same dimensions,[1] while others provide him with three complete heads;[2] and the Autun figure combined all his most salient attributes, the horns,[3] the three faces, the cross-legged posture, the torque round his neck, and another resting on his lap and separating two ram-headed serpents.[4] Lastly, the triple head was sometimes considered enough, and the artist made no attempt to give the god a body, the lower portion of the block being utilized for other purposes,[5] such as the representation of the god's associates.
Now this strange god, reduced to a wonderful head, which identifies him with Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, has his counterpart in Welsh literature, though attention has, so far as I can remember, never been called to the fact: I allude to Brân, of whom the Mabinogi speaks,[6] which is called after the name of his sister Branwen, daughter of Llyr. He is there described sitting on the rock of Harlech in Merioneth, with his courtiers around him, when he descried ships sailing rapidly towards the land: he sent some of his men down to meet them and to ascertain the business of those in them. It turned out to be the fleet of Matholwch, a king of Ireland, who was come to ask for Brân's sister Branwen to wife. Brân, without moving from his seat on the rock, conversed with Matholwch, and bade him land; after due deliberation the latter's request was granted, and he returned to Ireland with Branwen as
