Badb
In Irish mythology, the Badb (Old Irish, pronounced [ˈbaðβ]) or Badhbh (Modern Irish, pronounced [ˈbəiv])—meaning "crow" or "vulture"—was a war goddess who took the form of a crow, and was thus sometimes known as Badb Catha ("battle crow"). She often caused fear and confusion among soldiers in order to move the tide of battle to her favoured side. Badb would also appear prior to a battle to foreshadow the extent of the carnage to come or to predict the death of a notable person. She would sometimes do this through wailing cries, leading to comparisons with the bean-sídhe.
With her sisters, Macha and the Morrígan, Badb was part of a trio of war goddesses known as the Morrígna.
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[edit] Representations in legends
In Irish legends, Badb was associated with war and death, appearing either to foreshadow imminent bloodshed or to participate in battles, where she created confusion among the soldiers and fed on the discord of the conflict. As a harbinger of doom, she appears in a number of different guises. In Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, she takes the form of an ugly hag who prophesies Conaire Mór's downfall.[1] She appears in a similar guise in Togail Bruidne Dá Choca to foretell the slaying of Cormac Condloinges, as well as taking the form of a "washer at the ford"—a woman washing Cormac's chariot and harness in a ford in what was considered an omen of death.[1][2] The cries of Badb may also be an ill omen: Cormac's impending death is foreshadowed with the words "The red-mouthed badbs will cry around the house,/For bodies they will be solicitous" and "Pale badbs shall shriek".[3] In this role she has much in common with the bean-sídhe.[4]
She was also regularly depicted as an active participant in warfare; indeed, the battlefield was sometimes referred to as "the garden of the Badb".[5] During the First Battle of Mag Tuired, Badb—along with her sisters, Macha and Morrígan—fights on the side of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Using their magic, the three sisters incite fear and confusion among the Fir Bolg army, conjuring "compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire" and allowing their enemies "neither rest nor stay for three days and nights".[6] Badb plays a similar role in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, terrorising and disorienting the forces of Queen Medb and causing many to fall on their own weapons.[3] She would often take the form of a screaming raven or crow, striking fear into those who heard her,[7] and could also be heard as a voice among the corpses on a battlefield.[1]
Following the defeat of the Formorians in the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, Badb prophesies both a blessing and the end of the world, declaring first:
Peace to the sky
sky to the earth
earth beneath sky
strength in everyone
a cup very full
a fullness of honey
honor enough
summer in winter
spear supported by shield
shields supported by forts
forts fierce eager for battle
fleece from sheep
woods full of stags
forever destructions have departed
mast on trees
a branch drooping-down
drooping from growth
wealth for a son
a son very learned
neck of bull in yoke
a bull from a song
knots in woods
wood for a fire
fire as wanted
palisades new and bright
salmon their victory
the Boyne their hostel
hostel with an excellence of length
new growth after spring
in autumn horses increase
the land held secure
land recounted with excellence of word
Be might to the eternal much excellent woods
peace to the sky
be this nine times eternal
Before concluding:
I shall not see a world that will be dear to me.
Summer without flowers,
Kine will be without milk,
Women without modesty,
Men without valour,
Captures without a king.[8]
[edit] Kinship
Badb was often identified as one of the Morrígna, a trio of Irish war goddesses, although there exist a number of conflicting accounts on this subject. In Lebor Gabála Érenn, Badb, Macha and Morrígan make up the Morrígna trinity and are named as daughters of the goddess Ernmas. According to this version, she is also the sister of Ériu, Banba and Fódla, the three matron goddesses of Ireland.[9] Other accounts identify the trio as daughters of the druid Cailitin and his wife.[10]
Lebor Gabála Érenn also states that Badb is one of the two wives of the war god Neit.[9] Less commonly, she has been described as the wife of the Fomorian king Tethra.[4]
[edit] Similar deities
In her role as a terrifying battlefield goddess and harbinger of doom, Badb closely resembles Nemain, and indeed the two may be one and the same. Like Badb, Nemain is identified as a wife of Neit and is sometimes listed as one of the three Morrígna. Writers would sometimes use their names interchangeably, suggesting that they may in fact be a single goddess.[4] On the other hand, W.M. Hennessy notes that Badb and Nemain were said to have different sets of parents, suggesting that they may not be entirely identical figures.[3]
Badb also appears to be closely related to the Gaulish goddess Catubodua, or Bodua.[4]
[edit] Etymology
Pointing to variants such as Irish badhbh ‘hoodie crow, a fairy, a scold,’ Early Irish badb, ‘crow, demon,’ Badba, Welsh bod, ‘kite,’ the Gaulish name Bodv-, in Bodvo-gnatus and the Welsh name Bodnod, Macbain (1982) suggests *bodwā- as the Proto-Celtic ancestral form. However, Julius Pokorny (1959:203) suggests *badwā- on the basis of similar data. Both MacBain (1982) and Julius Pokorny (1959:203) correlate the element with Norse böð, genitive boðvar, ‘war,’ and Anglo-Saxon beadu, genitive beadwe, ‘battle,’ suggesting that the word originally denoted ‘battle’ or ‘strife.’ Julius Pokorny (1959:203) presents the element as an extended form of the Proto-Indo-European root *bhedh- ‘pierce, dig.’ To this root Pokorny also links the Sanskrit bádhate, ‘oppress,’ and the Lithuanian bádas, ‘famine’.
W. M. Hennessy argues that the word bodb or badb originally meant rage, fury, or violence, and came to mean a witch, fairy, or goddess, represented in folklore by the scald-crow, or royston-crow. Peter O'Connell's 1819 Irish Dictionary defines the Badb as a "bean-sidhe, a female fairy, phantom, or spectre, supposed to be attached to certain families, and to appear sometimes in the form of squall-crows, or royston-crows" and badb-catha as "Fionog, a royston-crow, a squall crow". Other entries relate to her triple nature: "Macha, i. e. a royston-crow; Morrighain, i. e. the great fairy; Neamhan, i. e. Badb catha nó feannóg; a badb catha, or royston-crow."[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Brian Ó Cuív. Irish Sagas. Ed. Myles Dillon. Cork: Mercier, 1968.
- MacBain, Alexander. (1982) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Gairm Publications.
- Pokorny, Julius (1959). Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c Koch, John T (December, 2005). Celtic culture: A historical encyclopedia. USA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 220. ISBN 9781851094400.
- ^ Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1988). Myths and symbols in pagan Europe: early Scandinavian and Celtic religions. Syracuse, USA: Syracuse University Press. pp. 99. ISBN 9780815624417.
- ^ a b c Hennessy, W.M., "The Ancient Irish Goddess of War", Revue Celtique 1, 1870-72, pp. 32-37
- ^ a b c d Mackillop, James (2004). A dictionary of Celtic mythology. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 30. ISBN 9780198609674.
- ^ Sjoestedt, Mary-Louise (2000). Celtic Gods and Heroes. USA: Dover Publications. pp. 32. ISBN 9780486414416.
- ^ Fraser, J. (ed. & trans.), "The First Battle of Moytura", Ériu 8, pp. 1-63, 1915
- ^ Leeming, David (November, 2007). The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195156690.
- ^ Stokes, Whitley (ed. & trans.), "The Second Battle of Moytura", Revue Celtique 12, 1891, pp. 52-130, 306-308; Elizabeth A. Gray (ed. & trans.), Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, 1982
- ^ a b Macalister, R.A.S. (trans.) (1941). Lebor Gabála Érenn: Book of the Taking of Ireland Part 1-5. Dublin: Irish Texts Society.
- ^ Monaghan, Patricia (2004). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. New York, USA: Facts on File, Inc.. pp. 31. ISBN 9780816045242.
- ^ Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz, The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries, 1911, pp. 304-305
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