Gaelic Folklore (31): The Humanised Gods Of Celtic Religion

The Humanised Gods Of Celtic Religion

One of the most striking facts connected with the Celtic religion is the large number of names of deities which it includes. These names are known to us almost entirely from inscriptions, for the most part votive tablets, in ac-knowledgment of some benefit, usually that of health, conferred by the god on man. In Britain these votive tablets are chiefly found in the neighborhood of the Roman walls and camps, but we cannot be always certain that the deities mentioned are indigenous.

In Gaul, however, we are on surer ground in associating certain deities with certain districts, inasmuch as the evidence of place names is often a guide. These inscriptions are very unevenly distributed over Gaulish territory, the Western and the North-Western districts being very sparsely represented.

In the present brief sketch it is impossible to enter into a full discussion of the relations of the names found on inscriptions to particular localities, and the light thus thrown on Celtic religion; but it may be here stated that investigation tends to confirm the local character of most of the deities which the inscriptions name.

Out of these deities, some, it is true, in the process of evolution, gained a wider field of worshippers, while others, like Lugus, may even have been at one time more widely worshipped than they came to be in later times. Occasionally a name like Lugus (Irish Lug), Segomo (Irish, in the genitive, Segamonas), Camulos, whence Camulodiinum (Colchester), Belenos (Welsh Belyn), Maponos (Welsh Mahon), Litavis (Welsh Llydaw), by its existence in Britain as well as in Gaul, suggests that it was either one of the ancient deities of the Aryan Celts, or one whose worship came to extend over a larger area than its fellows.

Apart from a few exceptional considerations of this kind, however, the local character of the deities is most marked.

A very considerable number are the deities of springs and rivers. In Noricum, for example, we have Adsalluta, a goddess associated with Savus (the river Save). In Britain 'the goddess' Deva (the Dee), and Belisama (either the Ribble or the Mersey), a name meaning 'the most warlike goddess,' are of this type. We have again Axona the goddess of the river Aisne, Sequana, the goddess of the Seine, Ritona of the river Rieu, numerous nymphs and many other deities of fountains. Doubtless many other names of local deities are of this kind.

Aerial phenomena appear to have left very few clear traces on the names of Celtic deities. Vintios, a god identified with Mars, was probably a god of the wind, Taranus, a god of thunder, Leucetios, a god of lightning, Sulis (of Bath) a sun-goddess, but beyond these there are few, if any, reflections of the phenomena of the heavens.

Of the gods named on inscriptions nearly all are identified with Mercury, Mars, or Apollo. The gods who came to be regarded as culture-deities appear from their names to be of various origins: some are humanized totems, others are in origin deities of vegetation or local natural phenomena. As already indicated, it is clear that the growth of commercial and civilized life in certain districts had brought into prominence deities identified with Mercury and Minerva as the patrons of civilization. Military men, especially in Britain, appear to have favored deities like Belatucadros (the brilliant in war), identified with Mars. About fourteen inscriptions mentioning him have 38 been found in the North of England and the South of Scotland.

The goddess Brigantia (the patron-deity of the Brigantes), too, is mentioned on four inscriptions: Cocidius, identified with Mars, is mentioned on thirteen: while another popular god appears to have been Silvanus. Among the most noticeable names of the Celtic gods identified with Mercury are Adsmerius or Atesmerius, Dumiatis (the god of the Buy de Dome), lovantucarus (the lover of youth), Teutates (the god of the people), Caletos (the hard), and Moccus (the boar).

Several deities are identified with Mars, and of these some of the most noticeable names are Albiorix (world-king), Caturix (battle-king), Dunatis (the god of the fort), Belatucadrus (the brilliant in war), Leucetius (the god of lightning), Mullo (the mule), Ollovidius (the all-knowing) Vintius (the wind-god), and Vitucadrus (the brilliant in energy). The large number of names identified with Mars reflects the prominent place at one time given to war in the ideas that affected the growth of the region of the Celtic tribes.

Of the gods identified with Hercules, the most interesting name is Ogmios (the god of the furrow) given by Lucian, but not found on any inscription. The following gods too, among others, are identified with Jupiter: Aramo (the gentle), Ambisagrus (the persistent), Bussumarus (the large-lipped), Taranus (the thunderer), Uxellimus (the highest). It would seem from this that in historic times at any rate Jupiter did not play a large part in Celtic religious ideas.

There remains another striking feature of Celtic religion which has not yet been mentioned, namely the identification of several deities with Apollo. These deities are essentially the presiding deities of certain healing-springs and health-resorts, and the growth of their worship into popularity is a further striking index to the development of religion side by side with certain aspects of civilization. One of the names of a Celtic Apollo is Borvo (whence Bourbon), the deity of certain hot springs. This name is Indo-European, and was given to the local fountain-god by the Celtic-speaking invaders of Gaul: it simply means 'the Boiler.' Other forms of the name are also found, as Bormo and Bormanus.

At Aqua Granni (Aix-la-Chapelle) and elsewhere the name identified with Apollo is Grannos. We find also Mogons, and Mogounus, the patron deity of Moguntiacum (Mainz), and, once or twice, Maponos (the great youth).

The essential feature of the Apollo worship was its association in Gallo-Roman civilization with the idea of healing, an idea which, through the revival of the worship of Aesculapius, affected religious views very strongly in other quarters of the empire. It was in this conception of the gods as the guides of civilization and the restorers of health, that Celtic religion, in some districts at any rate, shows itself emerging into a measure of light after a long and toilsome progress from the darkness of prehistoric ideas. What Caesar says of the practice of the Gauls of beginning the year with the night rather than with the day, and their ancient belief that they were sprung from Dis, the god of the lower world, is thus typified in their religious history.

In dealing with the deities of the Celtic world we must not, however, forget the goddesses, though their history presents several problems of great difficulty. Of these goddesses some are known to us by groups — Proximae (the kins-women), Dervonnae (the oak-spirits), Niskai (the water-sprites), Mairae, Matronae, Matres or Matrae (the mothers), Quadriviae (the goddesses of cross roads). The Matres, Matrae, and Matrontae are often qualified by some local name. Deities of this type appear to have been popular in Britain, in the neighborhood of Cologne and in Provence.

It is an interesting parallel to the existence of these grouped goddesses, when we find that in some parts of Wales 'Y Mamau' (the mothers) is the name for the fairies. These grouped goddesses take us back to one of the most interesting stages in the early Celtic religion, when the earth-spirits or the corn-spirits had not yet been completely individualized. Of the individualized goddesses many are strictly local, being the names of springs or rivers. Others, again, appear to have emerged into greater individual prominence, and of these we find several associated on inscriptions, sometimes with a god of Celtic name, but sometimes with his Latin counterpart. It is by no means certain that the names so linked together were thus associated in early times, and the fashion may have been a later one, which, like other fashions, spread after it had once begun. The relationship in some cases may have been regarded as that of mother and son, in others that of brother and sister, in others that of husband and wife; the data are not adequate for the final decision of the question.

Of these associated pairs the following may be noted, Mercurius and Rosmerta, Mercurius and Dirona, Grannus (Apollo) and Sirona, Sucellus and Nantosvelta, Borvo and Damona, Cicolluis (Mars) and Litavis, Bormanus and Bormana, Savus and Adsalluta, Mars and Nemetona.

One of these names, Sirona, probably meant the long-lived one, and was applied to the earth-mother. In Welsh one or two names have survived which, by their structure, appear to have been ancient names of goddesses; these are Rhiannon (Rigantona (the great queen), and Modron (Matrona, the great mother). The other British deities will be more fully treated by another writer in this series in a work on the ancient mythology of the British Isles. It is enough to say that research tends more and more to confirm the view that the key to the history of the Celtic deities is the realization of the local character of the vast majority of them.

Celtic Religion In Pre-Christian Times, By Edward Anwyl, M.A., Chapter V [1906]

 

Gaelic Folklore (30): Ancient Celtic Goddesses

 Ancient Celtic Goddesses 

The extant remains of the Celtic forms of religion afford abundant testimony to the great variety of divine names which were associated therewith. No student of Celtic religion can fail to be impressed with the number of Celtic deities, who appear to have been local or tribal in character.

Even where a certain deity appears to have become non-local, it will generally be found on investigation that the sphere of the extended worship has fairly well-defined areas and centers. Some of the names of Celtic deities fortunately bear in their very forms unmistakable evidence as to their original character, so that we have an insight not only into the religious conceptions of the later and more developed stages of civilization, but also into the earlier ideas from which they sprang. It is possible, also, to see in this way how variation in the degree of civilization both locally and temporally is reflected in the forms of religion.

In dealing with the religion of the Celtic world, it is of prime importance to bear in mind at the outset that Celtic civilization was very far from being homogeneous in character, and that we must expect to see this absence of homogeneity reflected also in the religious evolution.

The inscriptional evidence that has come down to us is associated almost entirely with districts that were highly Romanized. We are thus enabled to see what districts during the Empire were those in which the conceptions of certain deities had been so developed as to make it possible to identify them with the gods of Rome. These, too, were the chief districts of trade and commerce among the Celts, and, though the earlier and the later trade-routes through Gaul, for example, were not the same, yet the routes which were important in Roman times had already risen into some prominence in the earlier period. Archaeology cannot render greater service to the study of Celtic religion than by mapping out the distribution of Celtic civilization.

The religion of the rich is never quite the same as that of the poor: that of the farmer is never absolutely identical with that of the sailor: that of the townsman always differs in some degree from that of the countryman: the merchant and the craftsman do not usually worship quite the same gods as the soldier. The gods of fashionable health-resorts vary no less than their worshippers, and the study of the forms and degrees which civilization assumed in Celtic lands may help to bring these variations more and more home to us.

Attention will be directed to the Celtic goddesses in the various districts from which evidence concerning them has come down to us. It may here be stated at the outset that there are great gaps in the available evidence concerning the goddesses in question; for example, our information from the western part of Gaul is extremely slight, while from the district of the Pyrenees, though the names of gods abound, practically no names of individual goddesses have survived. These facts will become clearer, when we take the various inscriptional zones in order, as follows:

(1) The Pyrenees,

(2) Gaul south of Lyons,

(3) Gaul between Lyons and the lower Rhine,

(4) Other districts of Transalpine Gaul,

(5) Cisalpine Gaul,

(6) Britain,

(7) Noricum and the Celtic zone of the Danube.

1.The Pyrenees district.

The only goddesses with a distinctive name known from inscriptions in this district are the Niskai of the Amelie-les-Bains tablets in the Pyrenees Orientales in the ancient territory of the Sordones. These tablets are eight in number. Some of the words, such as kantamus, rogamus, sanate, omnes, non, amiki, illius, quidquid, si, are clearly Latin, but there are other words which are apparently in some form of Celtic speech. One of these words, peisqi, raises problems similar to those raised by the Coligny Calendar and the Rom tablets. The identification of Niskas with the root contained in the English 'nixies'= water-sprites, following as it does the word kantamus, is not at all improbable. The river-name

Vernodubrum from this district is undoubtedly Celtic, but the names Iliberris and Caucoliberris seem to be of a non-Celtic form. In the territory of the Sordones, where grouped goddesses are frequent, the nearest to the Sordones being the Menmandutae or Menmandutiae of the neighbourhood of Narbo. From the Pyrenaean district west of the Sordones no distinctive names of grouped goddesses have come down to us.The Menmandutae are commemorated on an inscription at Beziers, Herault, where their name occurs in the dative on a votive tablet. A somewhat similar but unexplained name, 'Minmantiis’, has been found on an inscription at Perigueux.

2. Gaul, south of Lugdunum (Lyons).

In this district the names of goddesses are frequent. They fall naturally into two main types, those of grouped goddesses and those of individuals. The former are often termed Matres or Matrae. With this name may be compared one of the Welsh names for the fairies, ' Y Mamau ' (the mothers), a name which survives in the expression ' Bendith y Mamau,' the blessing of the mothers, used of fairy benefactions, and in that of ' Y Foel Famau,' the hill of the mothers, the highest point of the Clwydian range in Denbighshire.

We find the Eburnicae matrae at Yvours, on the Bhone, near Lyons, on the inscription restored as Matr[i]s, au[g(ustis)] Eburnici[s], etc. These appear to have been the local tutelary deities of Yvours. Recorded on inscriptions are the Mairae of the neighbourhood of Dijon (Dibio).

To the south of the Eburnicae Matrae are the Obelenses Matres at Crossillac, and the Nemetiales at Grenoble, Isere. The ' Obelenses Matrae ' appear to derive their name from a place, 'Obelum' or 'Obela,' and seem to have been local tutelary goddesses; they are called on the inscription in the dative Matris Aug(ustis) Obelesibus. The Nemetiales are also called Matres, and were doubtless the protecting goddesses of the 'nemeta ' or sacred enclosures. Their name occurs on an inscription in the dative as Matris Nemetiali[b(us).

The inscription Icotiis may represent 'Icotiae' or 'Icotii.' It occurs at Cruviers, dep. Gard. The Tangonas [Matres] are mentioned on an inscription at Venasque, dep. Vaucluse,  in the dative [Matribus] Tangonis. The name 'olatonse' occurs on an imperfect inscription at Nimes in the dative olatonis. On an inscription of Le Plan d' Au(l)ps, arrond. de Brignolles,  which reads Matribu[s] Almahabu[s], etc., we have an adjective applied to Matres which contains an intervocalic 'h' such as is characteristic of the inscriptions found in the neighborhood of German territory. In Nimes itself, a great center of the Matres worship, we have the Matres Namausicse of the Marpefio Na/xavcri/ca/So inscription. There is a specifically designated group of Matres in Southern Gaul: Matres Gerudatiae, found in the dative 'Matribus Gerudatiabus’ on a votive tablet at Saint-Esteve, dep. Var. The inscriptions the Matres in this district have no local designation. For example, at Aix one inscription has the words Matrib[us] conservatricibus, while another has Matrib[us] simply:

(1) Saint-Henry de Ventabren: Ma[t]ris,

(2) Aries: 'Mat]ribus' are associated on an inscription with Fortuna Arelatensis,

(3) Apt and at Montbrun: Matribus,

(4) Vaison: Matrabus on three inscriptions, Matribus on three, and Matris on one,

(5) Sahune and at Dieule-fit,  dp. Drome: Matris,

(6) Vienne, Lyons, and Grenoble: Matris augustis,

(7) llon-daz: Matris Mithres,

(8) Saint-Innocent: Matris au[gustis],

(9) Geneva: Matr(ibus) aug(ustis),

(10) Brienne: Mat(ribus),

(11) Nimes: Matris,

(12) Narbonne: [M]a[t]ribus,

(13) Lyons: M. a. t. r on and Matris and Matribus, 

(14) Moirans, Saint- Vit and Besancon: Matrabus,

Along with these examples may be given that of Le Bourget, where we have a dedication 'Mercurio et Matr[is],' and that of Allmendigen, near Thun, where we have Iovi, Matribus, Matronis, Mercurio, Minervse, Neptuni, and once more Matribus and Minervse. It is clear from this that Lyons and the districts around it were prominent centres of the Matres worship.

The three inscriptions of Spain at Porcuna, where M alone represents Matribus, which is qualified by Veteribus, that of Duraton (Matribus) and that of Muro de Agreda, prov. Soria, where we have Matrubos, are isolated and stand on a somewhat different footing from the others.

The grouped goddesses of the south of Gaul are not, however, Matres only. We have here also in great prominence, especially in Nimes, the Proxumse or Proximse,

(1) Saliers, Bouches-du-Rhône, at Vaison,  Nimes and Clansayes: Proxsumis suls,

(2) Avignon: Proxsumis,

(3) Lourmarin: P(roxumis),

(4) Orange: Proxs(umis),

(5) Vaison: Proxsumis and Proxumis,

(6) Beaucaire: Nimes: Proxum(is),

(7) Barron: Proximis Ledaa,

(8) Nimes: [Pr]oxxumis, Proxsumis, in various degrees of completeness, and Proxumis, more or less completely.

With the Matres, as with the Matronoe of Cisalpine Gaul, may be associated the grouped goddesses called Junones, who are mentioned on a votive inscription at Nimes, as Junonib(us) Montan(is), and at Aigues-Mortes, Gard, as Junonibus Aug(ustis). These Junones appear to have been also worshipped in the zone of the central health resorts; for example, an inscription at Neris-les-bains, dep. Allier, of the Antonine period, reads 'Numinibus Augustorum et Iunonibus Neriomagienses.' On an inscription also between Langres and Toul we have Deabus Iunonibus, at Bordeaux  there is an inscription Iunonibus Iulise et Sextiliae.

In Southern Gaul, as in Spain, we also find the worship of the nymphs prominent under their Latin name:

(1) Saint Saturnin-d'Apt, Lez, Castel: two inscriptions each,

(2) Vaison: two, one being dedicated Nymphis Augustis and also an inscription with the same words at Bourguin,

(3) Goul, Apt, Carpentras, Rasteau, Vercoiran, Castera-Veveril, Castillon, Alzey and Mombach: one each,

(4) Les Fumades, near Allegre, dep. Gard: six inscriptions, one of which has the words Nymphis Augustis,

(5) Uzes: there is a record of the dedication of a temple to the nymphs in the first century a.d,

(6) Nimes: five votive tablets to nymphs occur,

(7) Puech, in Provence, there are three votive tablets to nymphs.

In the zone of the south of France, too, we find another name of a group of goddesses like those already described, in the case of the Baginae, the companions of Baginus, the local deities of Mt. Vanige and the village of Besignan: the names 'Bagino et Baginahabus' occur on an inscription at Bellecombe, canton du Buis.

Dep.Gard: There is a goddess Perta commemorated: the name occurs in the dative Pertse.

Aix-en-Diois, Drome: Bormana, the companion of the god Bormanus occurs on an inscription 'Bormano et Bormana',

Saint Vulbaz (earlier Saint Bourbaz), canton Lagnieu: Bormana on an inscription of the phrase Bormanae Augustas.

Saint Saturnin d'Apt: an inscription to another goddess, Albiorica, whose name is given in the dative Albiorice. She was doubtless regarded as the companion of Albiorix.

Viens, dep. Vaucluse,  there is an inscription to Bergonia, a name doubtless cognate with Brigindu and Brigantia.

Pertuis, dep. Vaucluse, arrond. Apt (Dexsivse), and at Cadenet in the same district, on the hill of Castelar, three times: The goddess Dexsiva, she may either be the eponymous goddess of the Dexivates, or a goddess of fortune.

Trets: Trittia, the local goddess of an old town in the arr.of Aix,

Carnoules, dep. Var: Trittiae,

Pierrefeu, dep. Var Trittae.

Montaren near Alais, dep. Gard, Saint Honore-les-bains, dep. Nievre: [R]iton[a]e, the name Ritona is the name of a river-goddess, that of the modern river Rieu.

Beziers: an inscription in honour of a goddess, who may be either Bicoria or Tricoria;

Bagnol-sur-Ceze, dep. Gard: an inscription to a goddess Diiona (cf. Dibona, Divona) This was probably the eponymous nymph of the brook la Vionne or l'Andiole, which flows into the Ceze. The name occurs in the nominative, Diiona. The form of the name suggests that in this dialect of Celtic there was a tendency to drop intervocalic ' v.'

Le Prugnon near Antibes: The remaining name of an individual goddess from this district is Thucolis. She appears to have had a priestess or priestesses.

It will be readily seen from the evidence of these inscriptions that, in the south of Gaul, group-goddesses were far more widely worshipped than individual goddesses. The latter appear to be in this district highly localized in character, and perhaps were often regarded only as members of groups. On the other hand, individual gods are numerous, while grouped gods are rare. Here, too, we do not find traces of the worship of one deity at the expense of others, but the ancient type of worship of groups seems to hold its own.

3. The district between Lugdunum and the Lower Rhine.

 This is a large district, which may be roughly regarded as extending from Lugdunum to Treves (Augusta Treverorum) and thence to Cologne and to the mouth of the Rhine. From this large and important district many inscriptions containing names of Celtic deities have come down to us, and in this respect it stands in very marked contrast to the districts in the west of Gaul. Except in the neighborhood of Cologne, grouped goddesses are here conspicuous by their absence. In their stead we find several individual goddesses, often associated with some god, and some of these goddesses appear to have attained to more than a strictly local worship.

In accordance with the plan already adopted of dealing with the group-goddesses first, the worship of Matres may be first considered.

(1) Langres: Matra[b(us), Matra, Majtris, and Ma]trab[us. These, together with the Mairse of Dijon, may be regarded as forming the northerly representatives of the group-goddesses of the Rhone valley and its neighborhood, If we now cross into the Rhine valley, we reach another zone of Matres or Matra. In this zone the Matres are generally qualified by some local or descriptive adjective.

(2) Bonn: 'Matiribus domes ticis',

(3) Andernach: 'Matribus suis',

(4) On the road from Zahlbach to Mainz: 'Iovi optimo maximo et Matribus',

(5) Frankfort on the Main: Matribus,

(6) Heddernheim: Matribus,

(7) Ell, in Alsace: Matrabus,

(8) Berkum: Matribus suis.

The Matres that are qualified by local or other adjectives are distributed as follows:

(1)Colonia Trajana (Xanthen): Brittae Matres, Maxacae matres, and Arsacse matres,

(2) Beeck, near Xanthen: Matribus Brittis,

(3) Cologne: the Malvisae, a group of goddesses commemorated in the terms 'iabus Malvisis et Silvano', (The name as ' Malvisis ' occurs also at Nieukerk Netherlands.) the Matres Mediotautehae, the Axsinginehae Matronae,

(4) Castel, near Mainz: The Ollogabiae, the name Ollogabiae apparently means ' All-seizing,' from Olios = Welsh Oil, and gab- = Welsh gaf- (in gaf-ael), and Old Irish gabim.

Another important name of group-goddesses in the Rhine district is that of Matronae, a name widely used among certain German tribes, who are thought to have adopted the religion of the Gauls. This name was also a favourite one in Cisalpine Gaul.

(1) Tetz, near Jülich: the Matronae Cantrusteihiae, (also found at Hoeylaert, near Brussels, Belgium),

(2) Altenberg, near Cologne, Rodingen, near Jülich; the Gesahenae Matronae,

(3) Rodingen and Bettenhofen: Gesahenae Matronae, the Etrahenae,

(4) Odenhausen, near Berkum: The Ascricinehae Matronae,

(5) Odendorf, near Euskirchen: The Ascricinehae,

(6) Bürgel, near Sollingen: the Matronae Rumanehae et Maviaitinehae,

(7) Sinzenich: Matronis Tummaestis.

The prominence of the worship of group-goddesses in this district is very remarkable. Of the other types of group- goddesses the Mairae of the neighbourhood of Dijon are of interest:

(1) Dijon: Dis Mairis,

(2) Til-Chatel, dep. Cote d'Or, Deae Eponae et dis Mairabus, genio loci and deabus Mairis.

In this zone there is no reference to the Proximae, but between Langres and Toul there is an inscription 'Deabus Iunonibus'.

Coming now to the Rhine valley,

(1) Cologne: Iunonibus [G]abiabus,

(2) Bonn: [Matribus or Iunonibus do]mesticis [Lugo]vibus comfedonibus,

(3) Zulpich: Iunonibus domesticis,

(4) Piitzdorf: Iunonibus,

(5) Altenhoven in the neighbourhood of Aachen: Iunonibus.

 It is not improbable that the Iunones were the Matres or Matronae of the district. On the other hand, inscriptions to nymphs are conspicuous by their absence from the Rhine valley though they are frequent elsewhere.

When we come to the individual goddesses of the zone now under consideration, we find several names which are attested by inscriptions. For example, there is Damona, the companion of Borvo, ' the Boiler,' the god of certain hot springs. The form of the name Damona suggests that it is a parallel to Epona, the former being a goddess of cattle, the latter of horses. It is possible that originally both were deities of corresponding animal form. Damona appears to be associated with the root dam-, which we find in the Irish dam (an ox), and in the Welsh dafad (a sheep), for an older damat-. The inscriptions on which Damona's name occurs are  chiefly from Bourbonne-les-Bains, dep. Haute-Marne:

‘Borvoni et Damonae,'

'Deo Apollini Borvoni et Damonae,'

'Borvoni et Damonse,'

'Deo Borvoni et Damone,'

'Borvoni et Damonae,'

‘Damonae Augustae,'

'Deo Borvoni et Damonae,’

'Borvoni et Damonae.'

The other district in which inscriptions to her are found is Bourbon-Lancy, dep. Saone-et-Loire,

'Borvoni et Damonaa,’

'Bormoni et Damonae.'

The form Bormoni shows the influence of Bormanus. Aquae Bormonis appears to have been the old name of Bourbon-Lancy. In Damona we not improbably have an old tribal animal goddess, who came to be associated with Borvo, a god of hot springs, as his name implies.

Another individual goddess, whose name appears to be associated with the zone now under consideration, is Litavis. This name occurs in conjunction with that of the god Cicolluis, identified with Mars. Some of the inscriptions on which the name is thought to occur are very imperfect:

(1) Matain, dioc. Langres: 'Marti Cicollui et Litavi, Marti Cicollui et Bellonae (Litavis was regarded as a goddess of war. 'Litavis' would appear to be identical with that of the Welsh Llydaw, e.g. a lake called Llyn Llydaw in the Snowdon district. It appears, too, to be the basis of the name of the Aeduan Litavicus or Litaviccus (Caes. B. G. vn. xxxvii.  and also of Convictolitavis, who is mentioned in the same passage. The name Litaviccus occurs also in the genitive Litavicc(i) on an inscription in the first century from Monthureux-sur-Saone, dep. Vosges. It occurs also in the dative on an inscription at Langres, as well as on silver coins of the Aeduans. A place-name of the same basis, too, Litavicrarus, occurs on an inscription at Langres in the will of a member of the tribe of the Lingones of the first century a.d. The inscription reads 'Ante ce[l]lam memoria que est Litavicrari.' The name Litavis is also probably contained in that of Cobledulitavus, found on an altar in the museum of Perigueux, Dordogne, set up by a priest of the altar of Lyons. The inscription reads [Tutelae Vesonnse] et deo Apollini Cobledulitavo . . . v. s. 1. m. The name of Litavis may be safely regarded as that of one of the most prominent deities of the Lingones, and, as derivatives of this name are found among the Aeduans, her worship probably extended to the latter tribe as well),

(2) Aignay-le-Duc, dep. Cote-d'Or: 'Deo Marti Cicollui et Litavi’.

In the zone now under consideration there are two other names of goddesses that are found mainly along with the Latin names Mercurius and Apollo. There are Rosmerta, named along with Mercury, and Sirona, named along with Apollo:

(1) Aix: Vssiae Ros[mertae?] Mercuri[o] v.s.l.m.,

(2) Gissey-le-Vieil, dep. Cote-d'Or: Aug(usto) sa[c(rum)] Deae Rosm[er]tae,

(3) Alise-Sainte-Reine: it is doubtful whether the inscription should read [Ro]sme[rtae] or Sme[rtullo],

(4) Langres: Deo Mercurio et Rosmerte,

(5) Grand: Mercurio et [Ros]mertae,

(6) Worms: Deo Mercuri(o) et Rosmerte,

(7) lzey: [Deo Merc]urio et R[osmerte],

(8) Spechbach, near Lobenfeld: [Mercu]rio [et Ros]mert(a)e,

(9) Cologne: Mercu[rio et Rosjmerte,

(10) Andernach: Merc[urio et] Rosmertae, and Me[rcurio et R]o[smertae],

(11) Huttigweiler: [Mercujrio [et Ro]sm[e]r[tae],

(12) Nider-Emmel, Zumeth, Bernkastel: D[eo] Me[rc]urio [et] Ro[s]me[rtae],  Mer[curio e]t Rosm[ertae], and Deo Mercurio et d(e)?e [R]osmertae,

(13) Reinsport on the Moselle:  Deo Mer[c]urio et Rosme[r]te,

(14 )Soulosse: D(eo) M(ercurio) et Rosmerte, and also Mercurio (et) Rosmert(ae) sacr.vicani Solimariac(enses),

(15) Mt. Sion, dep. Meurthe- et-Moselle: 'Deo Mercurio et Rosmertae',

(16) Metz: 'Deo Mercurio et Rosmertae’,

(17) Wasserbillig, Luxembourg: Deo Mercurio et deae Rosmertae,

(18) Chatenoy, dep. Vosges: ' Mercurio et Rosmertae sacrum'.

From this we may gather that Rosmerta was worshipped largely in the neighbourhood of the Rhine, and in the neighbourhood of Langres. The origin of the name is doubtful. The root may be smer(t)-, brilliant, so that Ro-smerta would mean the exceedingly brilliant one. The same root appears to occur in other proper names, such as Smertus, Smertullos, Smertomara, Smertorix, Smertuccus, Smertulitanos, and the old British tribe of the Smertae, as well as Atesmerius. We have also Smerius, Smertalus, Smertu, and Cantesmerta. From this it will be seen that the root in question was extensively distributed in personal names.

The next goddess, Sirona, is widely associated in the area in question with Apollo, her name being also written as Dirona or Dirona. The distribution of her inscriptions is as follows:

(1) Baumburg, Apollini Granno [et Si]ronae,

(2) Rome, Apollini Granno et sanctae Sironae sacrum,

(3) Bordeaux, Sironae,

(4) Luxeuil, Apollini et Sironae,

(5) Bitburg, Apollin[i Granno] et Siro[nae],

(6) Nierstein, Deo Apollini et Sironae,

(7) Mainz [Deae] Sirona ...,

(8) Grossbottwar am Marbach, a.d. 201, Apo[lli]ni et Sironae ,

(9) Maximiliansau, Deae Sironae,

(10) Wiesbaden, Sironae,

(11) Andernach DirfonaeJ,

(12) Graux, dep. Vosges, Apollini et Sironae,

(13) Sept-Fontaines, near Saint- Avoid, in Lorraine, Deae Dironae,

(14) Corseul, dep. Cotes-du-Nord, arrond. Dinan, cant. Plancoet, Sirona.

From these inscriptions Sirona may be regarded as the companion of Grannus, whose name we have in Aquae Granni (Aix-la-Chapelle) and in Granheim. The name Sirona was not improbably that of the Earth, regarded as a goddess, and it probably meant the 'long-lived one.' Another name for Apollo besides Grannos in this district is Mogounos, (whence Moguntiacum).

Of the other names of goddesses in the zone now under consideration Icovellauna  occurs near Divodurum (Metz).  Icovellauna occurs like Mogontia at Le Sablon, near Metz, and may have meant the 'protectress of health.'

Epona  is one of the most widely distributed of the names of Celtic goddesses. The goddess Epona is commemorated on numerous inscriptions :

(1) At Guidizzolo between Mantua and Verona,

(2) At Siguenza,

(3) At Also-Ilosva in Dacia,

(4) At Waitzen in Pannonia,

(5) In Carinthia,

(6) In Zollfeld,

(7) At Mariasaal, Herculi et Eponae aug(ustae),

(8) At Cilli, Eponae aug(ustae) sacrum : Iovi o(ptimo) m(aximo) Eponae et Celeise sanctee,

(9) At Windenau near Marburg in Steier-mark, Eponae aug(ustae) sacrum,

(10) At Pforing near Ingolstadt in Rhaetia, Campestribus et Eponae,

(11) At Mount Eudrik in Moesia, Epone,

(12) At Karlsburg in Dacia, Epone regin(ae) sanc(tae),

(13) At Varhely in Dacia, not long after a.d. 107, Eponabus et Campestribus,

(14) At Salona, [Iovi optim]o maxsi[mo . . . Epo]ne [. . . Marti] Cam[ulo],

(15) At Rome, associated on various inscriptions with the Matres Sulevae,

(16) At Carvoran,

(17) At Auch- indavy, near Kirkintulloch in Scotland,

(18) At Lyons,

(19) At Naix in the department of Meuse,

(20) At Metz,

(21) At Solothurn,

(22) At Til-Chatel in the diocese of Langres, Deae Eponae et dis Mairabus,

(23) At Andernach, Eponae sacr(um),

(24) At Heinzerath, Kreis Bernkastel, on two inscriptions.

There is a place called Epona, now Ep6ne, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, arrond. Mantes, and there are also two places called Eponiacum:

(1) Eppenich, near Aachen,

(2) The modern Appoigny, dep. Yonne.

Eponicus occurs as a man's name on an inscription at Rome. The zone of distribution of the Epona inscriptions will give a fair conception of the districts where her worship was most prominent. As her name shows, she was pre-eminently a goddess of horses.

Among the other names of goddesses which occur in this zone or its neighboring districts, may be instanced that of Clutoissa or Clutoidda, which occurs on an inscription not far from Noviodunum in Gaul. Her name occurs on two inscriptions, one from the village of Mesves-sur-Loire in the depart-ment of Nievre, near a spring with a reputation for healing fevers. The inscription reads, Aug(usto) sacrum, deae Cluto[i]dae, etc. It occurs, too, on a patera from Etang-sur-Arroux, dep. Saone-et-Loire. There is no evidence that Clutoida was more than a purely local goddess of a healing spring.

At Bourges there is an inscription to Solimara, a word which probably means 'the large-eyed', Solimarae sacrum. Solimaros occurs over a wide area, for example at Cilli, Sziszek, Scherschell, Martigues, Orange, Brignon, dep. Gard, near Ledignan, Nimes, Bordeaux, Paris, Breitenbach, Gustavsburg (Mainz), Heddernheim, and on the gold coins of the Bituriges Cubi (before B.C. 58), which were found at Amboise, Vendeuil Caply, dep. Oise, as well as in Yivonne (dep. Vienne), and in Vernon. A Gallo-Roman name Solimarius occurs at Apt, Bordeaux, and at Niersbach in the Prussian Rhine-province. A name of the form Solimario occurs on an inscription at Nimes. There was a place called Solimariaca on the Roman road from Metz to Langres between Neufchateau (Vosges), and Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle).This word, too, appears to underlie the names Sommere, dep. Saone-et-Loire, Saumeray, dep. Eure-et-Loire; Saumery (Solimariaca), dep. Loiret; Le Saulmery, dep. Loiret; Saumery, dep. Loir-et-Cher; as well as the Italian Sumirago in the province of Milan in the district of Gallarate.

On the Celtic inscriptions of Volnay we have the name of a goddess Brigindu in the dative Brigindoni. It is her name that probably underlies that of Brigendonis, now Brognon, in Cote d'Or, arrond. Dijon, as well as the Ager Briendonensis in the Macon country. It is possible, too, that Gregory of Tours meant this goddess, when he said that the Gauls worshipped Berecynthia. He says that there was an image of this goddess which was carried on a vehicle to ensure the success of the fields and vineyards (pro salvatione agrorum et vinearum). Before this image the people danced and sang.

Other names of isolated goddesses are Abnoba or Deana Abnoba, the presiding deity of the Black Forest on the German side of the Rhine;

Brixia, of Brixia (Breuchin), near Luxeuil,

Aventia in the territory of the Helvetii from whom Aventicum derives its name,

Naria Nousantia mentioned on an inscription at Grissach, near Landeron, canton Neuenburg. The inscription is on a votive tablet set up by a certain T. Frontinus Hibernus,

Saint-Marcel-lez- Chalon, dep. Saone-et-Loire: a local goddess called Temusio,

Lorraine:  Nantosvelta, who is named along with a god Sucellus.

4.The Remainder of Transalpine Gaul.

In dealing with the west and north-west of Gaul we cannot but be struck by the great scarcity of names of goddesses from these districts. This is due, we may be sure, not to any absence of goddesses but to the slight extent to which the Gallo-Roman fashion of setting up votive tablets had penetrated to these regions. It is to be noted that in the neighborhood of Cherbourg the goddesses of cross-roads (Quadrivise) were objects of worship, but we have no evidence of the worship of Matres or Matronse in these districts. There is a solitary inscription to a spring-goddess Acionna at Fleuri, near Orleans, where we have the words Aug(ustae) Acionnae sacrum.

At Perigueux a goddess Stanna, perhaps a spring- goddess of the Petrucorii, is mentioned on three inscriptions in conjunction with a god Telo, the spring-god of Tolon, now Le Toulon, near Perigueux, dep. Dordogne. The root of Stanna is not improbably sta-, to stand, and may have been originally given to the earth-goddess as 'the abiding one.' The name Telo may possibly underlie the name of Toulon-sur-Mer (Telo Martius), and the place-name Telonnum, a town of the Aeduans, Toulon-sur-Arroux, near Autun, dep. Saone-et- Loire, and also the present commune called Lipostey, dep. Landes.

Another goddess of the southern area of Gaul, whose distinctive name was generally omitted, was Divona or Devona, a name which means simply ' the goddess.' The name occurs as that of the spring 'Fontaine des Chartreux ' in Cahors, dep. Lot, and then as that of Cahors itself. Divona is also given by Ausonius as the name of the spring of Bordeaux, and is probably to be read on an inscription at that town: Divionae. This form, too, seems to underlie that of the modern Divonne, dep. Ain, as well as that of Dewangen in Germania magna, given by Ptolemy n, xi, as Arjovova.

There is also a local goddess Dunisia, whose name occurs on an inscription at Bussy-Albieu, dep. Loire, The name probably means,'the goddess of fortresses.'

The name ' athubodvae ' occurs on an inscription of Fins-de- Ley, dep. Haute- Savoie. It has been thought to stand for Cathu-bodvae, and so to be the equivalent of the Irish Bodb-Catha, a goddess of war, but this identification is very far from being certain.

5. Cisalpine Gaul.

In this district inscriptions to the grouped goddesses called Matronse are numerous, for example:

(1) Verona, Iunonib(us), Matronis,

(2) Marzana, Matrona[b(us); Isorella, Matronis ; Calvisano, Matronabu[s]; Manerbio, Matronab(us),

(3) Nuvolento, in the province of Brescia, and on about forty-seven other inscriptions.

As already mentioned, the Matronae appear to have been worshipped, too, on German territory. In this district, also, the Iunones were widely worshipped, and we find inscriptions naming them about twenty-seven times.

Another group of goddesses is called Dervones or Dervonnse, ‘the spirits of the oak': these are called on the inscription of Cavalzesio, near Brescia, Fatis Dervonibus, and, on another we read Matronis Dervonnis.

With these may be compared the Silvanae, who are mentioned once on an inscription of Verona in the dative, Silvana- bus. In Cisalpine Gaul inscriptions to the god Silvanus are frequent.

Of individual goddesses Epona seems to have been worshipped in Cisalpine Gaul, as we see from an inscription at Guidizzolo between Mantua and Verona, as well as from an inscription at Siguenza. The goddess Epona is mentioned by Iuvenal, viii. 154-157, and, according to the scholiast on the passage, she was a patron of muleteers as well as of horsemen. Plutarch, Parallel, c. xxix., p. 312 E, states that she was born of a mare. Reverting to the grouped goddesses, it may be here stated that inscriptions to nymphs occur only about four or five times in Cisalpine Gaul.

6. Britain.

In Britain the grouped goddesses most widely worshipped were the Matres:

(1) Winchester: Matrib(us) Ital[i]s, Germanis, Gal[lis], Brit(annis),

(2) London: Matr[ibus],

(3) Chester, the singular Deae Matri,

(4) Doncaster, Matribus,

(5) Ribchester: Deis Matribus,

(6) Micklegate: Mat(ribus) Af(ricanis), Ita(licis), Ga(llicis),

(7) Carrawburgh: Matribus com[munibus],

(8) Aldborough: I(ovi) o(ptimo) m(aximo) Matribus M . . .,

(9)Lowther: Deabus Matribus tramarin(is), those who set it up being a vex(illatio) Germa[norum],

(10) Lough, near Plumpton Wall in Cumberland: same as 9, Deabus Matribus tramarinis,

(11) Old Carlisle: [Dea]bus Ma[tribus],

(12) Skinburness, near Silloth: Matribus Par(cis),

(13)Binchester: Mat(ribus) sac(rum),

(14)Newcastle-on-Tyne: Dea[bus] Matribus tramarinis patri(i)s,

(15) Matfen Hall: we have Deabus Matribu[s],

(16)Chesters: Deabus Matribus communibus,

(17) Housesteads:Ma[tribus] on two inscriptions, the second of which was set up by a cohort of Tungri, (18) Carvoran: two inscriptions, one reading Matri . . . , the other Matrib(us),

(19) Cambeckfort in Cumberland: we find the formula M[at]ribus omnium gentium,

(20) Walton-House-Station: Matribus t[ra]ma[rinis],

(21) Stanwix and Dykesfield: Matribu[s djomesticis, that is the guardians of the foreign soldier's home,

(22) Carlisle: Matrib(us) Parc(is),

(23) Bowness and York: Matribus suis,

(24) Bisingham: Matribus tramarinis,

(25) Burnfoot Hall and Castlecary: Matribus,

(26) Newcastle, Backworth, Matr(ibus) and Matrum.

In Britain, too, there are inscriptions to nymphs:

(1) Great Boughton: Nymphis et Fontibus,

(2) Blenkinsop Castle: Deabus Nymphis,

(3) Risingham: Nymphis venerandis,

(4) Nether Croyfarm, near Croyhill: Nymphis,

(5)Greta Bridge: the singular Deae Nympha[e],

(6) Newtown of Irthington: Deae Nymphae Brig(antia).

Whatever doubt there may be as to the local connections of some of the other deities we have here undoubtedly a goddess of Britain. It may be noted also that an inscription at Benwell, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, is set up to the three Lamias (Lamiis tribus).

Coming now to the individual goddesses, we have the following mentioned on inscriptions in Britain. Ancasta is mentioned in the formula Deae Ancastae on an inscription at Bittern, near Southampton.

The name Belisama does not occur in Britain as the name of a goddess, but only as that of an estuary, probably the Mersey or the Kibble, called by Ptolemy II. iii. 2. In the south of Gaul, however, the name occurs as that of a goddess, as, for example, on the Celtic inscription in Greek characters of Vaison, Vaucluse, ‘Segomarus, son of Villonus, a citizen of Nemausus, made for Belisama this temple. At Pont de Saint-Liziers in Les Couserans there is an inscription with the formula Minervae Belisamae sacrum. It is from her name that the place-name Belismius has probably arisen, a name surviving in Blismes (Nievre), Blesmes (Marne), and Blesmes (Aisne). The name Belisama is probably a superlative from the root bel-, which is found in the Welsh rhy-fel, war. The name Belismius occurs as a man's name on an inscription at Caerleon-on-Usk.

Of British goddesses, Brigantia is one of the most important:

(1) Greetland: D(eae) Vict(oriae) Brig(antiae) et num(inibus) A(u)g(ustorum),

(2) Adel near Leeds: Deae Brigan[tiae],

(3) Cumberland: she is called a nymph in the words Deae Nymphae Brig(antiae),

(4) Birrens near Middleby: Brigantiae s(acrum).

It is not improbable that Brigantia was the tribal deity of the powerful tribe of the Brigantes of the north of England.

Another goddess whose name occurs on inscriptions in Britain is Epona. She is mentioned on an inscription at Carvoran in the formula Deae Eponae, and at Auchindavy, near Kirkintilloch, in Scotland,

in the middle of the second century, along with Mars, Minerva, the goddesses of the fields (Campestres), Hercules, Epona, and Victory. With this inscription may be compared the inscriptions of Rome, on which Epona is mentioned along with several other deities.

A goddess Lata, or Latis, is mentioned on inscriptions at Kirkbampton: Deae Lati and Birdoswald: Dae Lati.

On two inscriptions, one at Chesters: Dea(e) Rat . . . and the other at Birdoswald: Dae Rat, a goddess is mentioned, whose name is given in an abbreviated form as Rat. There is not enough evidence to associate her with Ratae, the old name of Leicester.

It may be here noted that, in the case of the names of gods found in Britain, the chief links with the continent are for the most part with the district around Cologne, Treves, and Mayence, but there are sometimes unexpected links with other districts. Grannus ( = Apollo), who was largely worshipped in the neighbourhood of the Rhine, is mentioned on an inscription found at Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, but we find Ialonus, whose name occurs on an inscription at Nlmes, mentioned also on an inscription at Lancaster.

Leucetios, the Mars of the neighborhood of Mainz, is mentioned on an inscription at Bath.

Maponos ( = Welsh Mabon) is mentioned three times as a god in Britain, as well as in a place-name Maponi, but on the continent there are no traces of him as a god.

British references:

(1) Ribchester, county Durham: to Deo sancto Apollini Mapon(o),

(2) Ainstable, near Armthwaite, Cumberland: Deo Mapono,

(3) Hexham, in Northumberland: Apollini Mapono.

Mogons ( = Apollo) was worshipped in Britain by Vangiones in the Roman army, as may be seen from the formula Deo Mogonti, which occurs on inscriptions at Plumpton Wall (Old Penrith), Netherby, and Risingham.

The god Silvanus, too, who was widely worshipped in Spain, in Cisalpine Gaul, in the neighborhood of the Rhine, in the south of Gaul, and in central Europe, is also mentioned in Britain on about sixteen inscriptions. On one at Housesteads he is identified with Cocidius by a certain prefect of a cohort of Tungrians. This wide worship of Silvanus in the Celtic world is very suggestive of the form into which the early tree-worship of the Celts had developed.

The name Maponos, identical as it is with the Welsh Mabon, suggests that Modron, who is represented in Welsh legend as his mother, was an ancient British goddess, whose name in Roman times would be Matrona, a derivative of the root matr- (mother). This very name, it may be noted, is the original of that of the river Marne. Some of the river-names of Wales appear to be formations of this type, and the suggestion naturally arises that they also were names of goddesses.

For example, the name Aeron, in Cardiganshire, may stand for Agrona, the goddess of war.

Tarannon may have meant the goddess of thunder.

The river Dee, Deva (Welsh Dyfr-dwy), means simply the goddess.

The two streams, Dwyfor and Dwyfach, near Criccieth in Carnarvonshire, probably mean 'the great goddess' and 'the little goddess' respectively.

The name Ieithon, a stream in Radnorshire, may mean ' the goddess of speech.

'Crawnon,' in Breconshire, may mean ' the goddess of storage.'

7. The Transrhenane and Danubian districts.

In these wide zones the task of separating Celtic and Germanic deities is well-nigh impossible, but its very difficulty suggests that to both peoples the popular substratum of religion had far more in common than is usually supposed. For example, we have among the Germans as among some sections of the Celts a most remarkable development of the worship of Matres and Matronae, a form of worship of a very primitive character. This similarity of underlying religious belief is also confirmed by the study of folk-lore, as any reader of Dr. Frazer's Golden Bough can readily ascertain. At Varhely in Dacia, on an inscription made not long after 107 A.D., there is mentioned even a group of Eponae in the formula Eponab(us) et Campestrib(us) sacrum.

In Noricum again there is a group called Alaunas, who were worshipped along with Bedaios.

It may be safely conjectured that in the countries east of the Rhine grouped goddesses abounded.

Of the names of individual Celtic goddesses worshipped in these territories, especially in Pannonia and Dacia, that of Epona is by far the most prevalent.

In Noricum we find the worship of Adsalluta closely associated with that of Savus, the river Save. At Saudorfel her name occurs on five inscriptions, on two of which it is associated with that of Savus. At Hrastnigg, too, her name occurs on an inscription which reads Adsal(l)ute Aug(uste).

Another goddess who deserves mention here is Noreia:

(1) Mount Avala, near Belgrade: an inscription of the year 287 a.d., D(ea)e Nor[e]ia[e] sacrum,

(2) Hohenstein, near Pulst: Noreiae Aug(ustae) sacr(um),

(3) At Hohenstein and at Ulrichsberg: she is identified with Isis “Isidi Norei(ae)”,

(4) Trojana: Noreie August(ae),

(5) Cilli: one inscription, along with Jupiter and with Celeia, as 'Noreia sancta.' On another inscription she is mentioned along with Mars, Hercules, Victoria, and Noreia,

(6) Kerschbach: [Marti A]ug(usto) e[t NJoreiae Re[g(ina)e et] Britania[e pr]o vic(toria) L. Sep[timii Severi p]ert(inacis) inv(icti),

(7) Weihmorting, in the district of Griesbach in Lower Bavaria: Noreiae Aug(ustae) sacrum, while at

(8) Khamisa: she is mentioned along with the Di Manes on an inscription set up by a certain Artorius, whose name is the original of the Welsh Arthur.

In Istria it may be noted that there is also a goddess Noriceia, who was also called Veica, as we see from the dedication Veicae Noriceiae.

The name Celeia, which is mentioned along with Noreia, is that of the town Cilli in Noricum, a town which was also wor shipped as a goddess, as is shown by inscriptions from the beginning of the third century a.d. On these she is called Celeia Augusta and Celeia sancta. As a goddess she is named on inscriptions along with Noreia in one case and Epona in another.

That Noricum was largely Celtic in its religion may be gathered from the prominence there of the worship of the god Belinos, a name which forms the second element in the British Cuno-belinos, the Welsh Cyn-felyn.

In the course of this investigation it has become very evident how large a part was played in Celtic as well as in at least some forms of Germanic religion by the worship of grouped goddesses. It is from these that the individual goddesses appear in some cases to have been detached, or else developed by a kind of process of unification and generalization. In some cases, topographical connections operated towards individualization, in others the growing conception of the earth as 'the Mother' par excellence, while in other cases the individual goddesses seem to have been the human representatives of previous goddesses of animal form. Of the latter type were doubtless Epona and Damona. In spite of the existence of certain individual goddesses, however, it is most remarkable that the grouped goddesses held their own, especially in certain districts. How far we may base ethno-logical conclusions upon this is very uncertain, since under similar conditions of civilization similar religious ideas are apt to prevail. It is noticeable, however, that the worship of the Matres and the Proximae held their ground even in districts which came under the full influence of Roman civilization.

The Celtic Review III, 1906-1907, Professor E. Anwyl

 

Gaelic Folklore (29): Gallic Bloodrites

Gallic Blood Rites: Pleasing the Gods, Terrifying the enemy.

Excavations of sanctuaries in northern France support ancient literary accounts of Violent Gallic rituals:

“When their enemies fall they cut off their heads and fasten them about the necks of their horses; and turning over to their attendants the arms of their opponents, all covered with blood, they carry them off as booty, singing a paean over them and striking up a song of victory, and these first-fruits of battle they fasten by nails upon their  p175 houses, just as men do, in certain kinds of hunting, with the heads of wild beasts they have mastered. 5 The heads of their most distinguished enemies they embalm in cedar-oil and carefully preserve in a chest, and these they exhibit to strangers, gravely maintaining that in exchange for this head some one of their ancestors, or their father, or the man himself, refused the offer of a great sum of money. And some men among them, we are told, boast that they have not accepted an equal weight of gold for the head they show, displaying a barbarous sort of greatness of soul; for not to sell that which constitutes a witness and proof of one's valour is a noble thing, but to continue to fight against one of our own race, after he is dead, is to descend to the level of beasts.”

Diodorus Siculus, V.29

Modern historians, relying on reports by Caesar and others, have characterized the religion of the Celts in Gaul as spontaneous rites, in contrast to the well-planned cultic practices of the Greek and Romans.

Archaeologists have now revealed that the Gauls did, in fact, build permanent ritual sites at places like Gournay-sur-Aronde and Ribemont-sur Ancre in northen France. Dated to the end of the fourth or beginning of the third century B.C. these cult centers were the work of warlike tribes called the Belgae, thought to have arrived in northern Gaul from central Europe at the end of the great Celtic invasions of the fourth century B.C.

The rituals performed at Gournay-sur-Aronde and Ribemont-sur-Ancre, however, went well beyond animal sacrifice, a commonplace rite among the Greeks and Romans, and included the triumphant display of the remains of enemies killed in battle or sacrificed to the gods of the underworld, from whom the Gauls believed they were descended.  Evidence from excavations at these sites suggests similarities between Gallic religion and Greek chtonic (underworld) cults. A sunken altar recovered at Gournay-sur Aronde is similar to a Greek escharon, also consecrated to underworld deities. Although Greeks and Romans used stone while the Gauls used wood and mud brick, Gallic sanctuaries, like their Greco-Roman counterparts, were rectangular in plan, between 90 and 150 feet to a side.  Imposing wooden palisades enclosed the sacred inner precinct of these sanctuaries, accessible only by a monumental eastward-facing gateway.

Access to the inner precincts would have been restricted to priests, initiates and aristocratic dignitaries: the majority of congregants would have stood in the flat, open space outside the enclosed area. A structure within the enclosure housed and further protected the sunken altar. Animal sacrifice was the most common ritual offering of the Gauls. Relying on ancient texts and Gallo-Roman sculptures, historians of religion have long believed the Gauls caught wild animals for this sacrifice. Excavations of the sanctuaries, however, have revealed that from the end of the fourth to the beginning of the second century B.C. the Gauls, like the Greeks, also sacrificed common domestic animals principally cattle, pigs and sheep. Priests would offer the divinity a skinned animal carcass, which remained on the altar until it had decomposed. The skulls were usually nailed to the gateway, probably to fend off evil spirits.

Corroborating the accounts of the first century B.C. Roman historian Diodorus Siculus and other ancients, excavation clearly shows that human sacrifice was practiced as well. In the interior corners of the sacred inner precinct at Ribemont-sur-Ancre, human bones belonging to nearly 1000 enemy warriors were burned as sacrificial offerings in open-topped ossuaries, square-shaped structures five feet to a side, adorned on the outside with crisscrossed bones. The priests first crushed the bones, probably to expose the marrow, where the Gauls, like the Greeks, located the soul on which underworld deities feasted. After breaking the bones, the priests dumped them into the hollow central chamber of the ossuaries where they were buried. That the Gauls sacrificially burned their enemies  would surely have daunted anyone planning to wage war against them. Upon approaching a ritual site, a potential attacker might have seen smoke from burning bones rising from the sacred precinct. Or he might have seen the captured armor of conquered enemies fastened to tall poles or a tangled assemblage of headless corpses lying along the outer wall.

Two thousand iron weapons and pieces of armor found by archeologists in a ditch adjacent to the sanctuary at Gournay-sur-Aronde were once displayed as intimidating war trophies. Examination showed that the swords and scabbards, war girdles, shields and lances were originally arranged as some 500 individual suits of armor, either standing on the platform of the gate way or hung from poles around the sacred inner precinct. The number of suits of armor in the deposit indicates nearly a century of battles and of intensive use of the sanctuary as a depository for war trophies that both commemorated tribal victory and informed other tribes of the consequences of war with the Belgae, whom Caesar in his Gallic War said were the bravest of the Gauls. The weapons, exposed for many years, fell to the ground when the wood and leather parts rotted: they were then ritually destroyed by the priests, a custom corresponding to a Roman practice described by the late first century A.D. historian Plutarch, and thrown into the ditch were they were found more than 2200 years later by archaeologists.

Evidence of human sacrifice was even more striking at Ribemont-sur-Ancre, where war trophies included headless human corpses and crushed, burned human bones. A particularly spectacular deposit of bones comprising some 80 skeletons was found outside the sacred area along the sanctuary’s outer wall. All headless, the skeletons had been piled up and tangled together along with weapons, the bodies contorted into unnatural positions. Beheading is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, recalling an account of the Greek historian and philosopher Posidonius, who travelled in Gaul at the end of the second century B.C. Posidonius related that Gallic warriors regularly cut of the heads of enemies conquered in battle to keep as personal trophies. Diodorus added that, after having cut off the head, the bodies and captured weapons were given to servants. Since no skulls have been found at Ribemont, it is likely that warriors indeed kept the heads of their enemies, leaving servants to create communal trophies of bodies and weapons found at the sanctuaries. A sanctuary may have also served as a communal trophy depository not only for victorious warriors of a particular tribe, but also for tribes allied in battle. Since different tribes often shared one or more gods, common trophies at cult sites may have facilitated treaties between them, secured by divine covenant.

The sanctuaries seem to have served a double function, martial and cultic. The Gauls designed them to celebrate victory in war and intimidate potential enemies while pleasing the gods of the underworld, whom they believed made them great warriors.

Considering the archaeological evidence from excavations at Gournay and Ribemont it is time to reevaluate our understanding of the religion and cultic sites of the Gauls. Ancient sources offer a promising jumping-off point for archaeologists who, with each new excavation, are clarifying some of the vague and confusing descriptions offered by Greek and Roman historians. The human remains and weapons at Ribemont are examples of the dedicatory heaps of booty piled up in consecrated areas that Caesar mentions in his account of the Gallic war. The human bones nailed to what ancient historians thought were Gallic houses we now understand to be intimidating ornaments for the permanent cultic sites. Little by little, archaology has added to our understanding of the warlike Belgae, whose brutality features so prominently in ancient literature.

 

Archaeology, vol. 54, no.2, 20001, J. L. Brunaux.

Gaelic Folklore (28): The Terror of the Night and the Morrigain

 

The ‘terror of the Night’ and the Morrígain: Shifting faces of the supernatural.

Introduction

A rich man has a beautiful but poor woman as his lover. They have two sons together. One day he tells her that he is going to marry a rich woman, chosen by his family. He will take the children with him. She weeps and wails like a madwoman, but it is to no avail. Then she picks up the children and goes to the river, where she drowns them. She falls down, and dies in grief. In heaven, she is welcomed because she has suffered. But before they let her in, she must return to collect the souls of her children and bring them with her. So she goes to the river. Her long hair flows over the riverbanks; her long fingers grope deep into the water and she calls out for her children. Parents tell their children not to go to the river after dark, because the Weeping Woman might mistake them for her own children and take them with her forever.

In this Mexican tale, we see shifting imagery of a woman. A lovely but unfortunate woman transforms into a nocturnal ghost, forever restless, lamenting, looking for her children. At the same time, we are told about a horrible creature that might harm living children. She reminds us of other mythological supernatural women, such as the Jewish Lilith and the Greek Lamia, whose children were killed, causing them to become relentless, murdering demons.

The narratives portray these women in a linear chronological development from happy to sad to horrible and from beautiful to ugly, but somehow these women never seem entirely to lose their original characteristics. Their representations in text and art shift between the various stages in a non-linear way. In other words: we are dealing with coexisting, diverse images of the supernatural. We tend to emphasise one aspect, but often there are several sides to supernatural beings that are equally ‘true’.

This tendency is sometimes also noticeable with regard to early Irish mythological beings. The subject of this contribution is the supernatural woman called the Morrígain, who is usually classified as a War Goddess. Máire Herbert, however, has rightly pleaded for a fresh, open minded study of the primary sources about supernatural women, without preconceived ideas about their function. In this paper the imagery of the supernatural in the Old Irish poem Reicne Fothaid Canainne will be studied. I hope to show that the poem represents not only familiar images from the Irish background of the Morrígain, but that we may also detect unfamiliar, foreign faces of this figure. This shifting of images makes the Morrígain into a more complex and a richer symbol than merely a supernatural representative of war.

In the Old Irish poem, central to this paper, it is the spectral shape of Fothad (§49), who addresses the woman on the battle field. He refers to his bloody corpse and unwashed head being elsewhere (§2). Before focusing on the supernatural beings mentioned in this poem, we will first look at its structure. A schematic survey is given below; the numbers refer to the stanzas.

1a. Woman, do not speak to me

1b–7. A lament about his death

1b. I look back at what happened at [Linn] Féic.

2. My bloody corpse lies beside Leitir Dá mBruach; my unwashed head is among the slaughtered warriors.

3. My tryst with you was a tryst with death.

4. My death at Féic was destined for me.

5. Our last meeting was doomed (but I do not blame you).

6. If we had known, we would have avoided this tryst.

7. I was generous during my life.

8–19. A lament about the death of his men

12–19. Description of his men

20. A lament about the present situation

21–22. The battle and death of Fothad & Ailill

23. Warning to the woman

Watch out for the terror of the night

Do not have a conversation with a dead man

Go home with my treasures

24–41a. Description of the treasures

41b–44. Warning to the woman

41b–43. Watch out for the Morrígain

44. I am in danger; I cannot protect you

Go home while parting is still fair.

45. His departure in the morning

Go home; the night is ending

46–47. Request for a memorial

46. Remember this reicne

47. Put a stone on my grave

48–49. The farewell

48a. My imminent departure and the torture of my soul by a dark one

48b. Only the adoration of the King of Heaven matters

49a. The dark blackbird’s laughter to the believers

49b. My speech and face are spectral

Woman, do not speak to me.

The poem is addressed to the woman. The dead man contradicts himself regularly, which heightens the emotionality of the poem. His tryst with the woman turned out to be a tryst with death. The woman was the cause of this and yet, he does not blame her. His death was destined, but if he had known this outcome, he would have avoided the tryst. He speaks of his love for his men and the woman, and asks her to remember his poem and make his gravestone. If she does this, her love would not be a waste of time, because she would create two everlasting memorials for him. Yet, he concludes that earthly love is a folly―the only thing that counts is the adoration of the King of Heaven.

There are several supernatural entities mentioned in this poem, such as the spectral shape of Fothad, the terror of the night, the Morrígain, the dark one, and the King of Heaven. Three of them will be discussed in this paper: first, the terror of the night; second, the Morrígain, and third, the dark creature mentioned at the end of the poem. I will try to show that the imagery of these three is interrelated or, in other words, how the faces of the supernatural shift and mix.

2. The terror of the night and Irish úatha

Fothad starts his poem by silencing the woman. After lamenting the death of himself and his men, he warns her of danger threatening her:

“Do not wait for the terror of night on the battle-field among the resting-places of the hosts; one should not hold converse with a dead man, betake thee to thy house, carry my spoils with thee!”

What is this ‘terror of night’? Does this merely refer to the general human fear of the dark night, augmented by the presence of bloody corpses on the battlefield? The Dictionary of the Irish Language (DIL) translates úath as ‘fear, horror, terror; a horrible or terrible thing’. Fothad does not seem to refer to merely an emotion here, but to a supernatural being that may endanger the woman. She must hurry, because it is somewhere on the battlefield.

There are several descriptions of úatha in early Irish literature, of which I give a selection here. Úatha are extremely frightening beings, often associated with battle. The Lebor na hUidre (LU) version of Fled Bricrenn, ‘The feast of Bricriu’, supplies the following portrayal of úatha:

The geniti screech at him. They wrestle with each other. His spear is fragmented and his shield is destroyed and his clothes are torn around him. And the geniti beat and subdue him. ‘Well then, Cú Chulainn’, said Lóeg, ‘wretched coward, one-eyed sprite, your fury and your valour have gone since it is spectres that ruin you’. Thereupon Cú Chulainn is contorted in a spectral way and he turns towards the terrors and he hacks and fragments them so that the valley was full with their blood.

Apparently, the terms urtrochta or airdrecha, ‘spectres’, and úatha were seen as suitable synonyms for geniti, ‘(female?) creatures’. Previously in the text at line 8872, the supernatural fighters are referred to as geniti glinne, ‘(female?) creatures of the valley’. After the fight, they are referred to as ‘dark enemies’ (lochnamait; line 8894). Their spectral nature seems to be expressed by the term airdrecha. It could be that the term geniti indicates their female gender, because a gloss in Lebor na hUidre by scribe H and glossaries explain genit and/or gen as ‘woman’.

It is worthwhile to have a closer look at this lemma in the glossaries. We read in O’Mulconry’s Glossary: gen .i. benglynnon .i. foglaid .i. banfoglaid bid anglinn genit glinde .i. ben inglinn gen, that is: a glynnon [valley?] woman; that is: a robber; that is: a female robber, who is in a valley genit glinde [creature of a valley], that is: a woman in a valley. The lemma genit glinne is thus explained as a woman in a valley, whereby genit is explained as ben, ‘woman’. The interlinear gloss, however, explains gen as ‘woman’, albeit a special type: the rather mysterious glynnon woman. The latter in its turn is glossed as a robber, to be precise, as a female robber dwelling in a valley. The additional gloss that explains gen as ben, ‘woman’, seems to be inspired by the two previous lemmata in the glossary (nrs 638–639), in which gene―representing the Greek word for ‘woman’ γυνή―is explained with Latin mulier, ‘woman’.

In another glossary, found in Dublin, TCD, MS H.3.18, genit glinne is explained as gen and then two further explanations are given, one seemingly in Latin and one in Irish: Genit glinde .i. gen .i. glynoon; ben bid hi nglinn Genit glinne, that is: gen, that is: glynoon woman; that is a woman who is in a valley. It seems to me that glynnon and glynoon are fake Latin (or Greek?) terms (cp. Welsh glyn = Irish glenn) which are used here to specify gen, which does not simply refer to ‘woman’ as it did in lemmata 638 and 639 of O’Mulconry’s Glossary, but which is here used to explain genit, a supernatural type of woman.

The main lemma of O’Mulconry’s Glossary, however, directly explains genit as woman, just as genaiti is glossed mná, ‘women’, in Lebor na hUidre, line 3520. This latter use of the word genaiti also refers to supernatural women, who, moreover, are said to laugh in an ominous way.

The examples of geniti in the literature confirm their supernatural nature. What we can deduct from the episode in Fled Bricrenn about these úatha, geniti glinne and airdrecha is the following. They are very powerful, possibly female, supernatural fighters. Three excellent Ulster heroes are sent to them to test their valor and two of them return naked and defeated. Cú Chulainn, the most formidable hero, is able to overcome them, but only when he is roused to his extraordinary martial fury, brought about by the taunts of his charioteer Lóeg. The úatha are screaming, fighting, nocturnal apparitions, associated with a valley. The word ‘spectre’ gives the impression that they are made of thin air, but it should be noted that they appear to have a body that can be grasped and fought with. Moreover, their valley is covered with their blood after the fight.

These úatha may be female; another episode in the Lebor na hUidre version of Fled Bricrenn describes a male Úath. This Úath mac Imomain (Terror son of Great Fear) possesses great supernatural power, is a shape-shifter and functions both as a test (like the geniti glinne or úatha) and as a judge (unlike them) of the three contestants for the hero’s portion.

Another encounter with úatha is found in an adventure of Finn mac Cumaill. This narrative has come down to us in the form of a prose tale and two poems, usually referred to as ‘Finn and the Phantoms’. Finn, Oisín and Caílte are lured to a mysterious house in a valley, where they spend the night in a gruesome, spectral company. A churl, a three-headed old woman, a headless man with one eye in his chest, and nine bodies with nine loose heads make ‘music’ for them by shrieking horribly. The churl kills their horses and roasts the flesh on spits of rowan. When it is still raw, it is offered as a ‘meal’. Finn refuses to eat, which is taken as an insult. The fire is extinguished, and Finn and his companions are beaten up during the dark night. At sunrise the house and its inhabitants vanish, and the human victims and horses are well again. Finn discovers the identity of their enemies through a mantic procedure: they were the three or nine Terrors of Yew Valley. It should be noted that the prose version mentions three úatha, Poem I three fúatha and Poem II nine fúatha.

In the Middle Irish period, it is difficult to distinguish úath from fúath, ‘form, likeness; hideous or supernatural form, spectre’, because even though fúath is a different word, semantically úath and fúath converge. The úatha are thus portrayed as nocturnal, shrieking, fighting and frightening shapeshifters, associated with a valley.

These terrifying beings also appear in hagiography. Fúatha threaten the seventh-century Saint Moling in his youth, according to the Middle Irish Geinemain Molling ocus a bethae, ‘The birth of Moling and his Life’. When the saint is sixteen years old, he wanders through Luachair, singing his prayer. Suddenly, he sees an ominous company on his path: an unshapely, ugly monster (torathar)―explained by the text as the Fúath aingeda―and his dark, ugly, unshapely household―explained as people in the shape of spectres (arrachta). The whole company consists of the Wicked Fúath, his wife, his servant, his dog and a group of nine persons. St Moling manages to escape from them by making three enormous leaps. The fúatha cry loud and pursue him, but it is to no avail. The main fúath in St Moling’s Life is male.

Whitley Stokes  translates in Fúath aingeda as ‘the Evil Spectre’, taking aingeda as andgedae, sister form of andgid, derived from andach, ‘evil’. Proinsias Mac Cana points out that the first title of the úath-group in Tale List A is Uath Angeda and suggests that this refers to an earlier form of the Moling tale. According to Mac Cana, the original tale may have been about a hag. He bases this upon a Middle Irish poem ascribed to Moling, in which the saint has a female adversary, called Aingid. These fúatha share the following characteristics with the úatha that were described above: residence in a wild place, their loud shouting, and their fighting habits. Interestingly, the spectres are said to be engaged in fogal, ‘attack, injury, damage; plundering’, and díberg, ‘marauding, freebooting, pillaging’, which occupation is also ascribed to geniti glinne in the above-quoted gloss on the relevant lemma in O’Mulconry’s Glossary.

Finally, two poems use the term úath to describe the ugly appearance of the Sovereignty. The poem Temair Breg, baile na fían, extant in the Book of Leinster (LL) and Rawlinson B 502, ascribed to Cuán Ó Lothcháin (†1024) tells of the meeting of the five sons of King Eochu Muigmedón with an old, female seer (écess) in the wilderness, who guards a well. When the son who is destined to be king kisses her horrible mouth, she turns into the beautiful appearance of the Sovereignty. The second poem, the metrical dindshenchas on Carn Máil, also describes king’s sons in the wilderness after a hunt. They are visited by an old, ugly woman, characterised as úath olair abbáeth, ‘obese lustful terror’. She threatens to eat them and their dogs, but when one of them says that he will yield to her sexual desire, she transforms into a radiant, young beauty. These úatha are dark, ominous appearances, who function as tests for the sons of a king, and the right reaction of the young man destined for royalty brings about her transformation into a radiant, promising figure. Again, an úath turns out to be a shape-shifter, and this specific type has the gift of prophecy as well.

Thus far, I have discussed humanoid úatha. There are also bestial terrors, of which I will only mention an example from a text in Old Irish. The previously described úatha turned out to be a test for kings-to-be. The úath in Echtrae Fergusa maic Leiti forms a test for a ruling king. When King Fergus mac Leite sees a monster (designated water beast, muirdris and úath) under water, his face becomes deformed by fear. This ‘loss of face’ makes him unfit to be a king and in the end, he also loses his life.

As our poem is Old Irish, our main focus is on texts that are contemporaneous with it. Therefore, we should take our clues from Fled Bricrenn and the lemma on genit glinne, which belongs to the Old Irish stratum of O’Mulconry’s Glossary. It is possible that Fothad warns his lover of one of these frightening, screaming, utterly destructive fighters, possibly robbers living in a valley, operating at night. Some readers may have associated the terror of the night with these supernatural beings.

3. A demon called ‘terror of the night’

There is another possibility that should be considered as well. Readers who were acquainted with the Bible may have made a different identification. In the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, there are two references to a harmful supernatural being, associated with the night and with a sudden attack. It is

called pa»ad laylâ or ‘the terror of the night’. In Jewish sources and liturgy, Psalm 91 (Psalm 90 in the Vulgate) is called ‘a song for evil encounters’, which should be recited before sleep.

What people feared were attacks by harmful supernatural beings. The Psalm lists several demons ―among them we find the terror of the night: His [i.e. God’s] truth shall surround you with a shield, You will not be afraid of the terror of the night. This Psalm was not only used by Jews in their daily rituals, but was also part of medieval Irish liturgy. Psalm 90:5 is quoted in ‘Gloria in Excelsis’ in the Irish Liber Hymnorum and paraphrased in the Antiphonary of Bangor. We know that these texts were sung or recited at night, and thus one prayed for protection from demons and dangers.

The second reference to the ‘terror of the night’ is in the Song of Songs. The text tells of sixty strong men surrounding the bed of King Solomon: “All holding swords and most expert in war Every man’s sword upon his thigh because of terrors of the night.” A scene of warriors with swords on their thighs is also known in early Irish literature. In The wasting sickness of Cú Chulainn men are thus said to swear as testimony to the truth of their boasts upon battle deeds. Even though the context is completely different, it is interesting that this statement was put in a ‘demonic’ context by a gloss explaining that a demon used to talk from the sword. If we want to identify these ‘demons’, we should think of supernatural women, such as the Morrígain.

Apparently, demons and weapons were associated with each other, but there is a contrast between the biblical and Irish texts in the function of armour within this association. In Irish texts, demons are sometimes said to dwell in armour (i.e., helmets, shields and weapons). As we saw, in Psalm 90 God’s truth functions as a shield and thus as a way of protection against demons. A similar function is attributed to the swords held by the strong men around the bed of King Solomon. This scene reflects the belief, widespread in the Ancient Near East, that a couple was vulnerable to the attacks of evil spirits and night demons during the wedding night, especially when the marriage was consummated. This is why armed servants are present in the room ―as a protection against demonic attacks. This type of harm to newly-weds was in particular ascribed to ‘Terror of the night’.

If the author of Reicne Fothaid Canainne knew of this belief, then the expression ‘terror of the night’ in the context of the poem is well suited to the occasion. The lover, already killed, warns his beloved woman of this ‘terror’ in the night that should have been the start of their marriage. This supernatural attacker of newly-weds could thus have been assumed to be nearby.

It is, however, uncertain to what extent the author of our poem was aware of the mythological and cultic background of the terror of the night as referred to in the Song of Songs. What we badly need is knowledge about which Jewish traditions were known to medieval Christians. A channel of transmission that is still traceable today is represented by the writings of the Church Fathers. In their comments on these two biblical passages, they explain the ‘terror of the night’ in a sexual and demonic way. Thus far, I have not found an exposé on the cultic background of the verse in the Song of Songs, but we could surmise that if the author of Reicne Fothaid Canainne was acquainted with the Bible, the demonic nature of the terror of the night is obvious from Psalm 90. What should be noted is that some Jewish theologians identified this demon as Lilith. As will become clear in this paper, the question whether (Irish) Christian exegetes also linked the nocturnal terror with this succubus demon is an intriguing one. The fear of nocturnal temptation expressed by the Church Fathers seems to hint at a similar identification.

We return to the Old Irish poem. There is a third possible way to interpret the terror of the night. Looking at the structure of the poem (see above), we observe that the warning to the woman is interrupted by the command to take away the treasures. Then an elaborate description of Fothad’s treasures is given, which breaks off in the middle of quatrain §41. It is as if the spectre takes up the warning again, by focusing on a supernatural being nearby: the Morrígain. It might be the case that ‘the terror of night’ already refers to her.

We learn from the Old Irish Glossary of Cormac that the supernatural beings called úath and Morrígain have something in common: “False demons, that is: terrors and Morrígnae.” Apparently, both ‘terrors’ and morrígnae were good equivalents for the word gúdemain, translated as ‘spectres’ in the Dictionary of the Irish Language. This translation is presumably based upon the somewhat popular translation by John O’Donovan: ‘.i. spectres and fairy queens’, to which Stokes added: “Guidemain seems to mean ‘false demons’, from gó, gúa 😊 W. gau) ‘false’ and demain for demuin, n. pl. of demon, a demon, daemonion, (Corn. Gevan or jevan), gen. s. demuin”. The meaning ‘false demons’ is indeed more likely, because this is one of the interpretations offered by another gloss. It should be noted, moreover, that the last name of the red woman alias the Morrígain in the Yellow Book of Lecan version of Táin bó Regamna is Úath.

What is important to us now is that both the Morrígain and the terror of the night could be classified as terrifying demons. It is possible that Fothad’s warning is not a double but an interrupted warning about a supernatural being nearby on the battlefield, known as the terror of the night alias the Morrígain.

4. Supernatural women and demons

Fothad describes the Morrígain as follows. He calls her ‘an evil guest’. She visits, stirs up and frightens people. She is washing entrails and spoils. She laughs and throws her long hair over her back. All these characteristics deserve further study. For the purpose of the present paper, I have selected one in particular: her laughter.

The laughter of the Morrígain is described as follows: “Horrible the hateful laugh she laughs“. The ambiguity of laughter in Irish has been noted previously: Joseph Vendryes points out that tibid not only means ‘laughs, smiles’ but also ‘to beat, hit, push’; Philip O’Leary discusses the danger of laughter as a

literary motif; and, most recently, Liam Mac Mathúna displays the full spectrum of laughter in his survey of Irish lexical expressions for laughing and smiling.

The expression used in our poem―tibid gen, ‘to laugh a laugh’ or ‘to smile a smile’―is also found elsewhere in early Irish literature. Especially interesting for a comparison with the description of the Morrígain are examples of supernatural women laughing in an ominous and dangerous context. I selected an example from The wasting sickness of Cú Chulainn, the text with the scene of warriors with swords on their thighs, mentioned above.

This is the well-known tale about Cú Chulainn and his relationship with a woman of the síd called Fand, which means ‘tear’. The story ends indeed in a sad way for Fand and to a certain extent for Cú Chulainn, but laughter is part of the first meeting between Cú Chulainn and representatives of the Otherworld. It is, however, ominous laughter, which is expressed by the words tibid gen. Two women approach Cú Chulainn, who lies asleep against a pillar stone. They both laugh at him and then almost kill him by beating him with horsewhips: “The woman in the green mantle came to him and laughed at him, and struck him with her horsewhip. The other came to him, too, and laughed at him, and struck him in the same way”. These two women are Lí Ban and Fand from the síd, who first visited Cú Chulainn in bird form but were attacked by him, despite his wife’s warning against this, because of the supernatural power (cumachtae) she perceives behind the birds.

At first sight, the contrast could not be greater when we compare the Morrígain as described in our poem with the beautiful, enticing women of the síd in this tale. If we look closer, however, there are some similarities. The laughter combined with the beating might be seen as a sign of the sinister

side of the áes síde. A similar hint is found in a poem, uttered by Cú Chulainn’s charioteer Lóeg, when he calls the women genaiti:

It is great frivolousness for a warrior

To lie in sleep of wasting sickness,

For it shows genaiti i.e., women

Folk from Tenmag Trogaige, i.e., from Mag Mell

And they have subdued (?) thee,

They have confined thee,

They torture thee

in the toils of female frivolousness.

We have seen that the word geniti is used for supernatural frightening female fighters, also called terrors (úatha), who beat and subdue Cú Chulainn in Fled Bricrenn; and this is consistent with the image that Lóeg paints in this poem. They have subdued and tortured Cú Chulainn, who is confined to his bed. It should be noted that a gloss explains geniti here as ‘women’ (mná), which reminds us of O’Mulconry’s glossary, quoted above: a genit is a woman (Genit glinde .i. ben i nglinn). The well-known colophon at the end of the text tells the readers that they should call these women ‘demons’. One could wonder now what this has to do with the Morrígain. The only two points of comparison are 1) ominous laughter in a battle context and 2) supernatural women associated with fighting.

At this point we need to pay attention to an obscure, heavily glossed poem that accompanies the text ofThe wasting sickness of Cú Chulainn in the manuscript margin. We read in the upper margin of Lebor na hUidre folio 50a:47:

The desire of the woman of the scaldcrow i.e. badb are her fires i.e. spear & armour. The slaughter of a body i.e. side thereafter Juices i.e. blood, body i.e. body/corpse under bodies i.e. under men Eyes i.e. eyes, heads i.e. head belonging to a raven i.e. of a raven.

Joanne Findon emphasises the fact that this poem is found on the page where an emotional poem is written, uttered by Fand, in which she says farewell to Cú Chulainn. Findon points out that one’s eyes are, however, drawn to the upper margin of the page first, where the scribe (M) “has boxed in the quatrain and its glosses with dark lines, as if to highlight it particularly”. The quatrain speaks of the desire of the scaldcrow woman, and this is glossed by the words: ‘that is: Badb’. Findon states that the bloodthirsty desire of the Badb in the marginal quatrain is here in fact juxtaposed with the sexual desire of Fand in the poem in the main text. In her opinion this comparison “is an outrageous textual distortion that completely misrepresents [Fand’s] Otherworld nature as it is configured in this text”. Findon suggests that this poem might be a Christian warning against fascinating Otherworld portrayals, and especially the moving description of female desire as expressed by Fand.

Just as readers in the Middle Ages could have different readings of the same text, so can we. Even though I admire Findon’s reading that focuses on the contrast, I want to look at the similarities between the Badb and Fand, and include the Morrígain in my reading. The tale is clearly a moving love story, but there is more to it. There is a good reason why Lóeg called Fand and Lí Ban geniti. Geniti shriek, fight, and hover above fighting armies, inciting or frightening warriors. Some of them help Cú Chulainn by making him more dread-inspiring in battle; others oppose him or are even involved in his downfall.

Looking again at the role of Fand and Lí Ban in The wasting sickness of Cú Chulainn we note that they not only overpower Cú Chulainn and beat him up, but they also incite him to fight in the Otherworld, on the side of Lí Ban’s husband. Schematically, Lí Ban and Fand represent: first, an approach to Cú Chulainn in a different―bird―form; second, a threat represented by the beating; third, an offer of sex; and fourth, an incitement to fight. This is similar to what the Badb and the Morrígain represent for Cú Chulainn in Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension I.

As a boy of five, Cú Chulainn is on the battlefield on a dark night, fighting with a spectre. The Irish word is aurddrag, the term also used for the úatha or geniti glinne that Cú Chulainn fights with in Fled Bricrenn. The spectre overpowers him, but then the voice of the Badb from among the corpses incites him to fight: “They wrestled then and Cú Chulainn was thrown. He heard the Badb crying from among the corpses: “Poor stuff to make a warrior is he who is overthrown by phantoms”.

This spectre seems to personify the terror experienced on the battlefield. It seems as if Conchobar hints at this terror (úath) by using the word úathbás when Cú Chulainn has found him after conquering the spectre: ‘Why have you come to the battle-field’ said Conchobar, “where you may die of fright?”

Moreover, in the same epic text, it is the Morrígain who approaches him in female human form with an offer of assistance in the fight and of sex, followed by a threat and a fight when he refuses her. These similarities make me wonder: was the quatrain perhaps added as a reminder of other supernatural women, who are closely related to Cú Chulainn?

This comparison, moreover, highlights non-stereotypical sides of supernatural females. The Morrígain is not only dangerous, but also sensual. The Badb is not only an enemy but also helpful. Fand is not only beautiful but also connected with violence. Even though we find them sometimes lumped together in a single category as demons, yet early Irish literature with its many voices has kept differentiation alive.The glossaries not only apply the common denominator of demons to supernatural beings but also supply different names and nuances for them. This seems to be another instance of the shifting of the faces of the supernatural.

In the area of classification there appears to be some flexibility as well. For instance, we have seen that Cormac’s Glossary brought úatha and morrígnae together as gúdemain. In another glossary on ‘The last Bretha Nemed or judgments of privileged (or professional) persons’, gúdemain are explained as scald crows and women of the síd, which are then connected with the Morrígain in a plural form in a gloss in the upper margin: Howlers, that is: foxes or a wolf. Gudomuin (Gúdemain, false demons), that is: scald crows or women of the síd. (In the upper margin:) false (?) howlers, that is the false demons, the morrígna; or it is a falsehood so that the women of the síd are not demons; it is a falsehood so that the scald crows are not demons of hell, but demons of the air. (In the right-hand margin:) Or: the foxes double their howls and the scald crows double their sounds/vowels.

The word gúdemain apparently needed explanation and it is interesting to note that both marginal comments connect the term with the previous lemma on glaídemuin. The gloss in the right-hand margin etymologises both words as having to do with sound. Glaidomuin is explained from glaéd, ‘howl, shout, call’, and emuin, ‘pairs, twins’. Gudomuin is split up in guth, ‘vowel, sound’, and emuin, ‘pairs, twins’. The gloss in the upper margin is concerned with classification. It is possible that the author took inspiration from Cormac’s Glossary, because false demons are here explained as morrígna. Perhaps this glossator also added the wolf to the explanation of howlers as foxes, because this is the explanation of howlers in Cormac’s Glossary: Gláidemain .i. maic tíre gláidaite .i. focerdait húalla, ‘Howlers, that is: wolves that howl; that is: they utter wails’.

At first sight, it may seem that the glossator added a third category to the howlers and false demons: false howlers. Demons are, however, also infamous as producers of horrible sounds, screams and shrieks. It looks, therefore, as if the foxes and wolves should be seen as the true howlers, and the others perhaps as screamers but not as true howlers. The glossator then goes on speculating about other ‘false’ classifications and seems to suggest that women of the síd are not really demons. Scald crows, furthermore, are demons of the air and―he seems to say―thus not really demons either, because the true demons are located in Hell.

I have thus tried to make sense of the comments in the upper margin, and my views remain of course tentative. There is one aspect that is absent in my interpretation, and that is etymology. What etymological basis did the author of the gloss in the upper margin have for connecting glaidomuin with gudomuin other than that they appear in the same order in Cormac’s Glossary? The only thing I can think of is that the author saw glaidomuin as consisting of gláed, ‘cry, shout, howl’, and demain, ‘demons’, just as gúdemain was possibly formed from gú, ‘false’, and demain, ‘demons’. Thus, the lemmata on ‘howl demons’ and ‘false demons’ would have led to an explanation starting with ‘false howlers’ in order to distinguish the howlers from the shriekers.

The classification of scald crows as demonic in Irish texts is well known, but is it also possible to put foxes and wolves in the same category. It suffices within the context of this study to point out that upernatural beings, birds of prey and wild beasts are associated with demons, because all of these may howl or shriek, and they may inhabit similar places that are wild or deserted. We encounter collections of these creatures as an evil omen for the battle to come in, for instance, In cath catharda, the Middle Irish adaptation/translation of Lucan’s Civil War.

Thus, the centre of Rome is described as becoming a night lair for wild beasts; nocturnal birds fly around at day time; phantoms and shades from the Underworld terrify the human inhabitants at night; the Badb of battle (a Fury in the source text) goes around, and many other abnormal phenomena are described. The Irish text adds the loud howling of hounds and wolves at night to the description.61 Biblical visions of destruction also portray deserted cities, inhabited by wild beasts, birds of prey and frightening female and male demons. There are several examples of such scenes; one of them will be discussed below.

5. Black birds and demons

We move on now from the study of the terror of the night and the Morrígain to the third supernatural being. The first two entities are said to be a threat to the living woman. The supernatural being to be discussed now is said to be a threat to the dead man. Toward the end of the poem, Fothad announces that soon his soul will be tormented:

My riddled body must part from thee awhile,

My soul to be tortured by the black demon.

Save (for) the worship of Heaven’s King,

Love of this world is folly.

Kuno Meyer translates donn as ‘the black demon’. In a later publication he corrects this into Donn, the proper name of an ancestral deity of the Irish, the presumably pre-Christian Death God. As this line is immediately followed by Fothad’s sudden insight that only the adoration of the King of Heaven matters and love for this world is foolish, we can safely conclude that an infernal demon is meant here by donn, which literally means ‘a dark one’. ‘Dark’ (teimen) is also used to describe a blackbird, which is mentioned in the final quatrain:

It is the dusky ousel that laughs

a greeting to all the faithful:

My speech, my shape are spectral –

hush, woman, do not speak to me!.

Initially, I took this description as another reference to the dark tormentor of the soul, for lon can also signify ‘demon’. A dangerous demon, laughing at dead people would supply a nice parallel with the terrifying Morrígain, laughing at living people.

I have, however, come to a different conclusion. Lon means ‘demon’ in two texts only, and then it is always part of a compound, as lon craís. This demon of gluttony is found in the Middle Irish Aislinge Meic Conglinne and ‘The Death of King Herod’. Clearly, this is something different from what is portrayed in our poem. The blackbird in this poem seems to represent the biological species. Blackbirds start to sing half an hour before sunrise, which is earlier than the other birds. Its song is, therefore, the messenger of the start of the day. Immediately after its mention, Fothad says that his speech and face are spectral, and―as we all know―when the day begins, phantoms must vanish. The song of the blackbird is melodious and melancholic, but does not resemble laughter. We should, therefore, see the laughter in the poem symbolically, and it could help to combine this laughter with that of the Morrígain. People doomed to go to hell will fear the sound of the blackbird, but the faithful can enjoy it. They are protected from danger, just as those who recite before sleep ‘the psalm for evil encounters’. Neither the terror of the night nor the laughter of the Morrígain nor the dark demon will affect them.

Conclusion

The supernatural beings in Reicne Fothaid Canainne overlap to a certain extent. The terror of the night could represent a nocturnal, frightening female, from Irish or Jewish tradition, and the term might also hint at the Morrígain. The Morrígain threatens the woman on the battlefield; a dark one threatens Fothad as an infernal tormentor. The laughter of the Morrígain is both paralleled by and contrasted with the laughter of the dark blackbird. Diverse details are visible in the imagery of the supernaturals, even though the category ‘demonic’ serves as an umbrella. It could very well be that another demon hovers in the background of this imagery: the Jewish Lilith, seducer of men, killer of babies. Like the Morrígain, she is a nocturnal terror, she has long hair and she howls. She lives in deserted places, among other demons, birds of prey and wild beasts. In this habitat she is described in the Book of Isaiah. Jerome replaced Lilith by Lamia in his Latin translation of the Bible: ’And demons will meet ass-centaurs and the hairy creature shall cry out, the one to the other. There the Lamia has lain down and found rest for herself.

A gloss on this verse in Vatican Library, Codex Reginae Lat. 215, written in 876 or 877, ascribed to Eriugena, explains Lamia as ‘the Morrígain’: Lamia is a monster in the form of a woman, that is: a morrígain. Lilith, the terror of the night according to some Jewish thinkers, is thus equated with the Morrígain, who seems to be described as another nocturnal terror in the Old Irish poem Reicne Fothaid Canainne.

Jacqueline Borsje.

Full article: here.