Talk:Bolgmon

"Bolg" is not Irish for "lightning" (at least in the modern language), it is Irish for abdomen or bag:

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bolg

However, the "Fir Bolg" were pre-Celtic "high-people" who are in some texts called "the people of Bolg" who was basically a neolithic Zeus, though a more impersonal figure. (In this etymology, the Fir Bolg were closely related to the Belgae, who became Belgium; also Bulgaria)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fir Bolg

Basically, Bolg was the god of the people before the Irish moved in. The only sources I can find that relate "bolg" to lightning at all use this etymology, and according to various scholars, they're not sure at all whether it can be used as a straightforward translation.

academic source:

> I have been wondering recently (and hoped someone here might know), > is the alleged alternate meaning "lightning" of Old Irish Bolg a > genuine word or a misinterpretation?

Both DIL and Vendryes in LEIA mention that O'Rahilly explained the proper name (Fir) Bolg as coming from a divine name *Bulga, from a root *bhel-g- (to shine, flash), but neither one seems to strongly endorse it. I don't believe there is a common noun in OI with any such meaning.

It's very slightly possible that the mythological meaning is combined with the abdomen meaning to give a lightning/beetle pun, but it's pretty weak. Basically, I would just suggest changing the etymology to

Old Irish. Bolg was a proto-Celtic lightning god.

There is also an assertion that in Early Irish, "boillsg" meant "gleam".