46-651: In Celtic mythology , the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also the dead. In Gaelic and Brittonic myth it is usually a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. It is described either as a parallel world that exists alongside our own, or as a heavenly land beyond the sea or under the earth. The Otherworld is usually elusive, but various mythical heroes visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. They often reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across
92-729: A legendary history of Ireland, and the Aided Chlainne Lir (" Children of Lir "). The Ulster Cycle consists of heroic legends about the Ulaid . It focuses on the mythical Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa and his court at Emain Macha , the hero Cú Chulainn , and their conflict with the Connachta and queen Medb . The longest and most important tale is the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The Fianna Cycle
138-611: A chief fairy, the Xana Mega , or the "Queen of Fairies", known as xacias in Galicia . The castro of Altamira is said to hide an enormous underground realm which is ruled by a royal couple, and whose entrance is found some place on the hill. Modern authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien , C. S. Lewis , and Jim Butcher have all drawn inspiration from various aspects of the Celtic Otherworld. In Tolkien's The Hobbit ,
184-536: A common image stock. The classic entry about the Celtic gods of Gaul is by Julius Caesar 's history of his war in Gaul. In this he names the five principal gods worshiped in Gaul (according to the practice of his time , he gives the names of the closest equivalent Roman gods) and describes their roles: Mercury was the most venerated of all the deities, and numerous representations of him were to be discovered. Mercury
230-414: A magic mist descends upon him. He may find himself before an unusual palace and enter to find a warrior or a beautiful woman who makes him welcome. The woman may be the goddess Fand , the warrior may be Manannán mac Lir or Lugh , and after strange adventures the hero may return successfully. However, even when the mortal manages to return to his own time and place, he is forever changed by his contact with
276-702: A symbol of the strength of his eloquence. The first-century Roman poet Lucan mentions the gods Taranis , Teutates and Esus , but there is little Celtic evidence that these were important deities. A number of objets d'art , coins, and altars may depict scenes from lost myths, such as the representations of Tarvos Trigaranus or of an equestrian ‘ Jupiter ’ surmounting the Anguiped (a snake-legged human-like figure). The Gundestrup cauldron has also been interpreted mythically. Along with dedications giving us god names, there are also deity representations to which no name has yet been attached. Among these are images of
322-536: A three-headed or three-faced god, a squatting god, a god with a snake, a god with a wheel, and a horseman with a kneeling giant. Some of these images can be found in Late Bronze Age peat bogs in Britain, indicating the symbols were both pre-Roman and widely spread across Celtic culture. The distribution of some of the images has been mapped and shows a pattern of central concentration of an image along with
368-683: A triple goddess associated with war, fate and sovereignty; Lugh ; Nuada ; Aengus ; Brigid ; Manannán ; Dian Cecht the healer; and Goibniu the smith, one of the Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craft"). Their traditional rivals are the monstrous Fomorians (Fomoire), whom the Tuath Dé defeated in the Cath Maige Tuired ("Battle of Moytura"). Other important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of Invasions"),
414-601: A wide scatter, indicating these images were most likely attached to specific tribes and were distributed from some central point of tribal concentration outward along the lines of trade. The image of the three-headed god is centrally concentrated among the Belgae, between the Oise, Marne, and Moselle rivers. The horseman with the kneeling giant is centered on either side of the Rhine. These examples seem to indicate regional preferences for
460-467: A year and defeats Arawn's enemy Hafgan . Meanwhile, Arawn rules Dyfed. During this year, Pwyll does not sleep with Arawn's wife, earning himself gratitude from Arawn. On his return, Pwyll becomes known by the title Pen Annwn , "Head (or Ruler) of Annwn". The Gauls divided the universe into three parts: Albios ("heaven, white-world, upper-world"), Bitu ("world of the living beings"), and Dubnos ("hell, lower-world, black-world"). According to Lucan ,
506-531: Is about the exploits of the mythical hero Finn and his warrior band the Fianna , including the lengthy Acallam na Senórach ("Tales of the Elders"). The Kings' Cycle comprises legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as Buile Shuibhne , "The Madness of King Sweeny"), and tales about the origins of dynasties and peoples. There are also mythical texts that do not fit into any of
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#1732773277825552-414: Is an Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"), anglicised as Neve , Nieve , Neave , Neavh or Neeve . In Irish mythology , Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg , the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín . The first recorded use of Niamh (that spelling) as a given name in modern Ireland
598-661: Is everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy, and where time moves differently. It is the dwelling place of the gods (the Tuatha Dé Danann ) as well as certain heroes and ancestors. It was probably similar to the Elysium of Greek mythology and both may have a shared origin in ancient Proto-Indo-European religion . The Otherworld is elusive, but various mythical heroes—such as Cúchulainn , Fionn and Bran —visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. In Irish myth and later folklore,
644-478: Is possible to discern commonalities that hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. The nature and functions of these ancient gods can be deduced from their names, the location of their inscriptions, their iconography , the Roman gods they are equated with, and similar figures from later bodies of Celtic mythology. Celtic mythology is found in distinct if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to
690-400: Is the sovereignty goddess , who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The Otherworld is also a common motif, a parallel realm of the supernatural races, which is visited by some mythical heroes. Celtic myth influenced later Arthurian legend . Though the Celtic world at its height covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified, nor
736-792: Is the original of Avalon. Emain Ablach is also Inis Abhlach (Place of Apples, Isle of Apples in Old Irish) In Irish myth there is also Tech Duinn , where the souls of the dead gather. Stories also mention the Land under waves (can be sea or grass) and the Land of the Big Women. In Irish mythology, the Otherworld has various names. Names of the Otherworld, or places within it, include Tír nAill ("the other land"), Tír Tairngire ("land of promise/promised land"), Tír na nÓg ("land of
782-626: The Gaulish druids believed that the soul went to an Otherworld, which he calls by the Latin name Orbis alius , before being reincarnated . Greco-Roman geographers tell us about Celtic belief in islands consecrated to gods and heroes. Among them were Anglesey ( Môn ), off the north coast of Wales, which was the sacred isle of the druids of Britain; the Scilly isles, where archaeological remains of proto-historical temples have been found; and some of
828-559: The Hebrides , which were, in the Gaelic tradition, home to ghosts and demons: on one of them, Skye , the Irish hero Cúchulainn was taught by the warrior woman Scathach . Byzantine scholar Procopius of Caesarea described the Otherworld of the ancient Gauls. He said it was thought that the land of the dead lay west of Great Britain. The Continental Celtic myths told that once the souls of
874-812: The Middle Ages . Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology . The supernatural race called the Tuatha Dé Danann is believed to be based on the main Celtic gods of Ireland, while many Welsh characters belong either to the Plant Dôn ("Children of Dôn ") and the Plant Llŷr ("Children of Llŷr "). Some figures in Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu are cognate with Lugus , Goibniu and Gofannon with Gobannos , Macán and Mabon with Maponos , and so on. One common figure
920-751: The Roman Empire , the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity . Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland ; the Celtic Britons of western Britain and Brittany ). They preserved some of their myths in oral lore , which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in
966-516: The Blessed ( Bendigeidfran , "Bran [Crow] the Blessed"). Other characters, in all likelihood, derive from mythological sources, and various episodes, such as the appearance of Arawn , a king of the Otherworld seeking the aid of a mortal in his own feuds, and the tale of the hero who cannot be killed except under seemingly contradictory circumstances, can be traced throughout Proto-Indo-European mythology . The children of Llŷr ("Sea" = Irish Ler ) in
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#17327732778251012-533: The Divine Mother"), and in the collected Welsh Triads , not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. Indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se . Whatever its ultimate origins, the surviving material has been put to good use in
1058-510: The Gods, consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann and other mythical races. Many of the Tuath Dé are thought to represent Irish deities. They are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"), who seems to have been the chief god; The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"),
1104-581: The Otherworld. The Otherworld was also seen as a source of authority. In the tale Baile in Scáil ("the phantom's ecstatic vision"), Conn of the Hundred Battles visits an Otherworld hall, where the god Lugh legitimizes his kingship and that of his successors. In Irish myth there is another otherworldly realm called Tech Duinn ("House of Donn" or "House of the Dark One"). It was believed that
1150-582: The Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn ( Danu in Irish and earlier Indo-European tradition) in the Fourth Branch are major figures, but the tales themselves are not primary mythology. While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen , where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron ("Divine Son of
1196-615: The Sidhe (inspired by the Aos Sí ) and Tuatha Dé Danann . Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples . Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion , having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians , did not survive their conquest by
1242-523: The advent of Christianity . Indeed, many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, albeit without most of their original religious meanings. Irish mythology is the largest surviving branch of Celtic mythology. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era . Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Christian scribes, who modified and Christianized them to some extent. The myths are conventionally grouped into ' cycles '. The Mythological Cycle , or Cycle of
1288-610: The areas it conquered; in fact, most inscriptions to deities discovered in Gaul (modern France and Northern Italy ), Britain and other formerly (or presently) Celtic-speaking areas post-date the Roman conquest. Though early Gaels in Ireland and parts of Wales used Ogham script to record short inscriptions (largely personal names), more sophisticated literacy was not introduced to Celtic areas that had not been conquered by Rome until
1334-570: The branches of the Celtic languages : As a result of the scarcity of surviving materials bearing written Gaulish , it is surmised that most of the Celtic writings were destroyed by the Romans, though a written form of Gaulish using Greek , Latin and Old Italic alphabets was used (as evidenced by votive items bearing inscriptions in Gaulish and the Coligny calendar ). Julius Caesar attests to
1380-604: The cycles; these include the echtrai tales of journeys to the Otherworld (such as The Voyage of Bran ), and the Dindsenchas ("lore of places"). Some written material has not survived, and many more myths were probably never written down. Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi , especially in the names of several characters, such as Rhiannon , Teyrnon , and Brân
1426-464: The dead had left their bodies, they traveled to the northwest coast of Gaul and took a boat toward Britain. When they crossed the Channel , the souls went to the homes of the fishermen, and knocked desperately at their doors. The fishermen then went out of their houses and led the souls to their destination in ghostly ships. There are still remains of those beliefs in the folklore of Brittany , where
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1472-433: The festivals of Samhain and Beltane (Bealtaine) are liminal times, when contact with the Otherworld was more likely. In the tales, the Otherworld is often reached by entering ancient burial mounds, such as those at Brú na Bóinne and Cnoc Meadha . These were known as sídhe ("Otherworld dwellings") and were the dwellings of the gods, later called the aos sí or daoine sí ("Otherworld folk"). Irish mythology says
1518-546: The gods retreated into the sídhe when the Gaels ( Milesians ) took Ireland from them. In some tales, the Otherworld is reached by going under the waters of pools, lakes, or the sea, or else by crossing the western sea. In Irish Immrama ("voyage") tales, a beautiful young Otherworld woman often approaches the hero and sings to him of this happy land. Sometimes she offers him an apple, or the promise of her love in exchange for his help in battle. He follows her, and they journey over
1564-456: The inspiration is seen when the narrative ventures into the otherworldly elven realm of the Mirkwood . In Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia , there exists a magical land called Narnia populated by magical beings, talking animals, and other supernatural elements. In Butcher's The Dresden Files , most supernatural beings come from another plane of existence called the "Nevernever," including
1610-508: The literacy of the Gauls, but also wrote that their priests, the druids , were forbidden to use writing to record certain verses of religious significance (Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.14) while also noting that the Helvetii had a written census (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.29). Rome introduced a more widespread habit of public inscriptions and broke the power of the druids in
1656-440: The name Bag an Noz is used to denote those ships who carry the dead to their goal: Anatole Le Braz describes in his book La légende de la mort chez les Bretons armoricains the existence of souls' processions which make their way toward coastal places like Laoual, to start their last travel from there. In Asturian mythology, there are many stories which describe human encounters with xanas , fairies which are dancing around
1702-468: The sea together and are seen no more. Their journey may be in a boat of glass, in a chariot, or on horseback (usually on a white horse, as in the case of the goddess Niamh of the Golden Hair). Sometimes the hero returns after what he believes is a short time, only to find that all his companions are dead and he has actually been away for hundreds of years. Sometimes the hero sets out on a quest, and
1748-492: The service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages. The Celts also worshiped a number of deities of which little more is known than their names . Classical writers preserve a few fragments of legends or myths that may possibly be Celtic. According to the Syrian rhetorician Lucian , Ogmios was supposed to lead a band of men chained by their ears to his tongue as
1794-550: The severed head of Bran the Blessed , having forgotten all their suffering and sorrow, and having become unaware of the passage of time. Annwn is ruled by the Otherworld kings Arawn and Gwyn ap Nudd . In the First Branch of the Welsh tales known as the Mabinogi , entitled Pwyll , Prince of Dyfed , the eponymous prince offends Arawn, ruler of Annwn, by baiting his hunting hounds on a stag that Arawn's dogs had brought down. In recompense, Pwyll swaps places with Arawn for
1840-458: The skies, and Mars influences warfare. MacBain argues that Apollo corresponds to Irish Lugh , Mercury to Manannan mac Lir , Jupiter to the Dagda , Mars to Neit , and Minerva to Brigit . In addition to these five, Caesar mentions that the Gauls traced their ancestry to Dīs Pater (possibly Irish Donn ). Niamh Niamh ( Irish: [n̠ʲiəw] ; from Old Irish Niaṁ )
1886-409: The souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun, westward also being the direction in which the phantom island anglicised as Hy-Brasil was purported to be found. In Welsh mythology, the Otherworld is usually called Annwn or Annwfn . The Welsh tale of Branwen , daughter of Llyr ends with the survivors of the great battle feasting in the Otherworld, in the presence of
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1932-410: The souls of the dead travelled to Tech Duinn ; perhaps to remain there forever, or perhaps before reaching their final destination in the Otherworld, or before being reincarnated. Donn is portrayed as a god of the dead and ancestor of the Gaels. Tech Duinn is commonly identified with Bull Rock , an islet off the west coast of Ireland which resembles a portal tomb . In Ireland there was a belief that
1978-671: The western sea. Sometimes, they suddenly find themselves in the Otherworld with the appearance of a magic mist , supernatural beings or unusual animals. An otherworldly woman may invite the hero into the Otherworld by offering an apple or a silver apple branch , or a ball of thread to follow as it unwinds. The Otherworld is usually called Annwn in Welsh mythology and Avalon in Arthurian legend . In Irish mythology it has several names, including Tír na nÓg , Mag Mell (or Magh Meall = Plain of Honey) and Emain Ablach . Ynis Avalach
2024-410: The young/land of youth"), Tír fo Thuinn ("land under the wave"), Tír na mBeo ("land of the living"), Mag Mell ("plain of delight"), Mag Findargat ("the white-silver plain"), Mag Argatnél ("the silver-cloud plain"), Mag Ildathach ("the multicoloured plain"), Mag Cíuin ("the gentle plain"), and Emain Ablach (possibly "isle of apples"). It is described as a supernatural realm where there
2070-439: Was seen as the originator of all the arts (and is often taken to refer to Lugus for this reason), the supporter of adventurers and of traders, and the mightiest power concerning trade and profit. Next the Gauls revered Apollo , Mars , Jupiter , and Minerva . Among these divinities, Caesar described the Gauls as holding roughly equal views as other populations: Apollo dispels sickness, Minerva encourages skills, Jupiter governs
2116-551: Was there any substantial central source of cultural influence or homogeneity; as a result, there was a great deal of variation in local practices of Celtic religion (although certain motifs, for example, the god Lugh , appear to have diffused throughout the Celtic world). Inscriptions of more than three hundred deities, often equated with their Roman counterparts, have survived, but of these most appear to have been genii locorum , local or tribal gods, and few were widely worshiped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it
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