ORIGIN OF DRUIDISM POKORNY. 593 



civilized race. This same fear is met with not only among savages 

 but also among peoples of a higher degree of civilization. 



In the Ontong-Java Islands all strangers at their arrival are solemnly re- 

 ceived by the sorcerers, sprinkled with water, then anointed with oil, etc. 

 Only after they have been nncharmed can they be presented to the chief. 1 



It is also known that the Hindus despised the aborigines as unclean, 

 but, on the other hand, also feared them, because they believed that 

 the pariahs were in possession of secret magic virtues and in alliance 

 with the old gods of the country. 



It is therefore very probable that the invading Gaels considered 

 the aborigines as beings endowed with supernatural powers and 

 possessing great knowledge of the secrets of nature. 



How much superstition is attached among the people of Great 

 Britain and Ireland to the so-called " fairy arrows," i. e., arrow points 

 of flint, which were used by the pre-Celtic aborigines in the stone age. 

 Perhaps this superstition goes back to a time when the Celts warred 

 with a people that employed flint weapons and was already then 

 feared as being endowed with supernatural power. With this agrees 

 well another folk-belief which is connected with iron. 



Iron is supposed to have the potency of warding off all spirits. 



In northeast Scotland a piece of iron is inserted into all viands in order that 

 "death" should not enter. 2 In many Welsh tales the fairy abandons her be- 

 loved at the moment he touches her with a piece of iron. 3 



In the western islands of Scotland it is said that any one who enters 

 the interior of a mountain in which the fairies dance must leave a 

 piece of iron before the entrance. Only so can he prevent the fairies 

 from closing the gate and retaining him forever. 



This fear of spirits seems to be an inheritance from the aborigines 

 who had no knowledge of the metals and may have often retreated 

 before the better arms of the Celts. The crude inhabitants of a coun- 

 try often appear in the later popular beliefs as spirits, giants, or 

 dwarfs. 



The Celts must have naturally felt a special reverence for the 

 aboriginal medicine men, the Druids, whom they saw feared by their 

 own people. Among savage peoples the king is usually evolved from 

 the sorcerer, who, in their belief, can, through his arts, bring on mis- 

 fortune and death. With admiration the Gaels called these sorcerers 

 " Druids," the supreme wise. 



The peculiar character of the Druids was that of mighty sorcerers, 

 and is in complete contradiction to the conception of an Indo-Euro- 

 pean priest. In Ireland, which was least exposed to foreign influ- 

 ences, we can best hope to find Druidism in its original form. We 



1 Internationales Archiv. fiir Ethnographie, vol. 10, p. 112. 



2 W. Gregor, Folklore of the N. B. of Scotland, p. 206. 



3 Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodor, vol. 4, p. 2. 



97578°— sm 1910 38 



