Some names of saints in Welsh patrocinia and tradition point in this direction,
and in most striking ways. There is a danger in applying the same model to all
cases, however. One difficulty is not knowing how early deities' names (or
names indicative of divinity) became adapted into regular name-forms lacking
any 'religious' meaning. It appears to be happening by the seventh century. At
the same time, this is long before the process of Christianisation could be said
to be anywhere near complete (if it ever was). Indeed it may be that there was
an awareness of the pre-Christian origins of some of these names as late as the
twelfth century.
It's a problem (and a huge opportunity) which I touch on in 'Saints of Wales'
(Shameless plug! - but since it's being sold by subscription, my publisher will
probably call down blessings on anyone charitable enough to apply to him for
details. So, braving the ire of our esteemed Listowners, the address is: Dr
John Koch, Celtic Studies Publications, University of Wales Centre for Advanced
Welsh and Celtic Studies, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
SY23 3HH. John's e-Mail address is [log in to unmask]). I should add that I don't
get a cut, more's the pity ;-)
Graham
Dr Graham Jones
Stott Fellow, University of Wales
Lecturer-designate in English Topography, University of Leicester
[log in to unmask]
> > In a message dated 8/18/00 7:08:33 PM GMT
DaylightTime,[log in to unmask]>writes:> > > My impression is that deities
throughout Europe were frequently> > euhemerized or absorbed into the figures of saints.
>
> I think I may have already referred in this context to a very interesting
> paper by Daphne Brooke 'Saints and Goddesses: the interface with Celtic
> Paganism', Seventh Whithorn Lecture, 1998, published by the Friends of the
> Whithorn Trust (www.whithorn.com) in which she makes a good case for the
> identification of various saints 'Madrun', 'Medan', with the goddess Madrun,
> Modron (L. Matrona). The relevence for Whithorn is in the parish names
> Kirkmadrine and Kirkmaiden, found in _both_ the Rhins and the Machars of
> Galloway.
>
> Other candidates may be St Malo (my-_Lug_/_Lleu_ , a case of a god's name
> transferred hypocoristically to an early saint?) and St Nynia ('Ninian'). The
> latter, I believe, may have something to do with the cult of a sacred ash
> tree, and the supposed etymology of this saint's name does not tell us if
> they were masculine or feminine. There are probably many more. But the
> question should also be looked at from the point of view of personal names of
> well-attested individuals recorded c.300-700 AD in which names of
> pre-christian dieties were conserved.
>
> Henry
>
> visit the Scottish Place-Name Society website at
> http://www.st-and.ac.uk/institutes/sassi/spns/index.htm
>
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