eponess@yahoo.com Re: translation of 'bealtinne' Jenny jennyg@compuserve.com Mon Mar 15 10:33:55 1999 : As far as the translation of Bealtinne, I have to dissagree *br*: here. All the old spellings of Beltaine I have seen in *br*: Irish start with 'beal' *not* 'bel'. *p*Nothing wrong with disagreeing. <s>*p*However "Beltine" is the oldest spelling (Old Irish). Bealtaine is the modern one. Dr. Daithi O hOgain (_Myth, Legend, and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Traditions_) mentions this, and he's usually a superb source.*p*Plus I did a little research (always good to double-check sources, even ones that are normally reliable <g>) and found that both Cormac's Glossary and Tochmare Emire ("The Wooing of Emer") use "Beltine".*p*: The Irish 'beal' means 'mouth', 'opening', or 'passage' which would*br*: make sense to me as May is the opening of Summer. but of course I am*br*: looking up modern Irish (don't have an Old Irish foclair on me :>) *br*: Does anyone have any sources on this?*p*In Old Irish, "mouth" is either "gin" or "be'oil". Lip is "be'l". As far as I know, Beltine/Bealtaine is never spelled with an e', only an e. Nor are there any instances of a "Be'oiltinne". Which is, I think, further evidence that the word comes from "bel", "bright", instead.*p*And while I definitely don't recommend kowtowing to degrees <g>, I do note that all of the scholarly texts I have translate Beltine as "bright/lucky fire".*p*Jenny*br* Re: translation of 'bealtinne' Epona na Donnaigh 325 Mon Mar 15 05:57:44 1999