The Religion of the Ancient Celts Part 10

[275] D'Arbois, v. 427, 448.

[276] The former is Rh[^y]s's interpretation (_HL_ 201) connecting _Cruaich_ with _cruach_, "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 wors.h.i.+pped 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 gla.s.s 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 _Marchen_ 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] c.u.mont, _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, _Felire_, x.x.xix.; Nutt-Meyer, i.

39). Saints are often said to a.s.sist men just as the G.o.ds did.

Columcille and Brigit appeared over the hosts of Erin a.s.sisting 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 Samildanach? 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_.