The Feast of Lug: Known in modern Ireland as Lugnasad, its date fixed at 1 August, it was originally widespread among Celts, honoring one of their greatest gods. Nobody today knows how the pagans set the times of their festivals, but we assume that a full moon was among the parameters. In the present case we spell the name “Lug” without a diacritical mark, as a suggestion that the pronounciation differed between Ireland and the Continent.
Artemon: A bowsprit sail, chiefly an aid to steering.
Ériu: Early Gaelic name of Ireland.
Manandan maqq Leri: A god associated with the sea, later known as Manannan mac Lir.
Maia: Bowness, on Solway Firth.
Dál Riata: The first important Scotic settlement in what is now Scotland, on the Argyll coast, an offshoot of a realm in Ulster with the same name. It may not have been in existence this early, but we follow the tradition that says it was.
Kilts: Until recent times the kilt was no mere skirt, but a great piece of wool that could cover most of the body and was often a poor man’s only garment.
Lúguvallium: Carlisle.
Emain Macha: The ancient seat of the supreme Ulster kings, near present-day Armagh.
Hunters Moon: We assume that, prior to Christianity and the Julian calendar, this set the date of Samain (or Samhain), the Celtic festival of the dead and turn of the year. It was later fixed at 1 November, but remained important in Ireland. Hallowe’en is a degenerate survival of Samain Eve.
The prayer of Corentinus: Not until about 800 A.D. are Christians known to have brought their hands together when praying, and the custom did not become common until about 1300. Early Christians, like pagans, raised their arms while standing, a gesture of supplication seen in many Egyptian tomb paintings.
Duke of the Armorican Tract: Roman commander of the defenses of the Peninsula, which was considered a military district rather than a province, politically belonging in Lugdunensis Tertia.
Corbilo: St. Nazaire. The exact year of the Saxon takeover is not known, but it was about the end of the fourth century.
Liger: The River Loire.
Laeti: Barbarians granted permission to settle in Roman lands on condition of providing defense forces. Increasingly often, such an agreement was mere face-saving on the part of the Romans, who were unable to keep the newcomers out.
The Roman campaign in Britain: Little is known about it except the dates, 396-398. A panegyric by one Claudian implies that Stilicho was personally in charge throughout, which he could not have been, and that he delivered the diocese from Scots, Picts, and Saxons, which at best was a very short-lived accomplishment. We propose that the effort met with even less success than that.
Africa: To the Romans, this meant what we call North Africa, exclusive of Egypt and Ethiopia. The rest of the continent was unknown to them.
African revolt: Led by one Gildo, this rebellion appears to have been instigated by Constantinople in hopes of outflanking the Western Empire; relations were increasingly strained. Stilicho suppressed it.
Diocese: A major administrative subdivision of the Empire.
Corentinus’s advice: It was by no means uncommon for Christian married couples to vow perpetual sexual abstinence, especially if they had lost a child or suffered some equal tragedy.
Prophetic dreams: The early Irish believed that one way to have these was to eat almost to the bursting point just before sleeping.
Cromb Cróche: Later known as Crom Cruach. See the notes to Gallicenae.
Aregésla: The “Givers of Hostages,” Niall’s earliest important conquests, who became loyal followers of him and his descendants. See the notes to Gallicenae.
The stockpen: Now known as the Dorsey, this is a great earthwork forming an enclosure within which little sign of habitation has been found, but which was obviously important—as not only its size but its name (meaning “the doors”) imply. Our suggestion is that besides being a strongpoint, it held livestock in times of crisis, to feed the army. In like manner, we have supposed Niall would bring some supplies with him, though of course this would not have been as well organized as a Roman baggage train.
Niall’s campaign: Even the Roman army was hampered by inadequate communications. Among the barbarians of Europe, war was generally a matter of mobs engaging in a series of brawls. However, a leader such as Niall, adding foreign experience to innate military genius, and taking advantage of the somewhat disciplined cadre comprising his household troops, could presumably impose a measure of order and direction on the rest of his followers.
The outer defenses of Emain Macha: What we have in mind is one of the two sets of earthworks now known as the Dane’s Cast, this being about four miles south of Armagh. Of course, we have had to guess as just what it was like in its heyday.
The fall of Emain Macha: Perhaps even more mystery and controversy surround this event than any other in early Irish history (or, rather, late Irish prehistory). Now called Navan Fort, the site is a mile and a half west of Armagh. Its impressiveness joins with tradition to leave no reasonable doubt that it was in fact the seat of power in Ulster and had been since before the time of Christ. Nor is there any doubt that it was overthrown, and that in the course of time the Uí Néill parceled most of Ulster out among themselves. Eventually the old northern rulers held only Counties Antrim and Down. The story that the Ulati themselves fired Emain Macha is ancient. But when and how did this first disaster come about? One account makes it the work of three brothers named Colla, before the time of Niall; another says it was due his three eldest sons, whenever they may have flourished, and (what is probable) that the three Collas are mere doublets of them, invented long afterward. Then some modern scholars argue that Emain Macha must still have been extant and important in the time of St. Patrick, and therefore fell victim to the Uí Néill proper, the grandsons or later descendants of Niall. Once again, we have had to make our own choices and suggestions.
Lúgnassat: Early Irish form of “Lúgnasad.”
Redonian: A person of the tribe of the Redones, inhabiting eastern and central Brittany—though the interior of the peninsula was very thinly populated.
Gess (later geas): A taboo, which could be inherited, go with a certain position, or be laid by one person on another. See the notes to Roma Mater.
Ruirthech: The River Liffey. It does not set the northern boundary of Leinster today, but we hypothesize that it did in the days when Mide (Meath) was coequal.
Ollam (or ollave): Of the highest standing in a profession regarded as learned or skilled.
Brithem (later brehon): A man empowered to hear disputes, give judgments, and, in a basically illiterate society, know just what the law was.
The number of the colors: How many colors might be displayed in garments depended on rank. A king could have up to seven. The various customs and rules such as this that we have attempted to show are, in general, attested for early Christian Ireland, so doubtless prevailed in late pagan times.
The Mórrigu (or Morrigan): The great goddess of war.
Éricc and honor price: Compensations for wrongdoing paid to injured parties. See the notes to Gallicenae.
Trumpets: Roman trumpets were, of course, different from modern ones. The principal types were the cornu, tuba, and buccina.
Events: Eochaid’s escape, the murder he committed, and Laidchenn’s satire are in the legends that have been written down, though naturally we have supplied nearly all the details. As for the motivation of Eochaid’s crime, hideous by the standards of his culture, he had been cruelly imprisoned for a long time; he was a desperate and starveling fugitive; his ambitions had been shattered. Among the ancient Irish, a king must be without visible blemish.
Ordovices, Demetae, Silures, Dumnonii: Tribes in western Britain. See the notes to Roma Mater.
Laidchenn’s satire: The Irish believed, well into the Christian period, that a satire (áer) composed by a poet who had the power not only brought disgrace, but could be physically destructive. In suggesting what this one may have been like, we again employ, as nearly as possible to us, a verse form of that country and era.
Imbolc: A festival set in Christian times at 1 February. Again we suppose the pagan original varied the date somewhat according to the moon.
Siuir: The River Suir. The different spellings indicate different pronunciations. Something is known about the language prior to Old Irish from ogamm (ogham) inscriptions and other clues.
Niall and Sadb: The early Irish appear to have had a great deal of sexual freedom. Women, married or no, could bestow their favors as readily as men, without it being thought in any way scandalous. In previous volumes we have mentioned the variety of marriage arrangements. This does not appear to have prevented intense love relationships. See, for example, the story of Derdriu (Deirdre) and Noisiu (Naoise) or Cú Culanni (Cuchulainn) and Emer.
Clepsydra: A kind of water clock.
Basilica: The building in a city devoted to governmental offices, law courts, etc.
Procurator: Like “prefect” (praefectus), this title had a rather wide range of meanings. Here it indicates the official in charge of fiscal and related matters, possessing considerable administrative powers.
Lugdunensis Tertia: A province, within the diocese of Gallia, embracing Brittany and some other parts of northwestern France. For lack of historical records, we have had to invent its governor and procurator.
The decree of Honorius: Paganism had been banned from time to time by previous Emperors, with limited success. However, each such attempt had its lasting effects, and Honorius’s of 399 may be regarded as completing the process. To be sure, it would take a long time yet before all the people in the Western Empire were converted.
Lake Nemi: Here the best-known King of the Wood held forth. Accounts of him inspired Sir James Frazer to those studies which produced The Golden Bough.
Aurochs: The European wild ox. It became extinct in the seventeenth century, but in the twentieth has been bred back out of domestic cattle with which its bloodlines had intermingled.
Audiarna: Audierne (hypothetical Latin original of the name).
Mag Mell: One of the paradises that Celtic mythology located afar in the western ocean.
Darioritum Venetorum: Vannes. As in many other instances, the tribal name in its genitive case was displacing the Roman one, to become ancestral to the modern name.
Audiarna on the River Goana: Audierne on the Goyen. Our reconstruction of the Latin names is hypothetical, as is our picture of the community, its garrison, its officiating clergyman, etc. However, we model all this on what was usual for minor provincial cities.
Francisca: A battle-ax intended to be thrown at the enemy, characteristic of the Frankish warrior’s equipment.
Redonia: The territory of the Redones.
Mediolanum: Milan. At this time it, not Rome, was the capital of the Western Empire—to which, however, “Rome” was still commonly applied.
Calends: The first day of a month. The Romans generally specified a date with respect to the calends, the nones, or the ides. The sixteenth day of every month was especially sacred in the Mithraic religion. Of course, people were using the Julian calendar.
Mithraic hymns: None survive. Our bit of reconstruction employs the versus popularis form, which was used for centuries in a number of legionary songs, sometimes at the triumph of a Caesar, as well as in civilian poetry.
The bull sacrifice: This is entirely conjectural. Nothing is known today about how such a rite was conducted, or even whether it still ever was by the end of the fourth century. We suggest it could have been, on extraordinary occasions, and that it amounted to a re-enactment of the scene so often depicted in religious art.
Epictetus: For this passage we employ the 1890 translation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
Venetic: The tribe of the Veneti inhabited the southern coast of Brittany and its hinterland, east of the Osismii.
The Place of the Old Ones: The area around Carnac. It is probable that the entire Gulf of Morbihan has been submerged by rising sea level within historic times.
Gratillonius’s actions: Readers may think that a sacral king who defied the religion that had been his raison d’etre would undermine or even destroy his own power. This is not necessarily true. For example, in 1819 Kamehameha II of Hawaii publicly broke ancient taboos, and thereafter ordered demolition of the pagan temples and cessation of rites. Nor did he decree any new faith; the country was almost a religious vacuum until Christian missionaries arrived in some numbers. Nevertheless the monarchy remained unquestioned until 1840, when Kamehameha III voluntarily handed down a constitution granting civil right to the people.
Roman authorities: An Imperial diocese was generally under the overall control of its vicarius. Above him was a praetorian prefect, who in this case had charge of Britain, Gaul, and Iberia.
Corentinus’s wish: At this time Christianity had not yet developed concepts of the afterlife as elaborate as those we find in Dante. Even on points of doctrine that had supposedly been settled, e.g., by the Council of Nicea, ideas kept springing up that were not instantly identifiable as heretical. Furthermore, comparatively few clergymen had much education in what theology there was, especially not those out on the fringes of civilization.
Rivelin’s medical practices: They were as good as anything known in the Roman world, except that we assume the Ysans had a more effective pharmacopoeia. Because of their long isolation, together with the conservatism of the medical profession and, now, the internal decay of the Empire, use of these materials had not spread through Europe.
Samain (now usually Samhain): We can only conjecture what the beliefs and customs of the pagan Irish were with respect to this most important time of their year—doubtless there was considerable variation from place to place—but our guesses do draw on what is known from later centuries. The word “Samain” (pronounced, approximately, “Saow-uwn” and signifying “End of Summer”) may date from then rather than from earlier. Its vigil was also known as Oiche Shamhna, “Hallowe’en,” and Oiche no Sprideanna, “Spirit Night,” but these names are Christian. Samain appears to have been the first day of the Celtic year or, rather, half-year. This timing, like that of Beltene, gives good reason to believe that the calendar was devised by and for a pastoral, not an agricultural people; and in fact, until well beyona the period of our story, the Irish were herders more than they were farmers. Our reconstruction of pagan beliefs and practices is based on what is recorded of the Christian, as well as mention of pre-Christian ones (e.g., the ceremonial sharpening of weapons) and, inevitably, guesses of our own.
Firi Bolg and Fomóri: In the legend, these were early inhabitants of Ireland; the Fomóri had a sinister repute. Such stories probably stemmed from vague tribal recollections of populations in the island before the Celts.
The cemetery at Teltown: Little or no trace survives, which has led some modern scholars to maintain that the tradition is wrong and the royal burials were actually elsewhere. However, if they were relatively modest in size—and the evidence is that they were—then it is reasonable to suppose that the agriculture of later centuries obliterated them, a process common enough throughout Europe.
Brug (now Brugh): On the Boyne, this is the site of remarkable neolithic tombs and other monuments, of which Newgrange is the most famous. Legend associates them with the Dedannans, the godlike race who held Ireland before the Milesians arrived and overthrew them.
Mongfind: Modern scholars generally take for granted that she is purely mythical, as witness the fact that she had a cult of some kind which emphasized rites at Samain. They suppose that her identity as a mortal queen and association with Niall are inventions of later storytellers. For our purposes, we have assumed that there is at least a core of truth in the legends. Niall’s elevation of her from revenant to demigoddess is, of course, entirely our idea.
The sacrifice: The sacrifice of horses does not seem to have been as central to the Celtic religions as it was to the Germanic, but it did sometimes occur, and a passage in Giraldus Cambrensis suggests that it may have had more importance in Ireland than in Britain or on the continent.
The vision: We have noted earlier that one ancient Irish method of seeking prophetic dreams was to overeat just before going to sleep.
Music: Although ancient writers agreed on the nature and use of the musical “modes,” they never described just what those were. We only know that they were not the same as the similarly named “modes” of plainsong, which were constructed on very different principles.
Slings: The sling, especially the staff sling, was a formidable weapon. Ranges of 200 yards or more are known. Europeans of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who encountered slings in such areas as the Near East and Madagascar considered them as dangerous as firearms of that time. Like the longbow in the Middle Ages, this weapon seems to have been limited in its military uses by the fact that training from boyhood on was required for real proficiency. Hence corps of slingers were recruited from regions where it was traditional.
Opium, etc: We have noted before that opium was used as an analgesic, in the form of an extract. Licorice was also known. Both being from the Mediterranean, they must have become scarce and costly in northern Europe as commerce declined. Willowbark yields a material akin to aspirin.
Birthday of Mithras: 25 December. The Christian Church had not yet settled on a date for the Nativity, but some congregations were observing this one, whether in imitation or because both religions drew on pervasive Near Eastern traditions. It does not accord well with Luke’s narrative. We might mention that the practice of counting years from the putative birth of Christ had not yet developed.
The lunar eclipse: For the date and hour of this, as well as for other astronomical information, we are indebted to Bing F. Quock of the Morrison Planetarium, San Francisco. He is not responsible for any mistakes we may have made in using it, such as in converting to the Julian calendar. Given modern knowledge and technology, prediction and postdiction of celestial events is fairly simple. The ancients were handicapped in several ways, including a shortage of data; only about half of all occurrences were ever visible to them, and surely bad weather hid many that might have been seen.
Germanic Sea: Roman name (Oceanus Germanicus) for the North Sea.
The foreign ship: Not much is known about Scandinavian shipbuilding prior to the viking era. We base this description primarily on two finds at Kvalsund, Norway, and a picture carved in a stone at Bro on Gotland (Sweden).
The Jews: Although they had long been widespread in the Mediterranean countries, few if any had yet reached northern Europe. Budic’s ignorance is also due to the fact that early Christians made only limited use of the Old Testament.
Germans in Britain: As mentioned in a previous note, there is reason to believe that some colonization had already begun.
Scandia (or Scania): Now the southernmost part of Sweden, this territory was Danish until 1658 and may well have been the aboriginal home of the Danes, that people who made themselves supreme in the islands and eventually Jutland, thereby giving their name to the entire country. In our time they had not yet done so.
Outlawry: Among the early Scandinavians, well into their Christian era a man whom the folkmoot found guilty of a serious offense was often condemned to outlawry—removal of any legal recourse for whatever somebody might do to him—for a specified time. If he could, he usually went abroad until the term was up.
Finnaithae: This Roman word presumably refers either to Finns or Lapps.
Anglic laeti: The Angli supplied many post-Roman migrants to Britain; the name “England” derives from them. Earlier they lived near the southern end of the Jutland peninsula.
Icenian coast: Along Norfolk and Suffolk.
Treverian: Member of a German tribe occupying the area around.
Suebian Sea (Mare Suebicum): Roman name of the Baltic Sea.
Danuvius: The River Danube.
Cenabum: Orleans. In the fifth century its name was changed to Aurelianum, whence comes the modern version.
Sequana: The River Seine.
Lutetia Parisiorum: Paris. At this time it was of minor importance.
Maedraeacum: Médréac, now a village not far from Rennes. Our reconstruction of the name is hypothetical. Where such communities have originated as latifundia, their names are often traceable to the names of the families who owned them, as recorded on Roman tax rolls. However, this one looks as if it has a more ancient origin, in the name of a Gallic god. Then in the course of generations, though the inhabitants were reduced to servitude under the Sicori, the traditional appellation persisted.
Comet: For details of what is known about the comet of 400 we are indebted to David Levy, discoverer of more than one. He is not responsible for any mistakes in our use of the information. The comet is recorded between 19 March and 10 April (Gregorian dates). Apart from the obvious fact that it was visible to the naked eye, we can only guess at its appearance. However, there is reason to think that large, bright comets were commoner in the past than they are now. Each passage close to the sun diminishes such a body. Occasionally new ones are perturbed into the inner regions of the Solar System, but this does not appear to have happened very often for a historically long time.
Wind and wave: Although hurricane-force winds are much less frequent along the coasts of northern Europe than in certain other parts of the world, they do sometimes occur. One may or may not have struck in the spring of 400; the records are silent. However, some meteorologists find reason to believe that weather was more stormy, on the average, than now. (Reference is to the Petterson theory of climatic cycles.) In any case, such an event is possible. Tide tables for the Audierne area indicate that, unless conditions have changed considerably, there was a spring high tide in the Baie des Tréspassés shortly before moonset on the night of 26-27 March (Gregorian dates). With such weather at its back, it could well have been disastrous.