Etymology
The name Nodons probably derives from a Celtic stem *noudont- or *noudent-, which J. R. R. Tolkien suggested was related to a Germanic root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap (as a hunter)". Making the connection with Nuada and Lludd's hand, he detected "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher". Similarly, Julius Pokorny derives the name from a Proto-Indo-European root *neu-d- meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing". Ranko Matasović has proposed that the name of this deity may come from proto-Celtic *snowdo-, meaning "mist, clouds". The transition from *snoudo- to Nodons happened because the particle sN was changed to N in P-Celtic languages, such as Gaulish and Brittonic. Furthermore, Nodons' name - which is in the nominative case - appears in inscriptions as "Nodontī" due to a change to the dative case. However, sN- was not reduced in Old Irish in which the cognate is attested as Núada ~ Núadat not *Snúada, which evidence reinforces Tolkien's derivation.
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