Boann
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In Irish mythology, Boann or Boand ("white cow") was the goddess of the river Boyne. She was the wife of Nechtan or Elcmar. In the story "Tochmarc Étaíne", her lover was the Dagda, by whom she was the mother of Aengus. 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.Tochmarc Étaíne at [CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts)] (ed. and trans. Osborn Bergin and R. I. Best).
To atone for this adultery,[[Citing sources citation needed]] Boann bathed in the deadly water of the river Segais, in which she lost an arm, a leg, and an eye. According to the metrical Dindshenchas, Boand was injured in this way after walking around her husband's forbidden magical well (her husband is Nechtan in this version). To conceal her disfigurement, she flung herself into the ocean, and her flight thither formed the river Boyne.Metrical Dindshenchas, "Boand I" at [CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts)] (ed. Edward Gwynn).
She also appears in Táin Bó Fraích as the maternal aunt and protector of the mortal Fróech.“The Cattle-Raid of Fróech”. Trans. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas. Penguin 1982.
Modern-day commentators and Neopagans sometimes identify Boann with the goddess Brigid.[link] [link]
References
Further reading
- Yann Brekilien, La Mythologie celtique, Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1993. ISBN 2268016315
- Albert Grenier, Les Gaulois, Petite bibliothèque Payot, Paris, 1970. ISBN 2228888389
- Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h, Magie, médecine et divination chez les Celtes, Bibliothèque scientifique Payot, Paris, 1997. ISBN 2228891126
- Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h and Françoise Le Roux, Les Druides, Ouest-France University Collection De mémoire d’homme : l’histoire, Rennes, 1986. ISBN 2858829209
- Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h and Françoise Le Roux, La Civilisation celtique, Ouest-France University Collection De mémoire d’homme : l’histoire, Rennes, 1990. ISBN 2858829209
- Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h and Françoise Le Roux, Les Fêtes celtiques, Ouest-France University Collection De mémoire d’homme : l’histoire, Rennes, 1995. ISBN 2737311987
- Venceslas Kruta, Les Celtes, Histoire et Dictionnaire, Gallimard collection Bouquins, Paris, 2000. ISBN 2737302978
- Jean-Paul Persigout, Dictionnaire de mythologie celte, Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1985. ISBN 2268009688
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