Subject: (urth) bean sidhe and "the stag at bay" in Peace

From: Marc Aramini <marcaramini at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2014 03:39:04 +0000

Many of the embedded tales in Peace reflect back on the life of Weer, but there a few points that I have never been satisfied with.  In the story of mr. Tilly's death and Julius smart, there is an old chromo in the room identified as "the stag at bay" - a painting which depicts two wolves fighting a stag.  

Any meaning to this?  Given all the Celtic myths and the story of the banshee at the start and the sidhe at the end, I looked up the role of the stag in Celtic myth and was quite surprised to see that deer were regarded as fairy cattle herded and milked by a bean sidhe (banshee) who could transform into a red deer.  The relationship of the banshee and the birth of the anti christ to the rest of the story has never been as clear to me as the rather obvious story of the princess elaia (olive) and the suitors, but early in the book weer thinks of a "simulated stag" in conjunction with his knife. 

Is the ghostly presence in the story of smart and mr tilly at all related to the earlier banshee? Just thinking about that, and the connection of the rat, cat, and dog in the story of saint Brandon as well, considering the fact that at first the curtains moving are assumed to be a dog or a cat by Smart, and there the dog boy who turns up later. 

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