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Brigid

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This article is about the pagan goddess. For the saint, seeBrigid of Kildare.For the given name, seeBrigid (given name).

Brigid
Member of theTuatha Dé Danann
"The Coming of Bríde" byJohn Duncan(1917)
TextsLebor Gabála Érenn,Cath Maige Tuired,Cormac's Glossary
Genealogy
ParentsDagda
SiblingsCermait,Aengus,Aed,Bodb Derg,Brigid the Healer, Brigid the Smith

BrigidorBrigit(/ˈbrɪdʒɪd,ˈbriːɪd/BRIJ-id,BREE-id,Irish:[ˈbʲɾʲiːdʲ];meaning 'exalted one'),[1]alsoBríg,is a goddess ofpre-Christian Ireland.She appears inIrish mythologyas a member of theTuatha Dé Danann,the daughter ofthe Dagdaand wife ofBres,with whom she had a son named Ruadán. Her sacred tree appears to have been thebirch,given some older Imbolc-related traditions.[2]

She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, smithing and domesticated animals.Cormac's Glossary,written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith.[3][4]This suggests she may have been atriple deity.[5]She is also thought to have some relation to theBritish CelticgoddessBrigantia.

Saint Brigidshares many of the goddess's attributes and herfeast day,1 February, was originally a pagan festival calledImbolc.It has thus been argued that the saint is a Christianization of the goddess, or that the lore of the goddess was transferred to her.[6]

In early Irish literature

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Cormac's Glossary,written by Christian scribes in the 9th century and based on earlier sources, says that Brigit was a goddess and daughter ofthe Dagda.It describes her as a "goddess of poets" and "woman of wisdom" orsage,who is also famous for her "protecting care". It says that Brigit has two sisters: Brigit the physician or "woman of healing", and Brigit the smith.[4]It explains that from these, all goddesses in Ireland are calledBrigit;suggesting that it "may have been more of a title than a personal name".[7]

TheLebor Gabála Érennalso calls Brigit a poetess and daughter of the Dagda. It says she has two oxen, Fea and Femen, from whom are named Mag Fea (the plain of theRiver Barrow) and Mag Femin (the plain of theRiver Suir). Elsewhere, these are named as the two oxen of Dil, "radiant of beauty," which may have been a byname for Brigid.[8]It also says she possesses the "king of boars",Torc Triath(from whom the plain of Treithirne is named), and the "king ofwethers",Cirb (from whom the plain of Cirb is named).[9]The animals were said to cry out whenever plundering was committed in Ireland. This suggests Brigid was a guardian goddess of domesticated animals.[3][10]

InCath Maige Tuired,Bríg is the wife ofBresand bears him a son, Ruadán. His name is cognate to several words inIndo-European languagesthat mean "red, rust", etc.[11]The story says she began the custom ofkeening,a combination of wailing and singing, while mourning the death of Ruadán.[3]She is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel.[12]

In her English retellings of Irish myth,Lady Augusta Gregorydescribes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night."[13]

Brigid and Saint Brigid

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Art mural in Dundalk depicting the duality of Brigid the pagan goddess and Brigid the saint.
Art mural in Dundalk depicting the duality of Brigid the pagan goddess and Brigid the saint.

Historians suggest that the goddess Brigid wassyncretizedwith the Christian saint of the same name. According to medievalist Pamela Berger, Christian monks "took the ancient figure of the mother goddess and grafted her name and functions onto her Christian counterpart,"Brigid of Kildare.[6]

The goddess and saint have many of the same associations. Saint Brigid is considered a patroness of healers, poets, blacksmiths, livestock and dairy workers,[14]as well as serpents (in Scotland) and the arrival of spring.[15][16]

The saint'shagiographies"are mainly anecdotes and miracle stories, some of which are deeply rooted in Irish pagan folklore".[14]Dáithí Ó hÓgáinwrote that the melding of pagan goddess and Christian saint can be seen in some of the saint's miracles, where she multiplies food, bestows cattle and sheep, controls the weather, and is linked with fire or thermal springs.[3]

This theory is contested, however, with many scholars including Elva Johnston arguing that the significance of the pagan goddess has been exaggerated at the historical figure's expense. Johnston has written "the argument for the priority of the goddess over the saint depends on three interrelated points: firstly, that Brigit is not real, secondly that her lives betray that they are an attempt to euhemerise a pagan deity and finally an underlying assumption that a goddess cult is more empowering for the women of ancient and, by analogy, contemporary Ireland".[17]

In the late 12th century,Gerald of Waleswrote that nineteen nuns took turns in keeping aperpetual fireburning atKildarein honour of Saint Brigid, and that this fire was kept burning since Brigid's time. It has been suggested this fire originally belonged to a temple of Brigit the goddess.[18]The Roman goddessVestaand the Greek goddessHestiahad perpetual fires tended by priestesses.[19]According to Gerald, it was ringed by a hedge that no man was allowed to cross,[14]lest he be cursed.[20][21]

The saint is associated with manyholy wellsandclootie wellsin Ireland and Britain, where small strips of cloth or ribbons are left as part of a healing ritual.[22][23]Celtic healing goddesses, such asSironaandCoventina,were often associated with sacred springs.[24]

Saint Brigid's Dayis 1 February. It was originallyImbolc,the first day of spring in Irish tradition. Because Saint Brigid has been linked to the goddess Brigid, the festival of Imbolc is commonly associated with the goddess.[25][26]

Saint Brigid's Day orImbolcis traditionally a time for weather prognostication:

AtholusonVenuswas named after Brigit by theInternational Astronomical Unionin 1985.[27]As theplanetary nomenclaturerules prohibit the use of national figures and religious figures from contemporary religions, this is a reference to the goddess rather than the saint.

Neo-Paganism

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Brigid is an important figure for somemodern pagans,who emphasize her triple aspect. She is sometimes worshipped in conjunction withLughorCernunnos.[28]

Name

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Middle IrishBrigit[ˈbʲɾʲiʝidʲ]came to be spelledBriġidandBrighid[bʲɾʲiːdʲ]by theearly modern Irishperiod. Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has been spelledBríd[bʲɾʲiːdʲ].The earlier form gave rise to various forms in the languages of Europe, starting from the Medieval LatinBrigida,and from there to EnglishBridget,FrenchBrigitte,SwedishBirgittaand FinnishPiritta.

The name comes fromProto-Celtic*Brigantīand means "the high one" or "the exalted one". It iscognatewith the name of theancient BritishgoddessBrigantia,with whom Brigid is thought to have some relation.[7]It is also cognate with theOld High Germanpersonal nameBurgunt,and theSanskritwordBṛhatī(बृहती) "high", an epithet of theHindudawn goddessUshas.The ultimate source isProto-Indo-European*bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂(feminine form of*bʰérǵʰonts,"high" ), derived from the root*bʰerǵʰ-( "to rise" ).[29][30]Xavier Delamarre,citing E. Campanile, suggests that Brigid could be a continuation of theIndo-Europeandawn goddess.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abCampbell, MikeBehind the Name.See also Xavier Delamarre,brigantion / brigant-,inDictionnaire de la langue gauloise(Éditions Errance, 2003) pp. 87–88: "Le nom de la sainte irlandaiseBrigitest un adjectif de forme *brigenti... 'l'Eminente'. "Delamarre cites E. Campanile, inLangues indo-européennes( "The name of the Irish Saint Brigid is an adjective of the form *brigenti... 'the Eminent' "), edited by Françoise Bader (Paris, 1994), pp. 34–40, that Brigid is a continuation of theIndo-European goddessof thedawnlikeAurora.
  2. ^Hutton 1996
  3. ^abcdÓ hÓgáin 1991,p. 60
  4. ^abWright 2011,pp. 26–27
  5. ^Sjoestedt 2000,pp. 21, 25
  6. ^abBerger 1985
  7. ^abKoch 2006,pp. 287–288
  8. ^Gwynn, Edward John (1905)."Poem 36: Mag Femin, Mag Fera, Mag Fea".The Metrical Dindshenchas.Hodges, Figgis & Co.LCCN06031290.OCLC676746265.
  9. ^Macalister, R. A. S.,ed. (1941).Lebor Gabála Érenn[The Book of the Taking of Ireland]. 41. Vol. 4. Dublin:Irish Texts Society.§ VII, First Redaction, ¶ 317.
  10. ^Ellis 1995,p. 28
  11. ^Stifter 1998
  12. ^Cath Maige Tuired(The Second Battle of Mag Tuired), translated by Elizabeth A. Gray. ¶ 125
  13. ^Gregory 2015,p. 24
  14. ^abcFarmer 2011,pp. 66–67, 467–470
  15. ^abCarmichael 1900,p. 169
  16. ^Jones, Mary."Brigit".Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia.Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2009.Retrieved14 December2012.
  17. ^Johnston 2024
  18. ^Burns & Farmer 1998,p. 1-4
  19. ^Wright 2011,p. 75
  20. ^Cambrensis, Giraldus.The Topography of Ireland(PDF).York University.pp. 54, 59.Retrieved28 December2012.
  21. ^"Saint Brigid: St Brigid's Fire".Cill Dara Historical Society.Retrieved28 December2012.
  22. ^Healy 2001,pp. 12–19, 27, 56–7, 66, 69, 81
  23. ^Logan 1980,pp. 22–23, 95
  24. ^Koch 2006,pp. 1488–1491
  25. ^Koch 2006,p. 287
  26. ^Smith, Phoebe (31 January 2024)."On the trail of a Celtic goddess: the Irish town celebrating St Brigid".The Guardian.Retrieved3 February2024.
  27. ^Séaghdha, Darach Ó (1 February 2024)."The Irish For: Is Brigid the only saint in space?".TheJournal.ie.
  28. ^Magliocco 2001,p. 30
  29. ^Matasović 2009,pp. 78–79
  30. ^Mallory & Adams 1997,p. 269

Bibliography

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Further reading

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