Celtic Mythology and Religion

122 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION.
a mortal hero like the others.
as god of
We represented him
sea and wind, as opposed to Mr. Elton's
There is little doubt
view, who made him a sun-god.
but Manannan is a wind-god : he possesses all the
He is the owner
prominent requisites of such a deity.
of the wonderful steed, Enbarr, of the flowing mane,
who is swift as the cold clear wind of spring ; his
also is
the sword, from whose wound there was no
recovery ; and he possessed the curious mantle
that will cause people never to meet again. The
three characteristic possessions of Odin are his
sword, his mantle, and his horse Sleipnir. The
sword is the lightning ; the mantle is the air and
clouds, and the grey horse Sleipnir is the rushing
grey cloud driven by the wind. Odin is, as already
said, mostly a wind-god ; so, too, is Manannan.
Both deities, however, usurped features belonging
to more departmental gods, in proportion as they
took the first place in the worship of the people.
Manannan also possessed the wonderful canoe which
could hold any number of people, suiting its size
to them, and which obeyed the will of those it bore,
and swept over the ocean as fast as the March wind.
He, too,
instituted the " Feast of Age," known as
the feast of Gobnenn the smith. Whoever was
present at it, and partook of the food and drink,
was free ever after from sickness, decay, and old age.
The Land of Promise is often identified with Inis-
Mhanann, or Isle of Man, which was ruled over by
Manannan, but his connection with the land of