| Page 56 | |
[I] Sometimes Caoilte, the thin man. A warrior of the Fianna and their foremost poet. He killed the god Lir in battle during the war between the gods.
[I] There are many Cairbres in Irish myth, ranging from the son of the god of eloquence and literature, Ogma, to the son of Cormac Mac Art who destroys the Fianna. Another Cairbre is Cairbre Caitcheann, or Cathead, so called because he has the ears of a cat. He was a usurper who ruled during a revolt against the Milesians.
[I] A son of Fionn Mac Cumhail killed by Goll Mac Morna.
[W] See Caliburn.
[W] October 31/November 1. Equivalent of Samhain.
[I] A druid sent by Medb to cast spells on Cúchulainn to incapacitate him during the Táin war. The Clan Calatin were obviously Fomorii, and it is recorded that there were twenty-seven sons and a grandson who studied in Alba for seventeen years. All members of the clan had a hand or foot missing, which is a typical Fomorii motif. Cúchulainn slew all the male members of the clan. The women also tried to entice him to fight them—they had the advantage of being able to change their shapes.
[W] The magic sword of Arthur, from the Welsh Caladfwlch, mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth. This seems to be cognate with Cladcholg, “hard dinter,” the sword of Fergus. The famous Excalibur is but a Latin corruption of these names.
Sometimes Camlann. The Annales Cambriae record that in a.d. 537–539 there occurred “The battle of Camluan in which Arthur and Modred were slain: and there was death in Britain and Ireland.”
British Celtic war god. Colchester in England was called Camulodunum, “the dun or fort of Camulos.” It is thought that the name was probably the basis for Arthur’s mythical capital, Camelot.
[W] “Of the Hundred Hands.” One of Arthur’s warriors who asked to accompany Culhwch in his quest for Olwen.
[I] Son of Gartnán, king of Alba, who was in exile in Ireland. Cred, a chieftain’s daughter, fell in love with him, but he refused to make love to her because it would breach the laws of hospitality. He did, however, love her and gave her a stone that he said contained his life. After his return to Alba he made an assignation with Cred, but this was frustrated by Cred’s jealous stepson, Colcu.
| |