by Jess Howe

Created on: April 06, 2008

Rhiannon. Brigid. Boudica. Guenivere.

These are probably the first names we think of when it comes to women of Celtic lore. They are goddesses and warrior queens, dangerous and beautiful. Guenivere is possibly the most famous due to the legends of King Arthur (Bray, F.C.: "Bray's University Dictionary of Mythology", Apollo Edition 1964, p. 13), for instance. The tale regarding her and Arthur comes from the Welsh "Mabinogian", their major mythological cycle, which dates to before 1100A.D. (http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/women.html).

The women of Celtic lore are just like its history so entangled in half-truths and myths, that it is sometimes hard to tell the reality of it. We know that Rhiannon and Brigid at least were - and by some still are - considered as and worshiped as goddesses ("Bray's," pp. 8,18). Boudica, on the other hand, a Britannic queen, rebelled against the Romans in either A.D. 60 or 61, after they conquered her kingdom of Icenia, in Eastern Britain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica). She was forgotten of by the Middle Ages, but appears in the works of Tacitus the historian, during the Renaissance when they are rediscovered (ibid). It's at this point that plays and poetry are written of her, and later Queen Victoria was seen as her namesake, giving her the fame we know today (ibid).

There are some women, however, of which less is known. There's Etain, for instance, who is most famous in lore in "The Wooing of Etain". Fuamnach, the first wife, is jealous of her, and turns her into a moth (or a fly, depending on the version). Etain must fly around Ireland for seven years, becoming the child of Etar only because Etar drinks her in a wine glass ("Lady Gregory's Complete Irish Ornithology", John Murray Publishers 1994, pp.71-78).

Not all women of Celtic mythology are so weak. In "The Children of Lir," it is Finoola who keeps her siblings alive and together, after a jealous witch turns them to swans and curses them ("Lady Gregory",pp.103-113). The Morrigu (or Morrigan), on the other hand, was a warrior goddess of whom many tales are told, usually bloody (ibid, p.68-69).

The Celts at their time of full power, however, were not only in the British Isles. Their empire spanned all of Europe, out toward the Caucasus Mts (http://www.resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm), including some who traveled to China in 1500 B.C. and are written of briefly in "The Three Kingdoms" ( http://www.white-history.com/hwr6a.htm). The Celts of Spain, called Arevacians by Strabo and Ptolemy, are written of by Miguel de Cervantes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Numancia). In his play "La Numancia", a being called "Spain" appears and she calls the river god when the Romans attack. Both consult the stars and decide in the play that the town of Numantia has to surrender(ibid). It's because of the empire being so spread out that we get such different versions of stories such as "The Children of Lir" and "Cinderella", not to mention the tale of Arthur and Guenivere.

However, in the tales of Europe, whatever is truly left of the Celtic heritage has been so diluted it's hard to find. Women of myths such as Maedb or Etain are the ones we remember as "Celtic", till the historians and archeologists dig up something more. So until then, Brigid's flame will still burn at the chapel at Kildare, a reminder of just one of the many interesting Celtic Goddesses (http://inanna.virtualave.net/brigit.html#Cult).

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