. But men +may also have felt that the gods were not as themselves, that their land +must be one of peace and deathlessness. Hence the idea of the peaceful +Elysium, which perhaps found most favour with the people. Mr. Nutt +thought that the idea of a warlike Elysium may have resulted from +Scandinavian influence acting on existing tales of a peaceful +Elysium,[1261] but we know that old myths of divine wars already +existed. Perhaps this conception arose among the Celts as a warlike +people, appealing to their warrior instincts, while the peaceful Elysium +may have been the product of the Celts as an agricultural folk, for we +have seen that the Celt was now a fighter, now a farmer. In its peaceful +aspect Elysium is "a familiar, cultivated land," where the fruits of the +earth are produced without labour, and where there are no storms or +excess of heat or cold--the fancies which would appeal to a toiling, +agricultural people. There food is produced magically, yet naturally, +and in agricultural ritual men sought to increase their food supply +magically. In the tales this process is, so to speak, heightened.[1262] + +Some writers have maintained that Elysium is simply the land of the +dead, although nothing in the existing tales justifies this +interpretation. M. D'Arbois argues for this view, resting his theory +mainly on a passage in the story of Connla, interpreted by him in a way +which does not give its real meaning.[1263] The words are spoken by the +goddess to Connla, and their sense is--"The Ever-Living Ones invite +thee. Thou art a champion to Tethra's people. They see thee every day in +the assemblies of thy fatherland, among thy familiar loved ones."[1264] +M. D'Arbois assumes that Tethra, a Fomorian, is lord of Elysium, and +that after his defeat by the Tuatha Déa, he, like Kronos, took refuge +there, and now reigns as lord of the dead. By translating _ar-dot-chiat_ +("they see thee," 3rd plur., pres. ind.) as "on t'y verra," he maintains +that Connla, by going to Elysium, will be seen among the gatherings of +his dead kinsfolk. But the words, "Thou art a champion to Tethra's +people," cannot be made to mean that Tethra is a god of the dead. It +means simply that Connla is a mighty warrior, one of those whom Tethra, +a war-god, would have approved. The phrase, "Tethra's mighty men," used +elsewhere,[1265] is a conventional one for warriors. The rest of the +goddess's words imply that the Immortals from afar, or perhaps "Tethra's +mighty men," i.e. warriors in this world, see Connla in the assemblies +of his fatherland in Erin, among his familiar friends. Dread death +awaits _them_, she has just said, but the Immortals desire Connla to +escape that by coming to Elysium. Her words do not imply that he will +meet his dead ancestors there, nor is she in any sense a goddess of +death. If the dead went to Elysium, there would be little need for +inviting a living person to go there. Had Connla's dead ancestors or +Tethra's people (warriors) been in Elysium, this would contradict the +picture drawn by the goddess of the land whither she desires him to +go--a land of women, not of men. Moreover, the rulers of Elysium are +always members of the Tuatha Dé Danann or the _síd_-folk, never a +Fomorian like Tethra.[1266] + +M. D'Arbois also assumes that "Spain" in Nennius' account of the Irish +invasions and in Irish texts means the land of the dead, and that it was +introduced in place of some such title as Mag Mór or Mag Mell by "the +euhemerising process of the Irish Christians." But in other documents +penned by Irish Christians these and other pagan titles of Elysium +remain unchanged. Nor is there the slightest proof that the words used +by Tuan MacCaraill about the invaders of Ireland, "They all died," were +rendered in an original text, now lost according to M. D'Arbois, "They +set sail for Mag Mór or Mag Mell," a formula in which Nennius saw +indications of a return to Spain.[1267] Spain, in this hypothetical +text, was the Land of the Dead or Elysium, whence the invaders came. +This "lost original" exists in M. D'Arbois imagination, and there is not +the slightest evidence for these alterations. Once, indeed, Tailtiu is +called daughter of Magh Mór, King of Spain, but here a person, not a +place, is spoken of.[1268] Sir John Rh[^y]s accepts the identification +of Spain with Elysium as the land of the dead, and finds in every +reference to Spain a reference to the Other-world, which he regards as a +region ruled by "dark divinities." But neither the lords of Elysium nor +the Celtic Dispater were dark or gloomy deities, and the land of the +dead was certainly not a land of darkness any more than Elysium. The +numerous references to Spain probably point to old traditions regarding +a connection between Spain and Ireland in early times, both commercial +and social, and it is not impossible that Goidelic invaders did reach +Ireland from Spain.[1269] Early maps and geographers make Ireland and +Spain contiguous; hence in an Irish tale Ireland is visible from Spain, +and this geographical error would strengthen existing traditions.[1270] +"Spain" was used vaguely, but it does not appear to have meant Elysium +or the Land of the Dead. If it did, it is strange that the Tuatha Dé +Danann are never brought into connection with it. + +One of the most marked characteristics of the Celtic Elysium is its +deathlessness. It is "the land of the living" or of "the Ever-Living +Ones," and of eternal youth. Most primitive races believe that death is +an accident befalling men who are naturally immortal; hence freedom from +such an accident naturally characterises the people of the divine land. +But, as in other mythologies, that immortality is more or less dependent +on the eating or drinking of some food or drink of immortality. Manannan +had immortal swine, which, killed one day, came alive next day, and with +their flesh he made the Tuatha Dé Danann immortal. Immortality was also +conferred by the drinking of Goibniu's ale, which, either by itself or +with the flesh of swine, formed his immortal feast. The food of Elysium +was inexhaustible, and whoever ate it found it to possess that taste +which he preferred. The fruit of certain trees in Elysium was also +believed to confer immortality and other qualities. Laeg saw one hundred +and fifty trees growing in Mag Mell; their nuts fed three hundred +people. The apple given by the goddess to Connla was inexhaustible, and +he was still eating it with her when Teigue, son of Cian, visited +Elysium. "When once they had partaken of it, nor age nor dimness could +affect them."[1271] Apples, crimson nuts, and rowan berries are +specifically said to be the food of the gods in the tale of _Diarmaid +and Grainne_. Through carelessness one of the berries was dropped on +earth, and from it grew a tree, the berries of which had the effect of +wine or mead, and three of them eaten by a man of a hundred years made +him youthful. It was guarded by a giant.[1272] A similar tree growing on +earth--a rowan guarded by a dragon, is found in the tale of Fraoch, who +was bidden to bring a branch of it to Ailill. Its berries had the virtue +of nine meals; they healed the wounded, and added a year to a man's +life.[1273] At the wells which were the source of Irish rivers were +supposed to grow hazel-trees with crimson nuts, which fell into the +water and were eaten by salmon.[1274] If these were caught and eaten, +the eater obtained wisdom and knowledge. These wells were in Erin, but +in some instances the well with its hazels and salmon is in the +Other-world,[1275] and it is obvious that the crimson nuts are the same +as the food of the gods in _Diarmaid and Grainne_. + +Why should immortality be dependent on the eating of certain foods? Most +of man's irrational ideas have some reason in them, and probably man's +knowledge that without food life would come to an end, joined to his +idea of deathlessness, led him to believe that there was a certain food +which produced immortality just as ordinary food supported life. On it +gods and deathless beings were fed. Similarly, as water cleansed and +invigorated, it was thought that some special kind of water had these +powers in a marvellous degree. Hence arose the tales of the Fountain of +Youth and the belief in healing wells. From the knowledge of the +nourishing power of food, sprang the idea that some food conferred the +qualities inherent in it, e.g. the flesh of divine animals eaten +sacramentally, and that gods obtained their immortality from eating or +drinking. This idea is widespread. The Babylonian gods had food and +water of Life; Egyptian myth spoke of the bread and beer of eternity +which nourished the gods; the Hindus and Iranians knew of the divine +_soma_ or _haoma_; and in Scandinavian myth the gods renewed their youth +by tasting Iduna's golden apples. + +In Celtic Elysium tales, the fruit of a tree is most usually the food of +immortality. The fruit never diminishes and always satisfies, and it is +the food of the gods. When eaten by mortals it confers immortality upon +them; in other words, it makes them of like nature to the gods, and this +is doubtless derived from the widespread idea that the eating of food +given by a stranger makes a man of one kin with him. Hence to eat the +food of gods, fairies, or of the dead, binds the mortal to them and he +cannot leave their land. This might be illustrated from a wide range of +myth and folk-belief. When Connla ate the apple he at once desired to go +to Elysium, and he could not leave it once he was there; he had become +akin to its people. In the stories of Bran and Oisin, they are not said +to have eaten such fruit, but the primitive form of the tales may have +contained this incident, and this would explain why they could not set +foot on earth unscathed, and why Bran and his followers, or, in the tale +of Fiachna, Loegaire and his men who had drunk the ale of Elysium, +returned thither. In other tales, it is true, those who eat food in +Elysium can return to earth--Cormac and Cúchulainn; but had we the +primitive form of these tales we should probably find that they had +refrained from eating. The incident of the fruit given by an immortal to +a mortal may have borrowed something from the wide folk-custom of the +presentation of an apple as a gage of love or as a part of the marriage +rite.[1276] Its acceptance denotes willingness to enter upon betrothal +or marriage. But as in the Roman rite of _confarreatio_ with its savage +parallels, the underlying idea is probably that which has just been +considered, namely, that the giving and acceptance of food produces the +bond of kinship. + +As various nuts and fruits were prized in Ireland as food, and were +perhaps used in some cases to produce an intoxicant,[1277] it is evident +that the trees of Elysium were, primarily, a magnified form of earthly +trees. But all such trees were doubtless objects of a cult before their +produce was generally eaten; they were first sacred or totem-trees, and +their food eaten only occasionally and sacramentally. If so, this would +explain why they grew in Elysium and their fruit was the food of the +gods. For whatever man eats or drinks is generally supposed to have been +first eaten and drunk by the gods, like the _soma_. But, growing in +Elysium, these trees, like the trees of most myths of Elysium, are far +more marvellous than any known on earth. They have branches of silver +and golden apples; they have magical supplies of fruit, they produce +wonderful music which sometimes causes sleep or oblivion; and birds +perch in their branches and warble melody "such that the sick would +sleep to it." It should be noted also that, as Miss Hull points out, in +some tales the branch of a divine tree becomes a talisman leading the +mortal to Elysium; in this resembling the golden bough plucked by Æneas +before visiting the underworld.[1278] This, however, is not the +fundamental characteristic of the tree, in Irish story. Possibly, as Mr. +A.B. Cook maintains, the branch giving entrance to Elysium is derived +from the branch borne by early Celtic kings of the wood, while the tree +is an imaginative form of those which incarnated a vegetation +spirit.[1279] Be this as it may, it is rather the fruit eaten by the +mortal which binds him to the Immortal Land. + +The inhabitants of Elysium are not only immortal, but also invisible at +will. They make themselves visible to one person only out of many +present with him. Connla alone sees the goddess, invisible to his father +and the Druid. Mananuan is visible to Bran, but there are many near the +hero whom he does not see; and when the same god comes to Fand, he is +invisible to Cúchulainn and those with him. So Mider says to Etain, "We +behold, and are not beheld."[1280] Occasionally, too, the people of +Elysium have the power of shape-shifting--Fand and Liban appear to +Cúchulainn as birds. + +The hazel of knowledge connects wisdom with the gods' world, and in +Celtic belief generally civilisation and culture were supposed to have +come from the gods. The things of their land were coveted by men, and +often stolen thence by them. In Welsh and Irish tales, often with +reference to the Other-world, a magical cauldron has a prominent place. +Dagda possessed such a cauldron and it was inexhaustible, and a vat of +inexhaustible mead is described in the story of _Cúchulain's Sickness_. +Whatever was put into such cauldrons satisfied all, no matter how +numerous they might be.[1281] Cúchulainn obtained one from the daughter +of the king of Scath, and also carried off the king's three cows.[1282] +In an analogous story, he stole from Cúroi, by the connivance of his +wife Bláthnat, her father Mider's cauldron, three cows, and the woman +herself. But in another version Cúchulainn and Cúroi go to Mider's +stronghold in the Isle of Falga (Elysium), and steal cauldron, cows, and +Bláthnat. These were taken from Cúchulainn by Cúroi; hence his revenge +as in the previous tale.[1283] Thus the theft was from Elysium. In the +Welsh poem "The Spoils of Annwfn," Arthur stole a cauldron from Annwfn. +Its rim was encrusted with pearls, voices issued from it, it was kept +boiling by the breath of nine maidens, and it would not boil a coward's +food.[1284] + +As has been seen from the story of Gwion, he was set to watch a cauldron +which must boil until it yielded "three drops of the grace of +inspiration." It belonged to Tegid Voel and Cerridwen, divine rulers of +a Land under the Waters.[1285] In the _Mabinogi_ of Branwen, her brother +Bran received a cauldron from two beings, a man and a huge woman, who +came from a lake. This cauldron was given by him to the king of Erin, +and it had the property of restoring to life the slain who were placed +in it.[1286] + +The three properties of the cauldron--inexhaustibility, inspiration, and +regeneration--may be summed up in one word, fertility; and it is +significant that the god with whom such a cauldron was associated, +Dagda, was a god of fertility. But we have just seen it associated, +directly or indirectly, with goddesses--Cerridwen, Branwen, the woman +from the lake--and perhaps this may point to an earlier cult of +goddesses of fertility, later transferred to gods. In this light the +cauldron's power of restoring to life is significant, since in early +belief life is associated with what is feminine. Woman as the fruitful +mother suggested that the Earth, which produced and nourished, was also +female. Hence arose the cult of the Earth-mother who was often also a +goddess of love as well as of fertility. Cerridwen, in all probability, +was a goddess of fertility, and Branwen a goddess of love.[1287] The +cult of fertility was usually associated with orgiastic and +indiscriminate love-making, and it is not impossible that the cauldron, +like the Hindu _yoni_, was a symbol of fertility.[1288] Again, the +slaughter and cooking of animals was usually regarded as a sacred act in +primitive life. The animals were cooked in enormous cauldrons, which +were found as an invariable part of the furniture of every Celtic +house.[1289] The quantities of meat which they contained may have +suggested inexhaustibility to people to whom the cauldron was already a +symbol of fertility. Thus the symbolic cauldron of a fertility cult was +merged with the cauldron used in the religious slaughter and cooking of +animal food. The cauldron was also used in ritual. The Cimri slaughtered +human victims over a cauldron and filled it with their blood; victims +sacrificed to Teutates were suffocated in a vat (_semicupium_); and in +Ireland "a cauldron of truth" was used in the ordeal of boiling +water.[1290] Like the food of men which was regarded as the food of the +gods, the cauldron of this world became the marvellous cauldron of the +Other-world, and as it then became necessary to explain the origin of +such cauldrons on earth, myths arose, telling how they had been stolen +from the divine land by adventurous heroes, Cúchulainn, Arthur, etc. In +other instances, the cauldron is replaced by a magic vessel or cup +stolen from supernatural beings by heroes of the Fionn saga or of +_Märchen_.[1291] Here, too, it may be noted that the Graal of Arthurian +romance has affinities with the Celtic cauldron. In the _Conte du Graal_ +of pseudo-Chrétien, a cup comes in of itself and serves all present with +food. This is a simple conception of the Graal, but in other poems its +magical and sacrosanct character is heightened. It supplies the food +which the eater prefers, it gives immortal youth and immunity from +wounds. In these respects it presents an unmistakable likeness to the +cauldron of Celtic myth. But, again, it was the vessel in which Christ +had instituted the Blessed Sacrament; it contained His Blood; and it had +been given by our Lord to Joseph of Arimathea. Thus in the Graal there +was a fusion of the magic cauldron of Celtic paganism and the Sacred +Chalice of Christianity, with the product made mystic and glorious in a +most wonderful manner. The story of the Graal became immensely popular, +and, deepening in ethical, mystical, and romantic import as time went +on, was taken up by one poet after another, who "used it as a type of +the loftiest goal of man's effort."[1292] + +In other ways myth told how the gifts of civilisation came from the +gods' world. When man came to domesticate animals, it was believed in +course of time that the knowledge of domestication or, more usually, the +animals themselves had come from the gods, only, in this case, the +animals were of a magical, supernatural kind. Such a belief underlies +the stories in which Cúchulainn steals cows from their divine owners. In +other instances, heroes who obtain a wife from the _síd_-folk, obtain +also cattle from the _síd_.[1293] As has been seen the swine given to +Pryderi by Arawn, king of Annwfn, and hitherto unknown to man, are +stolen from him by Gwydion, Pryderi being son of Pwyll, a temporary king +of Annwfn, and in all probability both were lords of Elysium. The theft, +in the original form of the myth, must thus have been from Elysium, +though we have a hint in "The Spoils of Annwfn" that Gwydion (Gweir) was +unsuccessful and was imprisoned in Annwfn, to which imprisonment the +later blending of Annwfn with hell gave a doleful aspect.[1294] In a +late Welsh MS., a white roebuck and a puppy (or, in the _Triads_, a +bitch, a roebuck, and a lapwing) were stolen by Amæthon from Annwfn, and +the story presents archaic features.[1295] In some of these tales the +animals are transferred to earth by a divine or semi-divine being, in +whom we may see an early Celtic culture-hero. The tales are attenuated +forms of older myths which showed how all domestic animals were at first +the property of the gods, and an echo of these is still heard in +_Märchen_ describing the theft of cattle from fairyland. In the most +primitive form of the tales the theft was doubtless from the underworld +of gods of fertility, the place whither the dead went. But with the rise +of myths telling of a distant Elysium, it was inevitable that some tales +should connect the animals and the theft with that far-off land. So far +as the Irish and Welsh tales are concerned, the thefts seem mainly to be +from Elysium.[1296] + +Love-making has a large place in the Elysium tales. Goddesses seek the +love of mortals, and the mortal desires to visit Elysium because of +their enticements. But the love-making of Elysium is "without sin, +without crime," and this phrase may perhaps suggest the existence of +ritual sex-unions at stated times for magical influence upon the +fertility of the earth, these unions not being regarded as immoral, even +when they trespassed on customary tribal law. In some of the stories +Elysium is composed of many islands, one of which is the "island of +women."[1297] These women and their queen give their favours to Bran and +his men or to Maelduin and his company. Similar "islands of women" occur +in _Märchen_, still current among Celtic peoples, and actual islands +were or still are called by that name--Eigg and Groagez off the Breton +coast.[1298] Similar islands of women are known to Chinese, Japanese, +and Ainu folk-lore, to Greek mythology (Circe's and Calypso's islands), +and to ancient Egyptian conceptions of the future life.[1299] They were +also known elsewhere,[1300] and we may therefore assume that in +describing such an island as part of Elysium, the Celts were using +something common to universal folk-belief. But it may also owe something +to actual custom, to the memory of a time when women performed their +rites in seclusion, a seclusion perhaps recalled in the references to +the mysterious nature of the island, its inaccessibility, and its +disappearance once the mortal leaves it. To these rites men may have +been admitted by favour, but perhaps to their detriment, because of +their temporary partner's extreme erotic madness. This is the case in +the Chinese tales of the island of women, and this, rather than +home-sickness, may explain the desire of Bran, Oisin, etc., to leave +Elysium. Celtic women performed orgiastic rites on islands, as has been +seen.[1301] All this may have originated the belief in an island of +beautiful divine women as part of Elysium, while it also heightened its +sensuous aspect. + +Borrowed from the delight which the Celt took in music is the recurring +reference to the marvellous music which swelled in Elysium. There, as +the goddess says to Bran, "there is nothing rough or harsh, but sweet +music striking on the ear." It sounded from birds on every tree, from +the branches of trees, from marvellous stones, and from the harps of +divine musicians. And this is recalled in the ravishing music which the +belated traveller hears as he passes fairy-haunted spots--"what pipes +and timbrels, what wild ecstasy!" The romantic beauty of Elysium is +described in these Celtic tales in a way unequalled in all other sagas +or _Märchen_, and it is insisted on by those who come to lure mortals +there. The beauty of its landscapes--hills, white cliffs, valleys, sea +and shore, lakes and rivers,--of its trees, its inhabitants, and its +birds,--the charm of its summer haze, is obviously the product of the +imagination of a people keenly alive to natural beauty. The opening +lines sung by the goddess to Bran strike a note which sounds through all +Celtic literature: + + "There is a distant isle, around which sea-horses glisten, + + ... + + A beauty of a wondrous land, whose aspects are lovely, + Whose view is a fair country, incomparable in its haze. + It is a day of lasting weather, that showers silver on the land; + A pure white cliff on the range of the sea, + Which from the sun receives its heat." + +So Oisin describes it: "I saw a country all green and full of flowers, +with beautiful smooth plains, blue hills, and lakes and waterfalls." All +this and more than this is the reflection of nature as it is found in +Celtic regions, and as it was seen by the eye of Celtic dreamers, and +interpreted to a poetic race by them. + +In Irish accounts of the _síd_, Dagda has the supremacy, wrested later +from him by Oengus, but generally each owner of a _síd_ is its lord. In +Welsh tradition Arawn is lord of Annwfn, but his claims are contested by +a rival, and other lords of Elysium are known. Manannan, a god of the +sea, appears to be lord of the Irish island Elysium which is called "the +land of Manannan," perhaps because it was easy to associate an oversea +world "around which sea-horses glisten" with a god whose mythic steeds +were the waves. But as it lay towards the sunset, and as some of its +aspects may have been suggested by the glories of the setting sun, the +sun-god Lug was also associated with it, though he hardly takes the +place of Manannan. + +Most of the aspects of Elysium appear unchanged in later folk-belief, +but it has now become fairyland--a place within hills, mounds, or _síd_, +of marvellous beauty, with magic properties, and where time lapses as in +a dream. A wonderful oversea land is also found in _Märchen_ and +tradition, and Tír na n-Og is still a living reality to the Celt. There +is the fountain of youth, healing balsams, life-giving fruits, beautiful +women or fairy folk. It is the true land of heart's desire. In the +eleventh century MSS. from which our knowledge of Elysium is mainly +drawn, but which imply a remote antiquity for the materials and ideas of +the tales, the _síd_-world is still the world of divine beings, though +these are beginning to assume the traits of fairies. Probably among the +people themselves the change had already begun to be made, and the land +of the gods was simply fairyland. In Wales the same change had taken +place, as is seen by Giraldus' account of Elidurus enticed to a +subterranean fairyland by two small people.[1302] + +Some of the Elysium tales have been influenced by Christian conceptions, +and in a certain group, the _Imrama_ or "Voyages," Elysium finally +becomes the Christian paradise or heaven. But the Elysium conception +also reacted on Christian ideas of paradise. In the _Voyage of +Maelduin_, which bears some resemblance to the story of Bran, the +Christian influence is still indefinite, but it is more marked in the +_Voyage of Snedgus and MacRiagla_. One island has become a kind of +intermediate state, where dwell Enoch and Elijah, and many others +waiting for the day of judgment. Another island resembles the Christian +heaven. But in the _Voyage of Brandan_ the pagan elements have +practically disappeared; there is an island of hell and an island of +paradise.[1303] The island conception is the last relic of paganism, but +now the voyage is undertaken for the purpose of revenge or penance or +pilgrimage. Another series of tales of visionary journeys to hell or +heaven are purely Christian, yet the joys of heaven have a sensuous +aspect which recalls those of the pagan Elysium. In one of these, _The +Tidings of Doomsday_,[1304] there are two hells, and besides heaven +there is a place for the _boni non valde_, resembling the island of +Enoch and Elijah in the _Voyage of Snedgus_. The connection of Elysium +with the Christian paradise is seen in the title _Tir Tairngiri_, "The +Land of Promise," which is applied to the heavenly kingdom or the land +flowing with milk and honey in early glosses, e.g. on Heb. iv. 4, vi. +15, where Canaan and the _regnum c[oe]lorum_ are called _Tír Tairngiri_, +and in a gloss to 1 Cor. x. 4, where the heavenly land is called Tír +Tairngiri Innambéo, "The Land of Promise of the Living Ones," thus +likening it to the "Land of the Living" in the story of Connla. + +Sensuous as many of the aspects of Elysium are, they have yet a +spiritual aspect which must not be overlooked. The emphasis placed on +its beauty, its music, its rest and peace, its oblivion, is spiritual +rather than sensual, while the dwelling of favoured mortals there with +divine beings is suggestive of that union with the divine which is the +essence of all religion. Though men are lured to seek it, they do not +leave it, or they go back to it after a brief absence, and Laeg says +that he would prefer Elysium to the kingship of all Ireland, and his +words are echoed by others. And the lure of the goddess often emphasises +the freedom from turmoil, grief, and the rude alarms of earthly life. +This "sweet and blessed country" is described with all the passion of a +poetical race who dreamed of perfect happiness, and saw in the joy of +nature's beauty, the love of women, and the thought of unbroken peace +and harmony, no small part of man's truest life. Favoured mortals had +reached Elysium, and the hope that he, too, might be so favoured buoyed +up the Celt as he dreamed over this state, which was so much more +blissful even than the future state of the dead. Many races have +imagined a happy Other-world, but no other race has so filled it with +magic beauty, or so persistently recurred to it as the Celts. They stood +on the cliffs which faced the west, and as the pageant of sunset passed +before them, or as at midday the light shimmered on the far horizon and +on shadowy islands, they gazed with wistful eyes as if to catch a +glimpse of Elysium beyond the fountains of the deep and the halls of the +setting sun. In all this we see the Celtic version of a primitive and +instinctive human belief. Man refuses to think that the misery and +disappointment and strife and pain of life must always be his. He hopes +and believes that there is reserved for him, somewhere and at some time, +eternal happiness and eternal love. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1231] Nutt-Meyer, i. 213. + +[1232] Joyce, _OCR_ 431. + +[1233] D'Arbois, ii. 311; _IT_ i. 113 f.; O'Curry, _MC_ iii. 190. + +[1234] Nutt-Meyer, i. 1 f., text and translation. + +[1235] _LU_ 120_a_; Windisch, _Irische Gramm._ 120 f.; D'Arbois, v. 384 +f.; _Gaelic Journal_, ii. 307. + +[1236] _TOS_ iv. 234. See also Joyce, _OCR_ 385; Kennedy, 240. + +[1237] _LU_ 43 f.; _IT_ i. 205 f.; O'Curry, _Atlantis_, ii., iii.; +D'Arbois, v. 170; Leahy, i. 60 f. + +[1238] "From Manannan came foes." + +[1239] Joyce, _OCR_ 223 f. + +[1240] O'Grady, ii. 290. In this story the sea is identified with +Fiachna's wife. + +[1241] Joyce, _OCR_ 253 f. + +[1242] _IT_ iii. 211 f.; D'Arbois, ii. 185. + +[1243] O'Curry, _MS. Mat._ 388. + +[1244] A similar idea occurs in many Fian tales. + +[1245] Evans, _Welsh Dict. s.v._ "Annwfn"; Anwyl, 60; Gaidoz, _ZCP_ i. +29 f. + +[1246] Loth, i. 27 f.; see p. 111, _supra_. + +[1247] Pp. 106, 112, _supra_. + +[1248] Guest, iii. 75; Loth, i. 29 f. + +[1249] Skene, i. 264, 276. Cf. the _Ille tournoiont_ of the Graal +romances and the revolving houses of _Märchen_. A revolving rampart +occurs in "Maelduin" (_RC_ x. 81). + +[1250] Skene, i. 285. + +[1251] Pp. 103, 116, _supra_. + +[1252] Chretien, _Eric_, 1933 f.; Geoffrey, _Vita Merlini_, 41; San +Marte, _Geoffrey_, 425. Another Irish Liban is called Muirgen, which is +the same as Morgen. See Girald. Cambr. _Spec. Eccl._ Rolls Series, iv. +48. + +[1253] William of Malmesbury, _de Ant. Glaston. Eccl._ + +[1254] San Marte, 425. + +[1255] _Op. cit._ iv. 49. + +[1256] Joyce, _OCR_ 434; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 170; Hardiman, _Irish Minst._ +i. 367; Sébillot, ii. 56 f.; Girald. Cambr. ii. 12. The underworld is +sometimes reached through a well (cf. p. 282, _supra_; _TI_ iii. 209). + +[1257] _Le Braz_{2}, i. p. xxxix, ii. 37 f.; Albert le Grand, _Vies de +Saints de Bretagne_, 63. + +[1258] A whole class of such Irish legends is called _Tomhadna_, +"Inundations." A typical instance is that of the town below Lough Neagh, +already referred to by Giraldus Cambrensis, _Top. Hib._ ii. 9; cf. a +Welsh instance in _Itin. Cambr._ i. 2. See Rh[^y]s, _CFL, passim_; +Kennedy, 282; _Rev. des Trad. Pop._ ix. 79. + +[1259] _Scott. Celt. Rev._ i. 70; Campbell, _WHT_ Nos. 38, 52; Loth, i. +38. + +[1260] Curtin, _Tales_, 158; Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ i. 230. + +[1261] Nutt-Meyer, i. 159. + +[1262] In the Vedas, Elysium has also a strong agricultural aspect, +probably for the same reasons. + +[1263] D'Arbois, ii. 119, 192, 385, vi. 197, 219; _RC_ xxvi. 173; _Les +Druides_, 121. + +[1264] For the text see Windisch, _Ir. Gram._ 120: "Totchurethar bii +bithbi at gérait do dáinib Tethrach. ar-dot-chiat each dia i n-dálaib +tathardai eter dugnathu inmaini." Dr. Stokes and Sir John Rh[^y]s have +both privately confirmed the interpretation given above. + +[1265] "Dialogue of the Sages," _RC_ xxvi. 33 f. + +[1266] Tethra was husband of the war-goddess Badb, and in one text his +name is glossed _badb_ (Cormac, _s.v._ "Tethra"). The name is also +glossed _muir_, "sea," by O'Cleary, and the sea is called "the plain of +Tethra" (_Arch. Rev._ i. 152). These obscure notices do not necessarily +denote that he was ruler of an oversea Elysium. + +[1267] Nennius, _Hist. Brit._ § 13; D'Arbois, ii. 86, 134, 231. + +[1268] _LL_ 8_b_; Keating, 126. + +[1269] Both art _motifs_ and early burial customs in the two countries +are similar. See Reinach, _RC_ xxi. 88; _L'Anthropologie_, 1889, 397; +Siret, _Les Premiere Ages du Metal dans le Sud. Est. de l'Espagne._ + +[1270] Orosius, i. 2. 71; _LL_ 11_b_. + +[1271] D'Arbois, v. 384; O'Grady, ii. 385. + +[1272] _TOS_ iii. 119; Joyce, _OCR_ 314. For a folk-tale version see +_Folk-lore_, vii. 321. + +[1273] Leahy, i. 36; Campbell, _LF_ 29; _CM_ xiii. 285; _Dean of +Lismore's Book_, 54. + +[1274] O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 143; Cormac, 35. + +[1275] See p. 187, _supra_; _IT_ iii. 213. + +[1276] See Gaidoz, "La Requisition de l'Amour et la Symbolisme de la +Pomme," _Ann. de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études_, 1902; Fraser, +_Pausanias_, iii. 67. + +[1277] Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 359. + +[1278] "The Silver Bough in Irish Legend," _Folk-Lore_, xii. 431. + +[1279] Cook, _Folk-Lore_, xvii. 158. + +[1280] _IT_ i. 133. + +[1281] O'Donovan, _Battle of Mag Rath_, 50; D'Arbois, v. 67; _IT_ i. 96. +Dagda's cauldron came from Murias, probably an oversea world. + +[1282] Miss Hull, 244. Scath is here the Other-world, conceived, +however, as a dismal abode. + +[1283] O'Curry, _MC_ ii. 97, iii. 79; Keating, 284 f.; _RC_ xv. 449. + +[1284] Skene, i. 264; cf. _RC_ xxii. 14. + +[1285] P. 116, _supra_. + +[1286] Guest, iii. 321 f. + +[1287] See pp. 103, 117, _supra_. + +[1288] For the use of a vessel in ritual as a symbol of deity, see +Crooke, _Folk-Lore_, viii. 351 f. + +[1289] Diod. Sic. v. 28; Athen. iv. 34; Joyce, _SH_ ii. 124; _Antient +Laws of Ireland_, iv. 327. The cauldrons of Irish houses are said in the +texts to be inexhaustible (cf. _RC_ xxiii. 397). + +[1290] Strabo, vii. 2. 1; Lucan, Usener's ed., p. 32; _IT_ iii. 210; +_Antient Laws of Ireland_, i. 195 f. + +[1291] Curtin, _HTI_ 249, 262. + +[1292] See Villemarqué, _Contes Pop. des anciens Bretons_, Paris, 1842; +Rh[^y]s, _AL_; and especially Nutt, _Legend of the Holy Grail_, 1888. + +[1293] "Adventures of Nera," _RC_ x. 226; _RC_ xvi. 62, 64. + +[1294] P. 106, _supra_. + +[1295] P. 107, _supra_. + +[1296] For parallel myths see _Rig-Veda_, i. 53. 2; Campbell, _Travels +in South Africa_, i. 306; Johnston, _Uganda Protectorate_, ii. 704; Ling +Roth, _Natives of Sarawak_, i. 307; and cf. the myth of Prometheus. + +[1297] This is found in the stories of Bran, Maelduin, Connla, in Fian +tales (O'Grady, ii. 228, 238), in the "Children of Tuirenn," and in +Gaelic _Märchen_. + +[1298] Martin, 277; Sébillot, ii. 76. + +[1299] Burton, _Thousand Nights and a Night_, x. 239; Chamberlain, _Aino +Folk-Tales_, 38; _L'Anthropologie_, v. 507; Maspero, _Hist. anc. des +peuples de l'Orient_, i. 183. The lust of the women of these islands is +fatal to their lovers. + +[1300] An island near New Guinea is called "the land of women." On it +men are allowed to land temporarily, but only the female offspring of +the women are allowed to survive (_L' Anthrop._ v. 507). The Indians of +Florida had a tradition of an island in a lake inhabited by the fairest +women (Chateaubriand, _Autob._ 1824, ii. 24), and Fijian mythology knows +of an Elysian island of goddesses, near the land of the gods, to which a +few favoured mortals are admitted (Williams, _Fiji_, i. 114). + +[1301] P. 274, _supra_. Islands may have been regarded as sacred because +of such cults, as the folk-lore reported by Plutarch suggests (p. 343, +_supra_). Celtic saints retained the veneration for islands, and loved +to dwell on them, and the idea survives in folk-belief. Cf. the +veneration of Lewismen for the Flannan islands. + +[1302] Gir. Camb. _Itin. Camb._ i. 8. + +[1303] Translations of some of these _Voyages_ by Stokes are given in +_RC_, vols. ix. x. and xiv. See also Zimmer, "Brendan's Meerfahrt," +_Zeits. für Deut. Alt._ xxxiii.; cf. Nutt-Meyer, ch. 4, 8. + +[1304] _RC_ iv. 243. + + + +INDEX + +Abnoba, 43. + +Adamnan, 72. + +Aed Abrat, 65. + +Aed Slane, 351. + +Aeracura, 37, 44. + +Afanc, 190. + +Agricultural rites, 3, 4, 57, 80, 107, 140, 227, 237. See Festivals. + +Aife, 129. + +Aillén, 70. + +Aine, 70 f. + +Aitherne, 84. + +Albiorix, 28. + +All Saints' Day, 170. + +All Souls' Day, 170. + +Allat, 87, 100. + +Alpine race, 8, 12. + +Altars, 282 f. + +Amæthon, 107, 384. + +Amairgen, 55, 172. + +Ambicatus, 19, 222. + +Amours with mortals, divine, 128, 159, 348, 350, 355. + +Amulets, 30, 327 f., 323. + +Ancestor worship, 165, 200. + +Andarta, 41. + +Andrasta, 41, 125. + +Anextiomarus, 125. + +Animal gods, anthropomorphic, 34, 92, 106, 139 f., 158, 210, 212, 226. + +Animal worship, 3, 92, 140, 186, 208 f., 260. + +Animals, burial of, 186, 211, 221. + +Animals, descent from, 213, 216 f. + +Animals, domestic, from the gods' land, 37, 384. + +Animals, dressing as, 217, 260. + +Animals, sacramental eating of, 221 f. + +Animals, slaughter of, 382. + +Animals, tabooed, 219. + +Animism, 173, 185. + +Ankou, 345. + +Annwfn, 106, 111, 115, 117, 367 f., 381. + +Anu, 67 f., 72, 73, 223. + +Anwyl, Prof., 41 note, 96. + +Apollo, 25, 27, 125, 180, 183, 231. + +Arawn, 111, 368, 384, 387. + +Archæology, 2. + +Arduinna, 43. + +Arianrhod, 104, 105, 106, 109 f. + +Artemis, 42, 110, 177, 242. + +Artaios, 24, 121. + +Arthur, 88, 97, 109, 117, 119 f., 211, 242, 344, 369, 381. + +Arthurian cycle, 119, 383. + +Artor, 121. + +Arvalus, 125. + +Astrology, 248. + +Augustus, 23, 90. + +Auto-suggestion, 254. + +Avagddu, 116. + +Avallon, 120, 369. + + +Bacchus, 274. + +Badb, 58, 71, 72, 136, 137, 232. + +Badbcatha, 41, 71. + +Balor, 31, 35 note, 54, 57, 89, 90. + +Banba, 50, 73, 74. + +_Banfeinnidi_, 72. + +_Bangaisgedaig_, 72. + +Baptism, 196 note, 308 f. + +Bards, 117, 299, 325. + +Barintus, 88. + +Barrex, 125. + +Barri, S., 88. + +Bear, cult of, 212. + +Beddoe, Dr., 12. + +Belatucadros, 28, 125. + +Belenos, 26, 102, 113, 124, 231, 264, 298. + +Belgæ, 9 f. + +Beli, 60, 98, 103, 112 f., 124. + +_Belinuntia_, 26, 322. + +Belinus, 26, 102, 113, 124. + +Belisama, 41, 68-69, 125. + +Bellovesus, 19. + +Beltane, 92, 194, 239, 259, 264. + +Bericynthia, 44, 275. + +Bertrand, M., 305. + +_Bile_, 162, 201. + +Bile, 54, 60, 103. + +Bird gods, 108, 205, 247. + +Birth, 196, 345. + +Black Annis' Bower, 67. + +Blathnat, 84, 109, 381. + +Blodeuwedd, 104, 105 f., 108. + +Blood, 240, 244. + +Blood, Brotherhood, 131, 240. + +Boand, 81, 191. + +Boar, cult of, 42. + +Bodb, 83. + +Bodb Dearg, 64, 78, 86. + +Bormana, 43. + +Borvo, 43, 183. + +Boudicca, 72, 125, 161, 219. + +Boughs, 265, 270. + +Boundary stones, 284. + +Braciaca, 28. + +Bran, 34, 98, 100 f., 107, 111, 117, 160, 242, 363, 379 f. + +Branwen, 98, 103 f., 381 f., 385. + +Braziers, god of, 76. + +Brennius, 102, 112 f. + +Brennus, 160. + +Bres, 53, 54, 58-59. + +Brian, 73 f. + +Bride, S., 69. + +Bridge, 346. + +Bridge of Life, 228. + +Brigantia, 68, 125. + +Brigindo, 68, 275. + +Brigit, 41, 58, 68 f., 90, 92. + +Brigit, St., 68 f., 88 note, 257. + +Broca, 9. + +Bronze Age, 148. + +Brother-sister unions, 106, 113. + +Brown Bull, 130. + +Brownie, 166, 189, 245. + +_Brug_. See _Síd_. + +Brythons, 13. + +Brythons, gods of, 85, 95 f., 124. + +Buanann, 68, 73, 223. + +Bull, cult of, 38, 140, 189, 208, 243. + +Burial rites, 309, 337 f. + + +Caer Sidi, 112, 117, 368. + +Cæsar, 22, 29, 219, 223, 233, 283, 294, 334. + +Cakes, 266. + +Calatin, 131 f. + +Calendar, 175 f., 252. + +Camulos, 28, 125, 149. + +Candlemas, 69. + +Cannibalism, 239, 271. + +Caoilte, 61, 142, 152, 336. + +Caractacus, 103. + +Carman, 167. + +Carpenters, god of, 76. + +Cassiterides, 39. + +Cassivellaunus, 113. + +Castor and Pollux, 136. + +Caswallawn, 98, 102, 112-113. + +Cathbad, 127. + +Cathubodua, 41, 71. + +Caturix, 28. + +Cauldron, 84, 92, 112, 116, 120, 368, 381. + +Celtæ, 8, 9, 15. + +Celtiberians, 176, 246. + +Celtic and Teutonic religion, 11. + +Celtic empire, 18 f. + +Celtic origins, 8 f. + +Celtic people, types of, 8. + +Celtic religion, evolution of, 3 f. + +Celtic religion, higher aspects of, 6. + +Celtic religion, homogeneity of, 5. + +Celtic religion, Roman influence on, 5. + +Celts, gods of, 158. + +Celts, religiosity of, 2. + +Celts, temperament of, 3, 14. + +Cenn Cruaich, 66, 79 note. + +Cera, 77. + +Cernunnos, 29 f., 32, 101, 136, 212, 282. + +Cerridwen, 116 f., 351, 358 f. + +Cessair, 50. + +Cethlenn, 59, 81. + +Cetnad, 249. + +Charms, 172, 356. + +Church and paganism, 6, 7, 48, 80, 115, 132, 152 f., 174 f., 203 f., +238, 249, 258, 272, 280, 285, 288-289, 315, 321, 331, 389. + +Cian, 75, 89. + +Clairvoyance, 307. + +Cleena, 70. + +Clota, 43, 70. + +Clutoida, 70. + +Cocidius, 125. + +Cock, 219. + +Columba, S., 17, 66, 88 note, 181, 238, 315, 324, 331-332, 358. + +Combats, ritual, 263, 267. + +Comedovæ, 47. + +Comyn, M., 143, 151. + +Conaire, 84, 220, 252, 255. + +Conall Cernach, 134, 136, 230, 240. + +Conan, 142. + +Conception, magical, 351. + +Conchobar, 127, 132, 160, 182, 232, 254, 349. + +Conn, 367. + +Conncrithir, 73. + +Connla, 59, 65, 364, 374, 377, 379, 380. + +Conservatism in belief, 193. + +Coral, 329. + +Coranians, 114. + +Cordelia, 99. + +Cormac, 67, 68, 88, 366. + +Corn-spirit, 92, 107, 117, 168, 173, 213, 260, 262, 273 f., 275. + +Corotacus, 125. + +Cosmogony, 227 f. + +Couvade, 130, 224. + +Crafts, gods of, 93. + +Cranes, 38. + +Craniology, 8 f. + +Creation, 230. + +Creiddylad, 85, 99, 113. + +Creidne, 76, 77. + +Creirwy, 116. + +Crom Dubh, 80. + +Crom Eocha, 79. + +Cromm Cruaich, 57, 79, 236, 286. + +Cross, 290. + +Cross-roads, 174. + +Cruithne, 17. + +Cúchulainn, 72, 109, 121, 123, 159, 174, 179, 220, 240, 252, 254, 336, +349, 355, 357, 365, 369, 381. + +Cúchulainn saga, 38, 63, 71, 87, 97, 127 f., 145, 204, 207. + +Culann, 128. + +Culture goddesses, 4, 68 f. + +Culture gods and heroes, 4, 58, 92-93, 106, 121, 124 note, 136. + +Cumal, 125, 142, 145 f., 148 f. + +Cúroi, 109, 381. + +Cursing wells, 137. + + +Dagda, 44, 61, 64, 65, 72, 74-75, 77 f., 327, 387. + +Damona, 43, 215. + +Dance, ritual, 246, 268, 286. + +Danu, 63, 67 f., 92, 103, 223. + +_Daoine-sidhe_, 62. + +D'Arbois, M., 31, 38, 56, 59, 74, 79, 90, 136, 178, 264, 293, 314, 341, +357, 374. + +Day of Judgment, 347. + +Dead, condition and cult of, 68, 165 f., 282, 330, 333 f., 340, 344 f., +378. + +Dead Debtor, 337. + +Dead, land of, and Elysium, 340 f. + +Dead living in grave, 338-339. + +Debility of Ultonians, 71, 129 f., 224. + +Dechelette, M., 166. + +Dechtire, 127 f., 348, 354. + +_Deiseil_, 193, 237, 271. + +Dei Terreni, 64. + +Demeter, 44, 68, 117, 274. + +Demons, 173 f., 188. + +Devorgilla, 133. + +Diana, 42, 177. + +Diancecht, 77, 84, 207, 325. + +Diarmaid, 82, 83, 88, 100, 142, 147, 150, 210, 220, 252, 254, 351, +365-366. + +_Dii Casses,_ 39. + +Diodorus Siculus, 334. + +Dionysus, 211. + +Dioscuri, 136. + +Dirona, 42, 70. + +Dirra, 70. + +Disablot, 169. + +Disir, 169. + +Dispater, 29 f., 44, 60, 100, 169, 218, 229, 341, 345, 376. + +Distortion, 128, 132, 134. + +Divination, 235, 247 f., 259, 266, 304. + +Divine descent, 351, 354. + +Divine kings, 253. + +Divineresses, 316. + +Diviners, 299. + +Divining rod, 248. + +Dolmens, 283, 330, 352. + +Domestication, 210, 214, 225. + +_Dominæ_, 47. + +Domnu, 57 note, 59, 223. + +Dôn, 60, 63, 103, 223. + +Donnotaurus, 138, 209. + +Dragon, 114, 121, 188. + +Drink of oblivion, 324. + +Druidesses, 250, 316. + +Druidic Hedge, 324. + +Druidic sending, 325. + +Druids, 6, 22, 61, 76, 150, 161 f., 173, 180, 201, 205 f., 235 f., 238, +246 f., 250, 265, 280-281, 287 f., 293 f., 312. + +Druids and Filid, 305 f. + +Druids and magic, 310, 319, 325 f. + +Druids and medicine, 309. + +Druids and monasticism, 305. + +Druids and Pythagoras, 303. + +Druids and Rome, 312 f. + +Druids, classical references to, 301 f. + +Druids, dress of, 310 f. + +Druids, origin of, 292 f. + +Druids, poems of, 2. + +Druids, power of, 312. + +Druids, teaching of, 307 f., 314, 333. + +Druids, varieties of, 298 f. + +Drunemeton, 161, 280, 306. + +Dualism, 57 f., 60 f. + +Dumias, 25. + +Dusii, 355. + +Dwelling of gods. See Gods, abode of. + +Dylan, 104, 110, 178. + + +_Each uisge_, 188. + +Earth and Under-earth, 35, 37, 68. + +Earth cults, 3. + +Earth divinities, 31, 35, 37, 40, 42, 44 f., 57 note, 65, 67 f., 72, 78, +92, 110, 162, 169, 227, 229 f., 345. + +Eclipses, 178. + +Ecne, 74, 223. + +Ecstasy, 251. + +Egg, serpent's, 211. + +Elatha, 53, 58, 60. + +Elcmar, 78, 87. + +Elements, cult of, 171 f. + +Elphin, 118. + +Elves, 66 note. + +Elysium, 59, 78 f., 84, 87, 102, 106, 115, 116, 120, 163, 201, 229 f., +350, 362 f. + +Elysium, and Paradise, 388 f. + +Elysium, characteristics of, 373 ff. + +Elysium, lords of, 387. + +Elysium, names of, 362. + +Elysium, origin of, 370 f. + +Elysium, varieties of, 363 f. + +Emer, 128, 129, 135. + +Enbarr, 88, 135. + +Eochaid, 83. + +Eochaid Ollathair, 78. + +Eochaid O'Flynn, 64. + +Eogabail, 70. + +Epona, 43, 125, 189, 213 f. + +Eri, 53. + +Eridanus, 27. + +Eriu, 73-74. + +Esus, 29, 38, 137, 208, 234, 289. + +Etain, 82 f., 223, 348, 363, 380. + +Etair, 82. + +Ethics, 304, 307. + +Ethne, 31 note, 89. + +Euhemerisation, 49 f., 84, 91, 95, 98, 127. + +Eurosswyd, 100. + +Evans, Dr., 200. + +Evil eye, 59. + +Evnissyen, 98. + +Exogamy, 222. + +_Ex votos_, 195. + + +Fachan, 251. + +Fairies, 43, 45 f., 62, 64 f., 70, 73, 80, 98, 114, 115, 166, 173, 178 +note, 183, 185 f., 190, 201, 203, 262, 263, 378. + +Fairyland, 372, 385, 388. + +_Fáith_, 106, 300, 309. + +Falga, 84, 87, 381. + +Fand, 65, 87, 88, 135, 365, 380. + +Ferdia, 131. + +Fergus, 142, 336. + +Fertility cults, 3, 56, 70, 73, 78, 83, 92, 93, 112, 114-115, 276, 330, +352, 382 f. + +Festivals, 4, 181, 256 f. + +Festivals of dead, 167. + +Fetich, 289. + +Fiachna, 88, 350, 366, 379. + +Fians, 143, 365. + +_Filid_, 248 f., 300, 305 f., 325. + +_Findbennach_, 130. + +Finnen, S., 351. + +Finntain, 50. + +Fionn, 28, 118, 120-121, 125, 142 f., 179, 220, 254, 344, 350, 365-366. + +Fionn saga, 83, 97, 111, 120, 142 f. + +_Fir Dea_, 63. + +_Fir Domnann_, 52 f., 157. + +_Fir Síde_, 64, 65. + +Firbolgs, 52, 57. + +Fires, 199 f., 259, 261 f., 265, 268, 270. + +Fires, sacred, 69. + +Fish, sacred, 186, 220. + +Flann Manistrech, 64. + +Flood, 228, 231. + +Fomorians, 51, 52 f., 55-56, 65, 72, 83, 89, 90, 114, 133, 189, 237, +251. + +Food of immortality, 377 f. + +Food as bond of relationship, 379. + +Forest divinities, 43, 108. + +Fotla, 73-74. + +Foundation sacrifices, 238. + +Fountains, 171, 174, 181. + +Fountains of youth, 378, 388. + +Fraoch, 377. + +Friuch, 349. + +Frazer, Dr. J.G., 170, 176, 269. + +Fuamnach, 22. + +Funeral sacrifices, 165, 234, 337. + +Future life, 333 f. + + +Galatæ, 18. + +Galli, 19. + +Gallizenæ, 317. See Priestesses. + +Galioin, 52, 57. + +Garbh mac Stairn, 139. + +Gargantua, 124 note, 230. + +Garman, 167. + +Gauls, 9, 20. + +Gavida, 89, 109. + +_Geasa_, 128, 132, 134, 144, 150 f., 160, 252 f. See Tabu. + +Geoffrey of Monmouth, 102, 112, 119. + +Ghosts, 66, 67, 166, 169, 262, 281, 284, 330, 336. + +Ghosts in trees, 202 f. + +Gildas, 171. + +Gilla Coemain, 64. + +Gilvæthwy, 104. + +Glass, 370. + +Glastonbury, 115, 121, 369. + +Goborchin, 189. + +God of Connaught, 92. + +God of Druidism, 92, 105, 122. + +God of Ulster, 92. + +Goddesses and mortals, 355. + +Goddesses, pre-eminence of, 93, 124, 183. + +Godiva, 276. + +Gods, abode of, 228 f., 362, 372. + +Gods, children of, 159. + +Gods, fertility and civilisation from land of, 100, 106-107, 112, 121, +380 f., 383. + +Gods uniting with mortals, 159. + +Goibniu, 76, 103, 325. + +Goidels, 16, 17, 96. + +Goll mac Morna, 142. + +Gomme, Sir G.L., 181, 295. + +Goose, 219. + +Govannon, 109 f. + +Graal, 383. + +Grainne, 150, 254. + +Grannos, 26, 42 f., 77, 125, 183. + +Gregory of Tours, 194, 196, 275. + +Groves, 174, 198, 279 f. + +Growth, divinities of, 5, 44, 80, 82, 92, 182. + +Gruagach, 245. + +Guinevere, 123. + +Gurgiunt, 124. + +Gutuatri, 298 f. + +Gwawl, 99, 111. + +Gweir, 106. + +Gwion, 117, 351, 381. + +Gwydion, 104, 105 f., 117, 368, 385. + +Gwyn, 55, 113, 115. + +Gwythur, 55. + + +Hades, 135. + +Hafgan, 111, 368. + +Hallowe'en, 259, 281. + +Hallstatt, 208, 211. + +Hallucinations, 323-324. + +Hammer as divine symbol, 30, 291. + +Hammer, God with, 30 f., 35, 36 f., 79. + +Haoma, 76. + +Hare, 219. + +Harvest, 259, 273. + +Head-hunting, 240. + +Heads, cult of, 34, 71, 102, 240 f. + +Healing plants, 131, 206 f. + +Healing ritual, 122, 193 f. + +Healing springs, 123, 186. + +Hearth as altar, 165 f. + +Heaven and earth, 227. + +Hen, 219. + +Hephaistos, 76. + +Heracles, 25, 75, 133. + +Heroes in hills, 344. + +Hills, 66. + +Holder, A., 23. + +Horned helmets, 217. + +Horns, gods with, 32 f. + +Horse, 213 f. + +Hu Gadarm, 124 note. + +Hyde, Dr., 143-144. + +Hyperboreans, 18, 27. + +Hypnotism, 307, 310, 323-324. + + +Iberians, 13. + +Icauna, 43. + +Iconoclasm, 287. + +Igerna, 120. + +Images, 79, 85, 204, 277, 283 f. + +_Imbas Forosnai_, 248. + +Immortality, 158, 333, 376. + +Incantations, 80, 248 f., 254, 297, 325. + +Incest, 223 f. + +Indech, 54, 58. + +Inspiration, 116, 118. + +Invisibility, 322, 380. + +Is, 372. + +Iuchar, Iucharbar, 63, 73 f. + + +Janus, 34, 100. + +Joyce, Dr., 65, 143, 236. + +Juno, 47. + +Junones, 45. + +Jullian, 178. + +Juppiter, 29. + + +Kalevala, 142. + +Keane, 9. + +Keating, 51, 143. + +Kei, 122 f. + +Keres, 72. + +Kieva, 99. + +King and fertility, 4, 253. + +Kings, divine, 160 f., 243. + +Kings, election of, 306. + +Kore, 44, 274-275. + +Kronos, 59. + + +La Tène, 208. + +Labraid, 65, 365, 369, 380. + +Lakes, 181, 194. + +Lammas, 273. + +Land under waves, 371. + +Lear, 86. + +Ler, Lir, 49 note, 86, 320. + +Lia Fail, 329. + +Liban, 65, 365. + +Libations, 244 f., 247. + +Ligurians, 13. + +Llew, 91, 104, 106. + +Lludd Llawereint, 85, 99, 102, 113 f., 124. + +Llyr, 98 f. + +Lochlanners, 56, 147. + +Lodens, 113. + +Loegaire, 64, 137, 379. + +Lonnrot, 142. + +Loth, M., 108. + +Love, 385. + +Lucan, 38, 125, 279, 282, 335 f., 345. + +Luchtine, 76. + +Lucian, 75, 125. + +Lug, 31 note, 35 note, 59, 60, 61, 74, 75, 89 f., 103, 108 f., 128, 131, +134, 137, 167, 272, 348, 353 f. + +Lugaid, 132. + +Lugnasad, 91, 109, 167 f., 272 f. + +Lugoves, 91. + +Lugus, 90, 272. + +Lycanthropy, 216. + + +Mabinogion, 2, 95 f. + +Mabon, 123, 183. + +MacBain, Dr., 16, 56, 78. + +MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrainne, 74. + +Macha, 71, 129, 137, 241. + +MacIneely, 89. + +MacPherson, 142, 155 f. + +Madonna, 289. + +Maelduin, 385. + +Maelrubha, S. 243. + +Magic, 6, 105, 194, 292, 319. + +Magic, agricultural, 260, 265-266, 271, 273, 276 note. + +Magico-medical rites, 330 f., 332. + +Magonia, 180. + +Magtured, 53 f., 84. + +Man, origin of, 36, 228. + +Manannan, 49 note, 64-65, 70, 80, 86 f., 92, 100, 134, 147, 178, 189, +231, 350 f., 358, 364 f., 380, 387. + +Manawyddan, 87, 98 f., 100 f., 111, 368. + +Mannhardt, 269. + +Maponos, 27, 123. + +_Märchen_ formulæ, 77, 82, 83, 89, 95, 107-108, 111, 116, 124, 132, 133, +143, 148, 152, 187, 337, 353, 384. + +Marriage, sacred, 163, 267, 273. + +Mars, 27 f., 85, 180, 214. + +Martin, S., 140, 243, 260. + +Martinmas, 259. f. + +Math, 104 f. + +Matholwych, 98. + +Matres, 40, 44 f., 72-73, 125, 169, 183, 214, 285, 289. + +Matriarchate, 17, 223. + +Matronæ, 46, 123, 183. + +May-day, 114. + +May-queen, 163, 267. + +Medb, 130 f. + +Medicine, 309 f. + +Mediterranean race, 9. + +Medros, 84, 209. + +Megaliths, 202, 297, 330, 352. See Stonehenge. + +Men, cults of, 3. + +Mercury, 24 f., 34, 137, 284 f. + +Merlin, 120, 121 f. + +Mermaids, 190. + +Metempsychosis, 303, 348 f. + +Meyer, Prof., 16, 294. + +Miach, 27. + +Mider, 82 f., 209, 363, 380-381. + +Midsummer, 70, 92, 176, 184, 191, 194, 200, 215, 235, 239, 257, 268 f. + +Mile, 54. + +Milesians, 55, 60, 78. + +Minerva, 41, 68, 125. + +Miracles, 331, 351. + +Mistletoe, 162, 176, 199, 205, 243 f., 270. + +Mithraism, 209. + +Moccus, 24, 210. + +Modranicht, 169. + +Modron, 123, 183. + +Mogons, 27, 125, 180. + +Mongan, 88, 120, 350 f., 358. + +Moon, 175 f., 246. + +Morgen, 159, 178, 369. + +Morrigan, 71, 81, 83, 130-131, 136-137, 159, 172. + +Morvran, 116, 118. + +Mounds, 63, 66. + +Mountain gods, 39. + +Mountains, 171 f. + +Mowat, M., 33, 36. + +Muireartach, 56, 179. + +Muirne, 148. + +Mule, 214. + +Mullo, 214. + +Music, 329, 386. + +Mythological school, 83, 89, 108, 119, 122, 133 f. + + +Name, 246. + +Name-giving, 308 f. + +Nantosvelta, 31. + +Nature divinities and spirits, 48, 93, 171 f. + +Needfire, 199. + +Nemaind, 58. + +Neman, 71. + +Nemedians, 51 f. + +_Nemeton_, 161. + +Nemetona, 41, 71. + +Nennius, 119. + +Neo-Druidic heresy, 2 note. + +Neptune, 85. + +Nera, 339. + +Nessa, 128, 349. + +Nét, 28, 58, 71. + +Neton, 28. + +New Year, 170, 259, 261. + +Night, 256. + +Niskas, 185. + +Nodons, 85, 114, 124, 160. + +Norse influence, 99, 127. + +Nuada, 53 f., 61, 77, 84, 90, 160. + +Nuada Necht, 85 f. + +Nudd, 113, 115 f., 124, 160. + +Nudd Hael, 86. + +Nudity, 275-276, 322. + +Nutt, Mr., 103, 373. + +Nymphs, 43. + +Nynnyaw, 113. + + +Oak, 199. + +Oaths, 172 f., 292. + +O'Curry, 65, 143. + +O'Davoren, 91. + +Oengus, 78, 81, 86, 146, 387. + +Oghams, 75. + +Ogma, 54, 74-75. + +Ogmíos, 25, 75. + +Oilill Olom, 70. + +Oisin, 142, 150-151, 152 f., 222, 364, 379, 387. + +Omens, 247 f. + +Oracles, 179, 196. + +Oran, 238. + +_Orbis alius_, 340. + +Orbsen, 87. + +Ordeals, 196 f., 383. + +Orgiastic rites, 80, 261, 265, 386. + +Osiris, 66. + + +Paradise, 388 f. + +Partholan, 51. + +Pastoral stage, 3, 225, 260. + +Patrick, S., 61. 64, 66, 70, 76, 79-80, 132, 151, 152 f., 171, 193, 237, +242, 249, 251, 286, 315 f., 319. + +Peanfahel, 17. + +Peisgi, 185. + +Penn Cruc, 66. + +Pennocrucium, 66. + +Perambulation, 277. + +Persephone, 68, 85. + +Picts, 16 f., 217, 220, 222. + +Pillar of sky, 228. + +Place-names, 16 note, 17, 19, 120, 146, 209, 211. + +Plants, 176, 205 f. + +Pliny, 162, 175, 198, 205 f., 328. + +Plutarch, 343. + +Pluto, 34 f. + +Plutus, 35. + +Poeninus, 39. + +Poetry, divinities of, 68, 75. + +Pollux, 180. + +Polyandry, 74, 223 f. + +Polygamy, 17, 224. + +Prayer, 245 f. + +Pre-Celtic cults, 48, 81, 93, 174, 181, 200, 202, 219, 224, 277, 294 f., +361. + +Priesthood. See Druids. + +Priestesses, 69, 180, 192 f., 226, 246, 250, 316, 321. + +Priest-kings, 161, 226, 267, 296, 307. + +Procopius, 342. + +Prophecy, 250 f, 300 f. + +Pryderi, 98 f., 110 f., 112, 368, 385. + +Pwyll, 110 f., 112, 368, 385. + +Pythagoras, 303, 334. + + +_Quadriviæ_, 47. + + +Ragnarok, 232. + +Rain-making, 266, 321 f. + +Rebirth, 88, 117, 128, 348 f. + +Reinach, M., 31 note, 38, 137, 211, 287, 297, 317, 340. + +Relics, 332. + +Retribution, 346. + +Rhiannon, 98 f., 110 f. + +Rh[^y]s, Sir J., 15, 16, 24, 55, 60, 68, 78, 82 f., 91, 93, 100, 101 f., +103, 106, 108, 122, 135, 183, 219, 282, 294, 356, 376. + +Rigantona, 111. + +Rigisama, 28. + +River divinities, 43, 46, 123, 182, 243, 354. + +Rivers, cult of, 172, 180 f. + +Rivers, names of, 182. + +Roman and Celtic gods, 22 f., 289 f. + +Romans and Druids, 312 f. + +Ruadan, 58. + +Ruad-rofhessa, 77. + +Rucht, 349. + +Rudiobus, 214. + + +Saar, 150. + +Sacramental rites, 222, 260, 266, 271. + +Sacrifice of aged, 242. + +Sacrifice of animals, 140, 181, 189, 205, 242 f., 260, 265. + +Sacrifice, foundation, 121, 238 f. + +Sacrifice, human, 57, 79, 165, 190, 198, 233 f., 261, 265, 269, 304, +308, 313, 337. + +Sacrifice to dead, 165 f., 234, 337. + +Sacrificial offerings, 6, 174, 181, 185, 190, 194, 198, 233 f., 299, +308. + +Sacrificial survivals, 244 f. + +Saints, 115, 209, 217, 251, 285 f., 288, 331 f., 386 note. + +Saints and wells, 193. + +Saints' days and pagan festivals, 258. + +Salmon of knowledge, 149, 187, 377. + +Samhain, 56, 70, 80, 167-168, 170, 222, 256 f., 258 f. + +Satire, 326. + +Saturn, 47. + +Scandinavia and Ireland, 148. + +Scathach, 129, 135. + +_Scotti_, 17. + +Sea, 110, 178. + +Sébillot, 342. + +Segomo, 214. + +Segovesus, 19. + +Selvanus, 37. + +Semnotheoi, 298, 301. + +Sequana, 43. + +Sergi, Prof., 9, 296. + +Serpent, 35, 166, 188, 211. + +Serpent with ram's head, 34, 44, 166, 211. + +Serpent's egg, 328. + +Serpent's glass, 328. + +Setanta, 349. + +Shape-shifting, 104, 105, 117, 130, 131, 150, 221, 322 f., 350, 356 f. + +_Síd_, 63, 64 note, 65, 78. + +Silvanus, 29, 36, 218. + +Sinend, 187, 191. + +Sinnan, 43. + +Sirona, 42. + +Skene, Dr., 16, 108. + +Slain gods and human victims, 159, 168 f., 199, 226, 235, 239, 262, 269, +272. + +Sleep, magic, 327. + +Smertullos, 35, 136, 289. + +Smiths, god of, 76. + +Smiths, magic of, 76. + +Solar hero, 133. + +Soma, 76. + +Soul as animal, 360. + +Soul, separable, 140, 162, 270. + +Spain, 375. + +Spells, 246, 254, 325 f. + +Squatting gods, 32 f. + +Sreng, 84. + +Stag, 213. + +Stanna, 42. + +Stokes, Dr., 16, 56, 71, 77, 222, 264. + +Stone circles, 281. + +Stonehenge, 27, 121, 200, 281-282. + +Stones, cult of, 174, 284, 329. + +Sualtaim, 128. + +Submerged towns, 231, 372. + +Sucellos, 30 f. + +Suicide, 234, 345. + +Sul, 41, 69, 125. + +Suleviæ, 46. + +Sun, 178, 268. + +Sun myths, 83. + +Swan-maidens, 82. + +Swastika, 290. + +Swine, 25, 106, 117, 209 f. + +Swineherds, The Two, 349. + +Symbols, 290. + + +Tabu, 69, 102, 128, 132, 144, 186, 191 f., 210, 219, 252 f., 276, 304, +306, 323, 372. See _Geasa_. + +Tadg, 221. + +_Taghairm_, 249. + +Tailtiu, 167, 273, 376. + +_Táin bó Cuailgne_, 127, 130 f. + +Taliesin, 95, 97, 116, 323, 335, 356, 358. + +Taran, 124. + +Taranis, 29, 30, 234. + +Taranos, 124. + +_Tarbh Uisge_, 189. + +_Tarvos Trigaranos_, 38, 137, 208, 289. + +Tattooing, 17, 217. + +Tegid Voel, 116. + +_Teinm Laegha_, 249. + +_Tempestarii_, 175, 180. + +Temples, 85, 279 f. + +Tethra, 58-59, 71, 75, 374. + +Teutates, 28, 125, 234. + +Teyrnon, 111. + +Three-headed gods, 32 f. + +Thumb of knowledge, 149. + +Thurnam, Dr., 12. + +_Tír na n-Og_, 151, 362, 364. + +Tombs as sacred places, 165. + +Tonsure, 311. + +Torque, 34. + +Totatis, 125. + +Totemism, 149, 187, 201 f., 216, 323, 360, 379. + +Toutatis, 28. + +Transformation. See Shape-shifting. + +Transformation Combat, 353. + +Transmigration, 334 f., 348 f., 356, 359 f. + +Tree cults, 162, 169, 174, 194, 198 f., 208, 265, 269, 331, 379. + +Tree descent from, 202. + +Trees of Elysium, 380. + +Trees of Immortality, 377 f. + +Triads, 34 f., 39, 95 f., 109, 113-114, 115, 118, 120, 123, 124 note. + +Triple goddesses, 44 f. + +Tristram, 103. + +Tuan MacCairill, 57, 357, 375. + +Tuatha Dé Danann, 49 f., 60, 61, 63 f., 66, 92 f., 146, 158, 168, 173. + +Tutelar divinities, 40, 45, 73. + +Tuag, 87. + +_Twrch Trwyth_, 108, 119, 211. + +Tyr, 84. + + +Underworld, 60, 102, 112, 341. + +Urien, 101. + +_Urwisg_, 189. + +Uthyr, 101, 120, 122. + + +Valkyries, 72. + +Vegetation cults, 3, 215. + +Vegetation gods and spirits, 38, 92, 139, 159, 162 f., 199, 208, 215, +243, 265, 269. + +Venus of Quinipily, 289. + +Vera, 70. + +Vesta, 69. + +_Vierges noires_, 46. + +Vintius, 180. + +_Virgines_, 47. + +Viviane, 122. + +Vortigern, 121, 238, 315. + +Vosegus, 39. + +Votive offerings, 185. + +Vulcan, 47. + + +War chants, 246. + +War goddesses, 71, 93. + +War gods, 4, 27 f., 48, 71, 92, 115, 118, 123, 136. + +Warrior, ideal, 132, 136. + +Warrior, power of dead, 338. + +Washer at the Ford, 73. + +Water bull, 189. + +Water fairies, 70, 73 note, 190. + +Water, guardians of, 195. + +Water horse, 188. + +Water world, 192 note, 371. + +Waves, fighting the, 178. + +Waves, nine, 179. + +Weapons, 291. + +Wells, 77, 180 f., 184, 191, 193 f., 321, 372. + +Wells, origin of, 230. + +Wheel, god with, 29. + +Wheel symbol, 29, 271, 327. + +White women, 73. + +Wind, 180. + +Windisch, Prof., 16. + +Wisdom, 74. + +Wisdom from eating animal, 149 note. + +Wolf god, 36, 216, 218. + +Witch, 201, 203, 262, 268, 318, 321. + +Women and magic, 319 f. + +Women as first civilisers, 41, 45, 192, 317. + +Women as warriors, 72. + +Women, cults of, 3, 5, 41, 69, 163 f., 225 f., 274 f., 317. + +Women, islands of, 385 f. + +World catastrophe, 228, 232. + +World, origin of, 230. + +Wren, 221. + + +Yama, 101. + +Year, division of, 256. + +Yule log, 170, 259. + + +Zeus, 66, 84, 199 f. + +Zimmer, 56, 141, 147. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of the Ancient Celts +by J. A. MacCulloch + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14672 *** |