Triskelion

triskelion]]

Triskelion is the symbol both of Sicily and of the Isle of Man; it features three running legs, bent at the knee, conjoined at the centre. Though it is sometimes hastily classed as a solar symbol, its bent knees impart an irresistible spin to the emblem that is uncharacteristic of true solar signs, and at times a gorgon mask or Medusa's head is placed at the central axle point in the Sicilian triskelion, a chthonic image that no ancient could possibly mistake for a sun sign.

Pliny attributes the origin of the triskelion of Sicily to the triangular form of the island, ancient Trinacria, which consisted of three large capes equidistant from each other, pointing in their respective directions, the names of which were Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybćum. Thus Pliny provided an eminently rational explanation— but for a symbol that must be older than any cartographic conception of the island, surely. Since the Triskelion may be associated with a multitude of triads, with new associations cropping up regularly, it is more productive just to look at the symbol itself.

The very earliest triskelion is a symbol of some Anatolian kingdoms at the edges of Hellenic culture. The symbol appears on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia (at Aspendos, 370-333 B.C.) and Pisidia. Celtic influences in Anatolia, epitomized by the Gauls who invaded and settled Galatia, are especially noted by students who prefer to see a Celtic origin for the triskelion.

Is there a connection between the triskelion and Hephaestus' three-legged tables that ran by themselves? They were mentioned in Iliad xviii:

"At the moment Hephaestus was busily

Turning from bellows to bellows, sweating with toil

As he laboured to finish a score of three-legged tables

To stand around the sides of his firm-founded hall. On each

Of the legs he had put a gold wheel, that those magic tables

Might cause all to marvel by going with no other help

To the gathering of gods and by likewise returning to his house."

Table of contents

1 Sicilian triskelion
2 Manx triskelion
3 Nazis and racist groups
4 Other uses
5 External links

Sicilian triskelion

Familiar as an ancient symbol of Sicily, the triskelion is also featured on Greek coins of Syracuse, such as coins of Agathocles (317-289 B.C.). In Sicily, the first inhabitants mentioned in history are also Celtic, the Gaulish tribes of the Sicani (Greek Sikanoi) and the Siculi (Greek Sikeloi), who have given Sicily its more familiar modern name. The triskelion was revived, as a suitably neoclassic—and non-Bourbon—emblem for the new Napoleonic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, by Joachim Murat in 1808.

Manx triskelion

In the symbol for the more thoroughly Celtic Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the "three legs embowed" of the heraldic triskelion are represented now in armour, "spurred and garnished or (gold)."

On Manx banknotes, the triskelion appears within a rim containing the Latin inscription QUOCUNQUE JECERIS STABIT ("Wherever you will throw it, it stands"), which is boldly confident enough, and safely divorced from any pagan connection. Just how old the triskelion is as a symbol of Man is mooted; it is documented since the thirteenth or fourteenth century at least. The triskelion is alternatively known as the tre cassyn in Manx. The symbol appears on the Isle of Man’s ancient Sword of State, which may have belonged to Olaf Godredson, who became King of the Sudreys (Southern Hebrides and the Isle of Man) in 1226.

The Druidic symbol of three conjoined spirals may well have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion. That spiral motif is a Neolithic symbol in that part of the world: it is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland.

A similar symbol called lábaru by Cantabrian nationalists can be compared to the neighboring Basque culture's four-branched lauburu.

Nazis and racist groups

The Nazis adopted this Celtic symbol specifically as the insignia for a Waffen SS division composed of ("Celtic") Belgian volunteers. That has led to some confusion with the swastika. It is not easy to confuse a symbol of three with a symbol so clearly of 2 or 4; however, a symbol of four conjoined legs, a tetraskelion, is also known in Anatolia.

A group of racist South African Whites, the AWB, have used a flag consisting of a red background with a white circle. In the circle, three black sevens form a design distantly reminiscent of the triskelion. In spite of the similarities to the swastika, they claim their flag is inspired by a Biblical meaning of the seven.

Other uses

The triskelion has been adopted an emblem by some BDSM groups.

The Triskelion is the name used for the headquarters of The Ultimates in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. The building has a three-pronged shape if viewed from above.

In the second season Star Trek episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", the crew of the Enterprise observe and are impressed into gladiatorial combat on a planet named Triskelion. The symbol of the planet is a truncated blue triangle with a yellow stylized triskelion inscribed.