Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/616

600 magicians of Erinn: they were, in fact, mere personifications of the evil powers of nature. Keating derives the name of the Gailióin from gái, 'a spear,' the ancient gaesum, and this etymology is the explanation of their name being rendered Viri Armorum in the Irish version of Nennius. Further, their fellow-foreigners the Laighin, whose existence seems entirely based on the name of Leinster, for Lagin-setr (in Irish Lagin or Laighin), had an appellation of similar meaning, as lagen meant a spear; but the coincidence which would make the same province successively bear two names referring equally to spears and spearmen of foreign origin is a little too much to pass; but Lagin, the genuine name, has probably been the means of fixing in connection with Leinster the other name Gailióin, which may be said to consist of an unfortunate contribution from the classics by an early pedant whose name is deservedly lost in oblivion.