Post originally by Dan at 2004-03-07 18:02:14
Converted from Phorums BB System

Something could be a fish god AND a fertility god, especially from old Mesopotamium cultures in which the fertilizing waters were such an important concept.

Generally speaking, though, the idea that Dagon means "little fish" has been disputed by modern scholars. The Catholic Encyclopedia was created in 1914, so is rather outdated. There are lots of ideas about what old words mean that turned out to be wrong.