Samhain (band) of Danzig. Both Samhain and its successor, Danzig, use the same horned skull image originally drawn by artist Michael Golden for the cover of the 1984 comic book "The Saga of Crystar" No. 8, published by Marvel Comics. The font often used in the name logo of Samhain, and later Danzig, is taken from the film "The Giant Gila Monster". Danzig took the name of the band from the ancient Celtic New Year: Samhain, the origin of the modern Halloween. The band's name is typically pronounced "sam-hane", though when the word occurs in song lyrics, Danzig himself pronounces it "sah-win",
Samhain dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the times of Samhain and Imbolc. These include the Mound of the Hostages ("Dumha na nGiall") at the Hill of Tara, and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh. In medieval Ireland the festival marked the end of the season for trade and warfare and was a time for tribal gatherings. These gatherings are a popular setting for early Irish tales. Irish mythology was originally a spoken tradition, but much of it was