[164] Mr. Whitley Stokes aptly compares the three fiery orbs in _Paradiso_, xxxiii. 114 _sqq._ However, these orbs represent the visible manifestation of the Trinity, and do not appear as circles encompassing the Divine seat. [165] It is curious to note how Dante employs this symbol to represent the Imperial eagle, in _Purg._ xxxii. 125 _sqq._, which, in its onslaught upon the car of the Church, reminds us how the bird Karshipta breaks off the branches of the Tree of Life in the Var of Yima. Surely this coincidence, and also the frequency of the culture bird in the myths of unconnected races, afford good examples of the independent origin of similar ideas. In the branch covered with life-giving berries, brought by the eagles in the Voyage of Maelduin, we may possibly have a modification of the popular Irish tradition, further influenced by the Phœnix legend, or, maybe, some Oriental tradition, derived through intercourse with the Eastern Churches. [166] In some Continental visions the Cockayne idea assumes a form more accordant with the Scriptural imagery, the inhabitants of Paradise renewing their youth by eating the fruit of the Tree of Life and drinking the Waters of Life (Ancona, _op. cit._, p. 32). The last item is evidently suggested by Revelation xxii. 1, when the Waters of Life proceed from under the Throne, as in the Chaldæan myth. By a certain meeting of extremes the Cockayne idea passes over into asceticism; thus, in order to express the abundance and luxury of the mythical Elysium, it is said that a single loaf, or the very scent of the apple-trees, or the like, affords sufficient sustenance; in later developments we find in the Persian Paradise one loaf suffices for so many persons, Connla lives for a month on the apple brought him by the _Leanamhán Sidhe_, the fragrance of the candles in Adamnán’s Heaven yields sustenance enough, and so on. [167] Thus, Tundale’s guardian angel quits him temporarily as he enters into Hell. See _post_. [168] The Irish legends of the Otherworld, and the _Fis Adamnáin_ in particular, offer so many points of resemblance to the Book of Enoch as to lead us to conclude that that work must have been known to the Irish Church. This is likely enough in itself, having regard to the close connection maintained by that Church with the Churches of Egypt and Syria, referred to in a previous section, where a parallel case was pointed out, viz. the preservation, in an Irish translation, of the Book of Adam and Eve, the original text of which disappeared. [169] And compare St. Paul, 1 Corinthians iii. 13. [170] The close agreement of this theory with the Egyptian belief has been pointed out in Section 2 _ante_. [171] Cp. the angel at the door of Purgatory (_Purg._ ix. 103-4). [172] Cp. the fire through which Dante had to pass in the seventh circle of Purgatory (_Purg._ xxvii.).