some of the runnoff might, however, retain the holy quality of the
spring, as happens in one of bishop Gudmundr's miracles.
Meg
> Ingegerd:
> In Irish sources, there seems to be no distinction at all between spring
> and well. After all, they mean essentially the same thing--the place where
> water springs out, or wells out. And I think the distinction between
> spring and stream is that the spring is the potentially holy spot--the
> place where the water springs (or wells) out of the earth--and the stream
> is run-off, but not holy.
> Phyllis
> >I have been most intrigued to see the discussion sparked off by my, as I
> >thought, simple query about this subject! Thanks to all!
> >Let me just add a couple of questions about terminology:
> >Is there, and was there, a definite distinction between spring and well,
> >i.e. is the one natural and the other man-made?
> >And can a spring also be a stream?
> >As so often when reading tales of mythology, I am left with a feeling that
> >despite the use of different terms, we ought perhaps to think in terms of
> >something more general, like 'water source' in this case.
> >There also seems to be an assumption that holy wells and springs should
> >contain drinkable water only, or?
> >
> >Dr. Ingegerd Holand
> >e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> Phyllis G. Jestice
> [log in to unmask]
Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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