Myths and Legends of the Celts (Penguin Reference) (56 page)

Teyrnon Twrf Lient
(
tir
-non toorv
l
I
-ent)
King of Gwent Is Coed who raised the child Pryderi, then known as Gwri.

Thomond
(
th
oh
-mŭnd)
Anglicized name for northern Munster, coextensive with the modern counties of Clare and Limerick.

Three Sorrows of Storytelling
, [
Trí Truagha na Sgéalaigheachta
]
(i) The Deirdre Story, told under two titles,
Longas mac nUislenn
[Exile of the Sons of Uisnech] and
Oided mac nUisnig
[Death of the Sons of Uisnech]; (ii)
Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann
[The Tragic Story of the Children of Tuireann]; (iii)
Oidheadh Chlainne Lir
[The Tragic Story of the Children of Lir].

Tír Chonaill
(tyeer, teer
khon
-al)
Early kingdom coextensive with modern Co. Donegal.

Tír fo Thuinn
(tyeer, teer fŭ
thun
)
The Land Under Wave, an Irish otherworld.

Tír na mBan
(tyeer, teer nă
mahn
)
The Land of Women, an Irish otherworld.

Tír na mBéo
(tyeer, teer na
may
-oh)
The Land of the Living, an Irish otherworld.

Tír na nÓg
(tyeer, teer nah
nohg
)
The Land of Youth, an Irish otherworld.

Tír Tairngire
(tyeer, teer
tahrn
-γir-ĭ)
The Land of Promise, an Irish otherworld.

Tom
Cornish giant, protagonist of the ‘Giants of Morvah’.

Tor Conaind
(tor
kohn
-ănd)
The Fomorian tower on Tory Island, off the coast of Donegal.

Tracht Esi
(trakht
esh
-ee)
Beach in Co. Louth where Connla fights Cúchulainn.

Tuan mac Cairill
(also
mac Stairn
) (
too
-awn mahk
kahr
-ĭl; makh
star
-ěn)
Partholonian thought to have survived to the time of St Colum Cille (sixth century) to tell the story of the invasions.

Tuatha Dé Danann
(
too
-hă,
too
-ă-hŭ,
too
-ăth-ă day
dahn
-an)
Race of immortals who precede the mortal Milesians in the Irish pseudo-history,
Lebor Gabála Érenn
.

Tuireann
(
tur
-ĭn)
King of the Tuatha Dé Danann whose three sons meet a tragic fate in one of the best-known stories in the Mythological Cycle.

Tuis
A king ‘of Greece’ (
too
ish)
Retrieving the skin of his pig is a task of the sons of Tuireann.

tunnerez noz
(
tun
-er-ez
noz
)
Breton name for the washer at the ford.

Twrch Trwyth
(toorkh
troo
eth)
Ferocious great boar, hunted by Culhwch.

tylwyth teg
[
W
. fair folk] (tul-
weeth
teg)
Name for the fairies in Welsh tradition.

Úamain
(
ooăv
-ahn)
Sídh
of Connacht, home of Cáer, swan-lover of Angus Óg.

Uathach
[spectre] (
ooăth
-ăkh)
Ugly daughter of Scáthach, smitten with Cúchulainn.

uddereek
(
ud
-ěr-eek)
Alternative name for the fenodyree, a Manx fairy.

Uí Fháilghe
(
ee
-al-γě)
Leinster dynasty favouring the worship of Find, personification of wisdom.

Uí Néill
(
ee
-nayl)
Powerful, multi-branched dynasty in medieval Ireland from fifth century forward, named for assumed progenitor, Niall Noígiallach [of the Nine Hostages]. Not identical with the later O’Neills, who derive from but one branch.

Uisnech
(
oosh
-někh)
Hill thought to be the centre of Ireland where the druid Mide lit the first fire.

Ulaid
(
ul
-ee)
Historical people of early northern Ireland for whom Ulster is named
.

urco
(
oor
-koh)
Fierce-looking black fairy dog of Galician tradition
.

Urien Rheged
(
eer
-ee-ěn,
eer
-yen,
rheg
-ěd)
Sixth-century Welsh king eulogized by Taliesin
.

Usheen
Hiberno-English for Oisín
.

vates
(
vaht
-ěs,
vaht
-ees)
Latin name for the diviners as seers of ancient Gaul, of lower status than the druids but above the bards. The word is an exact cognate of the Irish
faith
[prophet, seer] and a near cognate of the Welsh
gwawd
[poet]
.

Ventry Harbour
Four miles west of Dingle, Co. Kerry, site of the Fenian epic
Cath Fionntrágha
.

Vindabona
(vind-ă-
bohn
-ă)
Celtic settlement along the Danube in Roman times, site of modern Vienna.

Vindonnus
(vin-
dohn
-ŭs)
The ‘fair god’ of the continental Celts.

washer at the ford
Generic name for a banshee-like figure known in all Celtic traditions; her washing of bloody garments presages the death of the onlooker.

xana
(var.
inxana
) (
shahn
-ă)
The fairy woman responsible for changelings in Galicia and Asturias.

Ynys Afallon
[ W. apple island] (
un
-us ă-
vah
ll
-ŏn)
Welsh otherworldly island in the western ocean, a place of feasting, pleasure and perpetual youth.

Ynys Prydain
(
un
-us
pri
-din)
Welsh name for the Isle of Britain, implicitly the realm of the Welsh.

Youdic
(yoo-dik)
Dismal entrance to the infernal regions in Breton tradition.

Ys
(ees)
Legendary Breton city inundated by the sea.

Ysbaddaden
(us-bah
th
-
ahd
-ěn)
Welsh giant, father of Olwen; gives Heraclean tasks to Culhwch.