Here is a glossary of mythology Celtic : Mabinogion (The four branches of the Mabinogi), Macha, Mac Cecht, Mac Cuill, Mac Greine, Mac Oc, Manannan Mac Lir, Manawyddan Fab Llyr, Maponos, Marc'h, Math, Matholwch, Medb, Medyr (Mider), Menw, Merlin (Marzin, Myrdhin), Miach, Midir, Mile (Milesians), Mog Ruith, Momoros, Morfessa (and the Stone of Fal), Morrigane Morrigan, Macha, Moytura, Muirne, Mullo
Celtic Glossary
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 (Cooley's Cow Raid), in which we see him defending the border, facing alone the coalition army of the kingdoms of Ireland.
Mac Cecht, in Irish Celtic mythology, is part of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is one of the sons of Cermait, himself the son of Dagda.
With his brothers Mac Cuill and Mac Greine, he kills Lug to avenge the assassination of their father who had had an affair with the wife of the great god. The three brothers then become Ard ri Érenn (Supreme Kings of Ireland), in turn, endorsing sovereignty for a year. This three-headed reign lasts for three decades. They are the last kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann before the arrival of the Milesians on the island. He is nicknamed "Son of the Plow". His wife is Fódla, a personification of Ireland.
Oengus (or Aengus, or Mac Oc) is the natural son of Dagda and Boand (name of the river La Boyne), he was procreated and he was born on the same day. The Dagda had tricked Boann's husband into kidnapping her. Oengus means “single choice” and Mac Oc “young son”. According to forestry custom, he was raised 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 artisanal – see Indo-European tripartite functions).
It is described as very beautiful, always accompanied by four birds. In his sleep, he falls in love with Caer Ibormaith, whose father, Ethal, refuses to give him a hand. Oengus forces him to tell him where she is hiding, he discovers her swimming on a lake, under the aspect of a swan in the middle of one hundred and fifty birds. On Samain's day, he also transforms and goes to look for the young girl. He is the adoptive father of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. He is comparable to Apollo from Greek mythology.
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.
Manannan Mac Lir, literally "the Mannois son of Lir" (Lir being the Ocean), its equivalent Welsh is Manawyddan Fab Llyr. He belongs to the Tuatha Dé Danann (People of the Goddess Dana), he is the sovereign god-warrior of the Celtic Otherworld, the (Sidh). He is its steward and master, and as such, he provides the other gods with the fabulous pigs served at the Feast of Immortality.
If the Sidh is located underground, it is accessed across the waters (seas, lakes, rivers); Manannan drives his chariot over the waves and across the plains, and his boat maneuvers alone. This is the reason why he is sometimes made a marine god protector of navigators or, on the contrary, wrecker of ships, but his power places him among his brothers: the Dagda and Ogme. He is the husband of Fand who will have an amorous affair with the hero Cúchulainn.
Among his powers, we must emphasize the gifts of metamorphosis and ubiquity as well as his psychopomp role; he uses his cloak of invisibility, notably to prevent Cúchulainn from seeing Fand. He is the father of numerous divine and human children.
He would have given his name to the Isle of Man.
The Mane (or Maine), in Irish Celtic mythology, are warriors, sons of the rulers of Connaught, Queen Medb and King Ailill. They appear in particular in The Men of Medb, or The Battle of the Boyne) and in the story of the Raid of the cows of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge).
Mane is not the name given to them at birth, but war names to fulfill a druidic prophecy:
* Feidlimid, becomes Mane Aitheamail,
* Cairpri, Mane Maitheamail,
* Eochaid, Mane Andoe,
* Fergus, Mane Tai,
* Ceat, Mane Morgor,
* Sin, Mane Milscothach,
* Daire, Mane Mo Epert.
During the assembly of Cluitheamnach where the warriors of Ireland prepare the battle of Findchorad against the king of Ulster Conchobar Mac Nessa, Medb learns from one of his druids that Conchobar can only be killed by a warrior called "Mane ". The queen therefore rebaptizes all her sons in the hope that one of them will succeed in killing his enemy. But there is confusion about the person, the druid spoke of another Conchobar: the son of Arthur, son of Bruide, son of Dongal, the son of the king ofScotland, who will be killed by Mane Andoe.
At the beginning of the Raid of the Cows of Cooley, when Medb realizes that she will not be able to appropriate the "Brown of Cúailnge" by negotiation, she decides to invade the kingdom of Ulster, taking advantage of a "weakness" of the Ulates. She summons all the kings of the island with their armies and appeals to her sons, the Manes.
King Marc'h is both a character in Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend. It is present in traditions, Breton and cornish. Its name (Marc'h means "horse" in Breton) and its attributes (ears of the same animal) give it a psychopomp role, like Epona among the Gallic, then the Gallo-Romans.
In Breton tradition, anchored in Lower Cornwall, Marc'h is a legendary king of Cornwall whose originality is to have horse ears. Furthermore, he is one of the protagonists of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, anchored in Breton and Celtic historical reality, between Ireland, and large and small Brittany.
The historian Léon Fleuriot, a specialist in this period, likens him to Komonor (Cunomorus), historical king of Cornwall British in the 6th century, ruling both the two Domnonées, the Armorican Domnonée and the Domnonée (Cornwall-Devon) of the island of Brittany:
“He (Comonor) is often presented as a vassal of Childebert, a praefectus, says the Chronicle of Saint Brieuc: “Comorus tyrannus, praefectus Francorum regis”. Comonor appears to have been a Britto-Roman. The Life of Saint Paul calls him "King Mark" or Princeps Mark or by his full name Marcus Quonomorius.
The writer Jean Markale took up this assimilation to King Cumunorus.
In Brittany, near the Cornish town of Douarnenez, the commune of Plomarc'h ("parish of Marc'h" - ploe means parish in Breton) contains foundations which are said to be those of the palace of King Marc'h . Legend states that this king was adorned with horse ears, hidden under a cap and that divulging the secret inevitably led to death. From there, there are several versions: according to one of them, King Marc'h systematically killed all the barbers who served him and knew his secret. It is also said that one of these barbers trusted the earth, a reed grew in this place which was cut by a ringer to make a biniou. When he began to play, the instrument sang “King Marc'h has horse ears”. And according to the late poem of Béroul, a Norman trouvère from the 12th century, it was the king's dwarf astrologer who revealed the secret and was killed by the king.
The physical attribute of horse ears may evoke King Midas from Greek mythology, but the analogy ends there.
A tale, collected by Yann ar Floch, presents a different version of the legend. He is king of Poulmarc'h and has a fantastic horse, which can cross the sea and gallops as fast as the wind. The animal is nicknamed "Morvarc'h", which means "sea horse" in Breton. One day, while hunting, his path crosses that of a deer. No matter how hard he forces his horse, he fails to catch up with her. It is only backed to the edge of the cliff, near the place where the city of Ys was submerged, that he can face him. King Marc'h cocks his bow and shoots an arrow at him, but by a spell, the line turns around and directly kills his precious horse. Driven by fury, he pulls out his dagger, but the deer has disappeared, instead there is a beautiful young girl. It is Ahès, the daughter of Gradlon. In revenge for the chase, she decks the king in ears similar to those of her horse, then sinks into the sea.
Marc'h is the king of Cornouaille in Armorican Brittany, his sister Bleunwenn (Blanche-Fleur) married Rivalen, the king of Loonois, a country in the south of Scotland. Rivalen dies in the war and his wife dies while giving birth to a child: Tristan. The child is taken in by his uncle King Marc'h who raises him. Many years later, during a warlike expedition to Ireland, Tristan was injured while killing the giant Morholt, brother of the king of the island. Isolde, the king's daughter, knows how to heal Tristan's poisoned wound. Once recovered, he returns to Brittany.
Marc'h wants to make Tristan his successor, but the nobles of Cornwall oppose it and the king must marry. The only interesting party is Isolde. Tristan leaves on an embassy and asks for the hand of Isolde for his uncle, from the King of Ireland who hastens to accept. Before leaving, the queen entrusts to the servant Brangaine who is on the trip, a love potion intended for her daughter and for King Marc'h; This potion makes those who drink it eternally fall in love. During the trip Tristan and Isolde drink the potion by mistake and become very infatuated with each other. Despite their love, Isolde marries Marc'h, but it is the servant Brangaine who takes her place in the king's bed on the wedding night.
The lovers end up leaving, but after a long flight they are found by the king, while they are sleeping in the forest. Marc'h replaces Tristan's sword which is placed between them with his own – an elegant way of telling them that he spares them. The lovers separate and Tristan leaves Cornwall.
Years later, when they found each other before dying, Marc'h intervened so that they were buried near each other.
He is called in English Mark of Cornwall (in Latin Marcus, in Cornish Margh, in Welsh March) and he is a legendary king of Cornwall at the beginning of the 6th century. He is Tristan's uncle and Isolde's husband, who have a sinful relationship.
Mark sends Tristan as an ambassador to find his bride, Princess Iseult in Ireland. Tristan and Iseult fall in love and, thanks to a magic potion, begin a passionate carnal relationship that has no equal in medieval literature.
Matholwch is the king of Iwerddon (Ireland), he is particularly known for being one of the protagonists of Branwen's Mabinogi. He arrives at the court of Bran the Blessed, son of Llyr, to ask for the hand of his sister Branwen, and thus conclude a peace treaty. Evnissyen, the young girl's half-brother, furious at not having been consulted, cuts off the horses' lips, ears and tails Irish, hoping to break the deal. The offense is repaired by donating new mounts and a magic cauldron. Matholwch takes his new wife to his kingdom, where she is well received; from this union will be born a son Gwern. Then she falls into disgrace, she loses her title of queen and has to work in the kitchens. This treatment will last for three years, during which she raises a starling. She sends the bird carrying a message to the paw, to her brother, who immediately undertakes a military expedition. Evnissyen throws the child Gwern into a fire. The battle is a general massacre.
Queen Medb (or Maeve, Maëve) appears in particular in “The Cooley Cow Raid” (Táin Bó Cúailnge), a long mythical story, which belongs to the Ulster cycle.
Mebd, whose name means "drunkenness (of power)" is the queen of Connaught and the wife of King Ailill, but no king can reign without marrying her, because she personifies Sovereignty. Warrior and ambitious, her very sight weakens the men who look at her, and she is said to run faster than horses.
Following a discussion about their personal wealth, it turns out that Ailill owns one more bull, the Beau Cornu d'Ai. The question is important since in Celtic society, wealth determines royal precedence. She asks Dare, noble of Ulster, to sell her his bull, the mythical Brun de Cualnge, he refuses despite the fortune offered to him. Coalizing the other provinces of Ireland (Leinster, Munster and Meath), it organizes an expedition against Ulster, for the capture of the Cualnge bull. The hero Cúchulainn, defender of Ulster, kills a great number of enemies and, after the awakening of Ulates who had been bewitched, it is the rout of the warriors of Ireland.
The power and freedom of Queen Mebd reveal the status of women in ancient Celtic societies.
In the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Medb and Ailill have an adopted son, Etarcumul (or Etarcomol), who faces Cúchulainn in a duel to the death, while Fergus Mac Roeg vainly tried to prevent him. Not wanting to kill him, the hero of Ulster shaves the grass under his feet with a blow of his sword, then he slashes his clothes without touching him, in the third attack he shaves his head. The fight having to end, Cúchulainn cuts him in two from the head.
Known as "Myrddin" or "Myrdhin" in Welsh, "Merzhin" or "Marzhin" in Breton and Cornish, Merlin is generally depicted as a beneficial mage commanding over the natural elements and animals. It is particularly linked to Brittonic mythology, which covered continental Brittany and present-day Great Britain (except Scotland). Today, his name is frequently associated with his role as "enchanteur" (magician), particularly since this term served as the title of the French version of a popular cartoon from the 1960s.
The name Merlin itself has no clearly defined origin. Some place it at the time of the Celtic Druids. What we know is that the names “Merddin”, “Myrddin”, then “Merlinus” or even “Merilun” were used successively to describe one and the same character. The name “Merlin” would be adopted later, probably around the 12th century. The legend of Merlin, whose name is associated with various qualifiers such as "enchanter", "magician" or "the Man of the Woods", is very complex. We do not know if this character really existed, the manuscript sources of the time having disappeared. Most of the works that talk about Merlin also mention Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. These texts date from the 12th to the 16th century, but stories featuring Merlin date back much further. It appears that a certain Merlinus Ambroisius really existed, of royal descent. Christian influence in the Middle Ages would have transformed the initial writings into legend: Merlin's mother having given birth to an “antichrist” with great powers. In addition, some women become witches who attack men, even Merlin. In short, his description varies over time until he becomes the Merlin we know through tales and cartoons: enchanter, prophet, man of the woods, master of animals, wise, a pure magician and close to nature, quite close to the god Pan of Greek mythology who represents the very incarnation of nature. On a symbolic level Merlin represents goodness and dreams, nature in its original power. This is undoubtedly why he captivates us, because he is the representation of an eternal archetype.
The best known legend as to his origin makes him the son of a virgin and a demon, hence the Christian parallel and the qualification of antichrist. However, others legends (reported by Stephen Lawhead in his Pendragon Cycle) link his existence to the legend of Atlantis, where his mother would be native (Charis, daughter of King Avallach of Atlantis), while his father would be Breton (Taliesin son of Elphin, king of Caer Dyvi), according to the legend of the Pendragon Cycle. These discrepancies in origin come from the fact that no real story has yet been discovered, and therefore any version is possible.
Its role in the Arthurian cycle is to help fulfill the destiny of the kingdom of Brittany (mythical kingdom bringing together current England, the Wales and mainland Brittany). Thanks to legendary wisdom, he becomes the friend and advisor of King Uther Pendragon. When he died, he organized the challenge of the sword Excalibur which allowed Arthur, illegitimate son of Uther, to succeed his father. Then he encourages Arthur to establish the Round Table so that the knights who constitute it can embark on missions relating to myth, in particular the famous quest for the Grail. At the end of his life and despite all his knowledge, Merlin can do nothing against the destiny of the kingdom of Brittany and the tragic end of King Arthur.
The legend of Merlin was not originally incorporated into the Arthurian cycle. The character will be in a way "Christianized" later to be able to appear there, but we can recognize the archetype of the druid: proximity to nature, magical powers, supernatural knowledge, wisdom, long life, role of guide and advisor powerful ones. In a Christian world then in full swing, he represented what remained of the ancient tradition: the dying Druidic world.
Soothsayer and magician, Merlin fell, according to legend, madly in love with the fairy Viviane, to whom he entrusted the secret to bind a man forever. The fairy Viviane therefore began to perform this magic, tracing the “nine circles” around the sleeping Merlin. Magic being powerful, Merlin was locked up for eternity in his prison, to the great regret of the fairy Viviane who did not believe that this was possible. It is also said that even now he is still locked up. Thus, in the forest of Brocéliande, on a stele is written: “Here Merlin the enchanter was locked up by the fairy Vivianne”.
Miach, in Irish Celtic mythology is an important god of the Tuatha Dé Danann (the people of the tribe of Dana – i.e. 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 duplicate brother Ormiach.
It appears in particular in the epic story “Cath Maighe Tuireadh” (the battle of Mag Tured) which narrates the war between the gods and the Formoires and intervenes after the injury of the god Nuada. The latter, having had his arm severed during the first battle, lost the kingship to Bres. Diancecht, the doctor-god, makes him a silver prosthesis, hence his nickname “Airgetlam” (that is to say “Silver Arm”); this operation allows it to recover sovereignty. Miach will attempt and succeed in a more remarkable feat: the transplant of the real arm. This unleashes the fury of the doctor-god who kills his son with three sword blows. His sister Airmed, a specialist in medicinal plants, takes care of the three hundred and sixty-five plants that grew on his grave.
Its power to restore sovereignty to Nuada makes it the symbol of the balance of the world.
Midir, in Irish Celtic mythology, is the sovereign god of the Underworld (see article Sidh) of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("people of the tribe of Dana"). It is the equivalent of the Gallic god Medos (Mediris). After the defeat of the Tuatha Dé Danann by the Milesians, he resides in the sidh of Breg Leith. An important personality, he is very present in the stories of the “Etain cycle”. Brother of Dagda, he is sometimes considered as his double. He is in charge of the education of Oengus (also called Mac Oc), the child-god that his brother had with Eithne.
During a feast given by his nephew Oengus, he was injured in one eye and treated by Diancecht, the god-doctor of the Tuatha Dé Danann. As compensation for the damage suffered, he asks to be given a cloak, a chariot and the most beautiful girl in Ireland, who happens to be the goddess Tin. The moment they meet, he immediately falls in love with her and decides to make her his mistress. But he already has a legitimate wife, the magician Fuamnach, who is extremely jealous. She will pursue the intruder using the most powerful spells of her magic, but she does not have the power to kill her. She transforms it into a pool of water by touching it with a mountain ash branch, 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. This is how she can be reborn. Fuamnach cannot reconquer Midir who, tired of these adventures, has her assassinated.
Étain marries Eochaid Airem, the Ard ri Érenn (Supreme King of Ireland), but Midir, who wants 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 definitively 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. From this incestuous relationship, a daughter will be born, at the origin of a dynasty of kings.
Mile, also known as Milésius, or Míl Espáine, is the mythical ancestor of the Gaèls (or Goidels) who are sometimes called the "sons of Mile" or "Milesians". He is a warrior from Spain whose name means "combat", "destruction".
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of the Conquests of Ireland), the Milesians are the last invaders of Ireland and, unlike their predecessors, they are humans. Like Partholon, their landing takes place on the feast of Beltaine (May 1) under the direction of their file (druid-poet, see Bard) and judge Amorgen Glungel.
The Milesians emerge victorious from the war which opposes them to the “Tuatha Dé Danann” (the People of the Goddess Dana) and the latter are forced to take refuge in Sidh, that is to say the Celtic Other World. Eranann, the last of Mile's children whose name means "little Irishman", loses his life carried away by the "druidic wind".
Mog Ruith, in Irish Celtic Mythology, is a mythical Druid. He is nicknamed the “Servant of the Wheel” because, as a representation of Dagda, his attribute is the cosmic wheel. This “rowing wheel” (roth ramhach in Gaelic) deafens anyone who hears it, causes blindness in anyone who sees it and kills those on whom it falls. He has a daughter, herself a “druidess”, Tlachtga.
The character appears mainly in a text entitled Forbuis Droma Damhghaire (The Siege of Druim Damhghaire), and which recounts a warlike expedition of the Ard ri Érenn (supreme king of Ireland) Cormac Mac Airt against the province of Munster which does not pay the " Boroma.” This is a tribute in livestock that the provincial kings owe to the Ard-ri. The people of Munster call on the druid Mog Ruith, whose powerful magic brings them victory. He is one of the most powerful druids in mythology, he is also a warrior who has the particularity of being “blind”; blindness is a quality for certain druids since it grants them the gift of clairvoyance. His residence is called “Darbre” (or “Dairbre”), which means oak forest.
The first Irish Christians made him the instigator of the execution of Saint John the Baptist, in order to destroy his reputation, proof that the myth was important.
Momoros, in Gallic Celtic mythology, is a druid, whose name means "the swan".
According to legend, he was one of the founders of the city of Lyon with King Atepomaros. Coming from the north, they stopped on a hill located on the edge of the Saône. Following the instructions of an oracle, they undertake the construction of a city, when the site is invaded by a multitude of crows. This animal being a harbinger of the presence of the god Lug, it is decreed that the city will be called “Lugdunum” that is to say the fortress (or hill) of Lug.
In Irish Celtic mythology, before their arrival in Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann resided in four "Islands in the North of the World" named Falias, Findias, Gorias and Murias; it is in these places that they practiced Art, that they learned Poetry and wisdom.
Morfessa, whose name means "Great Knowledge" was the druid who governed the island of Falias. This is where the Fal stone talisman comes from, symbolizing legitimate power and Sovereignty. It is placed in Tara, the mythical center of Ireland. If a man is worthy of supreme royalty, the Stone begins to scream when he sits on it.
Cúchulainn would have shattered him with a sword blow, because she would have remained silent during her attempt.
Morrigan (or Morrigu) means Great Queen. Daughter of Ernwas, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, she is the Irish goddess of war or more precisely, she is the warlike aspect of Sovereignty or death in Ireland. It is also known under the names of Bodb (Corneille) or Macha (Plaine). She is the wife of the Druid god Dagda. She sometimes appears as a flock of three crows or as a raven. Like the other deities, she is only an avatar of the great female goddess Brigit.
She travels the battlefields in a red crew, on a chariot guided by a single one-legged horse. During wars, she appears in various animal forms and to invoke her, you have to croak. Among other powers which are numerous, it can inspire fear or courage in warriors. The battle dead are the "Morrigane acorns".
In the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cooley Cow Raid), in the guise of a beautiful young girl with red eyebrows, she attempts to seduce Cúchulainn, who refuses her advances. She threatens him in the guise of different animals and, while he fights, she wraps herself around his thigh as an eel. The hero gets rid of it and injures her. He is then absent from the fight for a long time, but when he returns to fight she appears to him for the last time as a young woman washing remains dripping with blood. He then knows that his time has come.
Later, it is as a crow that she attends the agony of Cúchulainn, perched on her shoulder.
