Children of Lir
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The Children of Lir is a legend from Irish mythology. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of Christian faith bringing freedom from suffering.
Lêr and the Swans by H.R. Millar's (1905)
A sculpture of the Children of Lir at The Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.
A 2011 sculpture of the Children of Lir in Ballycastle, County Antrim.
In Norse mythology, the goddess Rán and the jötunn Ægir both personify the sea, and together they have nine daughters who personify waves. Each daughter's name reflects poetic terms for waves. The sisters are attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda, composed in the 13th century; and in the poetry of skalds. Scholars have theorized that these daughters may be the same figures as the nine mothers of the god Heimdallr.
The Daughters of Ægir and Rán as depicted in a grayscale version of a painting by Hans Dahl (1849-1937)
Heimdallr Lifted by the Nine Wave Maidens by Karl Ehrenberg depicts Heimdallr's mothers as 'wave maidens' (German Wellenjungfrauen), 1882
The neck appears with Ægir's wave daughters in a piece by Swedish painter Nils Blommér, 1850, based on a poem by Arvid August Afzelius.