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 Head To Head The Modern Antiquarian Cahercommaun Forum | Start a topic | Search |
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| I've never read the entire Cattle Raid, but I've read quite a bit of it, and yes, I do love it! That bit with the squirrel and the bird is surely reminiscent of Yggdrasil, I think you're onto something there. I didn't realise that other saints had cows. If I remember it properly, though, then it's not that Cuthbert owned a cow, it's that he had a vision of a dun cow, and later when he came upon a dun cow in the flesh, on top of the hill in Durham, he knew that this was the place to build his cathedral, and the wandering from Lindisfarne in search of a suitable site was at an end. I've always read this in a similar way to my reading of the Lambton Worm story - ie. as a memory of Christianity replacing an earlier goddessy cult. Bride is the patroness of cows (and the Lambton Worm loves milk - interesting that Durham Cathedral's Sanctuary Knocker is shaped as a dragon's head). Cuthbert is thought to have lived in the 600s. Is this too late for him to have been a druid? The Catholic Encyclopaedia says that he and his monks "adhered to the customs of Celtic Christianity", celebrating Easter on the non-Roman date. Also interesting that Cuthbert's feast day is the 20th March - it's a bit near to the equinox, don't you think? Isn't Saint Patrick's feast somewhere around that time of year, too? Cuthbert is buried in a shrine in Durham Cathedral. I ain't no Christian, but I can't deny that there's a "vibe" in there with him. Reply | with quote |  19th July 2004ce 17:16 In reply to: Re: dun (FourWinds) |
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