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Sunday, October 2, 2011

You're a God (Part III)

And now for a change of pace! Roman & Greek gods & goddesses have been part of the general culture for a while. Their names have been used for superheroes, brand names, scientific terminology, and yes, for baby names, too. Celtic mythologies, however, despite being just as old as Greek & Roman, have remained relatively untouched in modern culture. Unfortunately, this is likely because Celtic mythologies (especially continental/Gallic) merged with Roman, and the god-names were interchanged. Early Christian missionaries also attempted to "de-paganize" Celtic legends, leading to confusion over which legendary figures were gods, fairies, heroes, or mortals, and even whether they were really even part of the Celtic religions. Because of this, I've limited this list to gods with strong cultural or archaeological evidence.

Boys:
  • Aengus (AYN-gus, Irish)--god of youth and love. Anglicized to Angus.
  • Aeron (EYE-ron, Welsh)--god of war 
  • Alaunus (al-AW-nus, Gallic)--god of healing & prophesy
  • Amaethon (ah-MY-thon, Welsh)--god of agriculture
  • Dylan (DUL-an, Welsh)--sea-god
  • Govannon (goh-VAN-non, Welsh)--smith-god. Irish equivalent is Goibnu.
  • Lenus (LEHN-us, Gallic)--god of healing
  • Lir (LEER, Irish)--god of the sea. Welsh equivalent is Llŷr.
  • Lugus (LOO-gus, Gallic)--god of trade, commerce, & travellers. Irish equivalent is Lugh; Welsh is Lleu.
  • Mabon (MAH-bon, Welsh)--god of youth
  • Taranis (TAHR-an-is, Gallic)--god of thunder

Girls:
  • Agrona (ah-GROH-nah, Gallic)--goddess of war
  • Andraste (an-DRAHST, Brythonic)--goddess of victory
  • Brighid (BREED, Irish)--goddess of fire, poetry, & wisdom. Modern forms include Brigid (Irish), Bridget (Irish, English), Brigitta (German, Dutch), & Britta (Scandinavian)
  • Ceridwen (KEHR-id-wen, Welsh)--goddess of poetry & inspiration
  • Clíodhna (KLEE-o-nah, Irish)--goddess of beauty. Sometimes written as Clíona. Anglicized to Cleena.
  • Danu (DAN-oo, Irish)--mother-goddess of a race of ancient Irish. Modern form is Dana ("DAN-yah").
  • Epona (EP-ohn-ah or ee-POH-nah, Gallic)--goddess of horses and fertility
  • Erecura (ehr-eh-CU-rah, Gallic)--earth-goddess
  • Étaín (EH-dan or eh-DEEN, Irish)--goddess of horses. Modern Irish forms are Éadaoin and Eadan. Anglicized as Aideen.
  • Fand (FAND, Irish)--sea-goddess. Sometimes written as Fann.
  • Rhiannon (hree-AN-non, Welsh)--goddess of fertility & the moon
  • Sirona (sih-ROH-nah, Gallic)--healing-goddess

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