In the grand Irish epic of the Tain Bo Cuailnge, Nemain – personification of the frenzy and havoc of warfare – confuses the soldiers on the field of battle, causing them to fight and kill their own.
The Morrigan. Phantom Queen. Shape-shifting Triple Goddess. As Battle Crow she flies as a harbinger of death and defeat. As the hag she is the crafty and cunning old witch of Fairy Tale. And as Nemain she is Goddess of War, able to kill 100 men with a mere cry.
The Morrígan is one of the strangest deities in Irish Celtic mythology. Tripartite goddess of war: she is made up of three separate personalities or aspects. These three are known as Morrígu, Badb, and Nemain, but also sometimes Macha, and Anann,. There is some debate as to whether “Morrigan” is merely a title these separate Goddesses, or heroines held (like The Gorgons of Greek Mythology), or whether they were genuinely all different forms taken by The Morrigan.
The “mor” in Morrigan comes from the same route as the Old English word “maere”, meaning terror or monstrousness and which survives in modern English in the context of “nightmare”. The “rígan” translates as “queen”, giving the Godess the title of Terror Queen, Phantom Queen, Mare Queen, or simply Great Queen.
Badb (“crow”) is more often known as “Badb Catha” (meaning “Battle Crow”) and as such is associated with war and death. Her appearance would foreshadow imminent bloody battle, and on the field of war the Battle Crow would create deliberate fear and confusion among enemy soldiers. Possibly because of this, the battlefield is referred to some Celtic literature as “the garden of the Badb” (although crows do like carrion, so there may be a rather obvious dual meaning there).
Badb, Macha and Morríga were there daughters of the Farming Mother Goddess Ernmas, according to the 4th century CE text preserved in Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland, more widely known as The Book of Invasions).
Macha was a Sovereignty Goddess of ancient Ireland associated with the province of Ulster, and particularly with the sites of Navan Fort (Eamhain Mhacha) and Armagh (Ard Mhacha), which are both named after her. To make things slightly more complicated however, there seem to be several different Goddesses sharing the name.
In the grand Irish epic of the Tain Bo Cuailnge, Nemain – personification of the frenzy and havoc of warfare – confuses the soldiers on the field of battle, causing them to fight and kill their own.
“Then the Neman attacked them, and that was not the most comfortable night with them, from the uproar of the giant Dubtach through his sleep. The bands were immediately startled, and the army confounded, until Medb went to check the confusion.”
Morrígan was also the Goddess of divination and prophecy who, in the guise of an elderly washerwoman, foretold the fate of the hero God Dagda when he encountered her by the river on eve of the Samhain festival.
In later medieval period, the title “Morrígan” was associated with Morgan le Fay, the sorceress Avalon, in the Arthurian legends. Morgan is said to have also appeared as a fair maiden, a hag, and in various animal forms at different times.
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