Here is a glossary of mythology Celtic : Oengus, (Aengus, Mac Oc), Ogma (Ogme, Ogmios), Olwen, Ormiach, Ossian (Osin, Ossin), Partholon (Partholoniens), Pryderi, Pwyll
Celtic Glossary
Oengus (or Aengus, or Mac Oc) is the natural son of Dagda and Boand (name of the River Boyne), he was procreated and he was born on the same day. The Dagda had tricked Boann's husband into kidnapping him. Oengus means "unique choice" and Mac Oc "young son". According to the custom of forestry, he was brought up by Midir, a brother of his father. He has a daughter named Curcog. In the organization of the Tuatha Dé Danann, it is a god who participates in the three functions (priestly, warrior and artisan - see Indo-European tripartite functions).
It is described as being of great beauty, always accompanied by four birds. In his sleep, he falls in love with Caer Ibormaith, whose father, Ethal, refuses to hold his hand. Oengus forces him to tell him where she is hiding, he discovers her swimming on a lake, in the guise of a swan in the midst of a hundred and fifty birds. On Samhain's day, he too transforms himself and goes to look for the young girl. He is the adoptive father of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. He is comparable to Apollo in mythology Greek.
He seizes by trickery the home of his father, the Brug na Boinne: he asks for the symbolic property for a day and a night. But in the Celtic realm, a day and a night represent eternity, so he becomes its official owner. Time and eternity are under his responsibility.
Ogma is known by many spelling variants: Ogm, Ogme, Ogmios, Ogmius. A h is sometimes attached to the g showing that it is almost inaudible in Irish.
Julius Caesar, who writes Ogmios, assimilates him to Mars and Lucien of Samosate (2nd century) brings him closer to Heracles. He describes him as a half-bald old man with long white hair that falls down his back. He has a lion's skin, a club, a bow and a quiver. Finally he holds back by gold chains fixed to the ears, a multitude of men. According to Georges Dumézil, the tripartite ideology of the Indo-Europeans makes him comparable to the Vedic god Varuna.
In the hierarchy of the Irish pantheon Ogma is placed in third position behind Lug, the supreme polytechnician god, and the Dagda, the god-druid, of which he is the brother and the complement. He is at the same rank as Nuada and is therefore part of the Tuatha Dé Danann (People of the goddess Dana) and falls under the second warrior class whose function is to lead the heroes and warriors. In this martial role, he is dressed in a lion's skin and is armed with a bow and a quiver as well as a club. As the god of magic, he has the power to cripple his enemies.
Mythical inventor of writing, he is credited with creating the Ogam which constitute the alphabet of the druids. Therefore, eloquence and poetry also fall within its remit. He is then represented as an old man whose mouth, from which gushes gold and precious amber, fascinates the crowd. He is also shown with a tongue connected to men's ears by a chain which symbolizes his role as a unifier and civilizer.
The root of his name means “path, path”, he indicates the right direction to the living and becomes a psychopomp for the dead whom he accompanies in the Other World.
We can meet him under one of his three avatars:
* Elcmar "envious, jealous", contrary to Dagda the god-good;
* Labraid "the speaker", symbol of eloquence, he stammers;
* Celtchar "the cunning".
Miach, in Irish Celtic mythology is an important god of the Tuatha Dé Danann (the people of the Dana tribe - ie the gods of Ireland), his name means "the bushel". Like his father Diancecht, he is an expert in medicine, he has a sister Airmed ("the measure") and a double brother Ormiach.
He appears in particular in the epic story "Cath Maighe Tuireadh" (the battle of Mag Tured) which narrates the war between the gods and the Formorians and intervenes after the wound of the god Nuada. The latter, having had his arm severed during the first battle, loses the royalty in favor of Bres. Diancecht, the god-doctor, made him a silver prosthesis, hence his nickname "Airgetlam" (that is to say "the Silver Arm"); this operation allows it to regain sovereignty. Miach will attempt and achieve a more remarkable feat: the transplant of the real arm. This unleashes the fury of the doctor-god who kills his son with three blows of the sword. His sister Airmed, a specialist in medicinal plants, takes care of the three hundred and sixty-five plants that have grown on his grave.
Its power to restore sovereignty to Nuada makes it the symbol of the world's balance.
Partholon is linked to the myth of the Deluge, to the disappearance and rebirth of humanity, it is a prototype found in many mythologies. He is the son of Sera and Baath, the Ocean. In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of the Conquests of Ireland), he is presented as the leader of the first people of Ireland and the universal demiurge, the first man. He had been preceded on the island by the people of Cesair and the Fomorians.
First occupant of Ireland 278 years after the flood, he disembarks with his wife, his three sons and their respective wives (it is also said that they were twenty-four men and twenty-four women), coming from Greece or Spain. This arrival would have taken place on Beltaine Day (May 1). Very quickly, the population will grow significantly. He creates the seven lakes and the four plains, the rivers, the forests and the mountains. He invents the means that men need for their subsistence (agriculture, breeding, hunting, fishing), He establishes Druidism by transmitting his Knowledge and trains men for the war which they will soon have to wage against the Fomoires. The latter will take refuge on the Isle of Man.
The Partholonians exploit the gold mines, invent metallurgy, brew beer, practice alchemy. This era will last 5000 years, until a cataclysm (epidemic) destroys the entire population in one week, with the exception of a single survivor: Tuan Mac Cairill.
Pryderi notably appears in two of the four Mabinogion Welsh : “Manawyddan Fab Llyr” and “Math son of Mathonwy”. He is the son of Pwyll Prince of Dyved and Rhiannon, the "Great Queen", his name means "worry". His wife is Kigva.
Abducted at birth, he was abandoned in a stable belonging to the Prince of Gwent, Teirnon, who took in the child and raised him. When he finds his mother Rhiannon seven years later, she names him Pryderi, because of the anguish caused by his disappearance and the false accusation of infanticide which had resulted in a humiliating penance. On the death of his father Pwyll, he became prince of Dyved, then his mother married Manawyddan Fab Llyr. In the third branch of Mabinogi, a magical fog devastates the region and the family is forced into exile in England to work and survive. In the following tale, he is killed by Gwydyon, in the war between him and Math.
Pwyll is a character from Welsh Celtic Mythology who appears in particular in the first tale of the Welsh Mabinogion, which is titled "Pwyll, Prince of Dyved". Its name means "Reason".
During a hunt, he disputes the remains of a deer with another hunter, who is none other than Arawn, king of Annwvyn, that is to say the Other World. Arawn then offers him a contract: to exchange their identities for a year. This is how Pwyll becomes king of Anwvyn. During this period, he shares the bed of Arawn's wife and eliminates a rival, Hagan. He seizes the magic pigs which confer Immortality, and he becomes Pwyll Penn Anwvyn. Back in his kingdom of Dyved, in the south of Wales, his reign is characterized by fairness, justice and generosity, but he must find a wife, it is the meeting with Rhiannon. This one, whose name (from Rigantona) means "Great Queen" is an avatar of the Celtic female divinity (see Brigit, Brigantia). To marry her, Pwyll must eliminate all his rivals. They will spawn Pryderi.
In this late legend, we find in an altered way some themes of the Celtic mythology of Antiquity: the divine essence of royalty, the union with the woman who symbolizes sovereignty and the stay in the Other World.
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