Wow, your coverage of the Dagda and the Morrigan was so incredibly thorough! The Morrigan has always been such a fascinating figure to me, and I’ve definitely used her as inspiration for a being I eventually want to showcase in my Cthulhu Mythos tale. I did want to ask, is it true that she exists in a triplicate? I’ve heard that the Morrigan is a composite of three warrior goddesses: Badb, Macha, and Neimain, but I have not found many sources backing this claim up, so I wasn’t sure if it was a piece of obscure knowledge or if it was a neo-pagan construction.
Also, funny that you mention Lovecraft…
I’ve located a footnote from one of the earliest known Lovecraft fanzines, which was penned by a Scottish fan of his. He theorizes that the name Cthulhu possible descended from an Irish mythical figure named “Cuthoolin” who’s mentioned in the Scottish poetry cycle “The Ossian”. Not sure how much validity such a claim holds, but it’s really fascinating to think about nonetheless, considering we hear about very little connections between Celtic myth influencing Lovecraft (I suspect there may be more than we think).
Wonderful post, as usual! Have saved this for rereading and note taking. :)
I don't know much about the tripartite interpretation of the Morrigan, but have seen these goddesses in some connection with her (Macha less so than Badb and Neimain).
It'd be interesting to see what your Mythos interpretation of the Morrigan would look like especially since we don't get a ton of Mythos stories in Ireland despite the opportunities for great tales taking place there.
Cuthoolin in the Ossianic Cycle is another version of Cú Chulainn who is basically downplayed in order to let the character Fingal (Fionn mac Cumhaill) take center stage. I don't recall if Lovecraft read Ossian but Robert E. Howard likely took some inspiration from it for his stories.
I had no idea regarding the "sovereignty goddess" nature of the Morrigan and your discussion of this was eye opening to me in wonderful ways.
It got me thinking about the encounters between Cú Chulainn and her in a new light, one that is probably off base but interesting to me. If I imaginer her interactions with Cú Chulainn as interactions of a "united" Eire with the hero, it presents her as first challenging him to be capable of defending the land, then seeks to seduce him into promising kind stewardship, he rejects the fertile stewardship but then he defeats "the land" in three other forms, finally as he wearies of fighting invaders of Ulster (who are still a part of Eire even if misguided) he allows the land to heal. This suggests that in some ways the struggle was avoidable, but that Cú Chulainn is willing to be a part of the healing of the nation when all the fighting is done.
The anti-war themes of the Táin would be incredibly interesting to study especially with how the Morrigan's sovereignty function might have been used to drive home the writers' thesis on the futility of war. So often we focus on the warlike aspects of the Morrigan but don't really pay heed to what the purposes of war could serve during the period she was worshipped or at least existent in literature.
Bookmarked this entry both for when I read more of the Celtic myths and for when I'm creating my next fantasy world. This is great content, thanks very much!
This was the stand out anecdote to me here: "There is one episode in Roman history, however, that records a deployment of Celtic emissaries in Rome mocking marble statue depictions of the Roman gods, claiming they must have been weak deities indeed if they looked like humans." Interested in reading that source even if there's no real extra information to get from it.
Also nearly didn't notice the response prompt. For my main fantasy setting I try to make distinct regions culturally and that includes religion. I'm interested in trying to avoid having it be static, show that it evolves and changes over time and with cultural transmission. Since in my own research that's what I've found fascinating, how wildly some mythical figures can evolve. Had to hold back a whole spiel on the in world evolution of some of my deities and how it connects to the developments in its history.
My general style is to try to blend together distinct real life inspirations to avoid direct counterparts, which I also try to carry over to the mythologies. I haven't had deities directly appear but it's not out of the question.
Excellent post! Some of my research has been focussed on pre-Christian religion in the "Germanic" world (especially Frisia), and I think your comments are largely in line with current scholarly thinking there: basically, we don't know very much at all, especially when we stop working backwards from the Scandinavian sagas.
In terms of fiction, are you familiar with David Gemmell's Rigante series? It more or less hits all your points on how to present the Irish gods.
One of the interesting aspects of Celtic mythology is the many layers created by cultural changes among the Celtic people. We know that a lot of Arthurian stories have roots in Celtic mythology, and one of the inspirations for the Holy Grail was surely the Dagda's cauldron. Morgan le Fey is probably at least partly inspired by the Morrigan, though they play very different roles. Some of the tales of Mabinogion portray the Celtic gods as literal human beings (no doubt due to Christianization) while others make them faeries. This kind of revision is present in many traditions, but it seems especially prominent in the Celtic tradition, which also comes in several forms (Irish, Welsh, etc.)
My first MC was a reincarnation of Taliesin, King Arthur's bard (and perhaps originally a Celtic god). I've used Celtic gods (in the form of faeries) in several novels. I must confess I've usually used human presentations of them, but whatever their true form, it makes some sense for them to appear as humans when they interact with humans.
I have exploited the multifaceted nature of them, particularly Gwyn ap Nudd. I first encountered him as the king of Welsh faeries, which is how he appeared in my first book. Later, I emphasized the Wild Hunt and his role as the guide of souls, using that to account for the black face with which he is sometimes portrayed. In a soon-to-be released series starter, I took advantage of more research to portray his as the winter king who rules during the time Orion is visible in the northern sky. In that context, I was able to use his opposite, Gwythyr, the summer king who rules while Scorpio is in the heavens. (I never knew the Celts had such a different view of the constellations and the nature of astrology.) In any case, I was fascinated by their annual battle on May 1, which will be repeated until the end of time.
I used to show him with the hounds of Annwn, but in the most recent book, I've switched to pairing him with Dormach, who was probably his original dog before he became conflated with Arawn.
Like any good literary characters, the Celtic gods endure because of their richness, which allows them to be interpreted in many different ways.
Wow, your coverage of the Dagda and the Morrigan was so incredibly thorough! The Morrigan has always been such a fascinating figure to me, and I’ve definitely used her as inspiration for a being I eventually want to showcase in my Cthulhu Mythos tale. I did want to ask, is it true that she exists in a triplicate? I’ve heard that the Morrigan is a composite of three warrior goddesses: Badb, Macha, and Neimain, but I have not found many sources backing this claim up, so I wasn’t sure if it was a piece of obscure knowledge or if it was a neo-pagan construction.
Also, funny that you mention Lovecraft…
I’ve located a footnote from one of the earliest known Lovecraft fanzines, which was penned by a Scottish fan of his. He theorizes that the name Cthulhu possible descended from an Irish mythical figure named “Cuthoolin” who’s mentioned in the Scottish poetry cycle “The Ossian”. Not sure how much validity such a claim holds, but it’s really fascinating to think about nonetheless, considering we hear about very little connections between Celtic myth influencing Lovecraft (I suspect there may be more than we think).
Wonderful post, as usual! Have saved this for rereading and note taking. :)
I don't know much about the tripartite interpretation of the Morrigan, but have seen these goddesses in some connection with her (Macha less so than Badb and Neimain).
It'd be interesting to see what your Mythos interpretation of the Morrigan would look like especially since we don't get a ton of Mythos stories in Ireland despite the opportunities for great tales taking place there.
Cuthoolin in the Ossianic Cycle is another version of Cú Chulainn who is basically downplayed in order to let the character Fingal (Fionn mac Cumhaill) take center stage. I don't recall if Lovecraft read Ossian but Robert E. Howard likely took some inspiration from it for his stories.
I had no idea regarding the "sovereignty goddess" nature of the Morrigan and your discussion of this was eye opening to me in wonderful ways.
It got me thinking about the encounters between Cú Chulainn and her in a new light, one that is probably off base but interesting to me. If I imaginer her interactions with Cú Chulainn as interactions of a "united" Eire with the hero, it presents her as first challenging him to be capable of defending the land, then seeks to seduce him into promising kind stewardship, he rejects the fertile stewardship but then he defeats "the land" in three other forms, finally as he wearies of fighting invaders of Ulster (who are still a part of Eire even if misguided) he allows the land to heal. This suggests that in some ways the struggle was avoidable, but that Cú Chulainn is willing to be a part of the healing of the nation when all the fighting is done.
The anti-war themes of the Táin would be incredibly interesting to study especially with how the Morrigan's sovereignty function might have been used to drive home the writers' thesis on the futility of war. So often we focus on the warlike aspects of the Morrigan but don't really pay heed to what the purposes of war could serve during the period she was worshipped or at least existent in literature.
Bookmarked this entry both for when I read more of the Celtic myths and for when I'm creating my next fantasy world. This is great content, thanks very much!
Awesome! Hope this is helpful!
This was the stand out anecdote to me here: "There is one episode in Roman history, however, that records a deployment of Celtic emissaries in Rome mocking marble statue depictions of the Roman gods, claiming they must have been weak deities indeed if they looked like humans." Interested in reading that source even if there's no real extra information to get from it.
Also nearly didn't notice the response prompt. For my main fantasy setting I try to make distinct regions culturally and that includes religion. I'm interested in trying to avoid having it be static, show that it evolves and changes over time and with cultural transmission. Since in my own research that's what I've found fascinating, how wildly some mythical figures can evolve. Had to hold back a whole spiel on the in world evolution of some of my deities and how it connects to the developments in its history.
My general style is to try to blend together distinct real life inspirations to avoid direct counterparts, which I also try to carry over to the mythologies. I haven't had deities directly appear but it's not out of the question.
I always thought that was interesting and just made me want to learn more about how the Celts imagined their gods before human iconography took over.
Taking as much inspiration from real life really can make secondary worlds feel alive, especially when it comes to religious and cultural evolution.
Thanks for giving it a read and sharing your thoughts!
Excellent post! Some of my research has been focussed on pre-Christian religion in the "Germanic" world (especially Frisia), and I think your comments are largely in line with current scholarly thinking there: basically, we don't know very much at all, especially when we stop working backwards from the Scandinavian sagas.
In terms of fiction, are you familiar with David Gemmell's Rigante series? It more or less hits all your points on how to present the Irish gods.
Excellent Post!
One of the interesting aspects of Celtic mythology is the many layers created by cultural changes among the Celtic people. We know that a lot of Arthurian stories have roots in Celtic mythology, and one of the inspirations for the Holy Grail was surely the Dagda's cauldron. Morgan le Fey is probably at least partly inspired by the Morrigan, though they play very different roles. Some of the tales of Mabinogion portray the Celtic gods as literal human beings (no doubt due to Christianization) while others make them faeries. This kind of revision is present in many traditions, but it seems especially prominent in the Celtic tradition, which also comes in several forms (Irish, Welsh, etc.)
My first MC was a reincarnation of Taliesin, King Arthur's bard (and perhaps originally a Celtic god). I've used Celtic gods (in the form of faeries) in several novels. I must confess I've usually used human presentations of them, but whatever their true form, it makes some sense for them to appear as humans when they interact with humans.
I have exploited the multifaceted nature of them, particularly Gwyn ap Nudd. I first encountered him as the king of Welsh faeries, which is how he appeared in my first book. Later, I emphasized the Wild Hunt and his role as the guide of souls, using that to account for the black face with which he is sometimes portrayed. In a soon-to-be released series starter, I took advantage of more research to portray his as the winter king who rules during the time Orion is visible in the northern sky. In that context, I was able to use his opposite, Gwythyr, the summer king who rules while Scorpio is in the heavens. (I never knew the Celts had such a different view of the constellations and the nature of astrology.) In any case, I was fascinated by their annual battle on May 1, which will be repeated until the end of time.
I used to show him with the hounds of Annwn, but in the most recent book, I've switched to pairing him with Dormach, who was probably his original dog before he became conflated with Arawn.
Like any good literary characters, the Celtic gods endure because of their richness, which allows them to be interpreted in many different ways.