The prominent position of these goddesses must be connected with the fact that women went out to war--a custom said to have been stopped by Adamnan at his mother's request, and that many prominent heroines of the heroic cycles are warriors, like the British Boudicca, whose name may be connected with _boudi_, "victory." Specific titles were given to such classes of female warriors--_bangaisgedaig_, _banfeinnidi_, etc.[242] But it is possible that these goddesses were at first connected with fertility, their functions changing with the growing warlike tendencies of the Celts. Their number recalls that of the threefold _Matres_, and possibly the change in their character is hinted in the Romano-British inscription at Benwell to the _Lamiis Tribus_, since Morrigan's name is glossed _lamia_.[243] She is also identified with Anu, and is mistress of Dagda, an Earth-god, and with Badb and others expels the Fomorians when they destroyed the agricultural produce of Ireland.[244] Probably the scald-crow was at once the symbol and the incarnation of the war-goddesses, who resemble the Norse Valkyries, appearing sometimes as crows, and the Greek Keres, bird-like beings which drank the blood of the slain. It is also interesting to note that Badb, who has the character of a prophetess of evil, is often identified with the "Washer at the Ford," whose presence indicates death to him whose armour or garments she seems to cleanse.[245] The _Matres_, goddesses of fertility, do not appear by name in Ireland, but the triplication of such goddesses as Morrigan and Brigit, the threefold name of Dagda's wife, or the fact that Arm, Danu, and Buanan are called "mothers," while Buanan's name is sometimes rendered "good mother," may suggest that such grouped goddesses were not unknown. Later legend knows of white women who assist in spinning, or three hags with power over nature, or, as in the _Battle of Ventry_, of three supernatural women who fall in love with Conncrithir, aid him in fight, and heal his wounds. In this document and elsewhere is mentioned the "_síd_ of the White Women."[246] Goddesses of fertility are usually goddesses of love, and the prominence given to females among the _síde_, the fact that they are often called _Be find_, "White Women," like fairies who represent the _Matres_ elsewhere, and that they freely offer their love to mortals, may connect them with this group of goddesses. Again, when the Milesians arrived in Ireland, three kings of the Tuatha Déa had wives called Eriu, Banba, and Fotla, who begged that Ireland should be called after them. This was granted, but only Eriu (Erin) remained in general use.[247] The story is an ætiological myth explaining the names of Ireland, but the three wives may be a group like the _Matres_, guardians of the land which took its name from them.