The Golden Eagle

Golden Eagles were once revered as a symbol of wisdom and power by the ancient druids in Ireland. Unfortunately, the raptor’s voice wasn’t heard in Ireland for most of the Twentieth Century, but has made a come back in recent years.

In Celtic mythology, the eagle is traditionally seen as one of the oldest of all creatures, surpassed only by the salmon in wisdom and age. In the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, one of Culhwch’s tasks, in order to win the hand of his beloved, is to find the missing and rather magical child called Mabon. He asks a number of animals for guidance, and eventually gets a very handy tip-off from this ancient and wise bird. In fact this eagle is so ancient that when he was young the rock he is perched on towered among the stars, but has since been weathered to the size of a fist!