As the mythological references made in a few poems may partially
obscure the meaning for those unacquainted with Celtic tradition, I
have appended here a brief commentary on the names mentioned.
_Angus_, the Celtic Eros. In the bardic stories he is described as a
tall, golden-haired youth playing on a harp and surrounded by singing
birds. The kisses of these birds created love and also brought death.
_Balor_, the prince of the dark powers. His eye turned every living
thing it rested on into stone. He was killed at the battle of Moytura
by Lugh the Sun-god.
_Dana_, the Hibernian mother of the gods who were named from her Tuatha
De Danaan, or the Tribes of the goddess Dana. They are also sometimes
called the Sidhe.
_Etain_, a Celtic goddess who is the subject of a famous story, "The
Wooing of Etain." She left the heaven world and became the wife of an
ancient Irish king.
_Lir_, the Oceanus of Celtic mythology. Probably the Great Deep or
original divinity from whom all sprang. His son Mananan MacLir was the
most spiritual divinity known to the ancient Gael. Lir is more
familiar as the father of the children who were changed into swans by
magic, and who lived for long ages on the waters around the Irish
coast. The story of the fate of the children of Lir was probably in
its earliest form a mythological account of the descent of the spirit
from the Heaven-world to the Earth and its final redemption.
_Lugh_, the great god of light who led the De Danaans at the battle of
Moytura, and who slew Balor of the Evil Eye by a cast from his sling.
He is a Celtic Hermes or Apollo.
_Fomor_, the dark powers who were opposed to the hosts of light, the
Tuatha De Danaan. They enslaved the latter for a time until the De
Danaans rose, led by Lugh the Sun-god, and defeated the Fomors in the
battle of Moytura.
_Silver Hand_. Nuada, one of the Danaan divinities, is called Nuada of
the Silver Hand.
_Hound of Ulla_. Cuculain, the great champion of the Red Branch cycle
of tales.
_Sacred Hazel_, the Celtic tree of life. It grew over Connla's Well,
and the fruit which fell from it were the Nuts of Knowledge which give
wisdom and inspiration. Connla's Well is a Celtic equivalent of the
First Fountain of mysticism. As an old story states, "The folk of many
arts have all drunk from that fountain."
"_The three great waves_" are "the wave of Toth, the wave of Rury, and
the long, slow, white-foaming wave of Cluna." In the bardic stories
these three mystical waves shout round the coast of Ireland in
recognition of great kings and heroes.
"_The Feast of Age_," the druidic form of the mysteries. It was
instituted by Mananan MacLir, and whoever partook of the feast became
immortal.