Note 197 — XI IRISH MARVELS WHICH HAVE MIRACULOUS ORIGINS

Gelt (gjalti) is evidently a Celtic loanword, a form of the Irish geilt, meaning mad or madman. Cf. the Adventures of Suibhne Geilt, translated by J. G. O’Keefe. Suibhne was an Irish king who lost his reason in battle and for years afterwards led a wild life in the woods. O’Keefe thinks that the author of the King’s Mirror must have heard the tale of Suibhne (pp. xxxiv-xxxv). See also Ériu, IV, 12.