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UAIG, UAIGH, UAGH, a grave, MIr. uag, allied with Goth. augo,
Eng. eye Cf. uaigneach, secret, lonesome, relating to uath,
lonesome, single, by oneself, ON. authr, empty, Goth. auths,
a waste, a desert. In an article for “Oceans” magazine
Norman D, Rosenberg has identified the earliest settlers on
the northern islands of Europe as “neolithic farmers and
herdsmen” from the eastern Mediterranean forced from
their lands by their own poor husbandry and soil practises.
His contention that they were led to their voyage by the
voice of a priestess, following the advice of a mother-
goddess, seems speculative, but the idea that they went to
the forest and created “water-tight and resilient” wooden-
hulled ships “with stone axes and awls,” has got to be
wrong. The making of seaworthy ships is not a merely a
matter of a desire for survival.
UAIR, the allotted hour of death which those with the three
sights could identify for themselves and others. Hour, any
given interval of time, life, the life-span, weather, season,
rotation.
UAMHAS, dread, horror. see uath and bas. See uaimh, thus, a
cave-dweller. Usually disassembled as uath + bas, “dreaded
death.” Related to uadh and uamhunn, horror, awe in the
face of the unknown, OIr. omun, fear, Gaul. obnus, fear. See
G. amadan.
UAR, the “Cruel One.” He and his Fomorian sons, who lived
in Munster, clashed with Fionn mac Cumhail. All were
described as “foemen, lame-thighed, left-handed, a race of
wondrous evil from the deepest pits...venom in their
weapons, and on their hands and feet, indeed on every part
of them.” See famhair, Nathair, Cromm, Cailleach bheurr.
UATH, dread,terror. Cor. uth, Br. eus, heuz, the Gaelic god
Heus. This invader conquered the "few savage Gauls" who
lived in present-day Britain. See also Ugh and Lugh. The day-
god corresponding with Aod. The Earth. Also the antique
name for the hawthorn; other obsolete meanings include
solitary, alone, single, lonesome, terrible.
She said she would but only after seeing that her
husband was unharmed. To oblige the morgan thrust the
captive man out of the water until he was visible above the
waist. The musician then continued, and the piece was so
sentimental that the mhorrigan lost her grasp and the
prince shape-changed himself into a falcon which broke
free.
,
In one of the variants of this tale the “sea-monster”
regurgitated the man. Seeing that she had been tricked, the
morgan took the princess in place of the man who had
escaped her grasp. The prince, in turn, consulted the druid,
who assured him that there was only one way to overcome
the morgan: “In the island that lies in the midst of the loch
is the white footed hind (doe), and if she is caught there
will spring out of her a hoodie (crow), and if she is caught,
out of her will come a trout, and the trout containeth an
egg, and here is encapsulated the soul of the sea-maiden,
and it the egg is crushed she will die.” Now there was no
known way of crossing to Eilean Mhorrigan for the sea-
maiden routinely sank each boat and raft that ventured upon
the “loch” (a metaphor for the ocean).
UBHAL, apple, Ir. ubhall; EIr. uball, Cy. afal, Br. avallen from
which the mythic kingdom of Avallon. AS. ofet, fruit.
Mythological heroes often sought golden or silver apples, a
symbol of the Sun and the Moon in the Otherworld, and were
admitted to the west using apples or a bough as a passport.
UGH, UIGH, UBH, egg, uighean maola feannaig, the egg laid
once in seven years by a cock. At the Samhuinn the ale-glass
was filled with water and the gealagan uighe, the “white of
the egg.” was dropped into the liquid. The female whose
fortune was read was required to lay a hand on the rim for
the space of a minute. In that time the white would assume
fantastic shapes whose outlines prognosticated the futre:
Seeing fortifications supposed the girl might marry a
soldier; a fleet of ships, a pulpit, a furrowed field, a forest
supposedly pointed to the occupation of a future mate.
Sometimes unwanted visions appeared, a coffin or a
tomestone pointing to death for the egg-breaker.
UGH. UTH, LUGH, the Eng. Hugh. Sometimes seen as Leug, the
sun-god and mate of Samh or Summer. Sometimes entitled
Nuall airean. Uisdean, Huisdean, in Argyle Eoghan, from the
earlier form Huisduinn, Hu's man. Similar to the Cy. huan,
the sun, and derived perhaps from the Welsh god Hu, an
agricultural-war deity. Aod is a Gaelic equivalent, and all
forms may ultimately derive from Teutonic-Scandinavian
models. The Teutonic root is hug, and Hugin was the name
given one of Odin's war-ravens. The name corresponds most
closely with that of the Teutonic war-god Tyrr whose name
may be an early form of Thor .Confers with the G. ùig, ON.
vik, a nook or cove, the English words witch and wizard
from the god Woden. Hence G. ùigean, a foreigner, a fugitive,
a wanderer. Note also uigheil, pleasant, which relates to
aoigh, a guest, one doomed to die, a hostage. Commonly
misspelt aoidh and thus the patronymic mac Aoidh, the “son
of Kay,” i.e. the son of the day-god Lugh. His connections
with the fire-god Lokki are discussed elsewhere. Aoibh, of
pleasant aspect, of good manners, relating to éibheall, a
live coal, the “shining one,” pleasant.
UILE, whole, pol, many, full, similar to prefix iol, many, Eng.
all, Germ.. all, Goth. alls, Cy. oll, Corn. hol, Bry. holl, Eng.
hole, hell, Hel.
UIR, mould, dust, earth, uircean, a young pig, MIr. orc, Eng.
pork, porker.
Southern glin,
Wet skin.
A leaky June,
Makes farmers sing a merry tune.
UISGE-BAOGHAL, alcohol.
The burial mound was yet another focal point for cult
rites. Any tree observed growing in the vicinity of a grave
mound was held sacred and shrines of wood or wicker were
sometimes built near or upon them. Interaction between the
living and the dead is observed in the tale of Len, the smithy
to the gods. He lived in Sidh Buidb where he made “bright
vessels” for Fland , a dughter of Flidais, the goddess of
wild things. After a days work it was his custom to have his
anvil as far east as the grave mounds. On striking it threw
up a shower of water, another of fire, and created a rain of
purple gems. Nemannach went through these same motions
when he was preparing Conchobhar Mac Nessa’s cup.
ULMHACH. wolf.
ULOH, a brute, a wolf; from Sc. ulfr, a wolf, Cy. Blaidd, ME.
wulf which has Anglo-Saxon roots. This is the Dan. ulv and
the Sw. ulf, the Icelandic ulfr., Lat. lupis, from a verb
meaning to “pluck out” or “tear.” The chief-travelling form
of the goddess Mhorrigan and her kin. Cernu, in his role as
“Lord of the Animals” appears in stone and bronze as a
horned god, flanked on one side by an otter on the other by a
wolf. An interesting horned figure depicted on the northern
face of the market cross at Kells, is that of a mustached
man grasping the tails of two wolves which stand on either
side of him.
UR-GHLAINE, maidenhead.
URNUIGH, a prayer, OIr. irnigle, I strive for help. The root-
word is igh, desire, strive after (help from God or the gods).
UTH, an udder, EIr. uth, the root (p)utu, swollen, Lat. uber
and uter, a skin-bag. Udder has been said to compare but
Macbain says the consanant in the Gaelic is against this.
UTHARD, above, on high, Ir. os, ard, high, Rooted in for + ard,
“on high,” the ON. Utgardr, the dwelling place of the frost-
giant known as Utgard-loki, Ut is the Eng. out, thus “Out-
garden-Loki,” suggesting this god’s fall from grace. This
resident of Jotunnheim, a place located in the northern
reaches of the north, was credited with generating the
freezing blasts of air which hindered the growth of crops.
To chastise this being some of the gods went there but were
unable to overcome him in contests which he set for them.
In the end, Thor angrily brandished his hammer, and would
have destroyed Utgardr itself but a magical mist enveloped
this land “and the thunder god was obliged to return to
Thrud-vang without having administered his proposed
salutary lesson to the race of giants.”
1.Eliade, Mircea, Patterns In Comparative Religion (New
York) 1958, p. 207.