Brigid (deity)
Brigid is a prominent deity in Celtic mythology, known as the goddess of fire, poetry, prophecy, and healing. She is often considered the daughter of the Dagda, the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and is linked to themes of water, childbirth, and the hearth. Her name, which can also be spelled as Brigit, Brig, or Brighid, translates to "High One" in Celtic. Various regional forms of Brigid exist, including Brigantia in northern England and Brigindo in France, reflecting her widespread worship across Celtic territories.
Brigid is depicted as a multifaceted figure with connections to both wisdom and war, and her tales were preserved through oral tradition until they were recorded in written form much later. She is notably associated with the festival of Imbolc, celebrated on February 1 to mark the onset of spring. The Catholic Church later adopted this date for the Feast of St. Brigid, merging her legacy with Christian traditions. Her complex mythology includes narratives of familial relationships, such as her marriage to the Fomorian king Bres, and her role in significant events like the Battle of Mag Tuired, illustrating her deep ties to the cultural and spiritual life of the ancient Celts. Overall, Brigid remains a symbol of fertility, creativity, and transformation within Celtic lore.
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Subject Terms
Brigid (deity)
Symbols: Fire
Culture: Celtic
Mother: The Morrigan
Father: The Dagda
Siblings: Two sisters, both named Brigid, and brother Aengus mac Oc
Children: Ruadán
Tales of Celtic deities tend to be complicated, due to their combining of local legends with Celtic ideas as the Celts spread across Europe during their early history. However, the stories surrounding Brigid are among the most complex of Celtic myths. She was the daughter of the Dagda, the Celtic earth god and leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the people of the goddess Danu.
Brigid was the Celtic goddess of fire, poetry, and prophecy, but she was also associated with water (especially rivers and streams), childbirth, the hearth, and healing. Her name is also commonly rendered Brigit, Brig, or Brighid, but she was known as Brigantia in northern England, Braint or Brent in Wales, and Brigindo among the Celts in France. The name is Celtic for "High One." It is possible that Brigit was more of a title than a given name, which would explain how the goddess and both her sisters were named Brigid.
The Romans considered Brigid to be the parallel of their goddess Minerva. The legends surrounding Brigid and other Celtic deities were pervasive in Celtic culture and linger in tales of fairies and magic. Some of the legends and traditions associated with the Celtic goddess Brigid were later attached to the Catholic Saint Brigid.
In Mythology
Nothing about Brigid or the other Celtic gods and goddesses was written down by the early Celts, who passed along their myths and histories orally. Professional poets recited the stories, but the tales of these Celtic deities were not written down until the twelfth century, more than a thousand years after the Celts reached Ireland. There are mentions of Celtic beliefs in Greek and Roman literature, such as the comparison of Brigid with Minerva, but the Celts left no written record of their beliefs. This contributed to the inconsistency of the tales, as well as to the lack of information about the deities and beliefs of these early people. What we know about them comes from archaeology, place names, Greek and Roman writings, and legends that lived on after the original Celtic culture, and memories of their beliefs, had faded. Thus, the information about these early deities is sketchy. Brigid was powerful and widely worshipped, but the stories are as slight as they are conflicting.
Brigid was the daughter of the Dagda, which made her the granddaughter of the goddess Danu. Her two sisters, both named Brigid, were the goddesses of smiths and of healers. Danu was considered the source of knowledge and wisdom, and Brigid was said to have learned so much from Danu, that Brigid became known as "the wise one."
In another version of the origin of Brigid, she and the Dagda were sister and brother, grown from acorns that formed on Bilé, the sacred oak that was also Danu’s husband.
In a tale known as the Battle of Mag Tuired, the Tuatha Dé Danann fight for control of Ireland against a group known as the Fomoiri, earlier inhabitants of the island who are sometimes identified as giants or demons. In this tale, Brigid was the wife of the Fomorian king, Bres. This marriage was arranged as an attempt to establish peace between the two groups, and Bres became king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. However, peace did not last. The son of Brigid and Bres, Ruadán, was sent to spy on the Danaan, and when fighting broke out, he was killed by the Danaan smith-god Goibhniu. Brigid was overwhelmed by grief at the death of her son, and it is said that her mourning was the first time keening was heard in Ireland.
In one tale, the Dagda and Brigid called together all the Tuatha Dé Danann and told them that Danu had proclaimed it was their destiny to spread out and people the earth. It is to this that the Celts attributed their settlement of so much of Europe. It is said that Brigid, along with the Dagda, gave the Danube River its name, in honor of Danu.
Origins and Cults
The Celts first became a defined group in the area around Salzburg, Austria, where they were initially salt miners and traders. However, between the thirteenth and seventh centuries bce, they grew into large, powerful tribes that began to span Europe. By about 100 bce, Celtic tribes had spread eastward to Asia Minor, west to Spain, and north to England, Scotland, and Ireland. They brought with them their Druidic beliefs, but combined them with legends in the countries where they settled. This included tales of Brigid.
A Celtic religious festival called Imbolc (or Oimelc) was associated with Brigid. Celebrated on February 1, it marked the beginning of spring and the time when ewes began to produce milk. One of the elements of the worship of the goddess Brigid that was adopted by the Catholic church was the setting of the Feast of St. Brigid on February 1.
As goddess of poetry, Brigid was worshiped by a priestly, aristocratic class known as the filid. A fili was a professional poet in ancient Ireland, and the filid as a class were expected to preserve the tales and genealogies of the ruling class.
The name Brigantia is associated with the patron goddess of the Brigantes, a Celtic group in northern Britain named after their goddess. This version of the goddess added war, fertility, and prosperity to the responsibilities she had in Ireland.
Rivers across the British Isles that have the names Brid, Birgu, Bridewell, Brent, Brigit, and Braint all reflect the association of Brigid with water, as well as the widespread worship of the goddess. Brigid was also identified with a fire cult.
Bibliography
Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. London: Thames, 2015. Print.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Celtic Myths and Legends. New York: Carroll, 2002. Print.
Koch, John T., Ed. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print.
McLeod, Sharon Paice. Celtic Myth and Religion: A Study of Traditional Belief, With Newly Translated Prayers, Poems, and Songs. Jefferson: McFarland, 2012. Print.
Rutherford, Ward. Celtic Mythology: The Nature and Influence of Celtic Myth, from Druidism to Arthurian Legend. San Francisco: Weiser, 2015. Print.
Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise. Celtic Gods and Heroes. Mineola: Dover, 2000. Print.
Squire, Charles. Celtic Myth and Legend. Mineola: Dover, 2003. Print.