Midir, The Mead-King While reading through Mark Williams’ boo | DE News - Summer Edition

Midir, The Mead-King

While reading through Mark Williams’ book Ireland’s Immortals today I came upon this footnote on the name of the Irish god Midir, confirming my original claim that he is the Irish Dionysus, the mead or “soma” god:

“the name [Midir] looks like it should be connected with the verb for ‘judging’ (midithir). But it may be a borrowing from British and have originally meant ‘Mead-King’, for which see the comments of J. Uhlich, ‘Einige britannische Lehnnamen im Irischen: Brénainn (Brenden), Cathaír/Catháer und Midir’, ZCP 49/50 (1997), 893–5.” - Ireland’s Immortals, p. 84, footnote 44