Myths and Legends of the Celts (Penguin Reference) (48 page)

Dál Riada
(dawl
ree
-ă-dă,
ree
-ă-
th
ă)
Historical kingdom of early Scotland, the extension of a kingdom that originated in Ireland.

Damona
(da-
mohn
-ă)
Gaulish healing goddess, often worshipped with Borvo.

Danu
(
dahn
-ŭ)
Enigmatic mother goddess whose name may be preserved in genitive form in Tuatha Dé Danann. Suggested identification with Ana/Anu is not proven.

Dealgnaid
(
dyal
γ-nă)
Partholonian queen, the first adulteress in Ireland.

Dealra Dubh
[dark sheen] (
dyal
-ě-ră duv)
Representative adversary of Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Deichtine
(
dekh
-tin-ě)
Mother of Cúchulainn, daughter of the druid Cathbad.

Deirdre
(
der
-drě;
Ir
. Deirdriu =
dayr
-drŭ; cf.
ang
.
deer
-drě)
Tragic princess in one of the best-known stories of the Ulster Cycle; lover of Noíse.

Deirgderc
(
dyer
-ě-g-derk)
Another name for the Dagda.

Demne Máel
(
dem
-nă,
dev
-nă mayl)
Childhood name of Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Deoch
(dyokh)
‘Princess of the South’, i.e. Munster, who, it is prophesied, will marry a ‘prince of the North’, Lairgnéan, in the story of the children of Lir.

derbfhine
(
der
-veen-ě)
The descendants of a common great-grandfather.

Derbforgaill
(
derv
-or-γal)
Swan maiden tragically in love with Cúchulainn.

Dian Cécht
(
dee
-ăn
kaykh
, dee-ěn
kekht
,
dee
-ěn haht)
The Irish god of healing; his children include Cian, Miach, Airmid and possibly Tuireann.

Diarmait mac Cerbaill
(
deer
-mid,
dee
-ăr-mid mahk
ker
-vil)
Last pagan
ard-rí
of Ireland.

Diarmait Ua Duibne
(
deer
-mid,
dee
-ăr-mid; ooă
duv
-ně, ooă
d
I
-ně)
Member of the Fianna, lover of Gráinne.

díchetal do chennaib
[extempore incantation (?)] (
dikh
-ěd-ăl do
khen
-ăv)
Power of divination possessed by Fionn mac Cumhaill and others.

díguin
(
dyee
γ-ĭn)
Irish legal concept that demands compensation to a king or high nobleman for someone killed while under his protection.

Dindshenchas
(din-
hen
-é-kas, din-
h
γ
en
-kas)
Twelfth-century Irish document giving heroic and poetic associations of rivers, fords, lakes, hills all over Ireland. The title means ‘lore of prominent places’.

Diorruing
(
dir
-ing)
Fenian hero gifted with second sight or clairvoyance.

Dis Pater
(dis
pat
-er)
Aspect of the Roman god Pluto, ruler of the dead and the underworld; Julius Caesar (first century
BC
) found Gaulish counterparts for him.

Dobar
(
dov
-ăr)
‘King of Sicily’; Tuireann’s sons must retrieve his steeds.

Doilin
(
dil
-een)
One of Máel Fhothartaig’s two prize hounds.

Domnall Mildemail
[the warlike] (
dov
-nal,
doh
-nal;
mil
-
th
ěv-
I
l)
Teacher of the martial arts whom Cúchulainn meets on the way to join Scáthach.

Domnu
(
dov
-nŭ)
Fomorian goddess, perhaps mother of all the Fomorians, and certainly the mother of the warrior Indech.

Dôn
(dohn)
Welsh mother goddess, mate of Beli Mawr. Among her children are Gwydion, Gofannon, Arianrhod and Gilfaethwy in the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi
.

Donn
(don)
Brother of Congal who avenges his murder in the Máel Fhothartaig story.

Donn Cuailnge
(don
kool
-en-ě)
Irish name for the Brown Bull of Ulster in the
Táin Bó Cuailnge
. Also known as Dub [dark].

Donn mac Míled
(don mahk
meel
-
eth
)
Malevolent son of Mil among the Milesians.

Donn Tétscorach
[abounding in furious horses (?)] (don
tayd
-skor-ăkh)
God of the dead and ruler of the otherworld among the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Dord Fían
(dor
th
fee
ăn)
War cry of Fionn and the Fianna Éireann.

Dorn
(dorn)
Princess and mother of an assassin, later made a slave by Fergus mac Léti.

Dornoll
(
dorn
-ol)
Scottish druidess, martial arts instructor, smitten with her student Cúchulainn.

Druim Derg
(drum
dyer
-ěg)
Burial mound in Co. Meath of Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Druim Ligen
(drum
ligh
-ěn)
Site of a battle between the Milesians and Tuatha Dé Danann in Co. Donegal.

Dub
[dark] (duv)
Another Irish name for Donn Cuailnge.

Dubh Sainglenn
, also
Saingliu
(duv
sahn
γ-len)
Less favoured of Cúchulainn’s two horses.

Dubros
(
duv
-ros)
Forest in Co. Sligo, containing rowan trees whose berries Gráinne craves.

Dubthach Dóeltenga
[chafer-tongued] (
duv
-thakh,
duff
-akh
doil
-děng-ă)
Fractious member of the Ulster court.

Dún Aonghusa
(doon
een
γ-ŭs-ă;
ang
. dun
ang
-ŭs)
Imposing archaeological site on Inishmore in the Aran Islands, fancifully named for a Fir Bolg leader.

Dún Dá Benn
(doon
daw
ben)
Fintan’s fortress in what is now Co. Derry.

Dún Delgan
(doon
dyel
-ghěn)
Fort of Delga, a Fir Bolg or Fomorian king; a fortified hill two miles west of modern Dundalk, where Cúchulainn made his home.

Dún Rudraige
(doon
rohr
-ee)
Sumptuous residence of Briccriu at what is now Dundrum, Co. Down.

Dún Scáith
[fort of shadow/fear] (doon
skawth
)
Hades-like realm thought to be on the Isle of Man, visited by Irish heroes; also identified with Scottish Hebrides.

Dún Sobairche
(doon
sov
-ir-khě)
Northernmost extent of Medb and Ailill’s campaign to the east, probably coextensive with the ruined castle of Dunseverick, west of Ballycastle, Co. Antrim.

Dúnlang
(
doon
-lang)
Fatherin-law of Cormac mac Airt.

Dyfed
(du-
vid
)
Medieval kingdom occupying much of southern Wales. The United Kingdom resurrected the name for a newly constituted county in 1974.

Dylan
[ocean, wave] (du-
lahn
)
Welsh sea deity, brother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

Éber
(
ay
-văr)
Son of Mil Espáine who divides Ireland with his brother Éremón.

Echtra
… (
ekh
-trě)
Old Irish for ‘adventure’, conventional first word in titles of travel narratives of voyages to shadowy lands.

Efnisien
[unpeaceful] (ev-
nis
-eeěn)
Malevolent, jealous half-brother of Branwen.

éiric
(
er
-ĭg)
‘Honour price’ or fine paid for killing a noble person.

Éis Énchenn
(aysh
aynkh
-ěn)
Grotesque hag who confronts Cúchulainn.

Eisirt
(
esh
-ĭrt)
Court poet of the fairies in the thirteenth-century
Echtra Fergusa maci Léite
.

Eithne
(a
yn
-yě,
eth
-nŭ)
Of the many women bearing this name, one is the mother of Lug Lámfhota; another is an alternative name for Boand; a third, of Munster, is the mother of Máel Fhothartaig.

Eithne Ingubai
(
ayn
-yě
in
y-uv-I)
Sometime wife of Cúchulainn, perhaps identical with Emer.