bailceach

[chimera]

Hullo
Maybe someone knows the ancient meaning of Bhealtuinn bailceach " strong May floods." Floods are less likely in May . Cream, butter, lambs and deer are products of Mayday but who needs more storms ? Is the term bailc "rains" from a foreign origin ? The Norse balkr means "low wall" ( ridge of earth, house beam ). And they are not products of May.
There may be a Gaelic : Viking : Roman story in this.

[StewL]

Hello Chimera

Not being familiar with the Gaelic myself I can't really help you.
But someone on the forum who is familiar with the Gaelic and Norse should come along and help

[chimera]

Thanks Stewie
Another line of inquiry is the foul anchor symbol of navies, and king Neptune. Could it have derived from Roman -Viking tradition ?

"... although the Anchor badge is found upon the seals of the Lord Admirals of Scotland as early as 1515, no such early instance has yet been brought to light in England ."
Scottish Lord High Admirals

Henry Sinclair, 1st Earl of Orkney – to Robert III

“Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, a Scottish and a Norwegian nobleman.. He is best known today because of a modern legend that he took part in explorations of Greenland and North America almost 100 years before Christopher Columbus. ” 1400.

( " Norse Greenland, settled c. AD 985 by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from the Eastern Settlement is of a wedding solemnized in 1408, placing it about 50–100 years later than the end of the more northern Western Settlement." )

Sir Andrew Wood of Largo 1489 (to death in 1515/17?)
Sir Andrew Barton sailor, killed in action 1511.
Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell appointed 1508 in succession to his father.
Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell appointed 1513, duties performed by Patrick Hepburn, Prior of St. Andrews.

[chimera]

So then.
In Syria, Baal Zaphon was "protector of sailors" and several anchors were found at a Baal temple. There are anchors at his temple in Cartagena Spain and an inscription at Marseilles is for his priests. He known as Baal Hazi / H'Har and Zeus Cassios. At Frankfurt , a sailor in Rome's Germania navy on the Rhine left an inscription to Casio , identified as Baal.
In Lebanon today, baal means "rainwater". By chance , Syria's rainfall matches Scotland's pattern in contrast with France for example. There was Baal festival on 23 April in Syria in Greek Seleucid times. Baal "died" then as rains decreased until the Autumn.
For sailors, winter storms caused the need for a deity's protection and perhaps Beltane marked the start of calmer seas. This would allow early Norse raiding boats to travel on the North sea.
Of around 70 Roman iron anchors found in the Mediterranean , 40 are ornamented with knuckle-bones , which were like dice to predict good luck. Knuckle bones are found on coins of Syrian region as attributes of Baal. One of these knuckle-bone anchors was found off the coast of north Wales dated from 2nd century BC.
The fires of bright Beltane may celebrate good luck for sailors , Vikings or fishermen.

[chimera]

How far did Baal travel?
In Babylon, Marduk god had the title Baal "owner". Sanskrit has a similar term , balh.
balh , बल्ह् " to be pre-eminent ".
बल bala "power stamina force strength" .
Sanskrit balin is "strong. soldier". Indra the rain-god made a sacred pool in Bali Indonesia to heal his troops in battle. His son is Balin.
Sanskrit ring means "move slowly" and Indonesia Balinese language ring means "by .with".
Australian Aboriginals have a Ringbalin ceremony, following the steps of the warrior who created the central rivers. He speared a giant fish from his raft similarly to Thor catching a giant serpent from his fishing boat. The swift raft made of reeds was Lalangenggal. Balinese lalang "reeds" , anggal "fast". The ceremony is held in late April.
Gaelic rainig an bailceach "comes. the strong man" and bailceach " strong floods" suggest the Ringbalin.
Baal travelled far, to Kangaroo island in south Australia.

Ringbalin - River Country Spirit Ceremony - Murray River
http://www.murrayriver.com.au/event/393 ... -ceremony/
03 Oct 2015 - ... A celebration of spirit and Aborigines connection with country, Ringbalin dances it's way 2,300 kilometres across three ...

Here are pics like Beltane and how they brought the rain :

Ringbalin: Breaking the Drought - Adelaide Film Festival 2015

https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/.../ri ... he-drought
In 2010 Australia was facing the worst drought in recorded history. At the end of the river in the Coorong, Ngarrindjeri Elder Uncle Moogy grew tired of watching ...

[chimera]

och aye.
Did Indonesian culture reach Australia ? Were the clans charging in the glen ?
An Aboriginal skull from Toorale near Bourke on the Darling river was investigated by ABC TV, Catalyst science program. Griffith Uni has a 3D image of the trauma which resembles a sword cut about 100mm from forehead into lower eye socket.
As AN Uni dated the skull to late 1200s the general opinion is that a sharp mulga wood blade caused it. A test was promised in July then changed to November.
So I tracked down mulga wood from Loggerhead timber Qld and a fresh pig head from a butcher. It has a half smile and peaceful eyes and smooth skin.
The sharpened mulga blade whacked the freshly skinned cranium of ~8-9mm thickness compared with human ~7-8mm. Small dent. After 6 strikes on the one spot there is ~20mm long groove above the left eye and my final blow to try to get a slice in the opened cortex broke the mulga.
I dropped an axe on the cranium and sliced deep. A garden spade above the right eye sliced deep. Swords are around 2-5mm thick.
The Aust Museum sharp mulga blades are ~5-10mm thick at 10mm back from edge and mine is ~8m thick at 10mm back from edge. It's this need for thick structure that prevents slicing and just breaks bones.
The Toorale cut is at a shallow angle but mulga just bounces at that angle. No-one makes wooden axes or spades.
So it looks like an Indonesian kris dagger or iron sword was in central Oz 800 years ago.