Monaghan Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore

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figure has left her name across the landscape of

east Co. Clare in Ireland. In despair at learning

that, although her father was human, her mother

was a sunbeam, Gillagréine leaped into the water

of Lough Gréine or Lough Graney (“lake of the

sun”), floated down to Daire Gréine (“sun’s oak

grove”), and finally came to rest at Tuam Gréine

or Tuamgraney (“the sun’s tomb”). She may have

been an early

SUN goddess of the region.

Gille Dubh (Ghillie Dhu) Scottish folk-

loric figure. In relatively recent times—at the end

of the 18th century—this FAIRY man appeared in

the region around Loch a Druing in the Scottish

Highlands. A rather seedy-looking person, he

wore nothing but moss and leaves, and his

unkempt black hair fell about him like a cloak. He

was a silent, kindly sort, ready to rescue the lost

and care for those in need. Nonetheless he was

made the object of sport by some local lairds, who

decided to use the poor fairy for target practice.

He made himself scarce; a full night’s hunting did

not scare him up, nor was he ever seen afterward.

Gillian (Jillian) British folkloric figure and site.

In England, mazes called Gillian Bowers were cut

into turf. In springtime the young men ran races

through these turf mazes, while a woman imper-

sonating the otherwise unknown folkloric figure

Gillian was “imprisoned” at the center of the maze

and “freed” by the race’s winner. Such mazes are

also found in Scandinavian countries, where they

go by the unexplained name of Troy Towns. A rit-

ual of freeing the SUN maiden from her winter

captivity seems implied by the game. A goddess

named Gillian, perhaps ruling the springtime, may

have given her name to these sites.

Source: Monaghan, Patricia. O Mother Sun: A New

View of the Cosmic Feminine. Freedom, Calif.:

The Crossing Press, 1994, pp. 108–110.

Giona (Giona mac Lugha) Irish hero.

Despite being a grandson of the great hero

FIONN MAC CUMHAILL, Giona was a lazy fellow

and could not control his warriors, who found

him an uninspiring leader. Fionn took the young

man under his tutelage and formed him into a

great hero of the FIANNA.

glám dícenn Irish ritual posture. When a

BARD or a DRUID wanted to cast a truly effective

CURSE in ancient Ireland, he or she would

assume a particular position: standing on one

leg, holding out one arm, and closing one eye.

This fearsome position intensified the power of

the verbal curse so that its power was impossible

to avoid. The

HAG who destroyed king CONAIRE,

in the story of DA DERGA’s hostel, assumed the

glám dícenn before she cursed him for breaking

his sacred vows (see GEIS).

glamour Folkloric motif. A glamour is a

spell, cast by a FAIRY or a WITCH (occasionally, a

gypsy), that caused humans to imagine things

that are not there and to see things as they are

not. Originally a Scottish word, the word

passed into international usage stripped of its

magical meaning and now indicates only fasci-

nating personal attractiveness. In the past,

glamour was never sought after but was rather

to be avoided or broken—the latter by using

FAIRY OINTMENT or holding up to one’s eyes a

bit of four-leafed clover or SHAMROCK (which

may have been the main ingredient in fairy

ointment). The clover’s power would permit

the viewer to see reality rather than fairy fan-

tasy; thus a visitor to FAIRYLAND would see a

miserable CAVE rather than a gorgeous ball-

room, and the people there would be old and

wizened rather than firm and young.

Glanlua Irish heroine. A minor figure in one

of the tales of the heroic FIANNA, this woman

assisted their leader FIONN MAC CUMHAILL in

escaping from the imprisonment of a GIANT

named DRYANTORE.

See AILNA.

214 Gille Dubh

Glas Ghaibhleann (Glas Ghaibhnann, Glas

Gavlen, Glas Gownach, Glas Gainach, Glas

Gaunach; Fuwch Leathwen Lefrith) Irish

mythological figure. Irish folklore and mythol-

ogy tells of a great COW whose MILK was so plen-

tiful that it could feed multitudes; because of the

100% cream content, its milk made copious

BUTTER as well. The cow was so strong that she

could wander through three of Ireland’s four

PROVINCES in a single day; thus place-names

across the land (usually beginning with Glas, as

in Glasnevin, although also occurring in such

forms as Knockglas, “mountain of the Glas”)

bear testimony to her passage. (Her name

became a common noun for SPRING or stream,

so at times it is difficult to distinguish the origi-

nal intent of such place-names.) As she traveled,

she gave milk to anyone who needed it, filling

whatever vessel they carried, no matter how

large or small. It is possible that the Glas is an

ancient image of the Irish land itself, for Ireland

is occasionally called Druimin Donn Dilis, “the

faithful brown white-backed cow.”

The Glas did not have to have a calf in order

to give milk. Indeed, as much as five years could

pass without the cow calving, yet her milk

flowed unceasingly. Some stories say that she

was a FAIRY beast, belonging to the king of the

Land Under Wave or the OTHERWORLD; other

stories suggest she was the goddess

BÓ FIND, who

took the form of a white cow.

Usually the cow was said to be guarded by a

SMITH named Gaivnin Gow, Gavidin, or simply

Gavin; in Ireland, the smith was said to live

among the rolling hills of Co. Cavan. The smith

kept the Glas’s halter, to which she came unfail-

ingly every night; some legends say that the Glas

was the smith’s enchanted sister or stepsister. In

Ireland place-names associated with the cow are

often found near sites named for the smith.

Some versions of the story name the smith god

GOIBNIU as the owner of the Glas.

Many legends center on plots set in motion

by greedy people who wished to steal the Glas

for their exclusive enrichment, but she invariably

escaped or was freed, bringing her abundance

back to the people. In one story the Glas was

confined by a man within Glen Columkille in

Co. Donegal, but she levitated into the air and,

clearing the high ridges around the glen, disap-

peared into the sky. Since that time, legend

claims, there has been no free milk in Ireland.

Other legends claim that a wicked woman

tried to milk the Glas into a sieve and, angered,

the cow disappeared from earth. Another tale,

from the rocky region called the Burren, says

that someone tried to milk the Glas into a

swallow-hole called Poll na Leamhnachta (“hole

of sweet milk”), but when even the Glas’s

immeasurable milk could not fill the endless

cavity, the exhausted cow disappeared, and she

has never again been seen on the Burren, previ-

ously her favorite pasturage.

The Glas appears in Britain, Scotland, and

Wales under the name of the

DUN COW, whose

mythological background is made clear in

descriptions of her impossible abundance. As in

Ireland, the British Dun Cow was killed by

greed: A WITCH tried to milk her into a mesh,

killing the miraculous beast; a whale rib in

Kirkham, Lancashire, was long said to have been

one of the Dun Cow’s bones. In Wales the cow

was called Fuwch Leathwen Lefrith; she wan-

dered the country, generously giving forth milk

until she reached a valley, Towry, where the res-

idents saw her as potential steak-and-kidney pie.

Before they could slaughter her, she disap-

peared, taking all her abundance with her.

The cosmological and cosmic significance of

this magical cow is reinforced by scholars who

trace the motif to the Indo-European mytholo-

gies of India, where we find cloud cows who rain

milk down upon earth and who, according to the

Rig Veda, were stolen by the demon Vritra, who

wished to bring drought and famine to earth.

This connection of the cow not only with milk

but with water is found in the figure of the river-

and cow-goddess BÓAND, after whom the River

Boyne is named. The connection between cow

and river is further reinforced by descriptions of

the cow’s meandering course across the land,

never traveling less than six miles a day.

Glas Ghaibhleann 215

The Glas figures prominently in the story of

the magical conception of the hero LUGH, grand-

son and killer of the monstrous FOMORIAN king

BALOR of the Evil Eye. After Balor had been driven

to the periphery of Ireland by the fierce warriors

of the FIR BOLG, he reigned from a frightening

fortress on Tory Island off Co. Donegal. Opposite

him on the mainland, at Druin na Teine, lived the

smith with his magical cow. Balor conceived a

powerful desire to own the cow—thus removing it

from Ireland, where it nourished the people—but

the smith watched it incessantly, only taking his

eyes off it when he worked at the forge; while he

was working, the Glas was closely guarded by a

man variously named CIAN, MacInally, or Fin son

of Ceanfaeligh. He had to follow along behind the

Glas—never in front of her—as she meandered

through the island, keeping up with her strenuous

pace. She moved so fast and so far that it was no

wonder that Cian finally grew inattentive and took

a nap.

At that point Balor struck. He stole the Glas

and packed her aboard a boat that sailed for Tory

Island, stopping en route at the little island

called Inishbofin (Inis Bó Find, “island of the

white cow”), where she drank from a WELL

called Tober na Glaise (“gray cow well”); when

they landed at Tory it was at Port na Glaise

(“gray cow port”).

The smith, furious to find his magical cow

gone, threatened Cian with death unless she was

returned in three days. So Cian traveled to

Balor’s realm, where the king gave him impossi-

ble tasks to fulfill in order to earn back the cow.

While there, however, Cian spied Balor’s beauti-

ful daughter EITHNE, trapped in a high tower

because Balor feared the prophecy that her son

would kill him. Balor reasoned that, if Eithne

never saw a man, she could not bear a child, thus

providing her father with immortality.

Disguised as a woman, Cian slunk into

Eithne’s lodgings and seduced her; the child she

bore was Lugh, who was later to kill Balor in

battle, fulfilling the prophecy. Cian returned the

cow to the smith but died at Balor’s hands in

retaliation for his seduction of Eithne.

The cow of abundance is connected in myth

and legend to various figures, most commonly

BRIGIT, who as Ireland’s St. Brigit was said to have

a cow that gave copious milk and filled the abbey’s

storehouses with butter. This connection of Glas

and Brigit extends to Britain; a sculpture of the

saint as milkmaid can be found in GLASTONBURY.

Sources: Curtin, Jeremiah. Hero-Tales of Ireland.

New York: Benjamin Blom, 1894, pp. 283, 296;

Hull, Eleanor. Folklor

e of the British Isles.

London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1928, pp.

150–153; MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of

Lughnasa, Parts I and II. Dublin: Comhairle

Bhéaloideas Éireann, 1982, pp. 163–165.

Glass-ben (Glass) Irish heroine. The nurse

of the hero OSCAR, she died when she learned

that her fosterling was killed in battle.

glastig (glaistig, glaistic, glaisein, glaishrig)

Scottish and Welsh folkloric figure. A FAIRY of

Scotland and Wales, “the gray-handed one” was

a gray thin woman (sometimes, a GIANT) whose

long yellow hair hit the ground behind her; like

others of her race, she wore the preferred fairy

color, GREEN, from which she was sometimes

known as the green glastig. Rarely seen in com-

pany (although sometimes a pair could be spot-

ted together), the glastig hung around farms

where there were COWS; she was also found

around people of friendly demeanor but low

intelligence, whom she loved and cared for.

The glastig had a preternaturally loud voice

that could be heard many miles away. As a spirit

of the MILK cattle, she demanded an offering of

the first milk taken each morning; failure to

observe this politeness resulted in her drying up

the milk or otherwise punishing the stingy dairy-

man. If offered regular libations of milk, left in

pitcher or bowl on the doorstep, the glastig

stayed for some time. As a householding spirit

like the BROWNIE, she cleaned especially well

whenever guests were on the way, so awakening

to a sparkling clean house was an immediate sig-

216 Glass-ben

nal to look out for visitors. As with other labor-

ing spirits, it was important never to speak of the

glastig or, even worse, to compliment her labor,

for that forced her to move away to another farm.

In the Isle of Man the fenodyree was a figure

similar to the glastig; she lived in the mountains

but snuck down to the farmlands to tend to the

fields and to help secretly about the house. Like

similar fairy figures, she refused to accept pay-

ment or recompense for her work and disap-

peared if it was offered.

Source: MacKenzie, Donald A. Scottish Folk-Lore

and Folk Life: Studies in Race, Culture and

Tradition. Glasgow: Blackie & Sons, Ltd., 1935,

pp. 176–194.

Glastonbury British mythological site.

Considered by some to be the site of the OTHER-

WORLD island of AVALON, the small southwestern

English city of Glastonbury has many mythical

and legendary associations. Below its pyramidal

hill, the TOR, lie the ruins of several significant

Christian sites, including Glastonbury Abbey,

beneath which king ARTHUR and queen GUINE-

VERE are said to be buried, and the renowned

Chalice WELL, also called the Blood Spring, with

its iron-red waters. The legend of JOSEPH OF ARI-

MATHEA says that he built the first Christian

church in Britain there. As Christian chapels and

churches were often established on older Celtic

and pre-Celtic sacred sites, it is no surprise to

find that Glastonbury was held in legend to be

the entry to ANNWN, the Welsh Otherworld,

where the fairy king GWYNN AP NUDD reigned;

there is evidence of Iron Age, probably Celtic,

settlement on the Tor, which may point to a

Celtic origin for that folkloric character. Thus

the site remains connected in legend to the

sacred even if the original monuments and myths

have been lost.

glastyn (glashtin) Manx folkloric figure. On

the Isle of Man lived this form of the spectral

WATER HORSE, who appeared as a handsome man

with curly hair, beneath which, if carefully exam-

ined, were ears that looked remarkably like those

of a horse. Handsome he might be, but he was

also dangerous. He snuck into the homes of

young women when they were alone—their

families having gone to market or out fishing—

and dragged them into the sea to their deaths.

Glen Lyon Scottish mythological site. In an

astonishing survival of ancient, possibly Celtic,

ritual, a Scottish region continues an age-old

tradition centered on summer’s beginning at

BELTANE on May 1. Located in the Grampion

mountains of Tayside near Fortingall is a small

valley called Glen Lyon. Within the small valley

are many place-names associated with the

ancient goddess, the CAILLEACH or HAG: Glen

Cailliche (Hag’s Glen), Allt Cailliche (Hag’s

Stream), and Tigh nam Cailliche (Hag’s House),

the last being a pile of water-smoothed rocks of

roughly human form. The largest, a bit over a

foot in height, is named the Cailliche; two

smaller stones go by the names of the Bodach

(old man) and Nighean (daughter). Some small

unnamed rocks represent the old woman’s

babies. Each Beltane, a local resident washes the

stones and replaces them in a traditional spot;

each SAMHAIN the hag and her family are put

away into a small stone house.

The connection of the ritual appearance and

disappearance of the stone family with the

Celtic holidays may indicate that it derives

from Celtic times, although the hag goddess

herself is believed to reach back even deeper

into prehistory and represent a cosmic goddess

of the pre-Celtic people. Legends in the area

say that the Irish hero, FIONN MAC CUMHAILL,

once lived there.

Sources: Clarke, David, with Andy Roberts.

Twilight of the Celtic Gods: An Exploration of

Britain’s Hidden Pagan Traditions. London:

Blandford, 1996, pp. 66 ff; Straffon, Cheryl.

The Earth Goddess: Celtic and Pagan Legacy of the

Landscape. London: Blandford, 1997, p. 177.

Glen Lyon 217

Glewlwyd Gafaelwar Welsh hero. This war-

rior and guardian figure of Wales was absorbed

into Arthurian legend as the watchman at the

gates of king ARTHUR’s court at CAMELOT.

gnome Folkloric figure. Not a Celtic creature

at all, the gnome found in Celtic lands derives

from medieval science and alchemy that imag-

ined creatures appropriate to each of the four

elements: salamanders (fire), nereids (water),

sylphs (air), and gnomes (earth). The gnomes

were thought to live under the earth, working

perhaps as miners; the word itself may derive

from genomus, “earth-dweller.” They are easily

confused with such truly folkloric creatures as

FAIRIES and KNOCKERS, but have no real legends

attached. The DWARFS familiar to modern chil-

dren from the tale of Sleeping Beauty are a vari-

ation of the gnome.

goat Symbolic animal. There is evidence that

the goat was among the animals considered

sacred to the Celts and therefore useful for SAC-

RIFICE. Because of a CURSE, goats were forbidden

near the Christian abbey in KILDARE, originally a

site of Celtic worship. As the sanctuary was

sacred to women, and men were barred from it,

the goat may have represented the male force;

the horned god

CERNUNNOS was often depicted

with goat’s legs, though with stag’s horns. The

sexuality of the male goat is legendary; in

Christian imagery, derogation of the male sexual

force is indicated by showing the

DEVIL as a

goat-footed being. Perhaps this connection

explains why ST. PATRICK was so often described

as a goatherd: a symbolic way of describing

Christianity’s control over male sexual instinct.

In folklore the same energy is personified as

PUCK or the POOKA, a FAIRY being.

The most notable remnant of ancient regard

for the animal is the still-extant

PUCK FAIR, a har-

vest festival in the town of Kilorglin in south-

western Ireland, where a white male goat is

crowned as king, fed fresh cabbage, and dis-

played aloft on a platform while festivities go on

beneath it. The fair’s name comes from the Irish

word poc, meaning “he-goat.” The fair tradition-

ally lasts three days in mid-August: Gathering

Day, when the goat is installed as king; Fair Day,

when festivities abound; and Scattering Day,

when the goat is taken from his perch and sold at

auction or released into the wild. Documented

evidence shows that the fair has been continually

held since at least 1613, although it is believed its

earliest date is much earlier; some, however,

contend that the obvious pagan symbolism of

the rite would have caused its eradication during

the period of Christianization and claim it is a

medieval or Norman invention.

Sources: Condren, Mary. The Serpent and the

Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Ancient

Ireland. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989, p.

74; MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa,

Parts I and II. Dublin: Comhairle Bhéaloideas

Éireann, 1982, pp. 290–300, 414.

goayr heddagh Manx folkloric figure. The

Isle of Man is haunted by this FAIRY creature or

GHOST that takes the form of a GOAT.

Goban Saor (Gobhan Saor, Gubawn Seer)

British and Irish folkloric figure. In parts of

Britain and Ireland where Vikings lived, we find

vestiges of the divine SMITH, WAYLAND, in this

folktale character. An amoral figure, he once put

an old woman into his furnace so that he could

hammer her into a young maiden. He is said to

have served as architect on many significant

churches. It is often difficult to tease out the var-

ious cultural strands in tales of Goban Soar, who

like the Celtic smith god GOIBNIU is sometimes

described as the owner of the great cow of abun-

dance, the GLAS GHAIBHLEANN.

goblin (hobgoblin) British folkloric figure. A

general name for evil FAIRIES, “goblin” indicates

a being who is at best mischievous and irritating,

at worst dangerous. Goblins came in various

218 Glewlwyd Gafaelwar

guises, including the VOUGH and the POOKA, the

BOGIE and the WATER HORSE; all have roots in

the Celtic vision of the OTHERWORLD; they are

thus distinct from GNOMES, which belong to the

lore of medieval alchemy. English poet Christina

Rossetti used aspects of traditional fairy lore in

her long poem “Goblin Market,” linking the

image of leering, evil goblins with the motif of

FAIRY KIDNAPPING to create a frightening vision

of emotional distress.

Gobnat (Gobnait, Cobnat, Abby, Abigail) Irish

heroine, saint or goddess. A Christian shrine in

Ireland’s Co. Cork, at the town of Ballyvourney,

shows a SHEELA NA GIG, a self-exposing HAG

whose image has been linked to ancient MOTHER

GODDESSES. The resident spirit of the shrine is

said to be St. Gobnait, patroness of BEES, who may

be a Christianized version of an ancient goddess of

the locality. The bees served as her watchdogs,

warning her against any danger that approached.

She is said to have been one of three sisters,

the others being the more clearly mythological

CROBH DEARG (or LASAIR) and LATIARAN. In early

February the beginning of spring in Ireland and

the time of the Celtic feast of IMBOLC are devoted

to Gobnait, suggesting that she was the first of a

triad of seasonal goddesses, for her sisters are also

linked to dates in the ancient calendar. A famous

shrine to her is located at what is now Kilgobnet

(church of Gobnat) in Co. Kerry.

Source: Straffon, Cheryl. The Earth Goddess: Celtic

and Pagan Legacy of the Landscape. London:

Blandford, 1997, p. 73.

Goborchinn Irish mythological race. A

branch of the ancient mythological Irish race

known as the FOMORIANS, the Goborchinn were

ruled by EOCHAID Echchenn, “horse-head.” As

the Fomorians were consistently associated with

the sea, the Goborchinn may have some connec-

tion to the mythological WATER HORSE. Those

who interpret the BOOK OF INVASIONS, in which

the Goborchinn appear, as a mythological

record of actual immigrations into Ireland sug-

gest that the Fomorians represent a pre-Celtic

people of which the Goborchinn were part.

god (gods) Cosmological concept. It is

impossible to speak of the “God of the Celts,”

for the Celts were polytheistic in the extreme;

they did not believe in one but in many gods.

Unlike the Romans, who conquered the Celts

and reinterpreted their religion even as they

recorded it (see

INTERPRETATIO ROMANA), the

Celts did not arrange gods in a hierarchical

order. Despite Caesar’s announcement that MER-

CURY was the chief Celtic god, there seems to

have been no such head of a ranked pantheon.

In particular, the Celts did not believe that

male gods took precedence over goddesses;

there is significant evidence that the reverse was

true. While goddesses seemed to represent sta-

ble parts of the landscape (mountains and RIVERS

and the like) as well as the force of FERTILITY and

many human arts, gods more typically lent their

energies to the changeable aspects of life: the

surging sea, the transformations of MAGIC, the

burgeoning of vegetative and animal life. Often

gods were seen to reflect the life of human men,

as with ploughman gods and hunters, although

even those could also indicate the cycle of fertil-

ity that led to abundance.

goddess (goddesses) Cosmological concept.

The prominent role played by the goddess in

Celtic lands has been noted by virtually all schol-

ars of the subject, although whether that promi-

nence translated into greater freedom or power

for actual women is a subject of fierce con-

tention. Similarly, there is debate about whether

the strong goddess figures found in Celtic lands

were adopted from earlier, presumably matrilin-

eal, cultures such as the Picts, or whether they

represented the Celtic worldview. Whichever is

true, Celtic goddesses had in common with

Celtic gods their special link to place; most god-

desses are found in only one place and seem to

have been envisioned as intertwined with its

goddess 219

powers. Goddesses are particularly connected

with fresh water, both in the form of SPRINGS

(usually called WELLS) and of RIVERS; with ANI-

MALS, especially the COW; and with MOUNTAINS,

especially high peaks.

Celtic goddesses had several functions: They

were maternal, caring for the earth itself as well

as for individual children; they were prophetic,

especially foretelling death; and they were trans-

formational, connected with poetry and

smithcraft and healing. The domain of the vari-

ous MOTHER GODDESSES included the entire life-

cycle, from birth through adolescence and the

FERTILITY of maturity. Such maternal goddesses

were envisioned as protective forces, providing

the necessities of life—especially food—to their

huge families of human children. These mater-

nal goddesses are often envisioned as being the

earth itself; round mountains were envisioned as

the breasts of the great mother goddess, and

rivers were imagined alternatively as her blood

and her nourishing MILK.

Images of the mother goddess are ubiquitous

throughout the Celtic world; probably they were

used as protective AMULETS as well as objects of

worship. The strength of the mother goddess has

led many scholars to propose that the Celts had a

matrilineal social organization in which descent

was traced through the mother-line; others,

however, contend that vestiges of such a social

structure represent the heritage of pre-Celtic

groups like the Picts, as does the practice of

polyandry or multiple husbands so common in

Celtic mythology. Yet others deny all indications

of the importance of the ancestral mother as fem-

inist propaganda and propound the idea that the

Celts were completely patriarchal and patrilineal.

In addition to the mother goddess, we find

the feminine divine associated with

PROPHECY

throughout the Celtic world. In many cases she

seems a goddess of death, predicting rather than

bringing about the inevitable end of life. Finally,

we find goddesses associated with transforma-

tion: with the INAUGURATION of kings (see SOV-

EREIGNTY) and with SHAPE-SHIFTING, as well as

with POETRY, with smithcraft, and with HEAL-

ING. Some contend that all are aspects of mater-

nity, but goddesses associated with prophecy and

transformation are not usually described as hav-

ing children, which suggests that the domains

were separate.

Sources: Condren, Mary. The Serpent and the

Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Ancient

Ireland. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989, pp.

175–176; Green, Miranda. Symbol and Image in

Celtic Religious Art. London: Routledge, 1989, p.

9; MacCullogh, J. A. Celtic Mythology. Chicago:

Academy Publishers, 1996, pp. 93, 224;

Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise. Celtic Gods and Heroes.

Trans. Myles Dillon. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover

Publications, Inc., 2000, pp. 24–37.

goddess-king marriage See SOVEREIGNTY.

goddess of sovereignty See SOVEREIGNTY.

Godiva (Godgifu, Dame Goode Eve)

British heroine. In 1967, on the reputed 900th

anniversary of Lady Godiva’s death, the town of

Coventry held a celebration in her honor. Her

apparently historical story incorporates so

many Celtic mythological motifs that it is diffi-

cult to discern the truth behind the legend.

Both she and her husband, Leonfric earl of

Mercia, are mentioned in medieval chronicles,

which praise her generosity and record details

of her famous ride.

When Leonfric piled such ruinous taxes

upon his vassals that the land was groaning and

people were starving, Godiva pleaded for

mercy. But Leonfric refused to alleviate the

people’s woes. Cruelly, he taunted his wife that

only if she rode naked through Coventry town

would he ease the tax burden on his people.

The brave lady took up the challenge, but to

preserve her modesty she asked that the win-

dows of the town be shrouded with fabric on

the day of her ride. Then, dressed only in her

long HAIR, she rode through the empty streets.

220 goddess-king marriage

Only one person—Peeping Tom—ignored her

request, and he was struck blind at the sight of

her resplendent body.

The region around Coventry was home to the

Celtic tribe called the Brigantes, who recognized

the HORSE goddess either as EPONA or under

another name. Their own tribal name indicates

that they honored BRIGIT, a goddess known in

other contexts to have the power both to blind

and to restore sight. The image of a mounted

woman clad only in her hair is known in Ireland

from the story of the forthright heroine

GRÁINNE. Finally, female nakedness as a Celtic

cult practice to increase the FERTILITY of the

fields is known from classical sources, including

the Roman author Pliny; Lady Godiva’s ride had

the effect of providing more abundance for her

impoverished people. Thus the legend of Lady

Godiva both disguises and preserves the image of

an ancient goddess protector.

Source: Davidson, Hilda Ellis. “The Legend of

Lady Godiva.” In Patterns of Folklore. Totowa,

N.J.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1978, pp. 80–94.

Goewin Welsh heroine or goddess. Chosen

to perform the ceremonially important office of

footholder to king MATH of Wales, whose feet

were never to touch the ground—a common

indicator of a sacred king—Goewin had the mis-

fortune to inspire lust in the heart of one of

Math’s nephews. Aided and abetted by his

brother, the trickster poet GWYDION, GIL-

FAETHWY raped Goewin. He was punished

severely for the crime, but Goewin lost both her

virginity and her position, for only an untouched

girl was permitted to hold the king’s feet. As par-

tial recompense, Math married her and made

her queen.

Gog (Gogmagog, Gigmagog) Cornish folk-

loric figure. This Cornish GIANT was described

by Geoffrey of Monmouth as attacking the

British king Brutus during his INAUGURATION

ceremonies, only to be soundly defeated by the

warrior Corineus. The legendary figure later

developed into two threatening beings, Gog and

Magog, who attacked Londinium (London) dur-

ing the reign of king Vortigen.

Goibniu (Goibne, Gaibnenn, Gobnenn) Irish

god. The SMITH of the TUATHA DÉ DANANN, the

tribe of the goddess

DANU, Goibniu was one of

the three gods of craft who created a new arm for

their king NUADA when his arm was struck clear

off in battle. As a BLEMISHED KING, it appeared

Nuada would be forced to resign his rulership.

Goibniu set to work, crafting a silver arm so per-

fect that, attached to the stump, it began working

like a real arm. (Some versions say the god of

healing, DIAN CÉCHT, crafted the silver arm.)

Nuada of the Silver Arm was still not considered

unblemished, and so the stingy and evil half-

Fomorian BRES mac Elatha ascended to the

throne, only to be driven out not long after. The

situation was resolved when the gifted physician

and magician MIACH sang incantations that made

skin grow over Nuada’s silver arm, making him

whole once again. With that bionic arm, Nuada

was able to lead his people to victory in the sec-

ond battle of MAG TUIRED, which established the

Tuatha Dé’s dominion in Ireland.

Before the battle, the son of Bres and BRIGIT

came to spy upon Goibniu and steal his magical

secrets. Goibniu killed the lad, RUADÁN, which

caused his mother to invent the wild sound of

KEENING to express her grief. For himself,

Goibniu was able to heal his wounds by traveling

to the sacred WELL on SLANE hill.

Every smith was a magical figure in ancient

Ireland, turning raw stone first into metal and

then into beautiful and useful objects such as jew-

elry and weapons. Such high prestige carries over

to the mythological sphere as well. Sometimes

named as the owner of the GLAS GHAIBHLEANN,

the COW of abundance, Goibniu was said to live

in Co. Cavan, where the name of the Iron

Mountains suggest an early mining industry.

This connection with abundance is also empha-

sized by the myth that Goibniu possessed a

Goibniu 221

CAULDRON from which his guests could endlessly

drink and, instead of becoming intoxicated, grow

ever younger and more healthy. In folklore

Goibniu survived as GOBAN SAOR, a sharp and

clever smith who appears in many tales.

Goidel (Gadelus, Gaedhal, Gael, Gaedel Glas,

Gathelus) Irish hero. It is probable that this

figure is a literary invention rather than a real

divinity; he is named as the ancestor of the

Goidelic (Gaelic) Celts of Ireland, Scotland, and

the Isle of Man. In a complicated and clearly

Christianized text, he is said to have been the

grandson of an Egyptian Pharaoh, healed of a

childhood illness by the biblical Moses. English

poet and propagandist Edmund Spenser

described Goidel or Gathelus as the son of

Cecrops of Argos, a mythological Greek king,

who married a princess of Egypt and took her to

Spain, where they became the ancestors of the

Irish race. Goidel may be the same as the figure

who otherwise appears as Míl (see MILESIANS),

although he is also called one of Mil’s sons or

grandsons. His ancestor RIFATH SCOT was the

one who, in the chaos of the biblical Tower of

Babel, became a speaker of Scots Gaelic; Goidel

himself created the Irish language by joining

words from the other 72 languages he knew.

gold Symbolic metal. Gold was a valuable

metal to the Celts, who were renowned as metal-

workers, but its value was based as much in myth

as in commerce. It was associated with the SUN

and, as such, with prosperity brought about

through the growth and abundance of summer’s

vegetation. This association made gold a sought-

after metal for personal ornamentation; TORCS or

neck-rings of twisted gold are among the treas-

ures of ancient Celtic design and craftsmanship.

Ritual objects, like the golden BOAT found in

Broighter BOG, also attest to the importance of

gold to the Celts, both insular and Continental.

The Celtic reverence for gold was noted by

ancient authors. Diodorus Siculus noted that the

Celts had “a strange and peculiar custom in con-

nection with the sanctuaries of the gods; for in the

temples and sanctuaries which are dedicated

throughout the country a large amount of gold is

openly placed as a dedication to the gods.” The

openly displayed gold would not be stolen, for

that would bring on unshakable bad fortune; the

same tradition can be found in the placing of

COINS in sacred spots in Ireland and Britain today,

which similarly tend to remain undisturbed.

Gold was also linked with the

GODDESS and

her diminished form, the FAIRY QUEEN, for such

beings were often described as having long

golden HAIR. ÁINE and ÉTAIN are described as

combing their golden locks with a golden COMB.

The lights of FAIRYLAND are often said to be

gold, and human greed could be tempted by the

apparent wealth of gold found there, though

stolen pocketsful would reveal themselves to be

only the butter-colored flowers of the GORSE

when the visitor returned to earth.

In degraded form after the decline of Celtic

religion, this magical substance became nothing

but money, as when leprechauns were sought for

their pot of gold and the treasure of the goddess

was transformed into the “Money Hole” of

MUNSTER, a place of inexhaustible wealth lost

somewhere on the slopes of the Loughfennel

mountains. Thistles were sometimes said to

grow at locations of buried FAIRY gold.

Sources: Dames, Michael. Mythic Ireland. London:

Thames and Hudson, 1992, pp. 91–98,

118–119; Ó Catháin, Séamus and Patrick

O’Flanagan. The Living Landscape: Kilgallian,

Erris, Country Mayo. Dublin: Comhairle

Bhéaloideas Éireann, 1975, pp. 111 ff; Raftery,

Brian. Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the

Irish Iron Age. London: Thames and Hudson,

1994, pp. 23–25; Ross, Anne. Pagan Celtic

Britain: Studies in Iconography and T

radition.

London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967, p. 19.

Goleuddydd Welsh heroine or goddess. The

legend of this Welsh princess, whose name

means “bright day,” probably disguises an

222 Goidel

ancient goddess of FERTILITY, who may derive

either from Celtic or pre-Celtic sources. She

married a prince, CILYDD, but was unable to con-

ceive by him, causing consternation among her

people, who both wished for an heir to the

throne and worried over the symbolism of a bar-

ren couple on the throne. Unfortunately, when

she finally became pregnant, Goleuddydd went

mad and refused to live indoors, raging through

the wilderness instead (the same motif is found

in the Irish tale of MESS BUACHALLA). When the

time of her labor came, she went to the sty of a

swineherd and there bore her son, thereafter

called KULHWCH or “pig.” Like RHIANNON, the

Welsh HORSE-goddess who bore a colt, we have

here a transparent disguise for an ancient PIG

goddess of fertility.

Goll mac Morna (Aed, Aodh mac Fidga)

Irish hero. This one-eyed warrior was the tradi-

tional enemy of the great Irish hero FIONN MAC

CUMHAILL. He was a hero originally named Aed

(“bright”), son of Morna (hence, mac Morna).

His father may have been a GIANT of the FIR

BOLG people, who are associated with the

province of CONNACHT, also Goll’s domain.

When Aed lost an eye in combat with a man

named Luchet, he became Goll (“the one-

eyed”). Other versions of the tale say that Goll’s

opponent was CUMHALL, Fionn’s father, whom

Goll promptly killed and beheaded. This initi-

ated an endless feud between Goll’s family, the

CLAN MORNA, and Fionn’s, the CLAN BAÍSCNE.

Goll was not always Fionn’s enemy, for he

rescued the hero from the clutches of three pow-

erful HAGS who held him captive in the cave of

Keshcorran, and Fionn rewarded him by giving

Goll his daughter in marriage. Nor was Fionn

always Goll’s foe, for he once found him sleeping

by the Shannon River and, sheathing his sword,

let the weary one-eyed warrior rest. Thus many

see Fionn and Goll as part of a mythological

cycle in which each relies upon as well as opposes

the other. Ultimately, however, enmity rules:

Fionn, freed from Keshcorran, promptly killed

Goll’s grandson FER Í, which began the cycle of

violence again. Ultimately driven to the edge of

Ireland, Goll lived without food or water for 30

days, becoming wild with despair and hunger

before dying at the hands of a minor member of

the FIANNA, Mac Smaile. Goll’s death did not end

the feud, which continued until the Fianna was

finally overcome at the battle of GABHAIR. Some

legends say that after his death Goll found a new

home in one of the magical

ISLANDS of the west-

ern sea, on whose shores he had met his doom.

Goll also appears in the legend of LUGH, the

half-FOMORIAN, half-TUATHA DÉ DANANN hero

best known for killing his grandfather, the fierce

and evil BALOR. One version says that Lugh was

killed by Goll, while in another Lugh killed Goll

after the great second battle of MAG TUIRED.

Goll himself is easily confused with the

Fomorian king Balor, who had one evil EYE that

killed with a glance. Finally, a minor tale

describes Goll’s death at the hands of the young

warrior LAOGHAIRE mac Crimthann, who won

the hand of his beloved DÉR GRÉINE as a result of

his successful battle against the gigantic Goll.

Goll mac Morna may be connected with, or

identical to, another one-eyed figure, the

SALMON who swam in the pool near the famous

waterfall of ASSAROE and sometimes named FIN-

TAN, who also bore the name of Goll Essa Ruaid.

This identification further links Goll to Fionn,

for it was the salmon of Assaroe that, cooked and

accidentally eaten by Fionn (see FINNÉCES) that

gave Fionn his magical insight and WISDOM.

Finally, Goll mac Morna has been linked to

another one-eyed hero, Goll mac Carbada,

killed by the ULSTER hero CÚCHULAINN in a

fight that echoes Fionn’s with Goll.

Source: MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa,

Parts I and II. Dublin: Comhairle Bhéaloideas

Éireann, 1982, p. 186.

Golwg (Golwg Haffddydd) Welsh heroine.

In some early Arthurian legends, this is the name

of the maidservant to ESYLLT, who later became

Golwg 223