Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/469

 The European Sky-God. 453

far wrong in supposing that Diarmuid himself was at once human and divine, a king believed to be the consort of Grainne, the sun-goddess, and as such installed as defender of Grainne's tree.

Again, we may recognise a certain Scandinavian element in these tales. Cod was the eldest son of the King of Norway ; and we shall find that some features of his story are best paralleled by incidents recorded in old Norse mythology.^ Searbhan too bore the epithet Lochlannach Now LocJilann denotes ' of Norway,' ^ and appears as the modern name Lachlan, which means ' Norwegian.' ^ It is therefore interesting to find that the badge of the Clann McLachlan is the rowan-tree,^ the very tree guarded by Searbhan Lochlannach.

Arthur Bernard Cook.

(To be concluded in our next.)

who was a thunder-god, the word Hermes or diermes meaning ' thunder ' (see J. A. Friis Lexicon Lapponicum Christianiae 1887 pp. 130 s.v. 'Diermes,' 725 s.v. 'Tiermes'). Dr. Whitley Stokes, in answer to a query from me, kindly sends the following note (dated Aug. 24, 1906) : ' Diarmait. The oldest O. Ir. form may have been * Diormit, as we see from the latinised Diormitius, Thes. pal.-hib. II. xxii. 275, 278, 281. This suggests diformenti- cf. format} In the later Diarmit, Dermait, ia, i supplants io-. Di{f)ormit ' one without envy ' ? ? ?, a Greek "A<p9ovoi, if there was such a name.' This would establish an interesting analogy betweent Diarmait and Nudos Liberalis.

^ I must reserve my evidence on this point for another occasion.

'^Dr. Whitley Stokes in Stokes and Windisch Irische Texte iv. 370.

^ A. MacBain An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language p. 362 s.v. 'Lachlan': 'probably from Lochlanti, Scandinavia, possibly commencing as Mac-Lochlainne, a Scandinavian ("son of L.").'


 * J. Cameron Gaelic Names of Plants p. 24.