Monaghan Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore

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PARTHOLÓN. As with most Fomorians, she was

described as improbably ugly, with lips on her

breasts and four eyes on her back.

Lot (Lotha) Arthurian hero. A minor charac-

ter in Arthurian legend, he was the husband of

king ARTHUR’s half sister MORGAUSE and father

of the knight of the ROUND TABLE, GAWAIN. His

part in the action is mainly through his sons,

since he fell to the powerful king PELLINORE in

Arthur’s battle for the throne; the sons of the

two kings feuded thereafter.

Loucetius See LEUCETIUS.

Loughcrew (Sliab na Cailleach) Irish mytho-

logical site. A great megalithic burial center in

Co. Meath, near the center of Ireland, Loughcrew

is connected in legend to the great HAG, the

CAILLEACH, and its Irish name means “mountain

of the hag.” There are a number of PASSAGE

GRAVES and other ritual sites on the several hills

that make up the Loughcrew complex, one of

Ireland’s oldest and richest in graphic ornamen-

tation—SPIRALS, starbursts, meanders, and other

designs are carved into the granite rock. On the

side of one hill is the Hag’s Chair, a grouping of

rocks that form a seat from which one can see

several distant counties. Atop that hill is a deco-

rated

CAIRN oriented to the sunrise on spring

and fall

EQUINOX.

Lough Derg Irish mythological site. The

legends about Lough Derg in Co. Donegal

claim that it was occupied by a great monster (or

SERPENT) called CAORANACH, whose massacre by

ST. PATRICK bloodied the lake waters (hence its

name, “dark red lake”). Another LAKE of the

same name is found in Co. Galway, where the

great magician of the TUATHA DÉ DANANN, BODB

DERG, was said to have had his palace.

Since Ireland became Christian, Donegal’s

Lough Derg has been the most significant place

of pilgrimage, especially to St. Patrick’s Purgatory

on Station Island, where the saint was said to have

descended through a CAVE to an OTHERWORLD in

order to do battle with evil. The legend, however,

does not date from early Christian times but to

the medieval period. In the late 16th century pil-

grims were housed in dormitories according to

their PROVINCE, so that the island formed a

microcosm of all Ireland. The site continues to

attract pilgrims today.

Source: Dames, Michael. Mythic Ireland. London:

Thames and Hudson, 1992, pp. 22 ff.

Lough Gur Irish mythological site. This

small LAKE in Co. Limerick, inhabited for almost

6,000 years, is surrounded by low hills, each of

them connected with a goddess (see ÁINE) or god

(see DONN FÍRINNE). Site of the largest extant

STONE CIRCLE in Ireland, the Grange, the lake is

believed to be an entrance to the OTHERWORLD,

a belief common to Celtic lands where water was

seen as the dividing line between this world and

that of the FAIRIES.

The many legends connected with the lake

emphasize a cycle of time, usually seven years.

Each time that cycle passes, distinctive events

occur. The lake empties of water, and passersby

see a tree growing from its bottom, covered with

a GREEN cloth; beneath it, a woman named

TOICE BHREAN sits KNITTING. The goddess or

fairy queen Áine is similarly seen at Lough Gur

each time the seven-year cycle ends, as is her

enchanted son GERÓID IARLA, born to her after

her affair with Maurice, earl of Desmond, who

saw her swimming in the form of a SWAN and

stole her cloak in order to capture her. As with

other such marriages, the groom was put under

a taboo by the bride, in this case to show no sur-

prise, no matter what their son might do.

Maurice forgot himself when, at a banquet, the

now-grown Geróid shrank himself into a tiny

being and leaped into a bottle, then out again,

resuming his regular size. The moment Maurice

called out in amazement, Geróid disappeared

into Lough Gur, appearing on its surface as a

294 Lot

GOOSE. Every seven years, he emerges from his

fairy residence on the island named for him,

Garrod Island, and takes on human form as he

leaves the lake. He rides a white horse and leads

the WILD HUNT across the land.

Other legends tell of a FAIRY HOUSEKEEPER

who appears on the chair-shaped ancient monu-

ment called the Suidheachan or “housekeeper’s

seat” near the lake. The housekeeper once fell

asleep when the dwarf harper, Áine’s brother FER

Í, stole her COMB (a female anatomical symbol,

suggesting the theft might have been a rape),

whereupon the housekeeper cursed the CATTLE

of the region as well as the dwarf. Fer Í returned

the comb, but to no avail, for the CURSE held and

he died. The housekeeper, or another fairy

woman, is believed to “steal”—drown—a human

in the lake waters once every seven years. The

lands around the lake are believed to be the ter-

ritory of the fairy race, who frequently kidnap

children from its shores.

Sources: Carbery, Mary. The Farm by Lough Gur:

The Story of Mary Fogarty. London: Longmans,

Green and Co., 1937; Croker, T. Crofton. Fair

Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.

London: W

illiam Tegg, 1862, pp. 167 ff;

Dames, Michael. Mythic Ireland. London:

Thames and Hudson, 1992, pp. 73 ff; Evans-

Wentz, W. Y. The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries.

Ger

rards Cross: Colin Smythe Humanities

Press, 1911, pp. 78–79, 81 ff.

Lough Neagh Irish mythological site. This

large LAKE in the northern province of ULSTER

was originally a WELL, but when a careless

woman left the lid off, the well waters exploded

and formed the lake. In the process, the family of

the maiden LÍ BAN drowned, leaving the girl

alone beneath the waves with her little lapdog.

Watching fish frolic about her, Lí Ban prayed to

be turned into one; she was instantly trans-

formed into a MERMAID with a SALMON’s tail, and

her little dog became an OTTER. Other stories

from the region say that a magical city appears

on clear days beneath the lake’s waves, and that

the folkloric FINN MCCOOL formed the lake

when he scooped up a handful of dirt and threw

it after an escaping GIANT, the lake being the

hollow left by Finn’s hand, and the Isle of Man,

the clod of dirt he threw.

Lough Ree Irish mythological site. A LAKE by

this name, formed by the great River Shannon,

is said to have a city in its depths, visible on clear

days. It was on its shores that the great queen

and goddess MEDB was killed by her nephew

FURBAIDE FERBEND in retaliation for her murder

of his mother, her sister CLOTHRA.

loup-garou (loup-garow) See SHAPE-

SHIFTING.

Luan Manx god. On the Isle of Man, the god

known in other Celtic lands as LUGH or LUGOS

was called Luan; he was an agricultural divinity

whose feast was on the major Celtic holiday of

LUGHNASA on August 1.

Luaths Lurgann Irish heroine. Her name

means “speedy foot,” and she was aptly named,

for this WARRIOR WOMAN was the fastest runner

in Ireland. She took in a nephew at whose birth

she had been MIDWIFE, a boy who would grow

up to become the hero FIONN MAC CUMHAILL,

when he needed protection against those envi-

ous of his great potential. In her forest home,

Luaths Lurgann trained the boy in the martial

arts. Fionn was devoted to his aunt, but he acci-

dentally killed her when, pursued by an enemy,

he picked her up and ran to safety. Fionn ran so

fast that the wind, tearing through the warrior

woman’s body, ripped her to shreds, leaving only

her thighbones, which Fionn used to dig a LAKE,

still called with her name, Loch Lurgann.

Lubbard Fiend British folkloric figure.

Although not known from other sources, this

Lubbard Fiend 295

character appears in the work of the great

English poet John Milton, who in L’Allegro

describes a “drudging Goblin” who threshed

corn “that ten day-laborers could not end”

before lying down by the fire to sleep off his

labors until dawn, at which time he disappeared.

This “fiend” seems a friendly BROWNIE or per-

haps a lubber (see LOB), but the Puritan language

of the time led Milton to describe his helpful

FAIRY farmhand in negative terms.

lubber See LOB.

Lucan Arthurian hero. One of the most

trusted members of king ARTHUR’s court, Lucan

served as his butler throughout his reign and was

by his side at the battle of CAMLAN when Arthur

was wounded. Despite that fatal cut, Lucan

attempted to save his king and died doing so.

Luchtar (Luchta) Irish god. One of the minor

gods of craftsmanship, Luchtar was the brother of

the smith GOIBNIU. Ruler of carpentry, Luchtar

crafted the spearshafts for the gods of the TUATHA

DÉ DANANN, the people of the goddess DANU, in

their fight against the monstrous FOMORIANS, in

the mythological second battle of MAG TUIRED.

Lugaidh (Lugaid, Lughaidh) Irish hero.

Several Irish heroes bear this name:

• Lugaidh Laíghde (Loígde), who had five

brothers, all named Lugaidh. The brothers

were out hunting when they encountered a

HAG

guarding a WELL, who demanded that one of

them sleep with her. All but Lugaidh Laíghde

pulled away in disgust, but he made love to her.

Pleased with his abilities, the hag turned into a

lovely young maiden who revealed herself to

him as the goddess of SOVEREIGNTY.

• Lugaidh mac Con Roí, son of CÚ ROÍ and

enemy of CÚCHULAINN. He is sometimes said

to be the son of BLÁTHNAT and to have hated

Cúchulainn because his mother betrayed his

father for that hero. He gave Cúchulainn a

fatal javelin-thrust, then allowed him to die

with dignity, decapitating the dying hero as he

propped himself upright against a pillar stone.

Lugaidh was then killed by CONALL Cernach.

• Lugaidh, friend of Ailill mac Máta, who

killed FERGUS mac Róich. The great warrior

Fergus had incurred Ailill’s enmity by becom-

ing the favorite lover of queen/goddess

MEDB,

and Lugaidh and Ailill discovered the lovers

swimming nude one day. Despite his blind-

ness, the warrior-poet Lugaidh hurled his

spear at Fergus and killed him.

• Lugaidh Riab nDerg (Lugaigh of the Red

Stripes) was the son of CLOTHRA, MEDB’s sis-

ter. Three brothers impregnated Clothra at

the same time, and Lugaidh was the son of all

three. Three red stripes across his body delin-

eated which part of his body had been sired by

which brother.

• Lugaidh mac Conn, foster son and enemy of

the MUNSTER ruler AILILL Olom, who

defeated Ailill’s army at the battle of MAG

MUCRAMHAN. Lugaidh later tried to apologize

to the Munster king, but Ailill infected him

with his poisoned breath, and the hero died.

Lugh (Lug, Luga, Lui Lavada, Lugh

Lámfhoda, Lugh Samildánach) Irish god. One

of the great heroes of Irish mythology, Lugh was

the grandson of the frightening FOMORIAN king

BALOR of the Evil Eye. A prophet had warned

Balor that he would be killed by his grandson,

but the Fomorian believed he could keep himself

immortally safe by assuring that his daughter

never saw a man, much less had intercourse with

one. CIAN foiled that plan by dressing as a woman

to sneak into the tower where Lugh’s mother

EITHNE was held captive. Eithne had triplet

sons—a motif that suggests that Lugh was origi-

nally a multiple god—but only one lived. And

that grandson Lugh did, indeed, kill his grandfa-

ther, because he had been raised among the

TUATHA DÉ DANANN and fought on their side in

the mythological second battle of MAG TUIRED.

296 lubber

Other sources call Lugh a son of the DAGDA,

the great fertility god of Ireland. In the BOOK OF

INVASIONS, we are told that Lugh gained his title

of “many-skilled” when he arrived at TARA and

entreated its king to permit him to join the

Tuatha Dé Danann, proclaiming that he had

already fostered with one of them, the sea god

MANANNÁN MAC LIR. The Tuatha Dé were at

first unwilling to accept Lugh. When they asked

why they should accept him, he said he was a

good carpenter, but they already had one of

those. Lugh then said he was a SMITH, but there

was already a smith in residence too. BARD,

harper, historian, hero, magician—all of these

already lived with the Tuatha Dé Danann at

Tara. Did they have anyone who was skilled in

all these arts, Lugh asked. The gods had to

admit that they did not, and so Lugh was admit-

ted to their company and dubbed Samildanch,

“the one of many skills.”

Lugh’s second title, Lámfhoda, “of the long

arms,” came not because his arms dragged on the

ground but because his weapons extended his

reach beyond other warriors’ abilities. Lugh’s

prowess with the javelin and sling made him a

fierce opponent, as his grandfather Balor learned

when they met in battle. The fact that Lugh was

generally recognized as a harvest god suggests

that this battle with Balor was part of a mythic

cycle whose meaning is now lost but that may

have depicted a seasonal change. For it was Lugh

who led the Tuatha Dé against the Fomorians in

that great final battle. After winning the cam-

paign, Lugh decided to spare the life of the half-

Fomorian king BRES, in exchange for agricultural

information—another connection between Lugh

and the seasonal cycle that culminates in harvest.

Lugh has been described as cognate with

other Celtic gods:

LLEU LLAW GYFFES in Wales

and LUGOS in Gaul. He is sometimes described

as a solar divinity because of the brightness of his

face; some contend that his name is connected to

the Latin word for light, lux. Lugh is more accu-

rately described as a god of arts and crafts, his

name probably deriving from the Celtic word

lugio, for “oath,” as Lugh oversaw the keeping of

promises. He may have migrated from the

Continent after the Celts had moved to Ireland,

the story of his arrival at the door of Tara a

mythic memory of his assimilation into the gods

of the land.

Lugh’s heritage runs through Irish mythol-

ogy: he was the father of ULSTER’s greatest hero,

CÚCHULAINN, whom he sired on the human

woman

DECHTIRE. Lugh fought beside his son

during the great TÁIN BÓ CUAILNGE, but as

Celtic power in Ireland waned, so did Lugh’s

reputation. CONN of the Hundred Battles, king

of Tara, waited within a DRUID’S FOG as Lugh

prophesied the king’s future, but thereafter Lugh

disappeared from Ireland. Some believe he went

undercover, appearing as the folkloric craftsman,

the LEPRECHAUN, whose name has been trans-

lated as “little stooping Lugh.”

Source: Curtin, Jeremiah. Hero-Tales of Ireland.

New York: Benjamin Blom, 1894, pp. 296 ff.

Lughnasa (Lammas, Lughnasadh, Lughnasad,

Garland Sunday, Crom Dudb Sunday, Bilberry

Sunday; on the Isle of Man, Laa Lhuanys; in

Wales, Calan Awst) Celtic festival. The four

great FEASTS of the Celtic year ended with

Lughnasa, the harvest festival on August 1; the

next feast, SAMHAIN, marked the beginning of the

new year. Named for the god LUGH, Lughnasa

was noted among the continental Celts as the

time when the great Council of the Gauls was

held. In 12 B.C.E. the Roman emperor Augustus

demanded that the great assembly meet at the

altar dedicated to the god at Lyons (a town named

for Lugh), thus both asserting his power over the

subjugated Celts and implying that he could sub-

stitute for the great Lugh in Celtic worship.

In Ireland the festival was said to have been

created by Lugh in honor of his mother, the

goddess TAILTIU, who died on that day and in

whose name an athletic contest was held. Some

sources give the name of Lugh’s mother as

BALOR’s daughter EITHNE and call Tailtiu his fos-

ter mother; yet other sources say that Lugh

Lughnasa 297

established the festival in honor of his two wives,

Buí (a COW goddess) and NÁS (otherwise

unknown, but connected with the word for

“assembly”), a combination of words that

together present a good picture of a CATTLE fair.

Primarily a harvest festival, Lughnasa was

also a ritual of propitiation of awesome powers

that might endanger the harvest, and it was cel-

ebrated with fairs and gatherings, some of which

continue today. Although the actual date of the

Celtic feast was August 1, the change of calen-

dars from Julian to Gregorian in the Middle

Ages affected Lughnasa more than the other fes-

tivals. Vestigial Lughnasa celebrations are still

found in previously Celtic lands, stretching

across a full month from late July through mid-

August. Scholars occasionally argue over the

designation of a festival as related to Lughnasa,

but they have in common a focus on celebration

of first fruits and the sale of livestock. In

England Lughnasa festivals are found at Britford

Fair at Warminster on August 11 and at

Highworth Fair on August 13, both sheep fairs.

Lughnasa fairs were times at which contracts

were established, possibly reflecting Lugh’s

ancient role as a sponsor and guarantor of oaths.

One of these was the betrothal or marriage con-

tract, including that kind of trial marriage called a

TELTOWN marriage, whereby the couple plighted

themselves until the following Lughnasa, at

which point the bond could be made permanent

or broken without consequences.

On the Isle of Man the great fair of Santon

was celebrated on August 1, when people gath-

ered to sell produce and livestock. Visiting of

holy WELLS was also common, as was the climb-

ing of MOUNTAINS; Snaefell Mountain was the

favored destination, and tales abounded of inde-

cent behavior that took place among young peo-

ple enjoying the Lughnasa holiday there.

In Wales Lughnasa is called Calan Awst or

“August Festival” and is traditionally marked by

climbing hills to gather berries. A Welsh tradi-

tion claims that Lughnasa was the day that the

biblical maiden, Jephtha’s unnamed daughter,

went to the mountains to bemoan that she would

be killed before losing her virginity; this story,

like Manx rumors of sexual indiscretions, sug-

gests that enjoyment of sexuality in the open air

was part of the festival.

In Ireland the Sunday nearest that date is still

traditionally celebrated as marking the harvest.

Variously called Garland Sunday, Bilberry

Sunday, and Crom Derg Sunday (after an early

harvest god), the festival is called Reek Sunday

in Co. Mayo after the “reek” or mountain,

CROAGH PATRICK, where the greatest Lughnasa

celebration is now held. As many as 60,000 pil-

grims climb the pyramidal peak beside the sea

on the Sunday nearest Lughnasa; local tradition

has it that pilgrims are guaranteed heaven if they

make the climb THREE times. Once they have

ascended the peak, today’s Christian pilgrims

find not only a chapel dedicated to ST. PATRICK,

who reputedly fought with forces of evil at that

site, but ruins of neolithic structures, suggesting

that the site was sacred to pre-Celtic people,

while the designation of Lughnasa for the climb

indicates that the mountain continued to be

sacred to the Celts as well.

There are dozens of Lughnasa mountains

around Ireland, including Mount Brandon in

Kerry, where another significant ascent still

takes place on Lughnasa. Near Brandon the old-

est known Lughnasa celebration takes place:

PUCK FAIR in the small town of Kilorglin. Now a

street fair with booths and bands, Puck Fair is

arguably ancient; some researchers contend that

it dates back only several hundred years, but

local tradition holds that it is of Celtic origin.

The “puck” of the fair’s title is a wild GOAT cap-

tured on a nearby mountainside and brought

into town, where the small creature is displayed

for three days (Gathering Day, Fair Day, and

Scattering Day) on a high platform about the

town’s main street. The goat’s reputation as a

randy creature may reflect other associations of

the Lughnasa festival with licentious behavior.

In Scotland the Lughnasa celebrations tend to

group themselves around ST. MICHAEL’s Day or

Michaelmas on September 29, the archangel

Michael having been substituted after Christian-

298 Lughnasa

ization for Lugh. Especially popular in the

Highlands, Michael was the patron of HORSES,

perhaps an odd role for an angel but enthusiasti-

cally celebrated with races. On the eve of

Michael’s feast, carrots were baked into a special

bread pudding called a struan, and a cereal was

made of all the grains grown in the area; carrots

(the most phallic of vegetables) were also

exchanged as tokens of affection, for which

Michaelmas was sometimes called Carrot Sunday.

Visitations to cemeteries and circuits of burial

grounds indicated a somber side to the festival.

Sources: Cunliffe, Barry. The Ancient Celts. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 189;

MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa, Parts

I and II. Dublin: Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éire-

ann, 1982; Paton, C. I. Manx Calendar Customs.

Publications of the Folk-lore Society, reprinted.

Nendeln/Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint Limited,

1968, pp. 68 ff; Ross, Anne. Folklore of the

Scottish Highlands. London: B. T. Batsford, Ltd.,

1976, pp. 16, 140; Whitlock, Ralph. The Folklore

of W

iltshire

. London: B. T. Batsford, Ltd., 1976,

p. 59.

Lugos (Lugus, Lugoves) Continental Celtic

and British god. The god known as LUGH in

Ireland and LLEU LLAW GYFFES in Wales appears

in Gaul as Lugos (or, in several cases, as a group

of three gods called the Lugoves). Sometimes

regarded as a solar god, he is more accurately

described as a divinity of crafts, as his connection

by the Romans with their god MERCURY shows.

As the Celts were widely known for their crafts-

manship, the importance of this god cannot be

understated. His name appears in many place-

names: in France, Lyons, Léon, Loudan; in

Holland, Leiden; in Britain, Lugavalum (mod-

ern Carlisle) as well as London (Lugdunum;

alternative readings claim the word comes from

Celtic for “wild place”).

luideag Scottish folkloric figure. A monstrous

female being who haunted a LAKE on the Isle of

Skye, the luideag was terrifyingly ugly and easily

angered.

lunantishee Irish folkloric being. The FAIRY of

the blackthorn tree (see THORN), one of the trees

most beloved of the Irish fairy folk, the lunan-

tishee was especially active on the feasts that

begin summer and winter, respectively, LUGH-

NASA on August 1 and SAMHAIN on November 1.

lunar divinities See MOON.

lunastain Scottish folkloric custom. On

LUGHNASA, the Celtic harvest feast celebrated

around August 1, people in the Highlands and

islands of Scotland made a special CAKE called

the lunastain; alternate names are luinean when

given to a man, luineag when the recipient was a

woman. Such breads or cakes may have origi-

nated as propitiatory offerings or magical food

to protect the eater or to bring good luck. A sim-

ilar cake called struan was made and eaten on the

feast of ST. MICHAEL.

Luned Arthurian heroine. This minor charac-

ter in Arthurian romance served the mysterious

and beautiful Laudine, the LADY OF THE FOUN-

TAIN; she effected a reconciliation between her

mistress and OWEIN, her unreliable estranged

husband, after a reformed Owein saved Luned

from danger. Some of Luned’s powers suggest

that she was originally a FAIRY woman; the asso-

ciation of fairies—in Breton, KORRIGANS—with

forest fountains strengthens this connection.

luridan Scottish folkloric figure. Recorded in

1665 as a BROWNIE-like FAIRY farmhand of the

Scottish islands, the luridan also has much in

common with the ancient Celtic conception of

the GENIUS LOCI or spirit of a place, for he was

tied to various sites, first in Wales and later on

the large island of Pomonia in the Orkney

islands. As with others of his fairy ilk, the luridan

was a fine and diligent housekeeper, sweeping up

luridan 299

and washing dishes at night, and rising early to

stir the fire so that the house was warm when the

family awakened.

lurikeen See LEPRECHAUN.

Luter Irish folkloric figure. In the Book of

Leinster, we find mention of this Irish GIANT with

14 heads, who loved a woman giant named

Goabal whose “charms” (not further defined)

“extended over 80 feet.”

Luxovius Continental Celtic god. Known

only from one inscription at a healing SPRING in

eastern France, this god is believed to have been

the consort of BRIXIA, a goddess sometimes

linked to the important goddess BRIGIT.

Lyonesse Arthurian site. British poets, espe-

cially those who worked with the Arthurian leg-

ends that make up the MATTER OF BRITAIN,

believed there was an ISLAND of this name off

Britain that had been drowned by the sea.

Lyonesse has been located off Cornwall, near the

Isles of Scilly, where a rocky outcropping called

the Seven Stones is locally called “the city.” The

tradition combines the motif of the sunken city

(see

YS, INCHIQUIN) with that of the floating

island of the Celtic OTHERWORLD. Alfred Lord

Tennyson invokes the tradition when he speaks

of the “sunset bound of Lyonnesse.”

300 lurikeen

Mab (Mabb) Welsh folkloric figure. In

Ireland the great goddess MEDB was diminished

over time into a quasi-historical queen of the

same name. In Wales the same process resulted

in this FAIRY QUEEN who offers only a hint of

earlier divinity. Queen Mab is best known from

the reference in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,

where she appears as the “fairies’ midwife,” a

role traditionally played by a human victim of

FAIRY KIDNAPPING. Queen Mab’s other duty,

according to Shakespeare, was to bring night-

mares—once again, a role rarely ascribed to

Medb but common among mischievous fairies;

her playfulness has led some scholars to derive

her name from the Welsh term for child, mab,

which also appears in the collection of myths

called the MABINOGION. Shakespeare borrowed

British and Welsh fairy lore at will; although

vivid, his portraits of mythological beings are

not necessarily accurate.

Mabinogion (Mabinogi) Welsh mythological

texts. Much of what we know today about

Welsh mythology comes from tales compiled as

the four branches of the Mabinogion; another

eight tales are sometimes counted as part of the

collection. The stories are found in two sources:

The White Book of Rhydderch (1300–1325) and

The Red Book of Hergest (1375–1425). Although

written after Christianization, the narratives are

apparently based on the earlier oral literature of

Wales and thus offer us a window into the

Celtic past. The first English translation of

the Mabinogion was not made available until

1838–49, when the work of Lady Charlotte

Guest was brought to print.

The word Mabinogion was applied to the tales

translated by Lady Guest; it is the plural form of

the Middle Welsh word mabinogi, the term pre-

ferred by specialists today. The name of the col-

lection has been derived from the obscure boy

god MABON or MAPONUS, “son of the mother,”

and from the term for a young poet, mabinog; the

latter suggests that the stories were a training

manual for BARDS-to-be.

The Mabinogion’s tales concern the Children

of Dôn, the descendants of an ancient and little-

known goddess, DÔN; the Children of Dôn are

parallel to the Irish divinities known as the

TUATHA DÉ DANANN, the people of the goddess

DANU, a name cognate to Dôn. Dôn’s children’s

father is not mentioned, which has led some to

assume that the Mabinogion dates from a period

in which MATRILINY, the charting of descent

through the mother rather than the father, was

common. This interpretation gave rise to the

imaginative retellings of the tales by Evangeline

Walton in the mid-20th century.

The first branch of the Mabinogion centers

on the prince of DYFED, PWYLL, who was con-

vinced to exchange realms with the king of the

301

OTHERWORLD, ARAWN. His kingdom, ANNWN,

was under siege by the mighty HAFGAN, who

could only be killed if his opponent felled him

with a single stroke. Pwyll agreed to the

exchange of kingdoms as well as to the battle

with Hafgan, whom he killed with a single

thrust, freeing the kingdom and winning the

everlasting gratitude of Arawn.

Soon after, Pwyll met the fair princess RHI-

ANNON, whose speedy HORSE and Otherworldly

beauty make her divine origin clear; after a

struggle with GWAWL, a rival for her hand, Pwyll

wed Rhiannon. Their wedded life was far from

blissful. The disappearance of their newborn son

on BELTANE night, plus traces of blood around

the queen’s mouth, led to accusations that

Rhiannon had murdered and devoured the

infant. Although her life was spared, Rhiannon

was condemned to carry visitors to the palace on

her back as though she were a horse.

Fortunately, the infant prince was not dead but

safe, having been carried off by a spectral crea-

ture who dropped the boy on a distant farm,

where he was tenderly raised. When the young

prince, PRYDERI, learned of his heritage and

returned to the palace, his mother’s innocence

was revealed, and the land rejoiced.

The second branch of the Mabinogion

describes the heroic journey to Ireland by the

hero

BRÂN THE BLESSED and his warriors, who set

out to rescue the imprisoned princess BRANWEN.

Brân and Branwen were children of LLYR, as were

the hero MANAWYDAN and two half brothers, the

kindly NISIEN and his evil TWIN, EFNISIEN. Brân

and Manawydan, having accepted the proposal of

the Irish warlord MATHOLWCH, sent Branwen off

for what they hoped would be a happy and pro-

ductive married life in Ireland. At the wedding,

Efnisien performed a macabre surgery on

Matholwch’s horses, cutting off their tails, lips,

and ears. This destroyed any hope of marital har-

mony for Branwen, who despite producing an

heir to the realm, GWERN, was subjected to con-

stant abuse. Finally she sent a starling back to

Wales, to alert her brothers to her suffering; they

mounted a war to free Branwen, succeeding only

in losing many lives. Branwen, freed and bound

for home, died of a broken heart when she

looked back and saw the island that had been her

prison and that was her saviors’ tomb.

The third branch of the Mabinogion concerns

Branwen’s brother, Manawydan, and the son of

Pwyll and Rhiannon, Pryderi. At a double wed-

ding ceremony, Manawydan wed the widowed

Rhiannon, while Pryderi took as his wife the faith-

ful heroine

CIGFA. Not long after this happy day,

the two couples found their land utterly barren

and covered by a strange white mist. Nothing

grew in the fields; the people were destitute. Their

rulers eked out a living for awhile by hunting,

finally giving up to become shoemakers in eastern

Britain. Their work was so exquisite that other

craftsmen became infuriated and threatened the

group, whereupon they returned to Wales.

Worse was in store for them, for Pryderi and

Rhiannon fell under an enchantment and van-

ished. After further hardships Manawydan and

Cigfa learned that the curse was leveled by

friends of Gwawl, the suitor for Rhiannon’s hand

who had been humiliated by Pryderi’s father.

Once peace had been made among the families,

all the couples were reunited in happiness.

Finally, the fourth branch tells of the rape of

GOEWIN, ceremonial foot-holder to king MATH,

and the complications regarding her successor.

Math’s designated successor was his nephew

GWYDION—another indication of matrilineal

social organization—so it was natural that

Gwydion’s own sister ARIANRHOD would wish to

serve as foot-holder. Before she could take the

office, she had to prove her virginity. Math set

up a magical test: If she could step over his magi-

cian’s staff, her purity would be proven.

The test was a trick, and Arianrhod found her-

self giving hasty birth to two children of whose

conception she had been unaware—DYLAN, son of

the sea, and an unnamed bundle of unformed

flesh that Gwydion took to himself. Angered at

having been deceived, Arianhrod swore she would

give that son neither a name nor arms—two pre-

rogatives of the mother. Gwydion again tricked

her into naming and arming her son, LLEU LLAW

302 Mabinogion

GYFFES. In fury, Arianhrod cursed the boy, declar-

ing that he would never have a wife from this

earth. Yet again Gwydion and Math found a way

around her, creating a bride for Lleu from a pile

of flowers. The flower-maiden BLODEUWEDD

proved treacherous and had her husband killed by

her lover GRONW PEBYR.

In addition to these four branches, several

other important Welsh mythological stories are

often considered part of the full Mabinogion.

These include the Dream of MAXEN, the roman-

tic story of KULHWCH AND OLWEN, the adventure

of OWEIN in winning the mysterious LADY OF

THE FOUNTAIN, and the story of the reincarnated

BARD named TALIESIN.

Source: Gantz, Jeffrey, trans. The Mabinogion. New

York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1976.

Mabon (Mabon vab Modron, Mabon fab

Modron) Welsh hero. A relatively obscure fig-

ure, Mabon appears as a divine youth in the early

Arthurian story of KULHWCH AND OLWEN as

Mabon vab MODRON, “Son, son of Mother”; no

father is mentioned, although whether that is to

stress his matrilineal descent or because the father

is insignificant is unclear. Another figure of the

same name is known as Mabon vab Mellt; he may

be the same Mabon bearing the patronym of his

father

MELLTS or a different god altogether.

Mabon’s presumed earlier significance is

alluded to in an early text that calls him “one of

the Three Exalted Captives of the Island of

Britain.” That phrase refers to a story from the

Welsh

MABINOGION in which Mabon was rescued

by the hero KULHWCH from the OTHERWORLD,

where he had been held captive after being stolen

from his mother in his infancy. So many years had

passed that Mabon was the oldest living human.

After his rescue, Mabon helped Kulhwch gain the

hand of his chosen mate OLWEN. Two similarly

named characters take minor roles in Arthurian

literature—Mabonagrain and MABUNZ—both of

whom are held captive, suggesting that the motif

of captivity was basic to Mabon’s myth.

Some have derived the name of the great col-

lection of Welsh myths, the Mabinogion, from

Mabon’s name. Others connect him with the

obscure god MAPONUS. Although presumed to

have once been a significant figure, he is now a

baffling puzzle.

Mabunz (Mabuz, Mâbûz) Arthurian hero. In

some texts, this name is given for the magician

son of MORGAN, the sorceress sister of king

ARTHUR. It may be a form of the name of the

divine boy, MABON, whose mother is normally

called MODRON, leading some scholars to con-

nect these Arthurian figures with Welsh mythol-

ogy. Mabunz is also described as the son of the

LADY OF THE LAKE or of another Arthurian hero-

ine, CLARINE.

Mac Cécht (Mac Cecht) Irish god. This

minor Irish divinity was a farmer and the husband

of one of the goddesses of the land, FÓDLA, a

member of the magical race called the TUATHA DÉ

DANANN. Fódla’s name means “divided” or

“plowed” land, while Mac Cécht’s parallel name

means “plowman” or “son of the plow,” suggest-

ing that both were deities of agriculture. He may

also have been a god of HEALING, for when the

king of the Tuatha Dé lay dying, Mac Cécht

walked across the parched land looking for water

to revive him and was led by a wild DUCK to a

SPRING; water was typically envisioned as a source

of healing by the Celts. Mac Cécht was the son of

OGMA, god of eloquent speech, and lost his life in

combat with one of the invading MILESIANS. He

and his brothers

MAC CUILL and MAC GRÉINE,

husbands of the three land goddesses made up a

trio of parallel gods. Another Mac Cécht was a

hero who championed the doomed king CONAIRE

at DA DERGA’s hostel, where he killed the man who

decapitated Conaire and then offered the king’s

HEAD its last drink.

Mac Conglinne (Anéra meic Conglinne)

Irish hero. Not actually a mythological character

Mac Conglinne 303