Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/195

Rh of the Celtic folk. With neither is it a region of the dead, nor in any sense associated with torment or penance. This is true also of later folk-stories of the Green Isle, now seen beneath, now above, the waters. Its people are deathless, skilled in magic; its waters restore life and health to mortals; there magic apples grow; and thither mortals are lured or wander by chance.$23$ The same conception is still found in a late story told of Dunlang O'Hartigan, who fought at Clontarf in 1014. A fairy woman offered him two hundred years of life and joy—"life without death, without cold, without thirst, without hunger, without decay"—if he would put off combat for a day; but he preferred death in battle to dishonour, and "foremost fighting, fell."$24$

The parallel between Celtic and early Greek conceptions of Elysium$25$ is wonderfully close. Both are open to favoured human beings, who are thus made immortal without death; both are exquisitely beautiful, but sensuous and unmoral. In both are found islands ruled by goddesses who sometimes love mortals; both are oversea, while a parallel to the síd Elysium underground may be found in the later Greek tradition of Elysium as a region of Hades, which may have had roots in an earlier period.$26$ The main difference is the occasional Celtic view of Elysium as a place where gods are at war. This may be due to warrior aspects of Celtic life, while the more peaceful conception reflects settled, agricultural life; although Norse influences have sometimes been suggested as originating the former.$27$