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The Valkyries and the Irish War-GoddessesAuthor(s): Charles DonahueSource: PMLA, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 1941), pp. 1-12Published by: Modern Language AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/458935.

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PMLPVBLICATIONS-OF

THE-MODERN-LANGVAGE-ASSOCIATION-OF-AMERICAIssued QuarterlyVOLUMELVI MARCH, 1941 NUMBER

ITHE VALKYRIES AND THE IRISH WAR-GODDESSES

IN an appendix to the first and most complete study of the Irish war-goddesses, C. Lottner called attention to their resemblance to the val-kyries and pointed particularly to the following apparent similarities:(1) The valkyries, ike the war-goddesses, ppearaloneor in groupsof three.(2) Like the war-goddesses,hey are oftencompanions f singleheroes.(3) Like the war-goddesses,hey appear n the form of birds.(4) The Germanic ognateof IrishBodb,a war-goddess,he Cathuboduaf acontinentalnscription, ppearsn Baduhenna, he nameof a Germanic oddessmentionedby Tacitus.

Lottner concluded that these similarities must have been caused by inter-change of ideas between the Celts and Germanic peoples on the Conti-nent.'In the light of research since Lottner's time, his conclusion is not initself unlikely. Comparative study of the Celtic and Germanic vocabu-laries has shown that, during their contact on the Continent, the Celtsand Germanic peoples very probably influenced each other in politics,poetry, and religion;2but the details by which Lottner supported hishypothesis are not satisfactory. Except for his observation on GermanicBadu-, Lottner considered similarities only between Irish and Scandi-navian. Such similarities, as later researchhas shown, might be attributed

1 C. Lottner,RevueCeltique, (1870),55-57, an appendix o W. M. Hennessy'sarticle,The Ancient Irish Goddessesof War, ibid., pp. 32-55. The traditional erm war-goddesses s retainedhereas the name of a classof beings appearingn Irishliteraturewhosenature he followingremarkswillperhapshelpto clarify. War-witches r war-demons wouldbe equallyappropriate ames,but therecanbe no objection o the useofthe traditional ermas longas it is understoodhat nothingregardinghe natureof thebeingsso named s implied.2 The materialhas beenmostcompletely ollectedby G. S. Lane, TheGermano-CelticVocabulary, Language,x (1933),244-264.The culturalsignificance f the vocabularyhas been recentlydiscussedby C. S. Elston in TheEarliestRelationsbetweenCeltsandGermansLondon,1934).Elston admitsmutualinfluencebut denies historical ustifica-tion for the assumption hat the Celts ever dominated he Germans p. 186). Moststudents of the subject,however,are inclinedto believethat the evidencepointsto somesortof Celticsupremacy ndevenJ. Pokorny,whois not an adherent f theextremeCeltic

1

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2 The Valkyries and Irish War-Goddessesto the later contact between the Vikings and the Irish rather than to theearlier Celto-Germaniccontact on the Continent.3

More recent investigators have, consequently, either ignored or re-jected Lottner's theory. Schullerus,4Neckel,5 and Krappe6 say nothingabout the Celtic question in their extensive treatments of the valkyries.Golther,7the first to make clearly the important distinction between theScandinavian valkyries and the earlier valkyries of the English and thecontinental Germans,8is willing to admit that certain traits of the val-kyries in the Helgi-poems may be due to Irish influence on the Vikings,9but rejects the notion that the continental and English valkyries owedanything to the Celts. He mentions the Greek KipEsand the Irish war-goddesses, and notices that the idisi of the Merseburg Charm seem toschool, accuses Elston of mishandling the evidence in a severe review, ZfcPh, xx (1936),526-527. cf. also M. L. Sjoestedt's review, Revue Celtique,LI (1934), 305-309. For otherpoints of view on the question v. H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, Les Premiers Habitants del'Europe (Paris, 1889), II, 336-339; 0. Bremer, Ethnographie der germanischen Stamme,in Pauls Grundriss2(Strassburg, 1900), III, 797-789; R. Much, Deutsche Stammeskunde(Berlin and Leipzig, 1928), pp. 197-202.8Viking influence on the Irish was first studied by H. Zimmer in Keltische Beitrige,ZfdA, xxxII (1888), 195-334; xxxIII (1889), 129-220; xxxv (1891), 1-172. A pioneer inthe field, Zimmer, it is now generally recognized, overstated his case. K. Meyer, Nordisch-Irisches, Berliner Sitzungsberichte 1918), pp. 1030, 1042-47, while he accepts Zimmer'schief conclusion that there was extensive Viking influence in Ireland, warns against his the-ory of the Scandinavian origin of the Finn cycle and his interpretation of Ferdiad. A criticaltreatment of the Scandinavian loan-words in Irish is offered by C. J. S. Marstrander,Bidrag til det norske Sprogs Historie i Irland (Kristiania, 1915). For a recent study ofreminiscences of the Vikings among Celtic peoples v. R. Th. Christiansen, The Vikings andthe Viking Wars in Irish and Gaelic Tradition (Oslo, 1931). S. Bugge initiated the study ofIrish influence on the Scandinavians. v. his Studier over de nordiske Gude- og HeltesagnsOprindelse,F0rste Raekke (Christiania, 1881-1889); Bidrag til den ?ldste SkaldedigtningsHistorie (Christiania, 1894); Helge-Digtene (Kjobenhavn, 1896); Norsk Sagaskrivning ogSagafortelling i Irland (Kristiania, 1908). S. Bugge's work was continued by A. Bugge;v. e.g. his Vesterlandenes ndflydelse paa Nordboernesog saerligNordmcandenes dre Kultur,Levescet,og Samfundsforhold Vikingetiden (Christiania, 1905); Entstehung und Glaub-wiirdigkeit der islandischen Saga, ZfdA, LI (1909), 25-38; Norges Historie, I2, (Kristiania,1910), pp. 298-303. In a thorough study, Tors Fard till Utgard, Danske Studier (1910),pp. 65-105, 145-182, C. W. von Sydow has demonstrated the Irish origin of an Icelandicmyth. v. also the recent studies of A. H. Krappe, L'Origine irlandaise d'un Episodede la Halfs Saga, Revue Celtique,XLVII 1930), 401-405, and of F. Mosse, Sur le Nomd'Homme 'Ketill', RevueCeltique,L (1933), 248-253.4 A. Schullerus, Zur Kritik des altnordischen Valhollglaubens, PBB, xii, 221-282.5 G. Neckel, Walhall, Studien iiber germanischenJenseitsglauben (Dortmund, 1913).

6 A. H. Krappe, The Valkyries, MLR, xxi (1926), 55-73.7 W. Golther Studien zur germanischen Sagengeschichte. i Der Valkyrjenmythus,Munchener Abhandlungen,philosophisch-philologischeClasse, xviii (1890), 399-438.8 Op. cit., p. 402. cf. the insistence of J. de Vries on a sharp distinction between Scandi-navian and southern material, AltgermanischeReligionsgeschichte, (Berlin and Leipzig,1935), Vorwort. 9Op. cit., p. 423.


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Charles Donahueresemble them, but adds that such figures are common among the Indo-European peoples and that there is no doubt of their independent ori-gin and development.'0 In the most recent treatment of the subject,de Vries remarks that the earlier valkyries were like the Kipes and theIrish war-goddesses, but does not express any opinion on the signifi-cance of the resemblance. Much mentions the Cathubodua inscriptionin connection with Baduhenna and the BgQvildrof the Vqlundarkvii ,l2but otherwise Lottner's opinion has not been seriously considered instudies of the valkyries. Perhaps a re-examination of the question, in thelight of developments since Lottner's time and with a much stricter con-trol over the dating of both the Germanicand Celtic material,13may serveto call the attention of future students of the valkyries to the Irishmaterial and the problems which it raises.The scanty available evidence indicates that the English and the con-tinental Germanic tribes knew of female battle-demons whose name andfunctions connect them with the more poetical Viking valkyries. In OldEnglish, the word wcelcyrge,the exact equivalent of Old Icelandicvalkyrja, seems to have been applied to female demons who were con-nected with war and viewed with sensations of horror.l4The word is usedto gloss Erinyes,'5 Tisiphone,l6 Allecto,'7 and Bellona.18Wright, by atextual emendation, makes the word translate Parcae also.'9 We neednot accept Wright's emendation, however, to conclude that the OldEnglish valkyries had something to do with the fates of men. The namemeans choosers of the slain, i.e. those who picked the men who were tofall on the battlefield.20In Scandinavian literature, the valkyries seem to be associated withloOp.cit.,p. 404.11AltgermanischeReligionsgeschichte, I (Berlin and Leipzig, 1937), p. 384. J. Grimm,Deutsche Mythologie iv (Berlin, 1876), p. 354, noticed the similarity between the icKpesand the valkyries. The Chadwicks, The Growthof Literature(Cambridge, 1932), pp. 207,641-642, were also struck by the resemblance between the war-goddesses and the valkyries.

12 R. Much, Der germanische Himmelsgott, Festgabe Heinzel (Halle, 1898), p. 247;cf. also DeutscheStammeskunde,p. 45.

13A similar method has been used by W. Krause in his study, Die Kenning als typischeStilfigur der germanischenund keltischenDichtersprache (Halle, 1930). Krause shows thatthe kenning as we find it in Germanic is to be found elsewhere only in Celtic. True kenningsare found in early runic inscriptions where there can be no question of Irish influence. Con-sequently the kenning in Celtic and Germanic must have originated when the two peopleswere in contact on the continent.

14 For a collection of the Old English material v. R. Jente, Die mythologischen Aus-drticke im altenglischen Wortschatz, Anglistische Forschungen,LVI 1921), p. 209.16T. Wright, Anglo-Saxonand OldEnglish Vocabularies.Second edition by R. P. Wiilcker(London, 1884), 19.44, 25.27, 417.12.16Idem. 50.40, 189.11. 17 Idem, 347.32, 533.26. 18Idem, 360.3,527.17.19Idem, 189.12, and note. Wiilcker, ibid., rejects the suggestion.20 Neckel, op. cit., pp. 5-6.

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The Valkyries and Irish War-Goddessesbirds of prey.2' This association is so reminiscent of the Irish war-goddesses that one might be tempted to consider it a later borrowing.In the Old English Exodus, however, a raven, hovering in anticipationover an army, is described as wcelceasiga, the slain-choosing one. 22Itis not unlikely, therefore, that a connection with birds of prey was char-acteristic of the common Germanicvalkyries.The word wcelcyrge ccurs twice in Wulfstan, both times in connectionwith the word wicca, wizard.23Wulfstan seems to have had in mind notfemale divinities but human beings with supernatural powers. Wiccanand wcelcyrjanare those who do the devil's work.24The human valkyries,like their superhuman sisters, were apparently regarded with horror.Nowhere in the south is there any definite indication that the valkyrieshad prophetic powers such as they seem to have had occasionally inScandinavian literature. But, like their Scandinavian descendants, theGermanic valkyries were choosers of the slain. The notion of fatality isso closely connected with the notion of prophecy that separate Irishinfluence need not be assumed to account for the prophetic powers ofthe Scandinavian valkyries. In the DarraYarlj6oa group of valkyriesweaving the fate of the leaders in the battle of Clontarf are both be-stowers of fate and prophetesses.25No cognate of Old English wcelcyrges found in the continental Ger-manic languages, but the Old High German Merseburg Charm tells ofnoble ladies (idisi) who bound fetters and hindered the army. 28In the Grimnismdla valkyrie called Herfj2tur is mentioned.7 The wordmeans literally army-fetter, war-fetter. 28Asa common noun it meansa terrifying weakness that comes over the warrior,hindering his abilityand presaging his death.29This weakness was apparently thought of asthe work of the valkyrie. The noble ladies of the Germanic charm seemto correspondto the Scandinavian valkyries.30The continental Germans

21 v. Neckel, op. cit., p. 79. One might add that J6rbjQrnHornklofi in his HaraldskvaSipresents a valkyrie in conversation with a raven. For the poem v. F. Jonsson, Den norsk-islandske Skjaldedigtning(Kobenhavn og Kristinia, 1912-1915), IB, 22-25.

22 Exodus, 1.164, ed. G. P. Krapp, The Junius Manuscript (New York, 1931). Cf. Neckel,op. cit., p. 78; Golther, op. cit., p. 415.

23 A. S. Napier, Wulfstan (Berlin, 1883), pp. 165, note, and 298.24 Idem., p. 298. 26Edited by J. Jonsson, Skjaldedigtning, IB, 389-391.26 W. Braune, AlthochdeutschesLesebuch(Halle /S., 1875), p. 83.27 Grimnismdl,36.5, ed. G. Neckel in Edda (Heidelberg, 1927).28 F. Jonsson, Lexicon Poeticum (K0benhavn, 1931), s.v.29 Passages illustrating this meaning are cited by K. Maurer in Die Valkyrjen Hlokkund Herfj6tr, ZfdM, ii (1885), 341-343. v. also G. Neckel, op. cit., p. 75.30 Jacob Grimm first connected the name HerfjQturwith the Merseburg Charm. v. hisDeutscheMythologieIv, p. 352. The valkyrie-name Hlqkk Grimm translates catena. He isfollowed by Neckel, loc.cit.; Jonsson,Lexicon,s.v. however, gives another meaning forHlQkk.

HerfjQturalone is enough to connect the idisi of the Charm with the valkyries. Cf. also R.

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Charles Donahuehad stories of women who chained men and hindered armies.31The pleasant Scandinavian valkyrie who brought wine to the heroesin Valhalla32was a late development. She had a common Germanicancestress who was a more sinister being, the cause of men's death inbattle, and also a vaguer being, not distinctly different from other un-pleasant females such as witches and Mahren.33This original lack of dis-tinction is reflected in folk-belief. In Oldenburg the Mahre is still calledWalriderske.4This word must derive from a time when nightmares andvalkyries were not clearly distinguished. Neckel36finds traces of theMahre even in the Scandinavian valkyries.The Irish war-goddesseswere similar to the common Germanicvalkyr-ies. They also were dreadful, witch-like beings, associated with birds ofprey, who prophesied of battles. This much is apparent even from earlypassages where there can be little question of Viking influence. In apassage of the Tain Bo Cualngewhich Thurneysen considers to be one ofthe oldest portions and hence to date from the first half of the eighthcentury,36the author, presumably wishing to give his work a classicaltouch, tells how Allecto came to the Dun Bull of Cooley.37Either theauthor himself or a glossator explains that Allecto is the same as theMorrigu, a war-goddess. The author must have substituted Allecto forthe Morrigu of the native tradition. In doing so he shows that he con-sidered the Morrigu a dreadful being.38Morrigu comes, furthermore, inthe form of a bird,39and gives a prophecy in rhetoric. 40The meaningKogel'sattempt to ascertain he linguisticrelationbetweenNorse dis and German dis,Idis und Walkiire, PBB, xvi (1892),502-508.31TheEnglishmayhavehad similar tories.Thefetteringofwarriorss oneof the tricksattributedothedevil n the OldEnglishSolomon ndSaturn:hwilumhe[folme] efetera/faegesmannes, handagehefega5, 5onnene sethildesceall wit la5 werud lifestiligan.(11. 58-160,ed. Wiilker,Bibliothek,I2 (Leipzig,1898).2Eiriksmdl, I. 9, 10, ed. Jonsson, Skjaldedigtning, IB, 164.33Cf.H. M. Chadwick,TheHeroicAge(Cambridge, 912),p. 412.34E. Mogk n J. Hoops,ReallexiconergermanischenltertumskundeStrassburg,911-1913),s.v.Alp. ' Op.cit.,p. 77.36R. Thurneysen,Die irischeHelden-undKinigsage Hallea/S., 1921),pp. 96, 110-113.I supposeby Grundtextp. 96) Thureysen meansthe text found n the lost Urhandschrift(p. 111)whichhe places n the firsthalfof the eighthcentury(ibid.).37The text, according o Thurneysen, ZurTain Bo Cuailnge, ZfcPh,x (1915),208,readsas follows:Ceinbaterdi(du)intsloigoctochimmaigebregforrumai llechtucolleicnochisi nmorrigansomndeilbeuincomboi orsinchorthihitemaircualngi7 asbert risin-tarb.Cf. J. StrachanandJ. G. Keefe,TheTainBo CuailngeromtheYellowBook fLecan(Dublin, 1912),p. 32.38Thurneysen onjectures ZurTain, p. 208) that he hadin mindVergil'sdescriptionof Allecto(,neid, vii, 323if.). The OldEnglishglossator xplainedAllectoas a valkyrie,cf. supra,note 18.39In the Tain Bo Regamain,d. E. Windisch, rischeTexte, I (Leipzig,1887),245,theMorrigu ransforms erself nto a blackbird.H. Hubert,basinghis opinionon traditions

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The Valkyries and Irish War-Goddessesof the Morrigu's prophecy is obscure, but it is clear that she foretells awar and many deaths. Ravens are mentioned twice. Apparently Bobd,another war-goddess, is also referred to. Before the battle of Garechand Ilgarech the Morrigumakes another prophecy of war in which ravensare again mentioned.41Bobd is named in the rhetoric in which Loegarouses the men of Ulster to battle.42The witch-like character of the war-goddesses is also attested early.In a ninth-century gloss, the words, lamia, monstrumin femine figura,are explained by the word morrigain.43 Striking later evidence is affordedby the Togail na Tebe44where Jocasta is called a morrigu.In one place inthe Tain Bo Cualnge45 he Morrigu appears as an old woman. On theother hand, a connection between the war-goddessesand spirits such asthe Mahre seems to be indicated by the name Morrigu, if Stokes andothers are right in their opinion that the first element, mor-, is cognatewith German Mahre.46No one would question Golther's assertion that among Celts andGermanic peoples ideas of baleful spirits similar to the Greek K pESmaybe found. It is a likely, although not a necessary assumption that allthese peoples inherited such ideas, together with their language, fromthe Indo-Europeans. It is remarkable, however, that a parallel process ofspecification seems to have taken place in Celtic and Germanic. A groupof such sinister beings came to be thought of as particularly concernedwith the fate of men in battle. Associated with birds of prey, they visitbattlefields and prophesy of battles.47These activities give them theirdistinct character as a class. Occasionally, however, they reveal theirorigin in a larger and vaguer group of malevolent spirits. Since we knowreportedn Livy,believed hat the Celts n Italy had storiesof divinitieswhoappeared nbattlefieldsn the form of crows.v. his Les Celtesdepuis 'tpoque ela Tene(Paris,1932),pp. 37-38.40On these rhetorics . Thureysen, Konigsage, p. 54-55. They are probablytheoldestelements n the Tain.v. idem.,pp. 110-112. Allversionsof this prophecy ogetherwithsomesuggestions s to the interpretation reprintedby Windisch,Tain Bo Cualnge(Leipzig,1905),pp. 186-189.41The texts in Windisch,Tain Bo Cualnge, p. 828-833.Although t must have beenintroducedarly,this rhetoric maynothavebelongedoriginallyo the TainBoCualnge.v.Thurneysen,Konigsage, . 209,note2. 4 Windisch,TainBoCualnge, p.838-841.43W. StokesandJ. Strachan,Thesaurus alaeohibernicusCambridge, 901), I, 2.4Ed. by G. Calder Cambridge, 922),1.88.46Lecanversion,ed. StrachanandO'Keeffe,1.1748.46W. Stokes,RevueCeltique,Ii (1891),128;F. Holthausen,AltenglischestymologischesWorterbuchHeidelberg, 934),s.v.mare;A. Walde, Vergeichendes orterbuch.. heraus-gegebenvonJ. Pokorny BerlinandLeipzig,1930-1932), I, 277.47Thuswar-goddessndvalkyrieshadcommondifferencesrom the Kipeswhobroughtall kindsof evils-filth, sickness,and blindnessas well as deathin battle. They seem tohavebeen connectedwith deathin battle only in so far as they were connectedwith allkindsof deaths.v. Malten n Pauly-Wissova, uppl. v, 883-900.

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Charles Donahuethat the Celts and the Germanicpeoples were in intimate contact, it is atleast a reasonable assumption that this development did not take placeindependently but that mutual influences were at work.48Once some likelihood has been established, on quite other grounds,that the war-goddesses and the valkyries were the results of a commonCelto-Germanic development, it is possible to examine the implicationsof the one argument of Lottner which is still valid, the fact that IrishBodb is cognate with the first element in Germanic Baduhenna,49thename of a divinity mentioned by Tacitus to whom a grove, apparentlyin Frisian territory, was dedicated.50Because of the clear connectionbetween Badu- and Old English beadu, Old Icelandic bQg, battle,51it is

48The assumptionsdefendedhere, that the close connectionof Celts and Germanicpeoplesedto thecommondevelopment f materialnherited, riginally, erhaps, rom heIndo-Europeans y bothpeoples s borneout by the fact that a similarprocessseemstohave takenplacein the caseof a largenumberof wordswhichappear n bothlanguagesnformsndicatinghatthey were, n each anguage, egularly evelopedromIndo-Europeanforms,butwhich,nevertheless,how similaritiesn meaninganduse,as opposed o theircognates n otherIndo-Europeananguages.e.g. cf. Irish orbe,Gothicarbi,inheritance,with Greek oppav6&, orphaned; Irish gae, Gallo-Latin gaesum, Old English gar, spear, withGreekxatos,shepherd's taff;Irishrun, secret,OldEnglishrun,secret,whisper, une,withSanskrit auti,howls.cf. Lane, op.cit. etinfra,note,51. A similarassumptions madebyde Vries, op. cit., i, 195-196, concerning the matres in Celtic and Germanic. There is noevidence hat the valkyriesarethe resultof ideasdevelopedexclusivelyby the Celtsandborrowed ythe Germanic eoplesat a comparativelyate period.Somebelieve,however,that such was the case with the matres. cf. K. Helm, AltgermanischeReligionsgeschichte,(Heidelberg, 913),pp. 391-411.49v. Lane, op. cit., p. 246; Walde-Pokorny, op. cit., II, 126. Old English beaduand OldIcelandicbqg,battle, arecognate.There areno wordscertainlycognateoutsideof Celticand Germanic.Thereareno meansof tellingwhether he word was borrowed romonepeopleby the other before the Germanicsound-shiftor whether t was inherited romIndo-European y both independently. 60Tacitus,Annales, V,73.51Thesuggestion f Th. von Grienberger,BB, XIX 1894),532-533,that the word s aRomangraphfor Germanic badu-wenna,the violent in battle, the second elementofwhich s to be connectedwith OldHighGermanwinna, trife, s acceptedby M. Sch6nfeld,Worterbuchder altgermanischenPersonen- und Vdlkernamen(Heidelberg, 1911), s.v., andtentativelyby R. Much,Himmelsgott,. 274. K. Mtillenhoff,ZfdA,ix (1853),240-241,likewisehad considered he h due to a Romanscribebut heldthat the name wasuncom-

pounded and the -enna a suffixal element. T. Siebs's suggestion, ZfdPh, xxiv (1892), 147,that Baduhennawas a god,the secondelementof whosename s to be connectedwiththeGermanic oot *hen-,*han-,whichappearsalso in the inscriptiono MercuriusChanno,hasapparentlynotfoundany supporters, f. S. Gutenbrunner,DiegermanischenG6tter-namen der antiken Inschriften, Rheinische Beitrdge und Hiilfsbiicher zur germanischenPhilologie und Volkskunde,xxiv (Halle, 1936), p. 57. H. Jaekel's, ZfdPh, xxii (1890), 268,equationof Baduhennand the Bedeof the MarsThingsus nscriptions whollyuntenableonlinguisticgrounds. . Bremer,ZfdPh,xxii (1890),252, suggests,becauseof the ending,that the nameis Celtic.If this is true,it must have beenborrowed efore he Germanicchangeof o to a. Theexistenceof the commonnounOldEnglishbeadu, attle,in Germanicmakes t more ikelythat thegoddesswas namedwith a native word.Therewere,however,bilingualpersonson the Celto-Germanicorder cf.Much,Stammeskunde,. 48), andit is

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The Valkyries and Irish War-Goddessescommonly assumed that Baduhenna was a war-goddess of some sort, butwas she a valkyrie? When the matter is viewed from a purely Germanicpoint of view, it does not appear likely that she was. Between the vaguewitch-like battle-demons which the sources prove the early valkyriesto have been and the definite personality Baduhenna, who apparentlyhad a grove connected with her cult, there is a gap which nothing offeredby the Germanic material seems to bridge. Once it has been assumed,however, that the valkyries and the war-goddesses were, in part at least,the result of a common Celto-Germanic development, the fact that theCelts did make a war-goddess the object of a cult, as the inscription toCathubodua52 hows, makes it possible to suggest with more confidencethat perhaps the Celto-Germanicparallel development went beyond thefirst steps and that the valkyries, like the war-goddesses, were givennames and worshipped.If the early valkyries were objects of cult, it is possible to suggest thatthe goddesses with warlike names to whom Germanicvotive inscriptionswere dedicated were also valkyries.53Of these the most important for theproblem of the valkyries are the alaisiagae. Siebs is convinced that theywere valkyries, and, on the assumption that they were, Krappe has builthis whole theory of the origin of the valkyries.54They are mentioned inthree inscriptions all found at Housesteads near the wall of Hadrian.The first inscription is dedicated Deo Marti Thingso et duabus AlaesiagisBede et Fimmilene; the second, Deo Marti et duabusAlaisiagis; the third,D(u)abus Alaisiagis Baudihillie et Friagabi.65Either there were twoevenpossible,as Marstranderuggests,SymbolaeOsloenses,n (1925),62, that CelticandGermanicweremutuallycomprehensibles late as the first centuryB.C. Celtic*bodu-and Germanic badu-would be recognized s formsof the sameword. The fact that theCeltsused their form in the nameof a goddessmight have led to a similaruse of theGermanicorm,orthereversemayhave takenplace.Thisprocesss distinct rom inguisticborrowing.52v. Hennessy,op. cit.,pp. 32-33; A. Holder,AltceltischerprachschatzLeipzig,1896-1907), I, 841.

63 e.g.,HariasaandHarimella,he firstelementof whosenames s almostcertainly o beconnectedwithGermanic hari-,OldEnglishhere,army.v. de Vries,op.cit., I, 205;Guten-brunner,op. cit., pp. 100-102. Althoughthe connectionof the name Vihansawith OldIcelandicvig,battle,is, becauseof the voiceless pirantwhere,accordingo Verner'saw,a voicedspirant s to be expected,not certain, he dedicationof spearandshieldseems nany case to connecther with war.v. de Vries, op. cit., I, 209; Gutenbrunner,p. cit., pp.101-102;Much,Himmelsgott,. 247.64T. Siebs, Beitrage urdeutschenMythologie.n,Thingsunddie Alaisiagen, ZfdPhxxiv (1892),433-456; NeueszurgermanischenMythologie, MitteilungenerschlesischenGesellschaftur Volkskunde,xv (1924), 1-17; Krappe, oc. cit. supranote 6.65These arethe mostrecentreadings, hoseof Gutenbrunner,p.cit.,p. 25,on the evi-denceregardinghe datingof the inscriptionsthirdcenturyA.D.) andthe dedicants civesTuihanticuneiFrisiorum), ivenmostfully in the secondinscription , de Vries,op. cit.,I, 171.cf. Gutenbrunner,p. cit., p. 48.

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Charles Donahuealaisiagae or they were thought of and worshiped in pairs.6 Herein theyresemble the valkyries, who occasionally appear in groups of two.67 Ofthe four names, Baudihillia offers the clearest hint as to the nature of thegoddess who bore it. Siebs's suggestion that the second element is ahypochoristic form of the Germanic word found in Old English hild, war,has been generally accepted.58The other names and the title alaisiagaethrow, in themselves, little light on the character of the goddesses. Theydo not help to clarify the problem but must be interpreted in the lightof opinions derived from other sources as to the nature of the goddesseswho bore them. All the immediate evidence offered by the inscriptionsthemselves-the connection with a GermanicMars, the occurrence of thealaisiagae in pairs, the one name which is at least partly clear, and thefact that the dedicators were soldiers-bears out the opinion that thealaisiagae were primarily connected with war.59The assumption that the

5 Before the publicationof the third inscriptionn 1921 (v. de Vries, op. cit. I, 201),R. Heinzel, Wiener Sitzungsberichte,philosophisch-historischeClasse, cxix (1889), Abhand-lungin, p. 52, drewfromthe second nscriptionhe not unnatural onclusion hat therewereonly two alaisiagae.Becauseof the third nscription,Siebs,Neues,p. 11, concludedthat thereweremanyalaisiagaebut that they appearedn pairs.Gutenbrunner,p. cit.,pp. 41-43, and de Vries, op. cit., I, 202, retain Heinzel's opinion that there was only onepairof alaisiagaeandbelieve that eachgoddesshadmorethanone name.Gutenbrunnerevencomposes omeGothicversesto support hisopinion.57The most striking case is the opening of the Hdkonarmdl.v. Jonsson, op. cit., IB, 57.Additionalexamplesare cited by Siebs,Neues, pp. 14-15; Krappe,Valkyries, . 57; cf.Gutenbrunner,p. cit., p. 42, pp. 113-114.58Siebs,Neues,pp. 12-13, acceptedby Gutenbrunner,p.cit., p. 43. Theexplanation fthe firstelement,a commononein Germanic ames, s difficult.Siebs, occit.,connects twiththeGermanic oto*beud-,o offer,and translates dieKampfbietende. hisexplana-tionassumesa positionof nominaland verbalelementwhollyunusual n Germanic om-pounds.Gutennbrunner,p. cit.,p. 43,considershe wordcognatewithIrishbuaid, ictory.This involves the assumption hat the d of the Celticand GermanicwordscomesfromIndo-Europeanhandmeans,therefore,hat the connection f IrishbuaidwithLowGer-manbute,booty,and its cognates,which mpliesan Indo-European, must be abandoned.It is hardto seewhybuaid houldbe tornfromconnectionswhich t fits in both form andmeaningn order o explaina wordof whosemeaningnothing s known.69Siebs,who is the principaldefenderof the theorythat the alaisiagaewerevalkyries,connectsalaisiagaewith Old Icelandiceisa, to rage, storm,and translates those whostorm uriouslyon, (Thingsus, . 442).He admits n thelaterarticle,Neues,pp. 7-8, thathe is doubtfulaboutthe interpretation f the namesBedaand Fimmilena,whichhe hadpreviously Thingsus,pp. 447-449) triedto connectwithwordssuggesting heviolenceofthe wind.Friagabihe translates the freedom-giver nd recallsthe thirdgroupof idisiin the MerseburgCharm, hosewhobroke he chains(Neues,p. 14).He connects he wordThingsuswithGothicPeihs, ime,and considerst to havebeenoriginally title of *Tiwazasgodof thesky (Thingsus, . 450; Neues,p. 7). Withhimthevalkyries,originally torm-goddesses,wereconnected.It is generallyagreed hat the Mars of the inscriptions Germanic Tiwaz,but there sdisagreement as to the meaning of Thingsus. W. van Helten, PBB, xxvii (1902), 137-153,sees in the worda romangraph ora Germanic ounwhichhe believesmeans warrior.

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10 The Valkyriesand Irish War-Goddessesalaisiagae were valkyries fits neatly into the case for a common Celto-Germanic development of such figures; for, according to the Irish his-Most investigators are agreed, however, that Thingsus has some connection with theGermanic thing, the popular assembly. Kauffmann, PBB, xvI (1892), pp. 208-209, sug-gests that Germanic *ping- may have been the translation for Latin cuneus, since thetribes composing the Roman cavalry unit were, in their civil capacity, gathered in thething. Mars Thingsus, then, was the guardian genius of the cuneus Frisiorum mentionedin the second inscription. Th. von Grienberger, Zeitschrift ur die osterreichischenGymna-sien, XLVII1896), 1007, holds that Thingsus is not a Germanic word at all but a Latin for-mation from Germanic *things. De Vries, op. cit., I, 172-173, is inclined to accept the sug-gestion of W. Scherer, Berliner Sitzungsberichte (1884), p. 574, that the word reflects aGermanic title formed from *thingsand indicates that the Mars-*Tiwaz of the inscriptionwas god of the thing. De Vries, op. cit., I, 174-175, adds that, in the Germanic mind, warand the thing were intimately connected and that the same god might well be connectedwith both. Heinzel, op. cit., p .52; Much, Himmelsgott,p. 195 et passim; and T. E. Karsten,Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, XLV (1915), no. 2, p. 15, connect Thingsus withGothic eihjo, thunder, and consider it to have been originally a title of *Tiwaz as god of thesky and the thunder. None of these investigators considers such an origin of the term in-compatible with the theory that Mars Thingsus was at the time of the inscription god ofthe thing,although Much and Karsten differ in their explanations of the development fromsky-god to thing-god. Gutenbrunner, op. cit., p. 30, while insisting that the Mars Thingsusof the inscription was god of the thing, is willing to accept Much's explanation of the origin.

Explanations of the term alaisiagae have been, in part, determined by the theories heldregarding Thingsus. Heinzel, op. cit., pp. 50-52 considers the word a kenning, alaisi-agae,Schrecken der Erle, which fits weather goddesses attendant on the sky-god. Weinhold,ZfdPh, xxi (1896), 7, amends to alaisagiae, die grosse Gesetzsprecherinnen. Grienberger,op. cit., p. 1007, sees in alaisiagae a place-name with the Celto-Latin suffix -iacus. Henning.ZfdA, XLII (1898), 193-194, recalls Old English ae- and Gothic leiseigs and translates adedocendum idoneae. All these explanations are open to serious objections, and the mostwidely held theory is the one adumbrated by Scherer, op. cit., pp. 579-580, developed byKauffmann, op. cit., pp. 201-204, and perfected by Sievers, PBB, xvi (1892), 259. Thistheory connects alaisiagae with the Germanic root *aiz- found in Old English arian, tohonor, and translates the all-honored ones. It has been accepted by de Vries, op. cit.,I, 202, and Gutenbrunner, op. cit., p. 47, who adds that the ending may be connected withOld Icelandic -gen in such words as systken,brother and sister.The names Bedeand Fimmilenehave offeredthe greatest difficulties. Earlierinvestigatorswere inclined to see a connection between the names of the goddesses and the expressionsbodthingandfimelthingfound in the late medieval Frisian laws. Heinzel, op. cit., p. 52, whointerprets the names with reference to the supposed original character of the alaisiagae asweather-goddesses, implies that the legal terms are derived from the names of the god-desses. Weinhold, op. cit., p. 14, suggests that the goddesses were originallypersonificationsof legal processes whose names have been preserved in bodthing and fimelthing. Suchtheories are attacked on legal and historical grounds by Kauffmann, op. cit., p.203, and byHeck in an addition to Siebs's earlier article. The publication of the third inscription withits clear evidence on warlike alaisiagae might be expected to have given the coup de graceto all theories connecting the alaisiagae with the Frisian things,and de Vries, op. cit., i, 202,does abandon the connection. Gutenbrunner, however, has revived the old theory in a moresubtle form. The goddesses, he holds (op. cit., p. 32) were not personifications of the things,nor were the things named after the goddesses, but the names of both goddesses and thingswere derived from a pair of old legal expressions which together covered the entire juridical


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Charles Donahuetoricalpoet Flann Mainistrech, the Irish god of war, Neit, had two wivesand they were the war-goddesses, Bodb and Nemaind.60The more recent explanations of the valkyries fall into two classes.One group, observing that the Scandinavian valkyries were noble beingsand that, among the continental Germanic peoples, there were inscrip-tions to goddesses whose names connect them with war, assume thatthese two sets of facts belong together and that the valkyries were alwayscelestial beings. Thus, Siebs holds that the valkyries wereoriginallywind-goddesses.6'Krappe, laying great stress on the pair of alaisiagae believesthe valkyries to be of Dioscuric origin, Germanicequivalents of the twinchildren of the sky. 62All such theories have difficulty finding a placefor the unpleasant side of the valkyries clearly reflected in the Englishglosses and in such a word for the Mahre as Walriderske.Another groupof theories such as those of Golther, Neckel, and de Vries63 tresses theunpleasant nature of the early continental valkyries and considers theScandinavian valkyries to be a late development under special condi-tions. Such theories are forced to leave the material offered by the in-scriptions out of the question. If the early valkyries were mere vaguebattle-demons, it is not safe to assume, in the absence of other evidence,that they were at the same time battle-goddesses who might be the ob-jects of a cult. In the close similarity of the early valkyries to the Irishwar-goddesses, however, lies the best evidence for the assumption thatwar-goddesses and valkyries are products of a common Celto-Germanicprocess,*bed-,he invitation, hecalling o the thing,and*fimil-,heconclusion,hejudg-ment(op.cit.,p. 44). Even thoughGutenbrunner'sxplanations granted o be the mostlikelyhithertooffered,however, here is still reason to assume that the alaisiagaewereoriginally alkyrieswho,as companions f *Tiwaz,godboth of warand of the thing,hadacquired specializedunctionandlegalnames.EvenGutenbrunner,p.cit.,p. 45,admitsthat the alaisiagae f the third nscriptionwereassociatedwith *Tiwazas godof war.If itis assumed hat this was the original haracter f the alaisiagae,hen there s a source orthem n materialalreadyexisting n the Germanicmagination.f oneinsists on thejuridi-calcharacter sprimary, owever, ndat thesame imedenies,as Gutenbrunneroes,thatthe goddesseswerepersonificationsf the bodthingndfimelthing,hereis no such source.The namesmayhave comefrom the legalsphere,butwhatis the thingthat was named?Siebs's heory, therefore, t least in its insistence hat the alaisiagaewere connectedpri-marilywithwar,stillseemsto be the mostplausible.60The statementoccurs n a poemon the deathsof the TuathaDe Danann n the Bookof Leinster, acsimile dition(Dublin,1880),p. lib. Flannwasa latepoet who,accordingto O'Curry,OntheManners ndCustomsftheAncient rish(London,1873), I, 149,diedin 1056.The possibilityof Viking nfluencemust, therefore, e considered ere.Sincetwoof the names,NeitandBodb,areunquestionablyld andGaelic,however,t seemsreason-ably certainthat Flannis herereporting n old Celtictradition.Windisch,Tain, p. 338,note8, calls attention o the passage.61cf. supranote 59 ad init. Thiswasformerlyhe mostcommon xplanation f the val-kyries.v. Mogk,Literaturblattir germanischend romanischehilologie, ii (1887),291-292. u Valkyries, . 70. 63 Cf.supranotes7, 5, and 11.

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The Valkyriesand Irish War-Goddessesdevelopment. But the Celtic side of the development did make its war-goddesses the object of a cult in spite of the witch-like and demoniccharacter which they seem to have had simultaneously.4 Consequently,there is reason to believe that the Germanic reflection of this commondevelopment, the valkyries, may also have been objects of cult. Thus, byassuming a Celto-Germanic development, the three elements of theproblem, which are so difficult to connect from a purely Germanic pointof view-the early valkyries, the inscriptions, and the Scandinavianvalkyries-may, with some probability, be united.It is not unlikely that the actual history behind both war-goddessesand valkyries is more complex than the unilinear development of Kripes-like spirits into war-goddesses on the one hand and valkyries on the otherthat has been suggested here. But in any case the investigation of thequestion may be furthered if it is approached as a Celto-Germanicprob-lem. When the material is handled so that there can be no possibility ofmistaking exchanges in the Viking period for similarities inherited fromthe period of Celto-Germanic contact on the continent, the Irish war-goddesses prove to be very similar to the early Germanicvalkyries. Bothclasses of beings are primarily sinister battle-demons, but both are oc-casionally connected with other malevolent activities, and this may indi-cate that both classes spraiig from popular beliefs about witches on theone hand and Mahrenon the other. Yet members of the Celtic group werecertainly worshipped as goddesses, and it is likely that the members ofthe Germanic group were also. Striking similarities in detail such as theconnection of both groups with birds of prey and the parallel betweenMars Thingsus and his companions, the two alaisiagae, and Neit and hiswives, the two war-goddesses, as well as the old but still significantBodb-Baduhennacomparison of Lottner, confirm the conclusion drawnfrom the more general similarities and suggest that, in neglecting thepossible Celtic connections of their subject, students of the valkyrieshave been disregardinga set of facts offeredby the Celtic material whichmight prove of considerable value. CHARLESDONAHUE

Fordham University64Since he firstelement n mor-rigus probablyan Indo-European ord(cf.supra,note46) and,except n thename, s notfound n Irish, t follows hat thenamingof thegoddessmust havetakenplacevery earlyandprobably n thecontinent.ThenameMorrigu rovesthe demonicand witch-like haracter f the continentalancestressesf the Irishwar-god-desses.TheCathuboduanscription roves heirdivinecharacter.But thecloseassociationof MorriguandBodb,from which t is here inferred hat the continentalCelts knewof aclassofbeingswhowereat oncewitches,demons,andgoddesses,s, of course,demonstrableonlyfrom helate Irishmaterialwhere he twofigures reclearlyportrayed sbelongingothe sameclassof beings,calledbodbai fter thegoddessBodb.It is assumedherethat thiscloseandconstantassociation f the two figuresn the Irish materialmust have its rootsfarback n the Celticpast.

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