Proto-Celtic *Noudant ....................... was Re: Nodens .....

From: indravayu
Message: 59837
Date: 2008-08-22

>> Well, as I mentioned, there is an OIr noun nuada meaning "king,
hero
>> champion" which might not be derived from the theonym - in fact, it
>> could be the other way around (I should note that there is also a
rare
>> word nuadait meaning "arm", but this seems to be a literary ghost
word
>> derived from a misreading of an OIr gloss on the noun nuada
["nuadat
>> .i. in rig", Fled Bricrend, Lebor na Huidre] where ri:g "king" was
>> confused with rig "forearm").
>>
>>
> Hmmm, that's interesting. Would that have anything to do with the
> myths of silver armed kings?

Well, if the word nuadat "arm" is a literary ghost derived from a
misreading of the marginal gloss 'nuadat .i. in rig' in the Lebor na
hUidre, it would be mostly coincidental, though legends of Nuada's
silver hand might have influenced the usage.

- Chris Gwinn