Glossary
Allav - a bard who has musical skill in voice and multiple instruments, composes songs of praise and of satire, gifted with awan or another power. Some are teachers, others travel to royal courts. Are protected by law and rank just below priests and kings.
Awan - the bardic gift of power in words, can also bring prophecy.
Barrachan - the god of death and peat bogs, of executed men and the dishonored dead.
Bond servant - an unfree man or woman who serves the bond owner. May be born into unfreedom, or have been sold as debt payment, taken in war and not ransomed. Have some rights and protections, unlike slaves owned of the hand.
Bracha - goddess of all waters, worshipped at pools, deep places in streams, and rivers.
Brytheen - the people of the eastern side of the Isle of the Mighty, older in the land, darker of coloring. Matrilineal, matrilocal, practice temporary alliance marriages for diplomatic purposes.
Burn - a stream.
Clarsach - a wire strung harp, the instrument of a master bard.
Ciranis - god of the sky, bringer of fair weather.
Dunalaid - the people from the Western Island, settled in the western half of the Isle of the Mighty, tall and fair of coloring. Dunalai the adjective form. Patrilineal, patrilocal.
Gesh - a curse or binding; to break the terms of the gesh leads to misfortune and often to death.
High King of the Western Island - the last resort for settling disputes, the overlord of the low kings of the island and the Dunalai. The Brytheen do not acknowledge his rule.
Hoggett - a year old male sheep
Kaidor - lord of the small beasts - sheep, cattle, goats, swine.
King of the Mounds - the ruler of those who once ruled the islands, but yielded their place to men, perhaps. Not a god but propitiated and honored none the less.
Langha - god of smiths and craftsmen and other skills of the hand.
Low king - local ruler, often head of a lineage, among the Dunalaid. Chosen by skill and acclimation as well as inheritance.
Morak - goddess of horses and of war.
Múinti/múintiad - a master, one who has knowledge, skill, and power together among the bards and others of the wise. Used as a term of respectful address.
Old ones - the people from before the coming of man. Older than the people under the mounds, they raised the standing stones, made some roads, and still reside in the land, perhaps.
White-headed burn - one that arises as a spring from red and white rocks. Nothing of evil can withstand its waters or contaminate it.