Mythological Cycle
The Mythological Cycle traces the prehistoric invasions of Ireland in Lebor Gabála Érenn — the Book of Invasions. Every word here participates in that story.
20 entries.
| Irish | Ogham | How to say it | English | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aided Chlann Tuireann | ᚛ᚐᚔᚇᚓᚇ ᚉᚆᚂᚐᚅᚅ ᚈᚒᚔᚏᚓᚐᚅᚅ᚜ | EYE-jud klun TIR-un | death of the children of tuireann | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Aided Chlann Tuireann. The Sons of Tuireann killed Lugh’s father; Lugh sets them an impossible quest for the Three Sorrows of Storytelling. |
| An Sionainn | ᚛ᚐᚅ ᚄᚔᚑᚅᚐᚔᚅᚅ᚜ | un SHIN-in | the shannon | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The river Shannon. Ireland’s longest river. Named for Sionann, granddaughter of Lir, who broke the rule against drinking from the well of wisdom and was carried away by the river that bears her name. |
| Aoife | ᚛ᚐᚑᚔᚃᚓ᚜ | EE-fuh | aoife | CELT — TáinCELT — Lebor Gabála | Aoife. Many in mythology: stepmother of the Children of Lir; warrior-queen who bore Cú Chulainn his son. Modern girls’ name. |
| Balor | ᚛ᚁᚐᚂᚑᚏ᚜ | BAL-ur | balor | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Balor of the Evil Eye. Fomorian king. His one terrible eye killed whoever looked into it. Killed by his grandson Lugh at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired. |
| Banba | ᚛ᚁᚐᚅᚁᚐ᚜ | BAN-uh-vuh | banba | CELT — Lebor Gabála | One of the three queens of the Tuatha Dé Danann (with Ériu and Fódla). Ancient poetic name for Ireland. |
| Clann Lir | ᚛ᚉᚂᚐᚅᚅ ᚂᚔᚏ᚜ | klun LEER | children of lir | CELT — Lebor Gabála | The Children of Lir. Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra, and Conn — Lir’s four children, transformed into swans by their stepmother Aoife for 900 years. One of the Three Sorrows. |
| Dindshenchas | ᚛ᚇᚔᚅᚇᚄᚆᚓᚅᚉᚆᚐᚄ᚜ | JIN-shan-khuss | dindshenchas | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Dindshenchas — ‘place-lore.’ The medieval Irish corpus of poems and prose explaining how places got their names. Every hill, river, and field has its myth. |
| Echtra Chonnla | ᚛ᚓᚉᚆᚈᚏᚐ ᚉᚆᚑᚅᚅᚂᚐ᚜ | EKH-truh KHUN-luh | adventure of connla | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Echtra Chonnla. Connla, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles, is summoned by an otherworld woman who carries him off in a glass boat. |
| Fionnuala | ᚛ᚃᚔᚑᚅᚅᚒᚐᚂᚐ᚜ | FIN-OO-uh-luh | fionnuala | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Fionnuala (Fionnghuala — ‘fair shoulder’) — eldest of the Children of Lir. Modern girls’ name. |
| Fomóraigh | ᚛ᚃᚑᚋᚑᚏᚐᚔᚌᚆ᚜ | FUH-VOR-ee | fomorians | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Fomorians. The chaotic sea-people the Tuatha Dé Danann defeated at Mag Tuired. Often described as monstrous; sometimes one-eyed, one-legged. |
| Fódla | ᚛ᚃᚑᚇᚂᚐ᚜ | FOH-luh | fódla | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Third of the three queens of the Tuatha Dé Danann. |
| Imram Brain | ᚛ᚔᚋᚏᚐᚋ ᚁᚏᚐᚔᚅ᚜ | IM-rum BRAN | voyage of bran | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Imram Brain. Bran sails across the western sea, visits paradisal islands, and finds when he returns that centuries have passed. |
| Imram Maelduin | ᚛ᚔᚋᚏᚐᚋ ᚋᚐᚓᚂᚇᚒᚔᚅ᚜ | IM-rum MAYL-djin | voyage of maelduin | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Imram Maelduin — Voyage of Maelduin. The young Maelduin and his companions visit 33 wonder-islands while seeking his father’s killers. Influenced Tennyson; precursor to Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader. |
| Lugh | ᚛ᚂᚒᚌᚆ᚜ | loo | lugh | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Lugh of the Long Arm. King of the Tuatha Dé Danann; god of skill, oaths, and harvest. The August festival Lughnasa is named for him. |
| Mag Tuired | ᚛ᚋᚐᚌ ᚈᚒᚔᚏᚓᚇ᚜ | mag TIR-ud | plain of pillars | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Mag Tuired (Moytura) — site of the two great mythological battles. The First and Second Battles of Mag Tuired decided who would rule Ireland: the Tuatha Dé Danann defeated the Fomorians here. |
| Sin | ᚛ᚄᚔᚅ᚜ | shin | sin | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Sin — the storm-witch who killed king Muirchertach mac Erca through enchantment, vengeance for her family. |
| Tochmarc Étaíne | ᚛ᚈᚑᚉᚆᚋᚐᚏᚉ ᚓᚈᚐᚔᚅᚓ᚜ | TUKH-mark AY-deen-uh | wooing of étaín | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Tochmarc Étaíne — The Wooing of Étaín. Étaín is reborn many times across the stories; one of the most beautiful Old Irish tales. |
| Tuireann | ᚛ᚈᚒᚔᚏᚓᚐᚅᚅ᚜ | TIR-un | tuireann | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Tuireann. Father of three sons whose tragic quest (Aided Chlann Tuireann) is one of the Three Sorrows of Storytelling. |
| Ériu | ᚛ᚓᚏᚔᚒ᚜ | AY-roo | ériu | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Ériu — the goddess from whom Ireland (Éire) takes her name. One of the three queens of the Tuatha Dé Danann. |
| Étaín | ᚛ᚓᚈᚐᚔᚅ᚜ | AY-deen | étaín | CELT — Lebor Gabála | Étaín — beautiful otherworldly woman of Tochmarc Étaíne (The Wooing of Étaín). Reborn many times after a witch turned her into a fly. |