Heracles were performed by the charm of speech rather than by the force of arms. But we seem to be again led back to the latter by the name Gweir which we found alternating with Geir; for it probably meant manly: at any rate, that is the natural inference from the fact that it is a derivative from an earlier form of gwr, the Welsh equivalent in sense and etymology of the old Irish fer and the Latin vir. Another of his names of this origin is probably to be detected in Gwron, which means a great man or hero, and is given as the name of the third of the three originators of bardism.[1]
Gwydion compared with Woden and Indra.
If it were asked why the foregoing names should be assumed to have referred to one and the same person or character, it might be answered that there is no a priori objection to construing them in the contrary sense, since, on the one hand, a mythical personage may under favourable circumstances attract tales originally said of
- ↑ See the Triads, iij. 58. Welsh gwr stands for an earlier gwer, which, with the Irish fer, points to an early nominative vĕros, genitive veri, represented in Irish Ogmic inscriptions by viri, later Irish fir. In Gaulish an adjective verjos was formed from ver-, but the semi-vowel caused it to assume the form virios, as in Voretu-virius, i.e. son of Voretoveros ( = Welsh Gwaredwr, 'Salvator'): compare Vintjos (Welsh gwynt, 'wind') from ventos. Welsh could, however, have other forms, and verjos might either become veirjos, which would be our Gweir, or virjos, which would now be Gwyr; in one instance both forms happen to occur; I refer to a mythic personage mentioned in the Triads (i. 30 = ij. 56 = iij. 101) as Daỻwyr Daỻben and Daỻweir Daỻben, not to mention a third derivative Daỻwaran also applied to him: the former two names would in their early forms be Dalloverjos Dallopennos, which would seem to mean Blind-bead (son) of Blind-man.
