Whitley Stokes
Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar. He was a son of William Stokes, a grandson of Whitley Stokes, each of whom was Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Dublin, his sister Margaret Stokes was a archaeologist. He was born at 5 Merrion Square and educated at St Columba's College where he was taught Irish by Denis Coffey, author of a Primer of the Irish Language. Through his father he came to know the Irish antiquaries Samuel Ferguson, Eugene O'Curry, John O'Donovan and George Petrie, he entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1846 and graduated with a BA in 1851. His friend and contemporary Rudolf Thomas Siegfried became assistant librarian in Trinity College in 1855, the college's first professor of Sanskrit in 1858, it is that Stokes learnt both Sanskrit and comparative philology from Siegfried, thus acquiring a skill-set rare among Celtic scholars in Ireland at the time. Stokes qualified for the bar at Inner Temple, his instructors in the law were Arthur Cayley, Hugh McCalmont Hughes, Thomas Chitty.
Stokes became an English barrister on 17 November 1855, practicing in London before going to India in 1862, where he filled several official positions. In 1865 he married Mary Bazely by whom he had two daughters. One of his daughters, Maïve, compiled a book of Indian Fairy Tales in 1879 based on stories told to her by her Indian ayahs and a man-servant, it included some notes by Mrs. Mary Stokes. Mary died. In 1877, Stokes was appointed legal member of the viceroy's council, he drafted the codes of civil and criminal procedure and did much other valuable work of the same nature. In 1879 he became president of the commission on Indian law. Nine books by Stokes on Celtic studies were published in India, he returned to settle permanently in London in 1881 and married Elizabeth Temple in 1884. In 1887 he was made a CSI, two years a CIE He was an original fellow of the British Academy, an honorary fellow of Jesus College and foreign associate of the Institut de France. Whitley Stokes is most famous as a Celtic scholar, in this field he worked both in India and in England.
He studied Irish and Cornish texts. His chief interest in Irish was as a source of material for comparative philology. Despite his learning in Old Irish and Middle Irish, he never acquired Irish pronunciation and never mastered Modern Irish. In the hundred years since his death he has continued to be a central figure in Celtic scholarship. Many of his editions have not been superseded in that time and his total output in Celtic studies comes to over 15,000 pages, he was a close friend of Kuno Meyer from 1881 onwards. With Meyer he established the journal Archiv für celtische Lexicographie and was the co-editor, with Ernst Windisch, of the Irische Texte series. In 1862 he was awarded the Cunningham Gold Medal by the Royal Irish Academy. Stokes died at his London home, 15 Grenville Place, Kensington, in 1909 and is buried in Paddington Old Cemetery. Willesden Lane, where his grave is marked by a Celtic cross. Another Celtic cross was erected as a memorial to him at St Fintan's, Dublin; the Gaelic League paper An Claidheamh Soluis called Stokes "the greatest of the Celtologists" and expressed pride that an Irishman should have excelled in a field, at that time dominated by continental scholars.
In 1929 the Canadian scholar James F. Kenney described Stokes as "the greatest scholar in philology that Ireland has produced, the only one that may be ranked with the most famous of continental savants". A conference entitled "Ireland, London: The Tripartite Life Of Whitley Stokes" took place at the University of Cambridge from 18–19 September 2009; the event was organised to mark the centenary of Stokes's death. A volume of essays based on the papers delivered at this conference, The tripartite life of Whitley Stokes, was published by Four Courts Press in autumn 2011. In 2010 Dáibhí Ó Cróinín published Whitley Stokes:the Lost Celtic Notebooks Rediscovered, a volume based on the scholarship in Stokes's 150 notebooks, resting unnoticed at the University Library, Leipzig since 1919; the Passion: Middle Cornish Poem Three Irish Glossaries Gwreans an Bys: the Creation of the World Translation of William Jordan's 1611 Cornish play Beunans Meriasek The Life of Saint Meriasek Bishop and Confessor - Editor Three Middle-Irish Homilies Old Irish Glosses at Merzburg and Carlsruhe Irische Texte published at Leipzig, co-editor with Ernst Windisch The Anglo-Indian Codes.
Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore translator Urkeltischer Sprachschatz with Adalbert Bezzenberger Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus with John Strachan This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Stokes, Whitley". Encyclopædia Britannica. 25. Cambridge University Press. P. 953. Stokes bibliography at University College Cork's CELT project Irish Texts edited, some translated, by Whitley Stokes, CELT project, retrieved 23 May 2007 Works by or about Whitley Stokes at Internet Archive
Aengus
In Irish mythology, Aengus is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and a god of love and poetic inspiration. He is traditionally described as having singing birds circling his head. In Old Irish his name is spelled Oíngus or Óengus, from Proto-Celtic *oino- "one" and gus "strength". In Middle Irish this became Áengus, in Modern Irish Aengus or Aonghus. Epithets include Óengus Óc/Aengus Óg, Mac ind Óg, Maccan o Mac Óg Aengus' parents were The Dagda and Boann, he was said to have lived at Newgrange by the River Boyne. The Dagda had an affair with wife of Nechtan. To hide her pregnancy, the Dagda made the sun stand still for nine months so that Aengus was conceived and born in one day. Midir was his foster-father; when he came of age Aengus dispossessed the Dagda of his home, Brú na Bóinne. He arrived after the Dagda had shared out his land among his children, none was left for Aengus, so Aengus asked his father if he could live in Brú na Bóinne – the central spiritual spot by the Boyne, the river whose goddess is Bóinne – for "a day and a night", the Dagda agreed.
Irish has no indefinite article, so "a day and a night" is the same as "day and night", which covers all time, so Aengus took possession of Brú na Bóinne permanently. In a different version of this story, appearing in The Wooing of Etain, Aengus uses the same ploy to trick Elcmar out of Brú na Bóinne, with the Dagda's connivance. In this version, Midir is Aengus's foster-father, while Elcmar is the husband of Boann cuckolded by the Dagda. According to Death Tales of the Tuatha de Danaan, Aengus killed his stepfather Elcmar for killing Midir. Aengus killed Lugh Lámhfhada's poet for lying about his brother Ogma an Cermait; the poet claimed. In The Wooing of Etain, Aengus was able to lift a spell against Étaín, the horse goddess he had won for his brother Midir. Midir's wife Fuamnach in a jealous rage had turned Etain into a beautiful fly. Turning her into a woman at night, Aengus made her his lover until Fuamnach found out about it and drove her away. Aengus killed his foster mother for her treachery.
Aengus fell in love with a girl he had seen in his dreams. His mother, goddess of the River Boyne, a cow goddess whose milk formed the Milky Way, searched Ireland for a year his father, the Dagda, did the same. King Bodb Derg of Munster found her after a further year. Aengus went to the lake of the Dragon's Mouth and found 150 girls chained in pairs, his girl, Caer Ibormeith, among them. On November 1, Caer and the other girls would turn into swans for every second Samhain. Aengus was told. Aengus turned himself into a swan and they flew away, singing beautiful music that put all listeners asleep for three days and nights. Aengus was the protector of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne of the Fianna, he rescued Gráinne during their pursuit by the Fianna. Aengus owned a sword named the Great Fury, given to him by Manannan mac Lir; this he gave to his foster-son Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, along with a sword named Beagalltach, the Little Fury, two spears of great power, Gáe Buide and Gáe Derg. When the young man died, Aengus took his body back to Brú na Bóinne where he breathed life into it when he wished to speak with Diarmuid.
In other legends Aengus was able to repair broken return life to them. In the Dindsenchas, Aengus shaped his kisses into four birds that followed Cairbre wherever he went to mock him each day before sunrise; this mockery continued until Cairbre's druid enchanted a tree from Fid Frosmuine with song, which caused the tree to grow above all others and detain Aengus' birds. Aengus is considered to be connected to the ancient Celtic god Maponos and his Welsh equivalent, Mabon ap Modron; the Old Irish name Óengus is attested in Adomnán's Life of St. Columba as Oinogusius, showing that its etymology is from the Proto-Celtic roots *oino- "one" and *guss- "choice"; the Old Irish spelling of the name was Óengus. Middle Irish spellings included Áengus; the Early Modern Irish form was Aonghus. Modern Irish spellings are Aonghus. Aonghas is the Scots Gaelic spelling. Aengus appears in the Irish poet William Butler Yeats's poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus", which describes Aengus's endless search for his lover.
Angus Og appears in James Stephens' novel The Crock of Gold, where his aid is solicited by the Philosopher. In the Copper episode "Husbands and Fathers", Corcoran tells O'Brien to take Annie upstairs and tell her a story. O'Brien says to Annie, "I shall tell you about the Dream of Aengus and the Wooing of Etain." Aengus and his father the Dagda appear in Kate Thompson's young adult novel The New Policeman. Aengus helps him restore it to its timeless state. Aengus is the primary antagonist of Book 1 of The Iron Druid Chronicles. Angus makes a brief appearance leading his father's funeral in Hellboy: The Wild Hunt. Although Angus himself never speaks, his father Dagda is a frequent character in other Hellboy stories; the name of Aengus appears in the song of Johnny Flynn "Wandering Aengus" from album "Sillion". Aengus is a popular Irish and Scots Gaelic name, borne by a variety of historical and legendary figures, including: Aislingi Oengusai original text from Egerton 1782 at Thesaurus Linguae Hibernicae.
Tochmarc Étaíne: The Wooing of Étaín De
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a Syrian satirist and rhetorician, best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he ridiculed superstition, religious practices, belief in the paranormal. Although his native language was Syriac, all of his extant works are written in Ancient Greek. Everything, known about Lucian's life comes from his own writings, which are difficult to interpret because of his extensive use of sarcasm. According to his oration The Dream, he was the son of a lower middle class family from the village of Samosata along the banks of the Euphrates in the remote Roman province of Syria; as a young man, he was apprenticed to his uncle to become a sculptor, after a failed attempt at sculpting, he ran away to pursue an education in Ionia. He visited universities throughout the Roman Empire. After acquiring fame and wealth through his teaching, Lucian settled down in Athens for a decade, during which he wrote most of his extant works. In his old age, he may have been appointed as a highly-paid government official in Egypt, after which point he disappears from the historical record.
Lucian's works were wildly popular in antiquity, more than eighty writings attributed to him have survived to the present day, a higher quantity than for most other classical writers. His most famous work is A True Story, a tongue-in-cheek satire against authors who tell incredible tales, regarded by some as the earliest known work of science fiction. Lucian invented the genre of a parody of the traditional Platonic dialogue, his dialogue The Lover of Lies makes fun of people who believe in the supernatural and contains the oldest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Lucian wrote numerous satires making fun of traditional stories about the gods including The Dialogues of the Gods, Zeus Rants, Zeus Catechized, The Parliament of the Gods, his Dialogues of the Dead focuses on the Cynic philosophers Diogenes and Menippus. Philosophies for Sale and The Banquet or Lapiths make fun of various philosophical schools, The Fisherman or the Dead Come to Life is a defense of this mockery. Lucian ridicules public figures, such as the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus Proteus in his letter The Passing of Peregrinus and the fraudulent oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus in his treatise Alexander the False Prophet.
Lucian's treatise On the Syrian Goddess satirizes cultural distinctions between Greeks and Syrians and is the main source of information about the cult of Atargatis. Lucian had an wide-ranging impact on Western literature. Works inspired by his writings include Sir Thomas More's Utopia, the works of François Rabelais, William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Lucian is not mentioned in any contemporary texts or inscriptions written by others and he is not included in Philostratus's Lives of the Sophists; as a result of this, everything, known about Lucian comes from his own writings. A variety of characters with names similar to Lucian, including "Lukinos," "Lukianos," "Lucius," and "The Syrian" appear throughout Lucian's writings; these have been interpreted by scholars and biographers as "masks", "alter-egos", or "mouthpieces" of the author. Daniel S. Richter criticizes the frequent tendency to interpret such "Lucian-like figures" as self-inserts by the author and argues that they are, in fact fictional characters Lucian uses to "think with" when satirizing conventional distinctions between Greeks and Syrians.
He suggests that they are a literary trope used by Lucian to deflect accusations that he as the Syrian author "has somehow outraged the purity of Greek idiom or genre" through his invention of the comic dialogue. British classicist Donald Russell states, "A good deal of what Lucian says about himself is no more to be trusted than the voyage to the moon that he recounts so persuasively in the first person in True Stories" and warns that "it is foolish to treat as autobiography." Lucian was born in the town of Samosata, located on the banks of the Euphrates river on the far eastern outskirts of the Roman Empire. Samosata had been the capital of Commagene until 72 AD when it was annexed by Vespasian and became part of the Roman province of Syria; the population of the town was Syrian and Lucian's native tongue was Syriac, a form of Aramaic. During the time when Lucian lived, traditional Greco-Roman religion was in decline and its role in society had become ceremonial; as a substitute for traditional religion, many people in the Hellenistic world joined Mystery Cults, such as the Mysteries of Isis, the cult of Cybele, the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Superstition had always been common throughout ancient society, but it was prevalent during the second century. Most educated people of Lucian's time adhered to one of the various Hellenistic philosophies, of which the major ones were Stoicism, Platonism and Epicureanism; every major town had its own university and these universities employed professional travelling lecturers, who were paid high sums of money to lecture about various philosophical teachings. The most prestigious center of learning was the city of Athens in Greece, which had a long intellectual history. According to Lucian's oration The Dream, which classical scholar Lionel Casson states he delivered as an address upon returning to Samosata at the age of thirty-five or forty after establishing his reputation as a great orator, Lucian's parents were lower middle cla
Ethniu
In Irish mythology, Ethniu, or Eithne in modern spelling, is the daughter of the Fomorian leader Balor, the mother of Lugh. She is referred to as Ethliu, genitive Eithlionn, dative Ethlinn, her union with Lugh's father, Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann, is presented in early texts as a simple dynastic marriage, but folklore preserves a more involved tale, similar to the birth of Perseus in Greek mythology. A folktale recorded John O'Donovan in 1835 tells how Balor, in an attempt to avoid a druid's prophecy that he will be killed by his own grandson, imprisons Ethniu in a tower on Tory Island away from all contact with men, but a man called Mac Cinnfhaelaidh, whose magical cow Balor stole, gains access to Ethniu's tower, with the magical help of the leanan sídhe Biróg and seduces her. Ethniu gives birth to triplets, but Balor gathers them up in a sheet and sends a messenger to drown them in a whirlpool; the messenger drowns two of the babies, but unwittingly drops one in the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg.
She takes the child back to his father, who gives him to his brother, Gavida the smith, in fosterage. The boy grows up to kill Balor. By comparison with texts like Cath Maige Tuired and the Lebor Gabála Érenn, the unnamed boy is evidently Lugh, his father, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh, is a stand-in for Cian; the Banshenchas states that her real name was Feada- "Feada was the real name of noble Ethne, wife of strong stout Cain, mother of Lug the impetuous superman, daughter of swift smiting Balor son of Dod son of mighty Net a greater man than pleasant Hector. From him is famed the cairn at Ath Feindead because he fought a duel."In some traditions she is the daughter of Delbáeth, the mother of the Dagda and Ogma, the wife of Nuada Airgetlám. In a variant version of the birth of Aengus, she is the wife of Elcmar, seduced by the Dagda: as such she may be a double of Boann, who plays that role in the best-known version of the tale. Although in most texts she is a female figure, there are some. In the ancient text Baile in Scáil, Lugh is said to the son of "Ethliu son of Tigernmas", or the son of "Ethniu son of Smretha son of Tigernmas".
James Bonwick identifies the king who introduced the worship of Crom Cruach, with Balor. R. A. Stewart Macalister suggests that Cethlenn is a variant of Ethlenn arising from the frequent identification of Lugh as Lugh Mac Ethlenn; the Fosterage of the Houses of the Two Methers has St. Patrick saying of Eithne: I shall leave these virtues for the story of Eithne from the fair Maigue. Success in children, success in foster-sister or brother, to those it may find sleeping with fair women. If you tell of the fosterage before going in a ship or vessel, you will come safe and prosperous without danger from waves and billows. If you tell of the fosterage judgment or a hunting, your case will be, all will be submissive before you. To tell the story of Eithne when bringing home a stately wife, good the step you have decided on, it will be a success of spouse and children. Tell the story of noble Ethne before going into a new banqueting house, without bitter fight or folly, without the drawing of valiant, pointed weapons.
Tell to a king of many followers the story of Ethne to a musical instrument, he gets no cause to repent it, provided he listen without conversation. If you tell this story to the captives of Ireland, it will be the same as if were opened their locks and their bonds. Ethniu is a fine example of the difficulty of conducting research into Irish mythology, her oldest version of her name is Ethliu or Ethniu, giving rise to the modern Irish name Eithne. However thanks to changes in the Irish language, the lack of standardised spelling for many centuries, attempts to anglicise the name, variations have arisen. Linguistic ignorance has further confused the issue: the genitive form of Ethniu is Ethnenn and the genitive of Ethliu is Ethlenn/Ethlinn, as in mac Ethlenn; this genitive has been taken for a nominative, or a mistaken nominative has been inferred. Variations and anglicizations include: Ethnea, Ethlend, Ethlenn, Ethne, Enya, Aine, Etney, Eithlenn, Ethni, Edlenn
The Dagda
The Dagda is an important god in Irish mythology. One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Dagda is portrayed as a father-figure and druid, he is associated with fertility, agriculture and strength, as well as magic and wisdom. He is said to have control over life and death, the weather and crops, as well as time and the seasons, he is described as a large bearded man or giant wearing a hooded cloak. He owns a magic staff or club which can kill with one end and bring to life with the other, a cauldron which never runs empty, a magic harp which can control men's emotions and change the seasons, he is said to dwell in Brú na Bóinne. Other places associated with or named after him include Uisneach, Grianan of Aileach, Assaroe Falls and Lough Neagh; the Dagda is said to be husband of the Boann. His children include Aengus, Bodb Derg, Cermait and Midir, he is said to have two brothers and Ogma, but this may be an instance of the tendency to triplicate deities. The name Dagda is believed to come from Proto-Celtic: *Dagodeiwos, "the good god" or "the great god".
He has several other epithets which reflect aspects of his character. These include Eochu or Eochaid Ollathair, Ruad Rofhessa, Dáire, Fer Benn, Cerrce and Eogabal, it is argued that the death and ancestral god Donn was a form of the Dagda, he has similarities with the harvest figure Crom Dubh. Several tribal groupings saw the Dagda as an ancestor and were named after him, such as the Uí Echach and the Dáirine; the Dagda has been likened to the Germanic god Odin, the Gaulish god Sucellos, the Roman god Dīs Pater. Tales depict the Dagda as a figure of immense power, he is said to own a magic club or mace which could kill nine men with one blow. It was called the lorg anfaid, his magic cauldron was known as the coire ansic and was said to be bottomless, from which no man left unsatisfied. It was said to have a ladle so big. Uaithne known as "the Four Angled Music", was a richly ornamented magic harp made of oak which, when the Dagda played it, put the seasons in their correct order, he possessed two pigs, one of, always growing whilst the other was always roasting, ever-laden fruit trees.
The Dagda was one of the kings of the Tuatha De Danann. The Tuatha Dé Danann are the race of supernatural beings who conquered the Fomorians, who inhabited Ireland prior to the coming of the Milesians; the Mórrígan is described as his wife, his daughter was Brígh, his lover was Boann, after whom the River Boyne is named, though she was married to Elcmar. Prior to the battle with the Fomorians, he coupled with the goddess of war, the Mórrígan, on Samhain in exchange for a plan of battle. Despite his great power and prestige, the Dagda is sometimes depicted as oafish and crude comical, wearing a short, rough tunic that covers his rump, dragging his great penis on the ground; such features are thought to be the additions of Christian redactors for comedic purposes. The Middle Irish language Coir Anmann paints a less clownish picture: "He was a beautiful god of the heathens, for the Tuatha Dé Danann worshipped him: for he was an earth-god to them because of the greatness of his power." The name Dagda may be derived from the Proto-Indo-European *Dhagho-deiwos "shining divinity", the first element being cognate with the English word "day", a byword for a deification of a notion such as "splendour".
This etymology would tie in well with Dagda's mythic association with the sun and the earth, with kingship and excellence in general. *Dhago-deiwos would have been inherited into Proto-Celtic as *Dago-deiwos, thereby punning with the Proto-Celtic word *dago-s "good". Under the name Aed of Ess Ruaid, the Dagda is named as the son of Badurn, the Lord of Emain, the Grandson of Argatmar; the rapids in which he drowned were named Ess Ruaid and were called Ess Duind after Dond, the grandson of Bile. The Dagda had an affair with wife of Elcmar. In order to hide their affair, Dagda made. He, along with Bóand, helped Aengus search for his love. Whilst Aengus was away the Dagda shared out his land among his children, but Aengus returned to discover that nothing had been saved for him. Aengus tricked his father out of his home at the Brú na Bóinne. Aengus asked his father if he could live in the Brú for láa ogus oidhche " day and night", which in Irish is ambiguous, could refer to either "a day and a night", or "day and night", which means for all time, so Aengus took possession of the Brú permanently.
In The Wooing of Étaín, on the other hand, Aengus uses the same ploy to trick Elcmar out of Brú na Bóinne, with the Dagda's connivance. The Dagda was the father of Bodb Dearg, Midir, Áine, Brigit, he was the brother or father of Oghma, related to the Gaulish god Ogmios. Another Gaulish god who may be related to the Dagda is Sucellus, the striker, depicted with a hammer and cup, he is credited with a sevent
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature, though it was shorn of its religious meanings; this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. Although many of the manuscripts have not survived and much more material was never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of distinct, if overlapping, cycles: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Historical Cycle. There are a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit into any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a large number of recorded folk tales that, while not mythological, feature personages from one or more of these four cycles. Today some of the best known tales are of Tír na nÓg, Fionn MacCumhaill, Na Fianna, The Aos Sí / Aes Sídhe, Sétanta, The Tuatha Dé Danann, the Children of Lir, Táin Bó Cúailnge & the Salmon of Knowledge.
Depending on the sources, the importance of gods and goddesses in Irish mythology varies. The geographical tales, emphasize the importance of female divinities while the historical tradition focuses on the colonizers, inventors, or male warriors with the female characters only intervening in episodes. Goddesses are linked to a place and they seem to draw their power from that place, they are maternal deities caring for the earth itself as well as children. They are connected to poetry, smith craft, healing. Many appear to be prophetic when foretelling death as well as transformational. Zoomorphism is an important feature for many Irish deities. Badb Catha, the Raven of Battle, introduces zoomorphism to celtic deities of both sexes. Male deities are less zoomorphic than the female deities in the Irish tradition, but there are still some instances of shapeshifting among gods. There is a presence in Irish Mythology of the Triad referred to as the "power of three," which expresses the extreme potency of a deity rather than dividing the power.
It is an attribute more pronounced among female deities. Dagda is called by two other names, Lug has two brothers, there is the Three Gods of Skill There is a lack of a goddess of love equivalent to Aphrodite or Venus due to the predominance of the maternal element in the culture of the Celts. There are multiple categories of goddesses in Irish Mythology: the Mother Goddess, Seasonal Goddess, Warrior Goddess are a few; some of these goddesses are considered to be all one goddess while other stories treat them as separate. Among the mother goddesses is Anu the goddess of Danu. Additionally, Brigit is a mother goddess, sometimes considered one goddess and sometimes considered the three sisters Brigit, she is the mother goddess that watches over childbirth. She brings abundance. Brigit can be categorized as a seasonal goddess and one can win her favor by burying a fowl alive at the meeting of three waters as a form of sacrifice, she survives as Saint Brigit in the Christian faith and some modern folklore makes her midwife to the Blessed Virgin.
The function of these goddesses involves the entire cycle of life from birth through adolescence and the fertility. They are protecting forces that provide the necessities of life within the home and are envisioned as being the earth itself, their importance have led some scholars to propose a matrilineal social organization and others highlight this argument as being feminist propaganda and deny all indications of importance. These goddesses are the patronesses of feasts, they appear during great feasts of Ireland and they bring abundance. The main goddesses are the Machas: Carman, Tea, but there are other seasonal goddesses. Warrior Goddesses are linked with warrior women because there is historical evidence of women leading their tribes into battle. Oftentimes, warrior goddesses are depicted in a trio; this trio can change to include different goddesses. They reign over the battlefield without having to physically be involved, they do not need to strike a blow because they control the events while the male deities are depicted as being in the battles.
This aspect leads to the discussion of women as the gods of slaughter. Scholars note that the female deities govern the natural event while the male deities govern the social event; the main goddesses of war are Morrigan and Bodb. The Irish Gods are divided into four main groups. Group one encompasses the older gods of Britain; the second group is the main focus of much of the mythology and surrounds the native Irish gods with their homes in burial mounds. The third group are the gods that dwell in the sea and the fourth group includes stories of the Otherworld; the gods that appear most are Dagda and Lug. Some scholars have argued that the stories of these gods align with the Greek gods. Druids were held in high esteem by the community as religious leaders, their functions and origins are debated which some attribute to the fact that there was no written tradition. This lack of documentary evidence is said to be because the practices become common property and this makes the student relax their diligence.
They are figures in Irish Mythology and study astronomy. Heroes in Irish mythology can be found in two distinct groups. There is the hero outside of the tribe; the first group encompasses all, subject to man and his works must belong to the tribe and live under its laws. Within the tribe, heroes are of the race of humans and gods
Nuada Airgetlám
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu, known by the epithet Airgetlám, was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is known as Nechtan, Nuadu Necht and Elcmar, is the husband of Boann, he is thought to have been a god and is related to the British and Gaulish god Nodens, associated with hunting and fishing. His Welsh equivalent is Lludd Llaw Eraint. Nuada was king of the Tuatha Dé Danann for seven years, they made contact with the Fir Bolg, the then-inhabitants of the island, Nuada sought from them half of the island for the Tuatha Dé, which their king rejected. Both peoples made ready for war, in an act of chivalry allowed their numbers and arms to be inspected by the opposing side to allow for a fair battle. During this first great battle at Mag Tuired, Nuada lost an arm in combat with the Fir Bolg champion Sreng. Nuada's ally, Aengaba of Norway fought Sreng, sustaining a mortal wound, while the Dagda protected Nuada. Fifty of the Dagda's soldiers carried Nuada from the field; the Tuatha Dé gained the upper hand in the battle, but Sreng returned to challenge Nuada to single combat.
Nuada accepted, on the condition. Sreng refused; the Tuatha Dé decided to offer Sreng one quarter of Ireland for his people instead of the one half offered before the battle, he chose Connacht. Having lost his arm, Nuada was no longer eligible for kingship due to the Tuatha Dé tradition that their king must be physically perfect, he was replaced as king by Bres, a half-Fomorian prince renowned for his beauty and intellect; the Fomorians were mythological enemies of the people of Ireland equated with the mythological "opposing force" such as the Greek Titans to the Olympians, during Bres's reign they imposed great tribute on the Tuatha Dé, who became disgruntled with their new king's oppressive rule and lack of hospitality. By this time Nuada had his lost arm replaced by a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht and the wright Creidhne. Bres was removed from the kingship, having ruled for seven years, Nuada was restored, he ruled for twenty more years. Bres, aided by the Fomorian Balor of the Evil Eye, attempted to retake the kingship by force, war and continued oppression followed.
When the youthful and vigorous Lugh joined Nuada's court, the king realised the multi-talented youth could lead the Tuatha Dé against the Fomorians, stood down in his favour. The second Battle of Mag Tuired followed. Nuada was killed and beheaded in battle by Balor, but Lugh avenged him by killing Balor and led the Tuatha Dé to victory. Nuada's great sword was one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, brought from one of their four great cities. Nuada is thought to be the same figure as Elcmar. Other characters of the same name include the High Kings Nuadu Finn Fáil and Nuadu Necht, Nuada, the maternal grandfather of Fionn mac Cumhaill. A rival to Conn of the Hundred Battles was Mug Nuadat; the Delbhna, a people of early Ireland, had a branch called the Delbhna Nuadat who lived in County Roscommon. The present day town of Maynooth in County Kildare is named after Nuada. Nuada's name is cognate with that of Nodens, a British deity associated with the sea and healing, equated with the Roman Mars, with Nudd, a Welsh mythological figure.
It is that another Welsh figure, Lludd Llaw Eraint, derives from Nudd Llaw Eraint by alliterative assimilation. The Norse god Týr is another deity equated with Mars; the name Nuada derives from a Celtic stem *noudont- or *noudent-, which J. R. R. Tolkien suggested was related to a Germanic root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap". Making the connection with Nuada and Lludd's hand, he detected "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher". Julius Pokorny derives the name from a Proto-Indo-European root *neu-d- meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing"
