Glossary in E (Celtic)

Here is a glossary of mythology Celtic : Eithne, Elatha, Elcmar, Elffin, Emain Macha, Emer, Eochai, Eochaid Mac Eirc, Epona, Ériu, Esras (and Lug's Spear), Esus, Etain, Evnissyen

Celtic glossary

Eithne is a first rank deity found under different spellings: Ethle, Eithliu, Eithlenn, Eblend, but also under the names of Brigit and Boand and it is not unrelated to Étain. She represents femininity at the divine level.

According to the narrative texts Irish, she is the daughter of Delbaeth who is the primordial chaos. She is the wife of Lug, the supreme god of the Tuatha Dé Danann and also his mother since she is the mother of all the gods.

This name is carried by several deities or mythical women.
Incidentally, it has become the poetic representation of Ireland.

Elatha mac Delbaeth is a king of the Fomorians. Elatha means "art" in the sense of "knowledge, science". From her union with Eriu, a Tuatha Dé Danann will be born Bres. The latter will be king of the Tuatha Dé Danann for a short time and will take refuge with his father, after his abdication.

Elcmar is the brother of Dagda (the good god) of which he is the opposite, the negative aspect. Elcmar's name means "envious, jealous". He is actually an avatar of Ogma (Ogme, Ogmios), the god of the warrior class who is in charge of war, magic, writing and eloquence.

During a trip to Elcmar (his absence of nine months seems to him to last only one day) the Dagda commits adultery with his wife Boand, from this relationship will be born Oengus (Mac Oc).

Elffin, son of Gwyddno is a character from Celtic mythology, which belongs to Welsh tradition. We meet him several times in the Mabinogion.

While fishing with his father's magic net, he catches a child that his mother, Ceridwen had entrusted to the ocean. This child is the future druid Taliesin, who will stay with his savior until the age of 13 and becomes his initiator.

During the conflict between Elffin and King Maelgwn, his uncle, Taliesin intervenes effectively in favor of the first and makes him discover a cauldron, full of gold.

Emain Macha, in Irish Celtic mythology, is the name of the residence of the King of Ulster Conchobar Mac Nessa. It was given to him by the goddess Macha (plain) of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who is an avatar of Morrigan.

While she was pregnant with her husband Crunmiac, her delivery is scheduled for the day of the assembly of Ulates (inhabitants of Ulster). Recklessly, the husband brags, and claims that his wife can run faster than the best horses in the king's stable. Masha, summoned to prove this assertion, asks for a delay, given her condition. It is denied him. Obliged to run, she runs faster than the horses, and once there, following the effort, she immediately gives birth to twins. Emain Macha means: the "Twins of Macha". To avenge herself for this obligation, she lets out an evil howl that bewitches all the men of the province. They suffer the pains of childbirth, for four days and five nights, as soon as the kingdom is in danger.

The only one who escapes the curse is Cúchulainn, the hero who must defend the kingdom alone. This is the subject of the story Táin Bó Cúailnge (Razzia of the cows of Cooley), in which we see him defending the border, facing alone the united army of the kingdoms of Ireland.

The site is located at Navan Fort, near Armagh.

Emer is the daughter of Forgall Manach (the crafty), king of Meath, her name means "ambrosia". After having been the wife of Manannan Mac Lir, she becomes that of Cúchulainn not without difficulty, her father having promised her to another; the hero is dispatched in Scotland, with his friend Ferdiad, with the magician Scáthach for a whole year, and on his return he must attack the fortress of Forgall and kidnap Emer. In the story Serglige ConCulaind we see her, driven by jealousy, leave with fifty servants armed with knives to kill her husband's mistress, Fand (the wife of Manannan). Finally she forgives and a druid makes her drink the potion of oblivion.

Epona — from Gallic epos, "horse" - was the Gallic goddess protector of horses, also called "the divine mare". She is represented seated on the back of a horse (equestrian type), or in a chair between two horses or foals (imperial type). She often holds a peg or a cornucopia. Epona is an important avatar of Brigantia, the great goddess of Celts.

Its cult was transmitted by the Gallic auxiliaries to the Romans and traces of this cult were found in the Lateran in the barracks of the equites singularum, barbarian horsemen of the imperial guard. The grooms erected shrines to him in the stables. She was the only Gallic goddess to have had a place of worship in Rome.

Ériu (or Erin, Eri) is a sovereign goddess of Ireland in Celtic mythology. Wife of Mac Greine, son of Ogma. She was part of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Eponymous goddess of Ireland, just like her sisters Banba and Fotla. She becomes the personification of the Irish nation which will take its name: Eire.

She asked the Gaels who had just arrived on the territory to promise her, if they succeeded in settling there, to give her name to the country. The "seer" (or file), Amorgen assured Eriu that Ireland would bear his name and the latter prophesied in return that the country would definitely belong to the Gaels. She offered a goblet of red drink to successive mortal kings to symbolize their union and the fruiting of the soil. Ériu also appears as queen, wife of Elatha and mother of the hero Bres.

Esras, whose name would mean "means (to act)" was the druid who governed the island of Gorias (the meaning of the toponym is "fire, inflammation"). This is where the talisman of the Spear of Lug Samildanach comes from, a deadly weapon with every blow but also used for royal dubbing; it is inseparable from the Cauldron of Dagda filled with blood, it must be immersed in it to prevent it from destroying everything around it.

Esus seems to have been one of the most important gods of Gallic Celtic mythology, he is equivalent to the Irish Dagda who reigns over the Tuatha Dé Danann, without being an exact replica. In some representations, he is represented by a bull accompanied by three cranes. The activities under his tutelage are agriculture, trade and war.

Tin, in Irish Celtic mythology, is a primordial goddess whose name means "poetry". Also known as Étan and Étaine, she appears in several mythical tales, including the Tochmarc Étaine (the Courtship of Étaine), the Fled Bricrend (the Feast of Bricriu) and the Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Books conquests of Ireland).

She is the daughter of Diancecht (or Riangabair according to some sources), the wife of King Eochaid Airem on earth and of the god Midir in the sidh (the Other World of the Celts). Out of jealousy, Fuamnach, Midir's first wife, transforms her into a pool of water by touching her with a branch of a mountain ash, then into a fly that a druidic wind carries in the air for seven years. She becomes a tiny earthworm and falls into a cup. In this form, she is swallowed and then "delivered" by the wife of the King of Ulster, Etar.

Étain marries Eochaid Airem, the Ard ri Érenn (Supreme King of Ireland), but Midir who wants to get her back, offers the king a game of chess, in which the stake is his own wife. Eochaid loses, but does not keep his word and permanently banishes the god from his capital Tara. However, Midir manages to enter the city and the palace, and joins Étain. Both turn into swans and fly away. The king pursues them in all the sidhs, but the god will use his magic: he transforms fifty young girls into look-alikes of Tin and asks Eochaid to choose one, only one. The king complies and sure of his choice sleeps with the girl, who turns out to be his own daughter, Étain Óg. From this incestuous relationship, a daughter Mes Buachalla will be born, at the origin of a dynasty of kings, giving birth to Conaire Mor.

Like all the goddesses of Celtic mythology, she is only an avatar of the unique female deity Brigit/Brigantia.

Evnissyen is the prototype of the evil character. It appears especially in the Mabinogi of Branwen, of whom he is the half-brother as well as of Manawyddan Fab Llyr and Bran the Blessed, son of Llyr.

When Matholwch King of Iwerddon (Ireland), comes to ask for Branwen's hand from King Bran the Blessed, Evnissyen, furious at not having been consulted, cuts off the lips, ears and tails of Irish horses. The offense is finally repaired by the offering of new mounts and a magic cauldron. Later during the war between the Welsh to the Irish, it is he who throws Gwern, Branwen's son, into the fire.