Mythological Parallels
The name Nodens is cognate with Old Irish Nuada, an important figure from the Irish Mythological Cycle. Nuada was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who was disqualified from kingship after losing his hand (or arm) in battle, but restored after he was given a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht and the wright Creidhne (gaining the epithet Airgetlám, "silver hand"), and later a flesh and blood one by Dian Cecht's son Miach. The Norse god Týr is another deity equated with Mars who lost a hand.
The Welsh Nudd is also cognate, and it is likely that another Welsh figure, Lludd Llaw Eraint (Lludd of the Silver Hand), derives from Nudd Llaw Eraint by alliterative assimilation. The legendary British king Lud may therefore ultimately be derived from Nodens, traditionally associated with the city of London / Londinium (see Ludgate). The Fisher King of Arthurian legend is therefore proposed as a survival of this deity.
A similar figure is Njord of the Vanir, Norse god of wind, fertile land along the seacoast, as well as seamanship, sailing and fishing, whom the prose Edda also associates with the power to calm the sea or fire.
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