Celtic Mythology & The Religion of the Ancient Celts. John Arnott MacCulloch

"His breath lasted nine days and nine nights under water. He could remain without sleep for the same period. No physician could heal a wound inflicted by his sword. When he pleased he could make himself as tall as the tallest tree in the wood. And when it rained hardest, whatever he carried remained dry above and below his hand to the distance of a handbreadth, so great was his natural heat. When it was coldest he was as glowing fuel to his companions."⁴⁴² This almost exactly resembles Cúchulainn's aspect in his battle-fury. In a curious poem Gwenhyvar (Guinevere) extols his prowess as a warrior above that of Arthur, and in Kulhwych and elsewhere there is enmity between the two.⁴⁴³ This may point to Kei's having been a god of tribes hostile to those of whom Arthur was hero.

      Mabon, one of Arthur's heroes in Kulhwych and the Dream of Rhonabwy, whose name, from mab (map), means "a youth," may be one with the god Maponos equated with Apollo in Britain and Gaul, perhaps as a god of healing springs.⁴⁴⁴ His mother's name, Modron, is a local form of Matrona, a river-goddess and probably one of the mother-goddesses as her name implies. In the Triads Mabon is one of the three eminent prisoners of Prydein. To obtain his help in hunting the magic boar his prison must be found, and this is done by animals, in accordance with a Märchen formula, while the words spoken by them show the immense duration of his imprisonment—perhaps a hint of his immortality.⁴⁴⁵ But he was also said to have died and been buried at Nantlle,⁴⁴⁶ which, like Gloucester, the place of his prison, may have been a site of his widely extended cult.⁴⁴⁷

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      Taken as a whole the various gods and heroes of the Brythons, so far as they are known to us, just as they resemble the Irish divinities in having been later regarded as mortals, magicians, and fairies, so they resemble them in their functions, dimly as these are perceived. They are associated with Elysium, they are lords of fertility and growth, of the sea, of the arts of culture and of war. The prominent position of certain goddesses may point to what has already been discovered of them in Gaul and Ireland—their pre-eminence and independence. But, like the divinities of Gaul and Ireland, those of Wales were mainly local in character, and only in a few cases attained a wider popularity and cult.

      Certain British gods mentioned on inscriptions may be identified with some of those just considered—Nodons with Nudd or Lludd, Belenos with Belinus or Beli, Maponos with Mabon, Taranos (in continental inscriptions only), with a Taran mentioned in Kulhwych.⁴⁴⁸ Others are referred to in classical writings—Andrasta, a goddess of victory, to whom Boudicca prayed;⁴⁴⁹ Sul, a goddess of hot springs, equated with Minerva at Bath.⁴⁵⁰ Inscriptions also mention Epona, the horse-goddess; Brigantia, perhaps a form of Brigit; Belisama (the Mersey in Ptolemy),⁴⁵¹ a goddess in Gaulish inscriptions. Others refer to the group goddesses, the Matres. Some gods are equated with Mars—Camulos, known also on the Continent and perhaps the same as Cumal, father of Fionn; Belatucadros, "comely in slaughter"; Cocidius, Corotiacus, Barrex, and Totatis (perhaps Lucan's Teutates). Others are equated with Apollo in his character as a god of healing—Anextiomarus, Grannos (at Musselburgh and in many continental inscriptions), Arvalus, Mogons, etc. Most of these and many others found on isolated inscriptions were probably local in character, though some, occurring also on the Continent, had attained a wider popularity.⁴⁵² But some of the inscriptions referring to the latter may be due to Gaulish soldiers quartered in Britain.

      COMPARATIVE TABLE OF DIVINITIES WITH SIMILAR NAMES IN IRELAND, BRITAIN, AND GAUL.

       Italics denote names found in Inscriptions.

IRELAND.	BRITAIN.	GAUL.
	Anextiomarus	Anextiomarus
Anu	Anna (?)	Anoniredi, "chariot of Anu"
Badb		Bodua
	Beli, Belinus	Belenos
	Belisama	Belisama
Brigit	Brigantia	Brigindu
Bron	Bran	Brennus (?)
Buanann		Buanu
Cumal	Camulos	Camulos
Danu	Dôn
	Epona	Epona
Goibniu	Govannon
	Grannos	Grannos
Ler	Llyr
Lug	Llew or Lleu (?)	Lugus, Lugores
	Mabon, Maponos	Maponos
Manannan	Manawyddan
	Matres	Matres
Mider		Medros (?)
	Modron	Matrona (?)
Nemon		Nemetona
Nét		Neton
Nuada	Nodons, Nudd
	Hael, Llûdd (?)
Ogma		Ogmíos
	Silvanus	Silvanus
	Taran	Taranis
	Totatis, Tutatis	Teutates

      

      CHAPTER VII.

      THE CÚCHULAINN CYCLE.

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