Page 545 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

326 SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
to describe it as a sow, black or grisly, with neither ears nor tail.
is not perhaps very readily surpassed as an instance of im.agina•
tive aptitude. "* This shows that the ancient Celtic year closed
with the season of autumn and the beginning of winter which
corresponded with the last day of October, or the eve of Novem-
ber, and was marked by festivals which indicated the victory
of darkness over light. As regards the middle of the year or
summer in the <:;eltic traditions, the same authority further
informs us that " The Lammas fairs and meetings forming the
Lugnassad in ancient Ireland marked the victorious close of the
sun's contest with the powers of darkness and death, when the
warmth and light of that luminary's rays, after routing the colds
and blights, were fast bringing the crops to maturity. This, more
mythologically expressed, was represented as the final crushing
of Fomori and Fir Bolg, the death of their king and the nullify-
ing of their malignant spells, and as the triumphant return of
Lug with peace and plenty to marry the maiden Brinn and to
enjoy a well-earned banquet, at which the fairy host of dead
ancestors wa probably not forgotten. Marriages were solem·
nized on the auspicious occasion; and no prince, who failed
to be present on the last day of the fair, durst look forward to
pr~sperity during the coming year. The Lugnassad was the
great event of the summer half of the year, which extended from
the calends of May to the calends of Winter. The Celtic year
was more thermometric than astronomical, and the Lugnassad,
was to say its summer solstice, whereas the longest day was, so
far as I have been able to discover, of no special account. "t
The great feast of the Lugnassad thus marked the middle of the
year or summer, and it was held at the beginning of August.
Therefore, " the First of May must, according to Celtic ideas,
have been the right season for the birth of the summer sun-god "§
and this is confirmed by the story of Gwin and Gwythur, who
fought for the same damsel, and between whom peace was
made on the condition that they were to fight for the damsel
•• on the Calends of May every year thenceforth till the Day of
Doom, and he who should prove victorious on the Day of Doom

• I!M, pp. SI6- I7.
t Rhys' Hibbert Lectures, pp. 418- r g.
§laid, p. 546.