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The bear is also a significant animal and the name Art (bear) occurs in many Irish proper names. In Gaul there was Dea Artio, as well as a Dea Arduinna, shown seated on a wild bore, and an Artaios, claimed as a “Mercury” equivalent. Math is another form of bear, as in Mac Mathghamhna (son of the bear).
Fish, particularly salmon, are also mystical and repositories of wisdom and knowledge. Fionn Mac Cumhail eats of the Salmon of Knowledge and obtains wisdom.
Dogs, particularly hunting hounds, also feature as animals to be treated with respect, and shape-changing into dogs or hounds features in the sagas. Fion Mac Cumhail’s sister is so changed and gives birth to two hounds that always accompany Fionn.
Finally, magic or divine birds are also a popular Celtic motif. Characteristic is the shape-change into swans, the wondrous birds of the Otherworld assigned to Rhiannon and who correspond, it would seem, to the birds accompanying a Gaulish goddess of surviving carvings. It is, of course, the crow or raven that symbolises the triune goddess of death and battles.
[I] A son of Nemed. Loch Ennell, Co. Westmeath, is said to have burst from his grave when it was being dug. He is associated with Dún na Sciath (Fort of Shields), a stone circular fort still standing on the west bank of the loch.
[I] Son of Maga, a Connacht warrior who was slain by Conall Cearnach. Anluan was the brother of Cet. They went to battle against Ulster in the service of Ailill and Medb at the head of three thousand warriors. During the challenging for the hero’s portion in the story of Mac Da Thó’s boar, Conall, challenging Cet, produced the severed head of Anluan and threw it at him.
Annals of Wales. Latin text of the tenth century that refers to Arthur. It mentions that Arthur wore a cross on his shield at the battle of Mount Badon where he defeated the Anglo-Saxons, and refers to the battle of Camluan, where Arthur fell with Medraut (Mordred) in a.d. 537.
[W] See Annwn.
[W] A traditional name of the Cymric Otherworld. It is also referred to as Caer Feddwid, “Court of Intoxication,” where sparkling wine is the normal beverage. It is also Caer Siddi, a land where a fountain flows with sweet wine and where age and sickness are unknown. Among its treasures is a magic cauldron, featured in
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