Myths and Legends of the Celts (Penguin Reference) (51 page)

Goibniu
(
g
IV
-noo,
giv
-noo,
gwiv
-ně,
gwiv
-new)
Smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Goídel Glas
(
gwi
th
-ěl,
g
I
th
-ăl glahs)
Inventor of the Irish language, according to
Lebor Gabála Érenn
.

Goleuddydd
(go-
l
I
th
-eth)
Mother of Culhwch.

Goll mac Doilb
(gul, gol mahk dolv)
Sometimes named as ruler of Mag Mell.

Goll mac Morna
(gul, gol, mahk
mohr
-nă)
One-time adversary of Fionn mac Cumhaill who becomes his ally.

Goreu
(
gohr
-
I
)
Member of Culhwch’s party who decapitates the giant Ysbaddaden.

Gorias
(
gohr
-eeas)
One of the four magical cities of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Gradlon
(
grahd
-lon)
Virtuous king of Quimper, father of the debauched Dahut.

Gráinne
(
grahn
-yă,
grawn
-yă)
Daughter of Cormac mac Airt, lover of Diarmait. She rejects Fionn, is pursued by him and later united with him.

Grampian Line
(
gramp
-eean)
Range of mountains separating the Scottish Highlands from the Lowlands
.

Grey of Macha
(
mahk
-ă)
Cúchulainn’s horse
.

Gronw Pebyr
(
grahn
-oo
peb
-eer)
Adulterer with Blodeuedd who plots to kill her husband Lieu
.

Guaire
(
goo
-ah-ir-ě)
One of many figures to bear this name becomes the lover of Eórann
.

Guénolé
(
gwayn
-ohl-ay)
Fifth-century ecclesiastic, cited in the ‘Legend of the City of Ys’
.

Gundestrup Cauldron
(
gun
-destrup)
Large silver vessel, richly decorated with Celtic art, named for place where found in Denmark but made elsewhere.

Gwawl
(
goo
awl)
Suitor of Rhiannon favoured by her father but humiliated by Pwyll; a son of Clud.

Gwent Is Coed
(gwent is koid)
Small, historical kingdom in what is now southeastern Wales. The child Pryderi, then known as Gwri, was raised here.

Gwern
(gwern)
Child of the Welsh princess Branwen and the Irish king Matholwch.

Gwion Bach
(
gwee
-on bahkh)
Name of the servant who is transformed into Taliesin.

Gwrhyr Gwastad Ieithoedd
(
goo
-rheer
gwas
-tad ee-
I
th
-
oith
) Welsh
member of King Arthur’s court, an interpreter.

Gwri
(
goo
-ree)
Substitute name for Pryderi while he is raised in exile.

Gwyddno Garanhir
(
gwee
th
-no gah-
rahn
-hir)
Mythical Welsh ruler in whose realm baby Taliesin lands; father of Elphin.

Gwydion
(
gwid
-eeon)
Magician father of Lieu Llaw Gyffes who fashions Blodeuedd for him.

Gwyn Fryn
[white mound] (gwin vrin)
Hill near London where Bendigeidfran’s severed head is placed.

Gwyn Gogoyw
(gwin goh-
goi
-oo)
Father of Cigfa, wife of Pryderi.

Gwynedd
(
gwin
-e
th
)
The medieval kingdom occupying northwest Wales; the reconstituted (1974) county that encompasses much of that kingdom.

Gwynn ap Nudd
(gwin ap
ne
th
)
King of the fairies, tylwyth teg, in Welsh tradition.

Hafgan
[summer white] (
hav
-gan)
Rival and enemy of Arawn, killed by Pwyll.

Hallstatt
(
hahl
-shtaht)
Style of earliest Celtic art,
c
. 800–450
BC
, named for archaeological site in Austria; often severely geometrical.

Harlech
(
hahr
-lěkh)
Coastal town of north Wales, seat of Bendigeidfran.

Hebrides
(
heb
-rid-ees)
Islands off the west coast of Scotland.

Hesperides, Apples of
(hes-
payr
-ĭ-dees)
One of Heracles’ twelve labours, reassigned to the sons of Tuireann.

Hochdorf
(
hohkh
-dohrf)
Site in southwestern Germany of a sixth-century
BC
burial of a wealthy Gaulish chieftain.

huestia
[host] (
west
-ee-ă)
A name for the Asturian fairy procession.

Hy Brasil
(hi
brahs
-ĭl)
An earthly paradise seen on the oceanic horizon west of Ireland.

Hychdwn Hir
[tall piglet] (
hekh
-doon heer)
Porcine offspring of a transformed Gwydion and Gilfaethwy.

Hyddwn
(
hu
th
-oon)
A fawn, offspring of the transformed Gwydion and Gilfaethwy.

Hywel Dda
(
hu
-weel
th
ă)
Historical tenth-century Welsh king and law-giver.

Ibormeith
[
Ir
. yew berry] (
iv
-or-veth)
Nickname of Cáer, lover of Angus Óg.

imbas forosnai
[poetic knowledge that illuminates] (
im
-bas
for
-os-nI)
Power of divination possessed by Fionn mac Cumhaill and others.

Imbolc
(in-
bohlg
, im-
bohl
-ĭk)
Celtic winter festival, approximately 1 February on the modern calendar, later subsumed in St Brigit’s Day.

Imram, Immram…
(
im
-rahv)
Old Irish for ‘rowing about’, conventional first word in titles of travel narratives of visits to distant islands inhabited by human beings.

Ingcél Cáech
(
ing
-gayl kikh)
One-eyed British pirate who ravages Ireland.

Inis Fionnchuire
(
in
-ĭsh
fyun
-kheer-ě)
Imagined island between Ireland and Britain; the sons of Tuireann must retrieve its cooking spit.

Iolo Morganwg
(
eeohl
-oh mohr-
gahn
-oog)
Pseudonym of Edward Williams (1747–1826), poet, antiquarian and inventor of Welsh traditions such as the
gorsedd
.

Iona
(
I
-
ohn
-ă)
Island in the Inner Hebrides, site of the first Christian monastery founded by St Colum Cille.

Ír
(eer)
Milesian sailor killed in the invasion of Ireland, one of many eponyms for Ireland.

Iraird Cuillen
(
ir
-ard
k
[w]
il
-ěn)
Site where Cúchulainn leaves his first warning to Medb’s army, coextensive with the modern village of Crossakeel, Co. Meath.

Iseult
(ĭ-
soolt
)
Lover of Tristan in the Arthurian legends.

Íth
(eeth)
Milesian leader who sees Ireland from a high point in Spain; he is killed when leading an exploratory party to Ireland.

Iubdán
(
yuv
-
th
awn)
King of the fairies in the thirteenth-century
Echtra Fergusa maic Léite
.

Iuchair
(
yukh
-ar)
One of the three tragic sons of Tuireann.

Iucharba
(
yukh
-ăr-vă)
One of the three tragic sons of Tuireann.

Jack
Cornish giant; compared to Lug Lámfhota in ‘Giants of Morvah’.

Joan
Wife of Tom, the Cornish giant.

Keating, Geoffrey
(
c
.1580–
c
.1645/50)
Irish-language historian, priest and poet. Irish name: Séathrún Céitinn (shah-hroon
k
I
-tin,
kay
-tin)

Kêr Is
(kayr
ees
)
Breton title for the ‘Legend of the City of Ys’.