Chapter XIV
Reading edition
ANIMAL WORSHIP.
Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of divinities. The older cult had been connected with the pastoral stage in which the animals were divine, or with the agricultural stage in which they represented the corn-spirit, and perhaps with totemism. We shall study here (1) traces of the older animal cults; (2) the transformation of animal gods into symbols; and (3) traces of totemism.
1.
In all these instances of animal cults examples of the tendency to make the divine animal anthropomorphic have been seen. We have now to consider some instances of the complete anthropomorphic process.
2.
Perhaps the goddess Damona was an animal divinity, if her name is derived from damatos, "sheep," cognate to Welsh dafad, "sheep," and Gaelic damh, "ox." Other divine animals, as has been seen, were associated with the waters, and the use of beasts and birds in divination doubtless points to their divine character. A cult of bird-gods may lurk behind the divine name Bran, "raven," and the reference to the magic birds of Rhiannon in the Triads.
3.
Animal worship is connected with totemism, and certain things point to its existence among the Celts, or to the existence of conditions out of which totemism was elsewhere developed. These are descent from animals, animal tabus, the sacramental eating of an animal, and exogamy.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Footnote 696: (return) Reinach, BF 66, 244. The bull and three cranes may be a rebus on the name of the bull, Tarvos Trikarenos, "the three-Note 2 · Footnote 697: (return) Plutarch, Marius, 23; Cæsar, vii. 65; D'Arbois, Les Celtes, 49.Note 3 · Footnote 698: (return) Holder, s.v. Tarba, Tarouanna, Tarvisium, etc.; D'Arbois, Les Druides, 155; S. Greg. In Glor. Conf. 48.Note 4 · Footnote 699: (return) CIL xiii. 6017; RC xxv. 47; Holder, ii. 528.Note 5 · Footnote 700: (return) Leahy, ii. 105 f.; Curtin, MFI 264, 318; Joyce, PN i. 174; Rees, 453. Cf. Ailred, Life of S. Ninian, c. 8.Note 6 · Footnote 701: (return) Jocelyn, Vita S. Kentig. c. 24; Rees, 293, 323.Note 7 · Footnote 702: (return) Tacitus, Germ. xlv.; Blanchet, i. 162, 165; Reinach, BF 255 f., CMR i. 168; Bertrand, Arch. Celt. 419.Note 8 · Footnote 703: (return) Pennant, Tour in Scotland, 268; Reinach, RC xxii. 158, CMR i. 67.Note 9 · Footnote 704: (return) Pausan, vii. 17, 18; Johnson, Journey, 136.Note 10 · Footnote 705: (return) Joyce, SH ii. 127; IT i. 99, 256 (Bricriu's feast and the tale of Macdatho's swine).Note 11 · Footnote 706: (return) Strabo, iv. 4. 3, says these swine attacked strangers. Varro, de Re Rustica, ii. 4, admires their vast size. Cf. PolyNote 12 · Footnote 707: (return) The hunt is first mentioned in Nennius, c. 79, and then appears as a full-blown folk-tale in Kulhwych, Loth, i. 185 fNote 13 · Footnote 708: (return) I have already suggested, p. 106, supra, that the places where Gwydion halted with the swine of Elysium were sites ofNote 14 · Footnote 709: (return) RC xiii. 451. Cf. also TOS vi. "The Enchanted Pigs of Oengus," and Campbell, LF 53.Note 15 · Footnote 710: (return) L'Anthropologie, vi. 584; Greenwell, British Barrows, 274, 283, 454; Arch. Rev. ii. 120.Note 16 · Footnote 711: (return) Rev. Arch. 1897, 313.Note 17 · Footnote 712: (return) Reinach, "Zagreus le serpent cornu," Rev. Arch. xxxv. 210.Note 18 · Footnote 713: (return) Reinach, BF 185; Bertrand, 316.Note 19 · Footnote 714: (return) "Cúchulainn's Sick-bed," D'Arbois, v. 202.Note 20 · Footnote 715: (return) See Reinach, CMR i. 57.Note 21 · Footnote 716: (return) CIL xiii. 5160, xii. 2199. Rh[^y]s, however, derives Artaios from ar, "ploughed land," and equates the god with MercuNote 22 · Footnote 717: (return) CIL xii. 1556-1558; D'Arbois, RC x. 165.Note 23 · Footnote 718: (return) For all these place and personal names, see Holder and D'Arbois, op. cit. Les Celtes, 47 f., Les Druides, 157 f.Note 24 · Footnote 719: (return) See p. 32, supra; Reinach, CMR i. 72, Rev. Arch. ii. 123.Note 25 · Footnote 720: (return) O'Grady, ii. 123.Note 26 · Footnote 721: (return) Epona is fully discussed by Reinach in his Epona, 1895, and in articles (illustrated) in Rev. Arch. vols. 26, 33, 35,Note 27 · Footnote 722: (return) Reinach suggests that this may explain why Vercingetorix, in view of siege by the Romans, sent away his horses. They Note 28 · Footnote 723: (return) Juvenal, viii. 154; Apul. Metam. iii. 27; Min. Felix, Octav. xxvii. 7.Note 29 · Footnote 724: (return) For the inscriptions, see Holder, s.v. "Epona."Note 30 · Footnote 725: (return) CIL iii. 7904.Note 31 · Footnote 726: (return) CIL xiii. 3071; Reinach, BF 253, CMR i. 64, Répert. de la Stat. ii. 745; Holder, ii. 651-652.Note 32 · Footnote 727: (return) Granger, Worship of the Romans, 113; Kennedy, 135.Note 33 · Footnote 728: (return) Grimm, Teut. Myth. 49, 619, 657, 661-664.Note 34 · Footnote 729: (return) Frazer, Golden Bough2, ii. 281, 315.Note 35 · Footnote 730: (return) Cæsar, v. 21, 27. Possibly the Dea Bibracte of the Aeduans was a beaver goddess.Note 36 · Footnote 731: (return) O'Curry, MC ii. 207; Elton, 298.Note 37 · Footnote 732: (return) Girald. Cambr. Top. Hib. ii. 19, RC ii. 202; Folk-Lore, v. 310; IT iii. 376.Note 38 · Footnote 733: (return) O'Grady, ii. 286, 538; Campbell, The Fians, 78; Thiers, Traité des Superstitions, ii. 86.Note 39 · Footnote 734: (return) Lady Guest, ii. 409 f.Note 40 · Footnote 735: (return) Blanchet, i. 166, 295, 326, 390.Note 41 · Footnote 736: (return) See p. 209, supra.Note 42 · Footnote 737: (return) Diod. Sic. v. 30; IT iii. 385; RC xxvi. 139; Rh[^y]s, HL 593.Note 43 · Footnote 738: (return) Man. Hist. Brit. p. x.Note 44 · Footnote 739: (return) Herodian, iii. 14, 8; Duald MacFirbis in Irish Nennius, p. vii; Cæsar, v. 10; ZCP iii. 331.Note 45 · Footnote 740: (return) See Reinach, "Les Carnassiers androphages dans l'art gallo-romain," CMR i. 279.Note 46 · Footnote 741: (return) See Holder, s.v.Note 47 · Footnote 742: (return) Rh[^y]s, CB4 267.Note 48 · Footnote 743: (return) Cæsar, v. 12.Note 49 · Footnote 744: (return) Dio Cassius, lxii. 2.Note 50 · Footnote 745: (return) See a valuable paper by N.W. Thomas, "Survivance du Culte des Animaux dans le Pays de Galles," in Rev. de l'Hist. desNote 51 · Footnote 746: (return) Gomme, Ethnol. in Folklore, 30, Village Community, 113.Note 52 · Footnote 747: (return) Dio Cass. lxxii. 21; Logan, Scottish Gael, ii. 12.Note 53 · Footnote 748: (return) Joyce, SH ii. 529; Martin, 71.Note 54 · Footnote 749: (return) RC xxii. 20, 24, 390-1.Note 55 · Footnote 750: (return) IT iii. 385.Note 56 · Footnote 751: (return) Waldron, Isle of Man, 49; Train, Account of the Isle of Man, ii. 124.Note 57 · Footnote 752: (return) Vallancey, Coll. de Reb. Hib. iv. No. 13; Clément, Fétes, 466. For English customs, see Henderson, Folklore of the NoNote 58 · Footnote 753: (return) Frazer, Golden Bough2, ii. 380, 441, 446.Note 59 · Footnote 754: (return) For other Welsh instances of the danger of killing certain birds, see Thomas, op. cit. xxxviii. 306.Note 60 · Footnote 755: (return) Frazer, Kingship, 261; Stokes, RC xvi. 418; Larminie, Myths and Folk-tales, 327.Note 61 · Footnote 756: (return) See Rh[^y]s, Welsh People, 44; Livy, v. 34.Note 62 · Footnote 757: (return) Cf. IT iii. 407, 409.Note 63 · Footnote 758: (return) Cæsar, v. 14.Note 64 · Footnote 759: (return) Strabo, iv. 5. 4.Note 65 · Footnote 760: (return) Dio Cass. lxxvi. 12; Jerome, Adv. Jovin. ii. 7. Giraldus has much to say of incest in Wales, probably actual breachesNote 66 · Footnote 761: (return) RC xii. 235, 238, xv. 291, xvi. 149; LL 23a, 124b. In various Irish texts a child is said to have three fathers—probaNote 67 · Footnote 762: (return) IT i. 136; Loth, i. 134 f.; Rh[^y]s, HL 308.Note 68 · Footnote 763: (return) Zimmer, "Matriarchy among the Picts," in Henderson, Leadbhar nan Gleann.Note 69 · Footnote 764: (return) See p. 259, infra.Note 70 · Footnote 765: (return) See p. 274, infra.Note 71 · The presence of a bull with three cranes (Tarvos Trigaranos) on the Paris altar, along with the gods Esus, Juppiter, and Vulcan, suggests thNote 72 · A cult of a swine-god Moccus has been referred to. The boar was a divine symbol on standards, coins, and altars, and many bronze images of tNote 73 · The divinity of the serpent is proved by the occurrence of a horned serpent with twelve Roman gods on a Gallo-Roman altar.711 In other casesNote 74 · An old bear cult gave place to the cult of a bear goddess and probably of a god. At Berne—an old Celtic place-name meaning "bear"—was found Note 75 · Similarly a cult of the stag seems to have given place to that of a god with stag's horns, represented on many bas-reliefs, and probably conNote 76 · The horse had also been worshipped, but a goddess Epona (Gaul. epo-s, "horse"), protectress of horses and asses, took its place, and had a fNote 77 · A statuette of a horse, with a dedication to a god Rudiobus, otherwise unknown, may have been carried processionally, while a mule has a dedNote 78 · (1) Descent from animals.—Celtic names implying descent from animals or plants are of two classes, clan and personal names. If the latter arNote 79 · It is not impossible that an early wolf-totem may have been associated, because of the animal's nocturnal wanderings in forests, with the unNote 80 · In many individual names the first part is the name of an animal or plant, the second is usually genos, "born from," or "son of," e.g. ArtigNote 81 · (2) Animal tabus.—Besides the dislike of swine's flesh already noted among certain Celtic groups, the killing and eating of the hare, hen, aNote 82 · (3) Sacramental eating of an animal.—The custom of "hunting the wren," found over the whole Celtic area, is connected with animal worship anNote 83 · (4) Exogamy.—Exogamy and the counting of descent through the mother are closely connected with totemism, and some traces of both are found aNote 84 · In these cases incest with a mother cannot be explained by totemic usage, but the cases may be distorted reminiscences of what might occur uNote 85 · Celtic animal worship dates back to the primitive hunting and pastoral period, when men worshipped the animals which they hunted or reared.