OGmios, represented as an old man, bald-headed and with wrinkled and sun-burnt skin, yet possessing the attributes of Hercules — the lion's skin, the club, the bow, and a sheath hung from his shoulder. He draws a multitude by beautiful chains of gold and amber attached to their ears, and they follow him with joy. The other end of the chains is fixed to his tongue, and he turns to his captives a smiling countenance. A Gaul explained that the native god of eloquence was regarded as Hercules, because he had accomplished his feats through elo- quence; he was old, for speech shows itself best in old age; the chains indicated the bond between the orator's tongue and the ears of enraptured listeners." Lucian may have seen such a representation or heard of a Gaulish myth of this kind, and as we shall see, an Irish god Ogma, whose name is akin to that of Ogmios, was a divine warrior and a god of poetry and speech. Ogma is called griandinech ("sun-faced," or "shining-faced"), perhaps a par- allel to Lucian's description of the face of Ogmios. The head of Ogmios occurs on Gaulish coins, and from one of his eyes pro- ceeds a ray or nail. This has suggested a parallel with the Ulster hero Cuchulainn in his "distortion," when the Ion Idith (? "champion's light") projected from his forehead thick and long as a man's fist. Another curious parallel occurs in the Tain Bo Ciialnge^ or " Cattle-Spoil of Cualnge," where, among the Ulster forces, is a strong man with seven chains on his neck, and seven men dragged along at the end of each, so that their noses strike the ground, whereupon they reproach him. Is this a distorted reminiscence of the myth of Ogmios ? A British goddess Sul, equated with Minerva at Bath, is mentioned by Solinus (third century a. d.) as presiding over warm springs. In her temple perpetual fires burned and never grew old, for where the fire wasted away it turned into shining globes." The latter statement is travellers' gossip, but the "eternal fires" recall the sacred fire of St. Brigit at Kildare, tended by nineteen nuns in turn, a day at a time, and on the twentieth by the dead saint herself. The fire was tabu to males, who must not even breathe on it.^' This breath tabu in connexion with fire is found among Parsis, Brahmans, Slavs, in Japan, and formerly in Riigen. The saint succeeded to the myth or ritual of a goddess, the Irish Brigit, or the Brigindo or Brigantia of Gaulish and British inscriptions, who was like- wise equated with Minerva. A tabued grove near Marseilles is mythically described by Lucan, who wrote in the first century of our era, and doubtless his account is based on local legends. The trees of the grove were stained with the blood of sacrifices, and the hollow cav- erns were heard to roar at the movement of the earth; the yew trees bent down and rose again ; flames burned but did not consume the wood; dragons entwined surrounded the oaks. Hence people were afraid to approach the sacred grove, and the priest did not venture within its precincts at midnight or midday, lest the god should appear — " the destruction that wasteth at noonday

Nuada gave Lug his throne, 
and for a year the gods remained in council, 

consulting the wizards,

 leeches, and smiths.

 Mathgen the wizard announced 
that the mountains would aid them and that he would cast 
them on the Fomorians; the cup-bearer said that through his 
power the Fomorians would find no water in lough or river; 
Figol the Druid promised to rain showers of fire on the foe and 
to remove from them two-thirds of their might, while increase 
of strength would come to the Tuatha De Danann, who would 
not be weary if they fought seven years; Dagda said that he 
would do more than all the others together. For seven years 
weapons were prepared under the charge of Lug.^* 

At this point comes the episode of Dagda's assignation with 
the war-goddess Morrigan, who was washing in a river, one 
foot at Echumech in the north, the other at Loscuinn in the 
south. This enormous size is a token of divinity in Celtic 
myths, and the place where Dagda and Morrigan met was now 
known as "the couple's bed." She bade him summon the men 
of knowledge and to them she gave two handfuls of the blood 
of Indech's heart, of which she had deprived him, as well as 
valour from his kidneys. These men now chanted spells 
against the Fomorians — a practice invariably preceding 
battle among the Celts

 Another incident shows that the Celts, like other races, could 
recount irreverent stories about their gods. Dagda had been 
sent to spy out the Fomorians' camp and to ask a truce. Much 
porridge was made for him, boiled with goats, sheep, and 
swine, and the mess being poured into a hole in the ground, he 
was bidden to eat it under pain of death. Taking a ladle big 
enough for a man and woman to lie in, he began his meal and 
ate it all, after which sleep overcame him, and the Fomorians 
mocked his distended paunch. When he rose, uneasy was his 
movement, but he bravely bore his huge branched fork or club, 
dragging it till its track was like a boundary-ditch, so that men 
call that "the track of Dagda's club." 

An obscene story follows regarding his amour with 

Indech's daughter,

 who agreed 
to practise magic against her father's army

 I am a wind at sea, 
I am a wave of the sea, 
I am a roaring of the sea, 
I am an oz in strength, 
I am a bird of prey on a cliff, 
I am a ray of the sun, 
I am an intelligent navigator, 
I am a boar of fierceness, 
I am a lake on a plain, 
I am an effective artist, 
I am a giant 

with a sharp sword hewing down an army

I AM WHAT I AM 

I POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN..