The figures beneath each entry give reference numbers for the Bibliography
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Godgifu, wife of Leofric of Mercia. Her husband tyrannized the church and extracted heavy taxes from the people of Coventry. Godgifu begged him to relent and he agreed to do so if she would ride naked through Coventry on market-day. Clothed only in her hair, she did so and the citizens of Coventry averted their eyes, all except Peeping Tom who was stricken blind.
# 282 - 454 - 717
# 562: The Megalithic People did not imagine their deities under concrete personal form. Gods of Aryan Celts, equated by Caesar with Mercury, Apollo, Mars, &c.; triad of gods, Aesus, Teutates, and Taranus, mentioned by Lucan; Lugh, or Lugus, the god of Light.
# 730: The following list gives, in the first column, the Homeric (Celtic/Greek) names of the gods, with the Latin Celtic names and the third column the specific functions. It should be noted, however, that the equivalence is often only approximate. For example, Zeus was of a different nature from the Roman Jupiter, while the Celtologists are not certain of the attribution of some of the alternative Celtic names. There is indeed a definite confusion in the functions and origins of some of the gods that will never be resolved.
HOMERIC NAME ALTERNATIVE CELTIC NAME FUNCTIONS (Latin
in brackets)
Zeus (Jupiter Taranis (the Thunderer) Chief god
(Irish: Dagda), Lug
Poseidon (Neptune) Nechtan, Manannan, Llyr God of the ocean
and "The Earthshaker"
the subconscious; guardian of the
(Irish: Dagda) Grail
Hades (Pluto) Dis(-Pater), Dives, God of the
Underworld
(Irish: Dagda) but also life REBIRTH
Here (Juno) An[n]a, Dana, Don Chief goddess
(Pallas) Athene (Pallas) Okke, Onka Goddess of arts,
(Minerva) (Irish: Brigit) wisdom and crafts
(Phoebus) Apollo Bolenos, Beltaine God of light, arts
'The Archer God' (new fire) Maponius, and divination
Grannus, Borvon
Ares (Mars) Teutates (god of the tribe) God of war
Artemis (Diane) Artio Goddess of hunting
and forests
Aphrodite (Venus) Morgane (born of the Goddess of love
sea) Branwen
Hermes (Mercury) Lug (white, brilliant) Guide of the
initiates, messenger
(or Argeìphontes = Fionn of the gods, god of
'Slayer of Argus', eloquence, trade,
a monster travellers and theives
Hephaestus (Vulkan) Goibniu God of fire and metal
(Irish: Lochan) working
Persephone(Proserpine) Etaine Wife of Hades
Heracles (Hercules) Ogmios, Malios, Demi-god, son of Zeus
Melkarth renowned for his twelve
labours
Kirke (Circe) Nehalennia Initiatrice into know-
ledge (the Mysteries)
Head of the Gnostic
religion
Nike (Viktoria) Andarta, Andrasta Goddess of victory
Iris (Irish: Leborcham) Messenger of the gods
(the rainbow was her scarf)
Demeter (Ceres) An(n)a, Anu or Dana Goddess of agriculture
Dôn and fertility
Dionysus (Bacchus) Cernunnos God of the vine and
wine, and of abundance
Helios (Sol) Mabon Sun god
Zeus was worshipped under this name in Gaul and gave his name
to Jeudi (Thursday), while his alternative Celtic name, Lug, has
survived in the names of certain towns, such as Lyon, Laon and
Leyden, which are all derived from Lugdunum, as is well attested.
Athene's alternative name Okke was used by both the Celts and
the Greeks, but the name Athene was itself definitely pre-Greek
according to explanatory Greek dictionaries. Athene had no mother,
as she emerged from the forehead of Zeus: the goddess of wisdom
symbolized the 'third eye'. The identification of Borvon with
Apollo is confirmed by the Latin inscription on a votive altar
dating from the Gallo-Roman era: Deo Apollini Borvoni et Damonea
C Daminius Ferox, Civis Lingonis, ex Voto. The name is preserved
in many place-names in France, such as Bourbonl'Archembault, Bourbon-Lancy,
La Bourboule, and by the Bourbon dynasty. Hermes gave his name
to Mercredi (Wednesday) through his Latin equivalent, Mercury.
Aphrodite gave her name to Vendredi (Friday) through her Latin
equivalent Venus (Veneris Dies = day of Venus). The name of the
Nordic gods live on in the names of the days of the week in the
Germanic languages, for example in English:
Tuesday Tyr's day Wednesday Woden's day or Odin Thursday Thor's day or Donar (German Donnerstag) Friday Frigg's day or Freyja (wife of Odin) Saturday S'ter's day or day of Saturn Sunday Sun day Monday Moon dayThe Indo-European origin of these gods, like those of the Celts, is well-established. For example Tyr corresponds to the Vedic god Diauh and to Zeus and his latinized version Jupiter (= Zeus-pater, ['Zeus the father'], via Zejup > Jup). - Galatea is called 'very famous' by Homer as she is the legendary mother of the Celtic peoples. The Celts, Gauls and Illyrians settled throughout Europe including western Greece, where Homer's orally transmitted epics would be put in writing.
# 562 - 730
(go-ay'win) Daughter of Pebin. The virgin footholder of Math who was raped by Gilfaethwy. In order to compensate her for her disgrace, Math married her.
# 272 - 439 - 454 - 562
# 384: The Searcher of Secrets, the Delver of Ore, the Digger of Treasure, the Refiner, the Shaper of Metal and the Master ofthe Forge.
# 454: Son of Don. His story has become displaced from all but the meagre information of the TRIADS wherein he is described as the accidental slayer of his nephew, Dylan. Gofannon is the Welsh equivalent of Goibniu, and was a god of smithcraft.
# 384 p 106 ff - # 272 - 439 - 454
In the Middle Ages it was believed that Gog and Magog were nations that had been confined behind mountains by Alexander the Great, who had used 6000 bronze- and iron-workers to build a gate to hold them back. They attacked Arthur but the giant Gargantua helped him to overcome them. - The above is only one of several legends about Gog and Magog. See also: Brewer's London (Troianova, or New Troy) who brought these to act as porters at the gate of the royal palace. Effigies of Gog and Magog are known to have existed in London from the time of Henry V. The earlier figures were destroyed in the Great Fire (1666) and were replaced in 1708. The second pair was destroyed in an air raid in 1940 and replaced in 1953'.
# 156 - 243 - 454 - 730
(gwiv'ni -) The smith of the Tuatha de Danaan; brewer of the ale that kept the Tuatha De Danann perpetually young. He forged the weapons by which the Fomorians were overcome. He killed Ruadan, the son of Brigit and of Bres, who had been sent to spy on his armoury and to kill him. Goibniu was healed of his wounds in the well of Slane. He is analogous to Welsh Gofannon. See also: GOBNIU.
# 166 - 454 - 548
A great settlement of the Lowland Celts, in Cisalpine Gaul.
# 562
Wife of Kilydd; mother of Culhwch (Kilhwch). In Welsh lore, Arthur's aunt and sister of Igraine. She gave birth to Culhwch after running mad in the forest and being frightened by pigs. Her mythos bears a marked resemblance to the mother of Tristan.
# 156 - 272 - 439 - 454 - 562
(g-l' moc mor'na) Son of Daire Derc, also called Morna, captain of the Fianna of Erin; swears service to Finn; Finn recalls the great saying of Goll mac Morna; rescues Finn from the enchanted cave; Keva of the White Skin given as wife to Goll mac Morna; adventure with the wether. Slayer of Cumhal, Fionn's father, in the Battle of Cnucha; previously named Aed, but after he lost one of his eyes at Cumhal's hand, he was named Gol (One-Eyed, lit. blind). He later willingly relinquished his position in favour of Fionn whom he befriended without rancour. But at the last the feud between the two men caused the ending of the Fianna.
# 166 - 267 - 454 - 504 - 562
The maid of Iseult in the YSTORIA TRYSTAN. This work is a Welsh version of the Tristan legend.
# 156
Knight who trains Perceval (Peredur).
# 562
A king of Ireland converted by Joseph of Arimathea. Because of the help he gave King Canor of Cornwall, Cornwall afterwards paid tribute to Ireland until Tristan killed Marhaus.
# 156
Another example of euphemistic names for the fairies.
# 100
# 454: According to the CONTE DEL GRAAL of Chrétien de Troyes, Goon Desert was the father of the Grail maiden. However, his behaviour hardly matches up to that of a Grail guardian as he was responsible for the murder of a knight named Espinogee, whose nephew later took revenge upon him. When his body was brought home his daughter prophesied that the sword which had slain him, which was broken, would only be mended when the Grail was achieved. Her uncle, hastily picking up the pieces of broken blade, is wounded in the thigh by them. His wound, along with the sword, is only mended when Perceval comes to the castle of Quiguagrant, which had been Goon Desert's home.
# 153 - 156 - 454
# 701: Caesar said the goose was sacred to Celtic tribes and was not considered edible, because of her connection with the Sun-Egg. For similar reasons, medieval superstition forbade the killing of a goose in midwinter, when the sun was thought to be in need of maternal care to gain strength for the new seasons. Like other formerly sacred creatures, geese were said to contain souls of the unbaptized (pagans).
# 161: In the GALLIC WARS Caesar says the goose was taboo as food for the Britons, being a sacred bird. It was associated with both Celtic and Teutonic war gods, who were accompanied by a horse and a goose. In Gallic iconography epona, The Divine Horse, is depicted riding on a horned goose. The Norse did not eat the goose.
# 769: Celtic war-deities were accompanied by geese in the iconography: a bronze figurine of a warrior-goddess at Dinéault in Brittany depicts her wearing a helmet with a goose crest. The Celtic Mars was associated with geese: he appears thus at Risingham in North Britain; and a goose was the companion of MARS THINCSUS (a Germanic deity) at Housesteads. The bird accompanies the peaceful healergod Mars Lenus at Caerwent, presumably being present here as a guardian against disease.
# 161 - 701 p 402 - 769
'Historia Regum Britaniae' furnished subject for Gorboduc.
# 562
# 156
# 454: Son of Custennin and an unnamed woman who was sister to Igraine. Goreu was one of twenty-four sons, all of whom were killed by Yspaddaden Pencawr, he alone escaping because his mother hid him in a cupboard. In CULHWCH AND OLWEN is he unnamed at the outset. He goes as a champion to Cei (Kay) who promises to guard the boy. During the fulfilment of one of Culhwch's tasks, the boy achieves a great feat of fighting through three courtyards of men to reach his companions who acclaim him 'The Best' or Goreu. This feat may once have been associated with the winning of the Sword or Glaive of Light, one of the HALLOWS. He finally beheads Yspaddaden, avenging Custennin.
# 156 - 272 - 439 - 454
The City of Gorias. See Dana. One of the cities from which the Tuatha de Danaan came before coming to Ireland. Its master of wisdom was Esras, who provided the spear of Lugh. See: HALLOWS.
# 166 - 454 - 562
Arthur's pet wolf who turned out to be a man enchanted by his faithless wife with the aid of his magic wand. Arthur obtained the wand and turned him back into a human. Gorlagon's tale is found in the Latin romance ARTHUR AND GORLAGON (fourteenth century).
# 156
First husband of Igraine whose semblance Uther took when he first copulated with that lady. Gorlois was slain in battle against Uther. The building called Carhules near Castle Dore in Cornwall may have been called after a person named Gourles, perhaps the original of Gorlois. See: DIONETA. Duke of Cornwall and husband of Igerna (Igraine) on whom Uther Pendragon doted. With the help of Merlin, Uther was disguised in Gorlois likeness and lay with Igerna. Her child was Arthur. Gorlois was slain at the moment of the child's conception. He was father of Morgan, Morgause and Elaine of Garlot.
# 156 - 418 - 454
According to CULHWCH, Gormant was Arthur's brother on his mother's side. Gormant's father is called Rica, chief elder of Cornwall. The latter appears to occupy the position of Gorlois in the Welsh tradition.
# 156
(pl. gormesiad;) Plagues, enchantments.
# 438
Prince of Graherz and a Knight of the Round Table. His three sons, Schenteflurs, Lascoyt and Gurzgi, all met violent ends. He trained Perceval, hoping he would marry his daughter Liaze, but it was not to be.
# 156
(gor-On-wee)
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