Salmon: the Celtic animal of Inspiration

The Salmon (eog in Cymric, eó in Old Irish) is one of the great mythological creatures in Celtic (especially Brythonic and Irish) mythology. Perhaps the two most famous stories regarding salmon are found in the Mabinogion of Culhwch ac Olwen and the tale of the hero of the Irish Fenian cycle, Fionn mac Cumhaill. In Culhwch ac Olwen the hero of the tale, Culhwch is fated to only marry one woman, Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden Pencawr (chief of the giants). But before Culhwch can marry Olwen, first he must find her and then he must undertake a series of impossible tasks set by her father, Ysbaddaden. One of these tasks is to hunt the Twrch Trwyth. But before the the hunt can begin the master huntsman, Mabon fab Modron must be found. Culhwch gains the aid of his uncle, Arthur, and knights are despatched to the four conrners of the empires to seek information about him. They learn that Mabon had been taken from his mother, Modron when he was but three nights old and it was unknown as to whether he lived or died. Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd, Cei and Bedwyr are sent by Arthur on the quest for his (Arthur's) cousin Mabon fab Modron. Gwrhyr is included on this quest because 'he knows all languages and is familiar with those of the birds and the beasts'. First they come to the oldest known creature, the Ousel of Cilgwri and Gwrhyr enquires as to what the bird knows of Mabon's whereabouts. The Ousel protests that it knows nothing of Mabon but points them in the directin of an even more ancient creature than itself, the Stag of Rhedynfre. Again Gwrhyr asks of his quest and the stag directs them to the Owl of Cwm Gwlwyd who directs them to the Eagle of Gwernabwy. Again, this bird has not heard of Mabon but it knows of one being older even than itself an directs them towards Llyn Llyw where the great Salmon lives. Finally, then encounter a creature who knows of Mabon and takes Cei and Gwrhyr upon his back to the prison where Mabon is held. Thus is Mabon found and freed by Cei and Bedwyr. This tale brings together two of the standard attributes of the mythological salmon: great age and wisdom/knowlege.

In the tale of Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool) Fionn was the son of Cumhaill mac Baiscne, chieftain of the Fianna, the legendary bodyguards of the High King of Ireland and Scotland, but he was killed by Goll mac Morna before Fionn's birth. On the distaff side Fionn was the son of Muirne who was the grand-daughter of Nuada one-time ruler of the insular gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann. Terrified for her son's survival after the murder of his father, Muirne sent her son away, entrusting him to the care of her sister, the druidess Bodhmal, and the amazon, Fiacclach mac Conchinn. The boy is named Demne and together the women raised him deep within the safety of the mountains of Eiru. hen he was ten, Demne ventured forth to seek service under serveral kings. But when they learnt his true identity each sent him away for fear of retribution from Goll mac Morna. Discouraged and disconsolate Fionn wandered aimlessly the length and breadth of Ireland until he was eventually taken-in by an old warrior-poet, Finnéces who took Fionn as his own apprentice for seven years and taught him the rhyming magic of the bards. At the end of the seven years Finegas happened to catch the Salmon of Knowledge at Linn Féic which he had been pursuing most of his life. He gave this fish to Fionn to prepare for him, warning the boy not to let the fish blister as it cooked. Though Fionn watched the cooking fish as carefully as he could a single blister did appear on its skin. Not wishing to disappoint his teacher Fionn used his thumb to press down the blister, but as he did so he burnt himself in the process. Instinctively he placed his thumb in his mouth and as he did so he gained magical insight into the future (compare here the tale of Gwion Bach and the Cauldron of Inspiration). From this time he only had to chew on his thumb to receive foreknowledge of future events. Here, the salmon confers the ability to presage knowlege.

The Cymric Salmon of Llyn Llyw lived in a pool on the river Hafren (severn) and the association of magical salmon and the Severn is probably an ancient one, as a depiction of the god Nudd/Nodons from Lydney Park in Gloucestershire shows a figure (probably Nodons) hooking a salmon from the river. Even where the fish dwells is interesting as Llyn Llyw literally means 'the pool/lake of leadership'. Thus the great salmon of Llyn Llyw might once have been associated with sacral kingship. Apart from the salmon known above, there is another tale of Fionn that tells how he spears a second salmon at the falls of Assaroe . This salmon is the Goll Essa Ruaid (the one-eyed fish of Assaroe), the salmon of knowlege. In insular Celtic tradition one-eyed beings had a close solar asssociation and the lost eye was considerd to be able to see the realms beyond, conferring far-sightedness on the one-eyed being.

The association of salmon with wisdom is a common Cymric and Irish theme, and in the Irish tradition salmon gain wisdom by consuming hazelnuts. In this respect, the number of spots on a salmon's back is supposed to represent the number of nuts consumed. Even when not directly embodying wisdom salmon the traditions talk of salmon carrying important information between people. This may well be the role of two salmon depicted as sandwiching a human head between them on a relief from Gaul. During the later middle ages the Cymric poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym, in a poem deidcated to his beloved muse, Morfudd, claimed that salmon might carry his expressions of love to his beloved.

As well as being the embodiments of knowlege and being the intermediaries for information, salmon also figure heavily in Celtic transformation tales. In the Ystoria Taliesin, after Gwion Bach gains knowlege from Cerridwen's cauldron of inspiration she gives chase and the salmon is one of the creatures that Gwion transforms into, on his way to becoming the bard, Taliesin. Salmon transformations also figure heavily in the Irish tradition in particular, Mongán (herof of the Cycle of Kings) has many attributes, only one of which is the ability to transform into a salmon. Tuan mac Cairill, last survivor of the Partholon can also transform into a salmon (he is eaten by a woman who gives birth to him again so that he can relate the early history of Ireland). Amairgin, poet of the Milesians, also claimed the ability to transform into a salmon, as could Fintan mac Bóchra, the only Irishman to survive the biblical flood.

The salmon also figures in insular mythology as the 'ring-swallowing fish' (a tale common to much of Europe). In Ireland this is known from the tale of Ailill and Fréch. For when Ailill throws a ring into a river (a thumb ring given to Fréch him by Finnabair, Ailill's daughter) to prevent Fréch and Finnabair from eloping it is consumed by a salmon that Fréch then catches. One of Fréch's tasks in gaining Finnabair's hand in marrige becomes the retrieval of the ring (which has already been accomplished). The salmon-and-ring motif also occurs in the tale of Cynderyn (St Kentigern), which explians the appearance of two salmon in the seal of the City of Glasgow.

The final salmon motif in Irish mythos comes from the amazing leap of CuChulann's (the so-called salmon leap) presumably modelled on the leap of a salmon over a waterfall. Both salmon and sea-trout (which were often conflated) are unusual in being the only non-terrestrial animals exalted by the Celts. The reason for this may be two-fold. First the pink flesh of salmon suggests the skin of people (which probably accounts for the tales of human–salmon transformations). Salmon are also creatures of two worlds in that they can survive in both salt and fresh water and they vanish on migrations every year (suggesting a link with the netherworld). Thus salmon were not entirely creatures of this world, which might explain their link with inspiration, knowlege and extreme longevity.

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