Aengus: Difference between revisions
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According to the ''[[Death Tales of the Tuatha de Danaan]]'', Aengus killed his step father [[Elcmar]] for killing [[Midir]]. |
According to the ''[[Death Tales of the Tuatha de Danaan]]'', Aengus killed his step father [[Elcmar]] for killing [[Midir]]. |
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Aengus also slew the poet of [[Lugh |
Aengus also slew the poet of [[Lugh|Lugh Lámhfhada]] for lying about his brother [[Cermait|Ogma an Cermait]]. The poet claimed that [[Cermait|Ogma an Cermait]] was having an affair with one of [[Lugh|Lugh's]] wives. Aengus killed the poet in front of [[Midir]]. |
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In ''[[The Wooing of Etain]]'', Aengus was able to partially lift [[Fuamnach|Fuamnach's]] spell against [[Etain]], the horse goddess he had won for his brother [[Midir]]. [[Fuamnach]] in a jealous rage had turned the girl into a butterfly. Turning her into a woman at night, Aengus made her his lover until [[Fuamnach]] found out about it and drove her away. Aengus killed his foster mother for her treachery. |
In ''[[The Wooing of Etain]]'', Aengus was able to partially lift [[Fuamnach|Fuamnach's]] spell against [[Etain]], the horse goddess he had won for his brother [[Midir]]. [[Fuamnach]] in a jealous rage had turned the girl into a butterfly. Turning her into a woman at night, Aengus made her his lover until [[Fuamnach]] found out about it and drove her away. Aengus killed his foster mother for her treachery. |
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Revision as of 19:29, 16 October 2013
| Aengus | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Tuatha Dé Danann | |
 | |
| Abodes | Brú na Bóinne |
| Weapons | |
| Animals | Swan |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Oghma an Cermait (brother) |
| Consorts | |
| Children | Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (foster-son) |
In Irish mythology, Óengus (Old Irish), Áengus (Middle Irish), or Aengus or Aonghus (Modern Irish), is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration. He is also called Aengus Óg ("Aengus the young"), Mac ind Óg ("son of the young"), Mac Óg ("young son") or Maccan.
Life of Aengus
His parents were the Dagda and Boann. He was said to have lived at Newgrange by the River Boyne.
The Dagda had an affair with Boann, wife of Nechtan. In order to hide their affair, the Dagda made the sun stand still for nine months; therefore, Aengus was conceived, gestated and born in one day. Midir was his foster-father.[1]
When he came of age Aengus dispossessed the Dagda of his home, the Brú na Bóinne (an area of the Boyne River Valley that contains the Passage tombs Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth). He arrived after the Dagda had shared out his land among his children, and there was nothing left for Aengus, so Aengus asked his father if he could live in the Brú for "a day and a night", and the Dagda agreed. But Irish has no indefinite article, so "a day and a night" is the same as "day and night", which covers all time, and so Aengus took possession of the Brú permanently. In a different version of this story, appearing in The Wooing of Etain, Aengus uses the same ploy to trick Elcmar out of Brú na Bóinne, with the Dagda's connivance. In this version, Midir is Aengus's foster-father, while Elcmar is the husband of Boann cuckolded by the Dagda.[2]
According to the Death Tales of the Tuatha de Danaan, Aengus killed his step father Elcmar for killing Midir.
Aengus also slew the poet of Lugh Lámhfhada for lying about his brother Ogma an Cermait. The poet claimed that Ogma an Cermait was having an affair with one of Lugh's wives. Aengus killed the poet in front of Midir.
In The Wooing of Etain, Aengus was able to partially lift Fuamnach's spell against Etain, the horse goddess he had won for his brother Midir. Fuamnach in a jealous rage had turned the girl into a butterfly. Turning her into a woman at night, Aengus made her his lover until Fuamnach found out about it and drove her away. Aengus killed his foster mother for her treachery.
In the Tale of the Two Pails, a sidhe woman and foster daughter of Aengus gets lost and winds up in the company of St. Patrick. The girl converts to Christianity, and Aengus can not win her back. He leaves, and she dies of grief a few weeks later.
Aengus fell in love with a girl he had seen in his dreams. His mother, Boann, searched Ireland for an entire year. Then his father, the Dagda, did the same. Finally, King Bodb Derg of Munster found her after a year.[3]
Aengus went to the lake of the Dragon's Mouth and found 150 girls chained up in pairs. He found his girl, Caer Ibormeith, chained against the wall there. On November 1, Caer and the other girls would turn into swans for one year, every second Samhain. Aengus was told he could marry Caer if he could identify her as a swan. Aengus succeeded. He turned himself into a swan and they flew away, singing beautiful music that put all its listeners asleep for three days and nights.[3]
Aengus was the foster-father and protector of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne of the Fianna. He rescued Diarmuid and Gráinne from one or two tight spots during their pursuit by the Fianna.
He owned a sword named Moralltach, the Great Fury, given to him by Manannan mac Lir. This sword he gave to his foster-son Diarmuid. There was also a sword named Beagalltach, the Little Fury and two spears of great power - the Gáe Buide and Gáe Derg - that he gave to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. When the young man died, Aengus took his body back to the Brú where he breathed life into it whenever he wanted to have a chat.
There are other legends that he was able to repair broken bodies and return life to them.
Connections
Aengus is widely considered to be connected to the ancient Celtic god Maponos and his Welsh equivalent, Mabon ap Modron.[citation needed]
Etymology
The Old Irish name Óengus is attested in Adomnán's Life of St. Columba as Oinogus(s)ius, showing that its etymology is from the Proto-Celtic roots *oino- "one" and *guss- "choice".[citation needed]
The Old Irish spelling of the name was Óengus. Middle Irish spellings included Óengus and Áengus. The Early Modern Irish form was Aonghus.
Modern Irish spellings are Aengus and Aonghus (Óengus is very rare).
Aonghas is the Scots Gaelic spelling.
Modern Depictions
Aengus appears in the Irish poet William Butler Yeats's poem, "The Song of Wandering Aengus,"[4] which describes Aengus's endless search for his lover.
Angus Og appears in the Irish poet and novelist James Stephens's novel The Crock of Gold,[5] where his aid is solicited by the Philosopher.
In the Copper episode, "Husbands and Fathers", Corcoran tells O'Brien to take Annie upstairs and tell her a story. O'Brien says to Annie, "I shall tell you about the Dream of Aengus and the Wooing of Etain."
Aengus and his father the Dagda appear in Kate Thompson's young adult novel The New Policeman. Aengus acts as the protagonist's guide to Tír na nÓg and helps him restore it to its timeless state.
Aengus is the primary antagonist of Hounded, Book 1 of The Iron Druid Chronicles.
Namesakes
Aengus was also a popular Irish and Scots Gaelic name, borne by a variety of historical and legendary figures, including:
- Aengus Olmucada, legendary High King of Ireland of the 15th century BC.
- Aengus Ollamh, legendary High King of Ireland of the 5th century BC.
- Aengus Tuirmech Temrach, legendary High King of Ireland of the 4th century BC.
- Óengus Bolg, king of the Corcu Loígde, possibly a deity
- Óengus I of the Picts (died 761)
- Aengus the Culdee, Irish saint who lived in the 8th century.
- Óengus II of the Picts (died 834)
- Aonghas Óg, Lord of the Isles (died 1490)
- Óengus mac Nad Froích, King of Munster (5th century ?)
- Óengus of Moray, last Mormaer of Moray (died 1130)
Texts
- Aislingi Oengusai original text from Egerton 1782 at Thesaurus Linguae Hibernicae.
- Tochmarc Étaíne: The Wooing of Étaín
- De Gabáil in t-Sída: The Taking of the Fairy Mound
- Aisling Óenguso: The Dream of Óengus
- Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne: The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne
See also
References
- ^ The Wooing of Etain The Celtic Literature Collective
- ^ The Wooing of Étaíne CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts
- ^ a b The Dream of Oengus The Celtic Literature Collective
- ^ The Song of Wandering Aengus
- ^ The Crock of Gold