Celtic Goddesses

 

 

Abnoba: Romano-Celtic forest and river goddess (Black Forest area). Source of the English river name "Avon" and its cognates in continental Europe. Also goddess of the hunt (similar to the Roman Diana).

Adsullata: A Continental Celtic river goddess.

Agrona: The Celtic goddess of strife and slaughter. The river Aeron in Wales is named after her.

Aibell: An Irish fairy goddess.

Aimend: An Irish sun goddess.

Aine: Irish goddess of love and fertility. Daughter of Eogabail, who was in turn the foster-son of Manannan mac Lir. Later regarded as a fairy queen in County Limerick

Airmed: A goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann of Ireland.

Anann: A form of the major Irish mother goddess; overlaps with Danu. Worshipped in Munster as a goddess of plenty. Gave her name to the Paps of Anu, twin hills in Co. Kerry. In her dark aspect, she formed a Fate trinity with Badb and Macha.

Ancamna: A water goddess from Continental Celtic mythology.

Andarta: A Gallic warrior and fertility goddess in Celtic France.

Andraste: The goddess of war in Celtic Britain.

Anu: An Irish/Celtic fertility goddess, venerated as the mother of the gods. The center of her cult was the fertile Munster in southeast Ireland. The two rounded hilltops near Killarny are called 'the two breasts of Anu'. Anu is occasionally confused with Danu.

Arduinna: The Gaulish (Celtic) goddess of the moon, hunting, and forests. She was very popular in the Ardennes, to which she gave her name. She is accompanied by a boar, her sacred animal.

Arnemetia: The British-Celtic water goddess.

Artio: Artio of Muri, usually depicted in the form of a bear, she was the continental Celtic goddess of the bear cult. Known from inscriptions in the Bern region of Switzerland.

Aufaniae: Continental Celtic deities. They seem to have been matron-like figures.

Aveta: The Gallic goddess of birth and midwifery.

Badb: Badb is the Irish (Celtic) goddess of war. She often assumes the form of a raven or carrion crow (her favorite disguise) and is then referred to as Badb Catha, meaning "battle raven".

Banba: The goddess who represents the spirit of Ireland, and who is the wife of king MacCuill.

Beag: An Irish goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, associated with a magic well.

Bebhionn: An Irish underworld goddess and a patron of pleasure.

Belisama: The Gaulish/Celtic goddess of light and fire, the forge and of crafts. She is the wife of the god Belenus.

Berecyntia: A Gaulish goddess, probably the same as Brigid.

Boann: "She of the white cattle". Irish goddess of bounty and fertility, whose totem is the sacred white cow. Also goddess of the River Boyne. She is the wife of the water god Nechtan or of Elcmar, and consort of the Dagda, by whom she was the mother of the god Aengus.

Bodb: The Irish goddess of battle. She prophesied the doom of the Tuatha Dé Danann after the Battle of Mag Tuireadh (Moytura).

Breg: Irish goddess, wife of the Dagda.

Brigantia: The Celtic (British) tutelary goddess of the Brigantes in Yorkshire and the goddess of the rivers Braint and Brent, which were named after her. Brigantia was also a pastoral goddess associated with flocks and cattle. During the Roman occupation she was associated with the Roman goddess Caelestis as Caelestis Brigantia.

Brigid: "Fiery Arrow or Power," is a Celtic three-fold goddess, the daughter of The Dagda, and the wife of Bres. Known by many names, Brighid's three aspects are (1) Fire of Inspiration as patroness of poetry, (2) Fire of the Hearth, as patroness of healing and fertility, and (3) Fire of the Forge, as patroness of smithcraft and martial arts. She is mother to the craftsmen.

Britannia: A Romano-Celtic (British) tutelary goddess.

Bronach: An Irish goddess of cliffs.

Camma: The goddess of the hunt among the Britons.

Carman: A destructive witch, she was the goddess of evil magic. She had three equally destructive sons: Dub ("darkness"), Dother ("evil"), and Dian ("violence"), who ravaged Ireland.

Cliodhna: The Irish goddess of beauty. She later became a fairy queen in the area of Carraig Cliodhna in County Cork

Clota: The Celtic goddess of the river Clyde.

Coventina: The Celtic (Britain) goddess of water and springs. She was known locally in the area of Carrawburgh (Roman Brocolitia) along Hadrian's Wall. She personified a holy spring that had healing powers.

Creiddylad: A Welsh goddess, daughter of Llyr. She appeared in Shakespeare's King Lear as the king's daughter Cordelia.

Cyhiraeth: The Celtic goddess of streams. She later entered folklore as a spectre haunting woodland streams. Her shriek was said to foretell death.

Damara: A British/Celtic fertility goddess, associated with the month of May.

Damona: A Gallic goddess, known as the "Divine Cow". She is the spouse of Borvo.

Danu: The Irish/Celtic earth goddess, matriarch of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the goddess Danu"). Danu is the mother of various Irish gods, such as the Dagda (also mentioned as her father), Dian Cecht, Ogma, Lir, Lugh, and many others. Her Welsh equivalent is the goddess Don.

Don: The Welsh mother-goddess. She is the wife of Beli, and mother of Gwydion. Her Irish counterpart is Danu.

Edain: The Celtic goddess who is associated with horseback riding. She is probably equivalent to the Gaulish goddess Epona.

Epona: The Celtic horse goddess whose authority extended even beyond death, accompanying the soul on its final journey. She was worshipped throughout entire Gaul, and as far as the Danube and Rome.

Eriu: An Irish/Celtic goddess, the personification of Ireland. She belongs to the Fomorians and is the mother of Bres, king of Ireland.

Etain: An early sun goddess of ancient Ireland.

Ethne: An ancient Irish goddess that subsisted on the milk from a sacred cow from India.

Fand: Fand was a minor sea goddess who made her home both in the Otherworld and on the Islands of Man. With her sister, Liban, she was one of the twin goddesses of health and earthly pleasures. She was also known as "Pearl of Beauty". Some scholars believe she was a native Manx deity who was absorbed in the Irish mythology.

Fodla: Fodla is one of the three goddesses who ruled Ireland before the first Gaels, led by Amergin, came to the island. She was given the honor of naming Ireland. Her husband is king MacCecht.

Gwenn Teir Bronn: The Celtic goddess of motherhood.

Inghean Bhuidhe: The Irish goddess Inghean Bhuidhe ("yellow-haired girl" or "bloom of youth") is the second of three sisters representing the harvest cycle. She represents the coming of summer and is the nurturing mother goddess of the ripening of the crops.

Lasair: In Irish mythology, Lasair ("Flame") is the eldest of three sisters, a goddess triad representing the growing, ripening and harvesting of crops. Lasair, goddess of the spring budding, has beautiful long black hair and wears a silver crown, silver jewelry and armbands. She lives in a Red Castle (another reminder of her fiery nature) with an orchard.

Latiaran: The youngest of a goddess triad, Latiaran ("Breast of Light") is the death bringing crone goddess of the harvest. When she was later on christianized, her feast day was July 25th or the Sunday closest to it.

Macha: One of three aspects of the Morrigan, goddess of war. Macha feeds on the heads of slain enemies.

Matres: Celtic mother goddess of Gaul.

Modron: A Welsh goddess, daughter of Avalloc, derived from the Celtic goddess Matrona. She is regarded as a prototype of Morgan (from Arthurian Legend).

Morrigan: The Morrigan is a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility. Her name translates as either "Great Queen" or "Phantom Queen," and both epithets are entirely appropriate for her. The Morrigan appears as both a single goddess and a trio of goddesses. The other deities who form the trio are Badb ("Crow"), and either Macha (also connotes "Crow") or Nemain ("Frenzy").

Murigen: A minor Irish lake goddess, probably another form of the Morrigan.

Nantosuelta: "Winding River". A Gallic protective goddess and goddess of water. Among the Mediomatrici of Alsace she is often portrayed holding a model of a house, indicating a domestic function.

Nantosuetta: A Celtic goddess worshipped in Gaul. She forms a pair with the god Sucellos. Her attribute is as cornucopia ("horn of plenty"), which refers to her aspect of fertility goddess. Occasionally she is represented with a cottage on her hand, which could indicate that she was patroness of the family. Nantosuetta was also a goddess of the realm of the dead.

Nemetona: The Celtic goddess of sacred groves or shrines (nemeton, "shrine").

Plur na mBan: The fairy goddess of Beltane, the 1st of May, the ancient Celtic celebration

Rhiannon: Rhiannon (her name is either "Maid of Annwn" or a variant of Rigatona, "Great Queen"), a version of the horse-goddess Epona and of sovereignty. She was mistress of the Singing Birds.

Rosmerta: In Gaulish Celtic mythology, Rosmerta was the goddess of fire, warmth, and abundance. A flower queen and hater of marriage, Rosmerta was also the queen of death. A Celtic goddess of fertility and wealth, whose cult was widely spread in Northeast Gaul. Rosmerta was the wife of Esus, the Gaulish Hermes. Her attributes are a cornucopia and a stick with two snakes.

Sabrina: The Celtic river goddess of the river Severn (southwestern Great Britain).

Sequanna: The Celtic goddess of the river Seine.

Shannon: The Irish goddess of the river Shannon. The myth of Sinend and the Well of Knowledge accounts for the name of the Shannon river.

Sheila-na-gig: The goddess of fertility in British-Celtic mythology.

Sirona: The Gaulish goddess of astronomy, and goddess of the Mosel Valley.

Sul: The Celtic British goddess of hot springs, especially at Bath (Aquae Sulis).

Tailtiu: An Irish-Celtic earth-goddess, nurse of Lugh. She raised him until he is able to carry arms.

Tuatha Dé Danann: In Irish-Celtic mythology, the Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the goddess Danu") are the Irish race of gods, founded by the goddess Danu. These gods, who originally lived on 'the islands in the west', had perfected the use of magic. They traveled on a big cloud to the land that later would be called Ireland and settled there.

Verbeia: The Celtic goddess of the river Wharfe (North Yorkshire, England).

Wild Hunt: The Wild Hunt is a supernatural force that sweeps across the land at night. The actual object of the Hunt varies from place to place. In some areas it searches for anything that might be unfortunate enough to be in its path. Others say it hunts evildoers.

The leader of the Hunt also varies. In Celtic Britain it is usually led by Cernunnos, the horned god. In Wales it is led by Gwyn ap Nudd, and sometimes Bran. After the Anglo-Saxons had settled in England, Cernunnos became Herne the Hunter.

The Wild Hunt also appears in Teutonic myth, its leader being Woden or Odin.


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