 The ultimate source is Proto-Indo-European "*bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂" (feminine form of "*bʰérǵʰonts", “high”), derived from the root "*bʰerǵʰ-" (“to rise”).Brigid is considered the patroness of poetry, smithing, medicine, arts and crafts, cattle and other livestock, sacred wells, serpents (in Scotland) and the arrival of early spring.In the Christian era, nineteen nuns at Kildare tended a perpetual flame for the Saint, which is widely believed to be a continuation of a pre-Christian practice of women tending a flame in her honour.