Nodens
Encyclopedia
Nodents is a Celtic
deity
associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs. He was worshipped in ancient Britain
, most notably in a temple complex at Lydney Park
in Gloucestershire
, and possibly also in Gaul
. He is equated with the Roman gods
Mars
, Mercury
, Neptune
and Silvanus
, and his name is cognate
with that of the Irish mythological
figure Nuada
and the Welsh
Nudd.
stem
*noudont- or *noudent-, which J. R. R. Tolkien
suggested was related to a Germanic
root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap (as a hunter)". Making the connection with Nuada and Lludd's hand, he detected "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher". Similarly, Julius Pokorny
derives the name from a Proto-Indo-European
root *neu-d- meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing". Geoffrey of Monmouth
relates the Brythonic tale Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys which states that Llundein London
derives from Caer Lludd; 'the City of Lud', traditionally evidenced by the survival of Ludgate
from the medieval into the modern era.
Ranko Matasović has proposed that the name of this deity may come from proto-Celtic *snowdo-, meaning "mist, clouds". The transition from *snoudo- to Nodonts happened because the particle sN was changed to N in P-Celtic languages, such as Gaulish and Brittonic. Furthermore, Nodonts' name - which is in the nominative case - appears in inscriptions as "Nodontī" due to a change to the dative case.
Park, situated on a steep bluff overlooking the Severn Estuary
, is rectangular, measuring 72m by 54m (80' by 60'), with a central cella measuring 29m by 49.5m (32½' by 55'), and its north-western end is divided into three chambers 6.3m deep. This imposing, Classical
style temple building has been interpreted as an incubatio or dormitory for sick pilgrim
s to sleep and experience a vision of divine presence in their dreams. The site was probably chosen because it offered a clear view of the massive Severn Bore
, a tidal wave which, under certain conditions, rises near Gloucester
and its position within an earlier Iron Age
hill fort
must also be relevant.
The complex was archeologically excavated in the 1920s by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
, who established that it was built some time after AD 364, with occupation continuing well into the 5th century. It has produced several inscriptions to Nodents. One, on a lead curse tablet
, reads:
Another, on a bronze plate, equates Nodens with the Roman god Mars
:
Another plate, bearing the image of a baying hound, makes the same equation:
Two inscriptions from Lydney Park appear to equate Nodents with Mercury
.
There is also unequivocal evidence of at least one temple priest. The cella has a mosaic
floor, the surviving fragments of which depict dolphins, fish and sea monsters. The floor dates to the 4th century and was dedicated to the temple of Nodens by one Titus Flavius Senilis. The artifacts
recovered include a bronze object, which may be a headdress or a vessel, showing a sea-god driving a chariot between torch-bearing putti
and tritons
. Miranda Green speculates that Senilis may have been the individual who wore this artifact.
Other artifacts include bronze relief
s depicting a sea deity, fishermen and tritons, nine stone or bronze statues of dogs, one of which has a human face, and some of which are similar to Irish Wolfhound
s, a bronze plaque of a woman, a bronze arm, an oculist's stamp (used by physicians to mark their cakes of eye ointment), about 320 pins, nearly 300 bracelets, and over 8,000 coins. The iconography shows a clear association with the sea, while the dogs, pins and bracelets and bronze arm, which shows signs of disease, indicate a healing function: the dog is a companion of the healing aspect of Mars
, and dogs were symbols of healing throughout the classical world and Celtic world because they were observed to heal their own wounds by licking them. Images of pilgrims and deities holding dogs occur at many Gaulish spring sanctuaries; and live sacred dogs were kept at the temple of Asclepius
at Epidaurus
in the Peloponnese
. The pins are associated with childbirth. The dogs, and the equating of Nodens with Silvanus
, also suggest a connection with hunting.
According to Cook, the toponym Lydney derives from the Old English *Lydan-eġ, ‘Lludd’s Island.’ However, alternative etymologies of Lydney are offered in other sources.
, in 1718 but now lost, had an inscription on the base which read:
Another inscription from Vindolanda
on Hadrian's Wall
reads "DEO NO/NEPTU", which has been interpreted as "To the god Neptune
Nodons".
The god Noadatus, equated with Mars in an inscription found at Mainz
in Germany
(which was in Gaul
in Roman times) may be the same deity.
The placename Maynooth, a town in north Co. Kildare, Ireland, is an anglicisation of "Magh Núad", which means "[the] plain of Núadu".
Nuada
, an important figure from the Irish Mythological Cycle
. Nuada was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann
, who was disqualified from kingship after losing his hand (or arm) in battle, but restored after he was given a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht
and the wright Creidhne
(gaining the epithet Airgetlám, "silver hand"), and later a flesh and blood one by Dian Cecht's son Miach
. The Norse
god Týr is another deity equated with Mars who lost a hand.
The Welsh Nudd is also cognate, and it is likely that another Welsh figure, Lludd Llaw Eraint
(Lludd of the Silver Hand), derives from Nudd Llaw Eraint by alliterative assimilation
. The legendary British king Lud
may therefore ultimately be derived from Nodens, traditionally associated with the city of London / Londinium
(see Ludgate
). The Fisher King
of Arthurian legend is therefore proposed as a survival of this deity.
A similar figure is Njord
of the Vanir, Norse god of wind, fertile land along the seacoast, as well as seamanship, sailing and fishing, whom the prose Edda also associates with the power to calm the sea or fire.
's novella The Great God Pan
(1890; revised and expanded 1894) has a Roman pillar dedicated to Nodents. The dedication is made by one Flavius Senilis "on account of the marriage which he saw beneath the shade", and there is a strong hint that Nodens is in fact Pan
.
In H. P. Lovecraft
's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
(1926), Nodens
an "archaic" god served by the nightgaunt
s. He is also depicted as somewhat benevolent and opposes the frightening Nyarlathotep
.
In Laurell K. Hamilton
's Mistral's Kiss
of the Merry Gentry
series, Doyle was revealed to have once been Nodonts, "a god of healing". Probably supported by one of his other forms being a dog and that Doyle's lick has the ability to cure minor wounds.
In Doranna Durgin
's 2001 novel A Feral Darkness, Nodents (Referred to as 'Mars Nodens') plays a crucial
role throughout the book.
Brian Keene
's 2006 novel Dark Hollow utilizes Nodents as an outer deity, one of thirteen separate from God's Heaven and Hell, and as ruler of a realm known as the Labyrinth. Keene's Nodents is the father to Pan and Labyrinth is the realm satyr
s hail from in this work.
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs. He was worshipped in ancient Britain
Prehistoric Britain
For the purposes of this article, Prehistoric Britain is that period of time between the first arrival of humans on the land mass now known as Great Britain and the start of recorded British history...
, most notably in a temple complex at Lydney Park
Lydney Park
Lydney Park is a 17th century country estate surrounding Lydney House, located at Lydney in the Forest of Dean district in Gloucestershire, England. It is known for its gardens and Roman temple complex.-House and gardens:...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, and possibly also in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. He is equated with the Roman gods
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
, Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, Neptune
Neptune (mythology)
Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
and Silvanus
Silvanus (mythology)
Silvanus was a Roman tutelary deity of woods and fields. As protector of forests , he especially presided over plantations and delighted in trees growing wild. He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields...
, and his name is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with that of the Irish mythological
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
figure Nuada
Nuada
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu , known by the epithet Airgetlám , was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is cognate with the Gaulish and British god Nodens...
and the Welsh
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
Nudd.
Etymology
The name Nodonts probably derives from a CelticCeltic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
stem
Word stem
In linguistics, a stem is a part of a word. The term is used with slightly different meanings.In one usage, a stem is a form to which affixes can be attached. Thus, in this usage, the English word friendships contains the stem friend, to which the derivational suffix -ship is attached to form a new...
*noudont- or *noudent-, which J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
suggested was related to a Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap (as a hunter)". Making the connection with Nuada and Lludd's hand, he detected "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher". Similarly, Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
derives the name from a Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
root *neu-d- meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing". Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
relates the Brythonic tale Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys which states that Llundein London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
derives from Caer Lludd; 'the City of Lud', traditionally evidenced by the survival of Ludgate
Ludgate
Ludgate was the westernmost gate in London Wall. The name survives in Ludgate Hill, an eastward continuation of Fleet Street, and Ludgate Circus.-Etymology:...
from the medieval into the modern era.
Ranko Matasović has proposed that the name of this deity may come from proto-Celtic *snowdo-, meaning "mist, clouds". The transition from *snoudo- to Nodonts happened because the particle sN was changed to N in P-Celtic languages, such as Gaulish and Brittonic. Furthermore, Nodonts' name - which is in the nominative case - appears in inscriptions as "Nodontī" due to a change to the dative case.
Centres of worship
The Lydney Park complex
The temple complex at LydneyLydney
Lydney is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located on the west bank of the River Severn, close to the Forest of Dean. The town lies on the A48 road, next to the Lydney Park gardens with its Roman temple in honour of Nodens.-Transport:The Severn Railway...
Park, situated on a steep bluff overlooking the Severn Estuary
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.-Geography:...
, is rectangular, measuring 72m by 54m (80' by 60'), with a central cella measuring 29m by 49.5m (32½' by 55'), and its north-western end is divided into three chambers 6.3m deep. This imposing, Classical
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
style temple building has been interpreted as an incubatio or dormitory for sick pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s to sleep and experience a vision of divine presence in their dreams. The site was probably chosen because it offered a clear view of the massive Severn Bore
Severn bore
The Severn bore is a tidal bore seen on the tidal reaches of the River Severn in England. It forms somewhat upstream of Sharpness, and can be seen as far upstream as Maisemore.- Formation :...
, a tidal wave which, under certain conditions, rises near Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and its position within an earlier Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
must also be relevant.
The complex was archeologically excavated in the 1920s by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
Mortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
, who established that it was built some time after AD 364, with occupation continuing well into the 5th century. It has produced several inscriptions to Nodents. One, on a lead curse tablet
Curse tablet
A curse tablet or binding spell is a type of curse found throughout the Graeco-Roman world, in which someone would ask the gods to do harm to others.-Description:...
, reads:
DEVO NODENTI SILVIANVS ANILVM PERDEDIT DEMEDIAM PARTEM DONAVIT NODENTI INTER QVIBVS NOMEN SENICIANI NOLLIS PETMITTAS SANITATEM DONEC PERFERA VSQVE TEMPLVM DENTIS
For the god Nodens. Silvianus has lost a ring and has donated one-half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those named Senicianus permit no good-health until it is returned to the temple of Nodens).
Another, on a bronze plate, equates Nodens with the Roman god Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
:
D M NODONTI FLAVIVS BLANDINVS ARMATVRA V S L M
To the god Mars Nodons, Flavius Blandinus the drill-instructor willingly and deservedly fulfils his vow.
Another plate, bearing the image of a baying hound, makes the same equation:
PECTILLVS VOTVM QVOD PROMISSIT DEO NVDENTE M DEDIT
Pectillus dedicates this votive offering which he had promised to the god Nudens Mars.
Two inscriptions from Lydney Park appear to equate Nodents with Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
.
There is also unequivocal evidence of at least one temple priest. The cella has a mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
floor, the surviving fragments of which depict dolphins, fish and sea monsters. The floor dates to the 4th century and was dedicated to the temple of Nodens by one Titus Flavius Senilis. The artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
recovered include a bronze object, which may be a headdress or a vessel, showing a sea-god driving a chariot between torch-bearing putti
Putto
A putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
and tritons
Triton (mythology)
Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the big sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is...
. Miranda Green speculates that Senilis may have been the individual who wore this artifact.
Other artifacts include bronze relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s depicting a sea deity, fishermen and tritons, nine stone or bronze statues of dogs, one of which has a human face, and some of which are similar to Irish Wolfhound
Irish Wolfhound
The Irish wolfhound is a breed of domestic dog , specifically a sighthound. The name originates from its purpose rather than from its appearance...
s, a bronze plaque of a woman, a bronze arm, an oculist's stamp (used by physicians to mark their cakes of eye ointment), about 320 pins, nearly 300 bracelets, and over 8,000 coins. The iconography shows a clear association with the sea, while the dogs, pins and bracelets and bronze arm, which shows signs of disease, indicate a healing function: the dog is a companion of the healing aspect of Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
, and dogs were symbols of healing throughout the classical world and Celtic world because they were observed to heal their own wounds by licking them. Images of pilgrims and deities holding dogs occur at many Gaulish spring sanctuaries; and live sacred dogs were kept at the temple of Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
at Epidaurus
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
in the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. The pins are associated with childbirth. The dogs, and the equating of Nodens with Silvanus
Silvanus (mythology)
Silvanus was a Roman tutelary deity of woods and fields. As protector of forests , he especially presided over plantations and delighted in trees growing wild. He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields...
, also suggest a connection with hunting.
According to Cook, the toponym Lydney derives from the Old English *Lydan-eġ, ‘Lludd’s Island.’ However, alternative etymologies of Lydney are offered in other sources.
Others
A silver statuette found at Cockersand Moss, LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, in 1718 but now lost, had an inscription on the base which read:
LVCIANVS • D M N • COL LIC APRILI VIATO • RIS V S
To the god Mars Nodontis, the College of Lictors [and] Lucianus Aprilis the traveller, in fulfilment of a vow
Another inscription from Vindolanda
Vindolanda
Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth...
on Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
reads "DEO NO/NEPTU", which has been interpreted as "To the god Neptune
Neptune (mythology)
Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
Nodons".
The god Noadatus, equated with Mars in an inscription found at Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(which was in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
in Roman times) may be the same deity.
The placename Maynooth, a town in north Co. Kildare, Ireland, is an anglicisation of "Magh Núad", which means "[the] plain of Núadu".
Mythological parallels
The name Nodents is cognate with Old IrishOld Irish language
Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Goidelic languages for which extensive written texts are extant. It was used from the 6th to the 10th centuries, by which time it had developed into Middle Irish....
Nuada
Nuada
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu , known by the epithet Airgetlám , was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is cognate with the Gaulish and British god Nodens...
, an important figure from the Irish Mythological Cycle
Mythological Cycle
The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan mythology of pre-Christian Ireland, although the gods and supernatural beings have been euhemerised into historical kings and heroes.The cycle consists of...
. Nuada was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann
Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
, who was disqualified from kingship after losing his hand (or arm) in battle, but restored after he was given a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht
Dian Cecht
In Irish mythology, Dian Cécht , also known as Cainte, Canta, was the God of healing to the Irish people. He was the healer for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the father of Cian, Cú, and Cethen...
and the wright Creidhne
Creidhne
In Irish mythology, Credne or Creidhne was a son of Brigid and Tuireann and the artificer of the Tuatha Dé Danann, working in bronze, brass and gold...
(gaining the epithet Airgetlám, "silver hand"), and later a flesh and blood one by Dian Cecht's son Miach
Miach
In Irish mythology, Miach was a son of Dian Cecht of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He replaced the silver arm his father made for Nuada with an arm of flesh and blood; Dian Cecht killed him out of jealousy for being able to do so when he himself could not....
. The Norse
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
god Týr is another deity equated with Mars who lost a hand.
The Welsh Nudd is also cognate, and it is likely that another Welsh figure, Lludd Llaw Eraint
Lludd Llaw Eraint
Lludd Llaw Eraint, "Lludd of the Silver Hand", son of Beli Mawr, is a legendary hero from Welsh mythology. As Nudd Llaw Eraint he is the father of Gwyn ap Nudd...
(Lludd of the Silver Hand), derives from Nudd Llaw Eraint by alliterative assimilation
Assimilation (linguistics)
Assimilation is a common phonological process by which the sound of the ending of one word blends into the sound of the beginning of the following word. This occurs when the parts of the mouth and vocal cords start to form the beginning sounds of the next word before the last sound has been...
. The legendary British king Lud
Lud son of Heli
Lud , according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's legendary History of the Kings of Britain and related medieval texts, was a king of Britain in pre-Roman times. He was the eldest son of Geoffrey's King Heli, and succeeded his father to the throne. He was succeeded, in turn, by his brother Cassibelanus...
may therefore ultimately be derived from Nodens, traditionally associated with the city of London / Londinium
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
(see Ludgate
Ludgate
Ludgate was the westernmost gate in London Wall. The name survives in Ludgate Hill, an eastward continuation of Fleet Street, and Ludgate Circus.-Etymology:...
). The Fisher King
Fisher King
The Fisher King, or the Wounded King, figures in Arthurian legend as the latest in a line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of his story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin, and incapable of moving on his own...
of Arthurian legend is therefore proposed as a survival of this deity.
A similar figure is Njord
Njord
In Norse mythology, Njörðr is a god among the Vanir. Njörðr is father of the deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed Van sister, was in an ill-fated marriage with the goddess Skaði, lives in Nóatún and is associated with sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility.Njörðr is attested...
of the Vanir, Norse god of wind, fertile land along the seacoast, as well as seamanship, sailing and fishing, whom the prose Edda also associates with the power to calm the sea or fire.
In fiction
Perhaps inspired by the Lydney Park excavations, Arthur MachenArthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
's novella The Great God Pan
The Great God Pan
"The Great God Pan" is a novella written by Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication in 1894...
(1890; revised and expanded 1894) has a Roman pillar dedicated to Nodents. The dedication is made by one Flavius Senilis "on account of the marriage which he saw beneath the shade", and there is a strong hint that Nodens is in fact Pan
Pan (mythology)
Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
.
In H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
(1926), Nodens
Nodens (Cthulhu Mythos)
Nodens is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Based on the Celtic deity, Nodens, is the creation of H. P...
an "archaic" god served by the nightgaunt
Nightgaunt
Nightgaunts are a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos and is also part of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. The creatures appear in the poem "Night-Gaunts" and the novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, both by Lovecraft...
s. He is also depicted as somewhat benevolent and opposes the frightening Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
.
In Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where...
's Mistral's Kiss
Mistral's Kiss
Mistral's Kiss is the fifth novel in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and was released December 12, 2006.-Plot introduction:...
of the Merry Gentry
Merry Gentry
Merry Gentry is the title character of fantasy series by US writer Laurell K. Hamilton, best-known for her previous series Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter...
series, Doyle was revealed to have once been Nodonts, "a god of healing". Probably supported by one of his other forms being a dog and that Doyle's lick has the ability to cure minor wounds.
In Doranna Durgin
Doranna Durgin
Doranna Durgin is an American author. In 1995 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel Dun Lady's Jess.Durgin's works feature suspense elements and distinctive descriptions of animals and their behavior.-Buffyverse:...
's 2001 novel A Feral Darkness, Nodents (Referred to as 'Mars Nodens') plays a crucial
role throughout the book.
Brian Keene
Brian Keene
Brian Keene is an American author, primarily of horror, crime fiction, and comic books. He has won two Bram Stoker Awards.- Background :Keene was born in 1967. He grew up in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and many of his books take place in these locales. After graduating high school, he...
's 2006 novel Dark Hollow utilizes Nodents as an outer deity, one of thirteen separate from God's Heaven and Hell, and as ruler of a realm known as the Labyrinth. Keene's Nodents is the father to Pan and Labyrinth is the realm satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s hail from in this work.