Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/43

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lie was a champion, and he was king of Ireland after- wards. And 'tis he that was the Nuada Airgetldm C Silverhand ') of the sons of Mil.' ^ This remarkable statement presumably means that the Milesian king Irel was deemed an incarnation of the god Nuada.

Irel Faith was not the only king that bore the name of Nuada. Nuada Finnfail, 'of the White Wall,' is said to have reigned over Ireland in 962 B.C., nine centuries after the landing of Nuada Argat-lam.^ Nuada FuUon, 'the Beautiful,' was king of Leinster about 600 B.C.^ Nuada Necht was the last king of Ireland before the Christian era.* ' Old Nuada the Sage ' was king of Leinster in the seventh century A.D.^ The same name Nuada was borne by a whole series of distinguished persons, royal or druidical, in Irish legend. Nuada was a famous warrior of Ulster, M^hose shield hung in the Castle of Diverse Hues."^ Nuada was the chief druid of Cathair the Great, supreme king of Ireland in the second century A.D., and in that capacity built himself a castle at Almu in Leinster, covering it with alum {alamii) till it was white all over.'^ Nuada Deg-lamh,

^ Coir Anmann 79 in Stokes and Windisch Irische Texte iii. 326 f.

^O'Curry Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History p. 83. Rhys Hibbert Lectures p. 122 treats Nuada Finnfail as a doublet of Nuada Argat-lam, since in both cases a king called Nuada was succeeded by a king bearing the unusual name of Bres.

^O'Curry Manners and Customs of the Anciettt Irish ii. 204. Cp. C6ir Anmann 183 in Stokes and Windisch Ii-ische Texte iii. 366 f.

^ Joyce Social History of Ancient Ireland i. 68 f.

^ Id. ib. ii. 7, 96, 225. •'D'Arbois Vipopie celtique i. 10.

''Id. ib. i. 379 ft'. See further D'Arbois Introduction a litude de la litt^rature celtique Paris 1883 p. 196, id. La civilisation des Celtes et celle de Ptpopee homiriqtie Paris 1899 p. 106 f., Joyce Social History of Ancient Ireland i. 88, li. 63. Is the correspondence between the name of Nuada Finnfail and this action of Nuada the Druid merely accidental? Nuada Necht was said to be 'as white as snow' {supra p. 31 n. 6). Among the Gauls, the priest cutting mistletoe wore a white robe, the plant was caught in a white cloth, and the ceremony was accompanied by the sacrifice

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