50 Fun Facts About Celtic Mythology

Which branch of Celtic mythology has the largest surviving body of written myths?

Continental Celtic myth was lost with Roman conquest; Welsh comes second.

The name Tuatha Dé Danann is usually translated as 'folk of' which goddess?

The earlier name was simply Tuath Dé, 'tribe of the gods'; they later became the fairy-folk of legend.

Who were the Tuatha Dé Danann's traditional rivals, defeated at Mag Tuired?

They may represent the destructive powers of nature.

The Tuatha Dé Danann came from four northern cities. Which was NOT one of them?

The fourth was Finias; each city supplied one of the Four Treasures.

Which of these is one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann?

The Stone of Fal joined the Dagda's Cauldron, the Spear of Lugh and the Sword of Light.

Which invaders, descended from Míl Espáine, drove the Tuatha Dé into the sídhe?

They came from the north-west of Iberia and are thought to represent the Goidelic Celts.

Which king of the Tuatha Dé Danann lost his arm and, being blemished, his throne?

He was replaced by the half-Fomorian Bres, who turned out to be a tyrant.

The Dagda's club killed nine men with one blow; what did its handle do?

He also had a cauldron that never ran empty and a harp that flew to him when called.

The Dagda is said to dwell in which ancient monument?

His lover Boann, namesake of the Boyne, lived there with her husband Elcmar.

Besides 'great queen', the name Morrígan is also translated as which kind of queen?

She often appears as a crow, the badb, and is described as the Dagda's envious wife.

In which bird's form does the Morrígan typically appear?

In the Táin she appears as a crow to the bull Donn Cuailnge and warns him to flee.

The Morrígan is described as the envious wife of which god?

She keeps a tryst with him at Samhain before the battle against the Fomorians.

Lugh is the maternal grandson of which Fomorian tyrant, whom he kills?

Balor's great eye wreaked destruction when opened; he called Lugh a 'babbler'.

Which harvest festival bears Lugh's name?

He founded games at Tailtiu's town, now Teltown in Meath, in memory of his foster mother.

Lugh's epithet Samildánach means what?

His other common epithet, Lámfada, means 'long hand' or 'long arm'.

What is the name of Lugh's hound?

He also wields an unstoppable fiery spear and a sling stone.

Lugh's father Cian gave him in fosterage to Tailtiu, queen of which people?

The Lebor Gabála Érenn records the fostering.

In 19th-century folklore, where is Balor said to live?

He locks his daughter Eithne in a tower to stop the prophecy of his grandson coming true.

What was Cú Chulainn's birth name?

He killed Culann's guard dog and offered to take its place, becoming the 'Hound of Culann'.

Which god is Cú Chulainn believed to be an incarnation of, and the son of?

His mother was the mortal Deichtine, sister of King Conchobar mac Nessa.

What is the Irish term for Cú Chulainn's terrifying battle frenzy?

In it he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe.

Who trained Cú Chulainn in arms and gave him the spear Gáe Bulg?

The barbed spear was thrown with the foot and had to be cut out of its victim.

In which land did Cú Chulainn train with the warrior-woman Scáthach?

The Ulstermen hoped the ordeal would kill him.

Which foster-brother did Cú Chulainn kill in a three-day duel at a ford?

The ford became Áth Fhir Diadh, now Ardee in County Louth.

Who is Cú Chulainn's wife?

He has many other lovers; in his youth the Ulstermen feared he would steal their wives.

Queen Medb of Connacht invades Ulster in the Táin to steal which bull?

Her husband Ailill already owned the white bull Finnbhennach, which had deserted her herd.

The oldest partial text of the Táin survives in which manuscript?

Lebor na hUidre was compiled at Clonmacnoise in the late 11th or early 12th century.

Which poet published an influential English translation of the Táin in 1969?

Ciarán Carson followed with his own version in 2007.

How did Fionn mac Cumhaill gain his wisdom?

He burned his thumb on the fish and ever after sucked it for knowledge.

What are the names of Fionn's two hounds?

They were born of a woman enchanted into the form of a hound.

Which landmark is Fionn said to have built as stepping-stones to Scotland?

He also supposedly flung a clod that became the Isle of Man, leaving Lough Neagh behind.

Fionn's son, the poet who narrates much of the Fenian Cycle, is called what?

Oisín was found as a fawn by the hounds Bran and Sceólang.

Which Fianna warrior eloped with Gráinne, the bride promised to the aging Fionn?

The lovers were helped by Diarmuid's foster-father, the god Aengus.

At age ten, Fionn slew which fire-breathing being who attacked Tara every Samhain?

The feat is told in the Acallam na Senórach, the 'Tales of the Elders'.

The goddess Brigid, daughter of the Dagda, was patron of poets and which two crafts?

Cormac's Glossary gives her two sisters of the same name, one a healer and one a smith.

Saint Brigid's feast on 1 February was originally which Gaelic festival?

Many historians see the saint as a Christianisation of the goddess.

Samhain marks the start of winter on which date?

Celebrations begin at sunset on 31 October, since the Celtic day began at dusk.

Which is NOT one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals?

Samhain is the fourth; they fall around 1 November, February, May and August.

At Samhain the burial mounds were said to open as portals to where?

It was a liminal festival when the boundary blurred and the aos sí drew near.

Into what were the Children of Lir transformed by their stepmother Aoife?

They spent 900 years as birds, the last 300 at Iorrus Domnann and Inis Gluairé.

How many years in total did the Children of Lir spend under Aoife's spell?

Three hundred on Loch Dairbhreach, three hundred on the Sea of Moyle and three hundred in the west.

What sound frightened the swan-children of Lir at Inis Gluairé near the tale's end?

The holy man Mochaomhóg was ringing it for matins; the tale carries a Christian message.

How many Branches make up the Mabinogi proper?

Pryderi appears in all of them; seven further tales round out the Mabinogion.

Who first published the full Mabinogion bilingually in 1838–45, popularising the name?

Her one-volume 1877 translation is still widely read.

The Mabinogion survives in the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of which place?

The White Book dates to about 1350, the Red Book to 1382–1410.

Which Mabinogion character appears in all Four Branches?

He is not always the central figure; the first branch tells of his father Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed.

In the Fourth Branch, Gwydion and Math make Lleu a wife out of what?

Blodeuwedd, possibly 'flower face', then plots with the hunter Gronw Pebr to kill him.

In the Second Branch, Branwen is married to the king of which land?

Her brother Brân the Blessed later asks his companions to cut off his head and carry it home.

Which Mabinogion tale is a romanticised story about the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus?

Macsen Wledig is the Welsh name for Maximus.

Gwyn ap Nudd, ruler of Annwfn, was later Christianised into what?

He fights an endless seasonal battle with Gwythyr ap Greidawl for Creiddylad.