Celtic Mythology

An tigh geatha
In druidry an tigh geatha refers to the outer order.

Andraste
In British mythology, Andraste is a warrior goddess. She was invoked by Queen Boudicca when she revolted against the Roman invaders.

Angus Og
In Irish mythology, Angus Og is the god of love and beauty.

Annwn
In British mythology, annwn is the otherworld.

Arduina
In Celtic mythology Arduina is the goddess of woodlands, wild life, the hunt and the moon; Guardian and Eponym of the Ardennes Forest.

Argetlam
see "Nuada"

Arianrhod
In Welsh Celtic mythology, Arianrhod or Arianrod (Silver-Wheel or Silver-Circle) was the virgin white goddess of birth, initiation, death and rebirth. She Who turns the circle of heaven. She was a sister and wife of Gwydion.

Arianrod
see "Arianrhod"

Avalon
Avalon is the place where King Arthur is said to have gone after disappearing. It is a sort of fairy land.

Aywell
In Celtic mythology, Aywell was the protector of the independant peoples of Northern England. He was the husband of Mm.

Badb
In Irish mythology, Badb was one of the giantess forms of Morrigan. She was sufficiently tall to place a foot on either side of a river.

Banshee
In Gaelic folklore, a banshee is a female spirit whose wailing outside a house foretells the death of one of its inhabitants.

Bard
A bard was an order of druid. The bard's office was to supervise, regulate and to lead. His robe was sky blue, symolising justice and truth.

Bebhionn
In Celtic mythology, Bebhionm was a giantess from the Maiden's Land far off the West coast of Ireland known for her beauty and seduction.

Bel
Bel (Belenos) was the Celtic god of light.

Beltane
Beltane is the Celtic festival of the god of light. It is held on May the 1st, and is the spring equivalent of Hallowe'en. Formerly in England dancing took place to may poles in village greens to celebrate the festival, but this practice subsided during the 1970s and is now almost extinct.

Bladud
In English mythology, Bladud was the father of King Lear, and was said to have founded Bath having been cured by its waters.

Blodeuwedd
In Celtic mythology, Blodeuwedd was the wife of Lleu. She was created by Gwydion and Math from the blossoms of the oak, broom and meadow-sweet and presented to Lleu as a bride.

Boann
In Irish mythology, Boann is the goddess of rivers.

Bran
In Celtic mythology Bran was a giant who delighted in battle and carnage. He was the son of Lir (or Llyr) and a mortal woman. He led the giants from Wales on their invasion of Ireland, being killed by a poisoned arrow in the battle with Evnissyen which followed the deposition of the Irish king.

Branwen
In Celtic mythology, Branwen is a goddess of love. She was a daughter of Llyr.

Brighid
In Gaelic mythology, Brighid (Brigit) was the goddess of metalwork, smiths, poetic inspiration and therapy. With christianity she evolved into Saint Brigit.

Brigit
see "Brighid"

Brownie
The brownie is a spirit popular in Scottish folk-lore. Brownies haunt houses, and if treated well will help with the drudgery of the housework while the occupants sleep.

Camulus
In English Celtic mythology, Camulus (heaven) was a god of war identified by the Romans with Mars. He gave his name to the town of Camulodunum, now called Colchester.

Cernunnos
In Celtic mythology, Cernunnos was the god of the underworld and of animals. He is depicted as a man with the antlers of a stag.

Cerridwen
In Welsh mythology, Cerridwen is the goddess of dark prophetic powers. She is the keeper of the cauldron of the underworld, in which inspiration and divine knowledge are brewed.

Conchobar
In Celtic mythology, Conchobar was the King of Ulster whose intended bride, Deidre, eloped with Noisi. Conchobar killed Deidre's husband and his brothers and she died of sorrow.

Cordelia
In Welsh celtic mythology, Cordelia was the daughter of Llyr. She has two lovers, Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyrthur ap Greidawl., who fight for her on the 1st of May each year and will continue to do so until the day of doom when one shall be victorious and marry her.

Creidhne
In Celtic mythology, Creidhne was the god of metal working.

Creurdilad
In Celtic mythology, Creurdilad was the dauhter of Lludd and lover of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyrthur ap Greidawl. Her mythology developed into that of Cordelia, with the names of her lovers also amending with time.

Cuchulain
Cuchulain was a Celtic hero, the chief figure in a cycle of Irish legends. He is associated with his uncle Conchobar, King of Ulster; his most famous exploits are described in The Cattle Raid of Cuchulain.

Cuchulinn
In Celtic mythology, Cuchulinn is a hero-king of Ulster and son of Lugh. He is a warlike figure and tales tell of his warlike deeds.

Dagda
Dagda was the Celtic equivalent of Cronus. Also called Cian.

Daghdha
In Irish mythology, Daghdha is the great god. He had a secret affair with Boann which resulted in the birth of Oenghus.

Deirdre
In Celtic mythology, Deidre was the beautiful intended bride of Conchobar. She eloped with NoÌsi, and died of sorrow when Conchobar killed him and his brothers.

Diancecht
In Irish mythology, Diancecht is the god of healing. He destroyed the giant serpent that threatened and destroyed cattle throughout the land.

Dis
In Gaulish mythology, Dis was the god of death from whom the Gauls were descended.

Druantia
In British mythology, Druantia was the druid goddess of birth, wisdom, death and metempsychosis. The mother of the Irish tree-calendar alphabet.

Druid
The ancient druids were divided into 3 functional orders:primitive druid, bard and ovate. Druidism originated amongst the megalithic ancient British. They taught it to the immigrant celts, and later trained celts from the conntinent.

Dylan
In Celtic mythology Dylan was a god of darkness, a twin son of Gwydion and Arianrhod. He was a sea god, and swam like a fish. Upon his death at the hands of a spear thrown by his uncle Govannan, the sea for ever more wept for him in the form of waves crashing on the shore.

Elaine
In Celtic mythology, Elaine (Lily-Maid) was a virgin goddess of beauty and the moon. She was the matron of road-building and a loveable leader of hosts.

Epona
In Celtic mythology, Epona was the goddess of horses.

Eriu
In Irish Celtic mythology, Eriu was a shapeshifting goddess of fate. The bestower of sovereignty.

Etain
In Celtic mythology, Etain (Shining-One) was the triple goddess of the sun, water, horses, fragrance, beauty, music and the transmigration of souls.

Fata-Morgana
In Irish Celtic mytholgy, Fata-Morgana is the goddess of the sea, visual illusions, enchantment, fate and death. She is the Queen of the Fortunate Isles.

Finn MacCool
In Celtic mythology, Finn MacCool was an Irish prophet, warrior and healer. He learned his skills either from touching the flesh of Fintan as he cooked him, or by sipping the gods' wine as he served them at table.

Fintan
In Celtic mythology, Fintan (the salmon of wisdom) was a shape-changer. He was the only Irish survivor of Noah's flood, changing into a hawk to soar above the waters and into a salmon to live in them. He ate the gods' magic hazlenuts and received all knowledge, but was netted in a salmon-trap and cooked for the gods' banquet by Finn MacCool who in doing touched Fintan's flesh and absorbed the knowledge from Fintan turning him into a seer and healer on the spot.

Gawain
In Celtic mythology, Gawain was the son of King Lot of Orkney or the sun-god Lug. Gawain was one of Arthur's most loyal and noble followers. One New Year's Eve a green giant rode into the hall at Camelot and challenged the bravest warrior there to cut off his head, and then one year later, to visit the giant's castle to have his own head chopped off. Gawain accepted the challenge and decapitated the giant, who picked up his head and galloed away. One year later Gawain went in search off the giant and came to the castle of Lord Bertilak and was entertained there for three days and three nights. Each night Bertilak's wife came to Gawain and tried to seduce him, and each time Gawain resisted her. On the fourth day, alone in the castle grounds Gawain came upon the giant and bent down to have his head cut off. Three times the giant swung the axe, and each time he stopped short, before disappearing and Bertilak stood in his place. Bertilak told Gawain that the entire thing had been a test set by Morgan le Fay to find the bravest of Arthur's followers, and that each swing of the axe was for a night when he had resisted the attentions of Bertilak's wife. Had he given in to temptation he would have died.

Geofon
In British mythology, Geofon was the ocean goddess.

Goibhniu
In Celtic mythology, Goibhniu was the smith god.

Govannan
In Celtic mythology, Govannan was a son of Don and god of smithcraft.

Gronw Pebyr
In Celtic mythology, Gronw Pebyr is a god of darkness.

Guinevere
In Celtic mythology, Guinevere or Guinever, is the French spelling of the Celtic name Gwynhwfar ('white cloud'). Gwynhwfar was a cloud-goddess who often, for mischief, took mortal form and entered the world of humans to cause havoc. Soon after Arthur became king of Camelot, she entered the womb of a Roman princess whose husband ruled in Britain, and was born, as a beautiful mortal: Guinevere. In due course Arthur married her, against the advice of Merlin. Guinevere was the most beautiful woman in the world, and all Arthur's knights would have had sex with her if they hadn't been bound by their oaths of chivalry. Only Lancelot succumbed, and his and Guinevere's adultery broke Arthur's heart and led to the end of Camelot. When the company of the Round Table was broken up and its heroes disappeared into legend, Guinevere resumed her identity as Gwynhwfar, returned to the sky and has ever since been planning her next earthly manifestation.

Gwydion
In Celtic mythology, Gwydion was a son of Don, a master of fantasy and illusion, and the teacher of humans of all that is good and useful. He is a friend of mankind and perpetually fights the underworld powers for the good gifts they refuse to give to mankind.

Gwyn
see "Gwyn ap Nudd"

Gwyn ap Nudd
In Celtic mythology, Gwyn ap Nudd (Gwyn) is the lord of the underworld and master of the wild hunt. He lives at Glastonbury Tor.

Gwynhwfar
see "Guinevere".

Gwyrthur ap Greidawl
In Celtic mythology, Gwyrthur ap Greidawl (Gwyrthur) is a rival to Gwyn ap Nudd for the affections of Creurdilad. He is a solar god, representing day.

Herne The Hunter
In English folklore, Herne The Hunter is the spirit of a hunter which guards travellers through Windsor Great Park. He wears the antlers of a stag upon his head. Herne was prominent in the tales of Robin Hood, although Windsor Great Park is nowhere near Sherwood Forest.

Isolde
In Celtic and medieval legend, Isolde was the wife of King Mark of Cornwall who was brought from Ireland by his nephew Tristan. She and Tristan accidentally drank the aphrodisiac given to her by her mother for her marriage, were separated as lovers, and finally died together.

Lir
In Celtic mythology Lir (or Lleyr or Llyr) was the Old Man of the Sea. He had four beautiful children which he doted on. After his wife died he married her sister who hated him and turned his children into swans, mute and aloof from him. By the time Lir had discovered what had happened to his children and reversed the spell they had aged into withered old people.

Lleu
In Celtic mythology, Lleu was a god of light, a twin son of Gwydion and Arianrhod.

Lludd
see "Nudd"

Llyr
In Welsh Celtic mythology, Llyr is the god of the sea, he relates to the Irish Lir.

Luchtaine
In Celtic mythology, Luchtaine was the god of wheel making.

Lugh
In Irish mythology, Lugh (Lug) was the god of light. He killed his grandfather, Balor, during the great battle in which a new order of gods and goddesses took over from the primal beings of chaotic energy. He was the god of skill and ability.

Mabon
In Celtic mythology, Mabon was the Son of Light, equated with the Roman Apollo. He was the god of liberation, harmony, music and unity.

Macha
In Irish mythology, Macha is a goddess of athletic games, festivals and fertility.

Manannan mac Lir
In Celtic mythology, Manannan mac Lir (Barinthus) was the god of the ocean. He ferried the wounded King Arthur to the otherworld so that he could be cured.

Mark
In Celtic legend, Mark was king of Cornwall, uncle of Tristan, and suitor and husband of Isolde.

Mm
In celtic mythology, Mm was the goddess of thought of the independant peoples of Northern England. She never appeared alone, but always followed after her impetuous husband Aywell providing caution to his flashes of uncontrolled energy.

Morrigan
Morrigan was the Celtic goddess of war and death who could take the shape of a crow.

Naoise
In Irish mythology, Naoise was the husband of Deirdre. He was killed by his uncle Conchobar.

Nemetona
In Celtic mythology, Nemetona was a goddess of war.

Nimue
In Celtic mythology, Nimue was a shape changer who loved Merlin. After a contest of magic she captured him forever by turning herself into a drop of amber and engulfing him.

Nuada
In Celtic mythology, Nuada (Argetlam meaning He ofthe Silver Hand) was a war god of the Gaels equivalent roughly to the Greek Zeus in that he was the supreme god.

Nudd
In Celtic mythology, Nudd or Lludd is a son of Beli. He was a sky-god and is attributed with stopping three supernatural plagues.

Oberon
In English folklore, Oberon is the king of the elves.

Oenghus
In Irish mythology, Oenghus is the son of Daghdha and Boann. He is the god of fatal love.

Ogmios
In Celtic mythology, Ogmios was the eloquent god of the strength of poetry, charm and incantation. He is depicted as an old man with wrinkles, but carrying a club and a bow.

Ovate
An ovate was a type of druid. His purpose was to observe and invent. His robe was green symbolising budding life.

Penardum
In Celtic mythology, Penardum was a sea-goddess married to Llyr.

Primitive druid
The primitive druid was an order of druid involved with teaching science and religion. His robe was white symbolising light, purity and knowledge.

Rosmerta
In Gaulish Celtic mythology, Rosmerta was the goddess of fire, warmth, wealth and abundance. A flower Queen and hater of marriage. She was the beldame of death.

Salmon of Wisdom
see "Fintan"

Sulis
In Celtic mythology, Sulis was a goddess of prophesy, inspiration, wisdom and death. She who is bountiful, as is a sow of piglets.

Taisch
Taisch was the Gaelic name given to 'second sight', the involuntary ability of seeing the future or distant events. It originated in the Scottish highlands.

Taranis
In Druid mythology, Taranis is the god of the wheel, associated with forces of change.