In a message dated 07/10/1999 17:19:06 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
<< The choice of Anna makes me think of the goddess >>
I think this must be right. In the genealogies, Anna is given as the wife or
mother (mythological wife _and_ mother?) of Beli Mawr. I can't see any reason
for not thinking that this Beli can be identified with the Celtic deity
Belenos (Latinised as "Apollo Belinus" on Gallic inscriptions). There is also
an Annun, handmaiden of St Madrun - who Daphne Brooke thinks is probably to
be identified with Matrona, the great mother goddess ("Saints and Goddesses:
the Interface with Celtic Paganism", 7th Whithorn Lecture, Friends of the
Whithorn Trust, 1999). I could go on - but at the risk of another "golden
bough"!!
John Lewis, in "The History of Great Britain", c. 1600, quotes a genealogy
which makes Beli the son of An, daughter of Einyd, brother of Elizabeth
mother of John the Baptist and cousin of the Virgin Mary.
Thanks for making me re-think this very interesting area.
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