![Two Druids](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Two_Druids.PNG)
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. While they were reported to have been literate, they are believed to have been prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form. Their beliefs and practices are attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks.
The earliest known references to the druids date to the 4th century BCE. The oldest detailed description comes from
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
's ''
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Ca ...
'' (50s BCE). They were described by other Roman writers such as
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
,
[ Cicero (44) I.XVI.90.] Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
, and
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
. Following the Roman invasion of
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
, the druid orders were suppressed by the Roman government under the 1st-century CE emperors
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
and
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
, and had disappeared from the written record by the 2nd century.
In about 750 CE, the word ''druid'' appears in a poem by
Blathmac
Saint Blathmac ( la, Blathmacus, Florentius) was a distinguished Irish monk, born in Ireland about 750 AD. He is known as "Blathmac, son of Flann", to distinguish him from the poet and monk Blathmac mac Con Brettan.
He was killed and became a ...
, who wrote about
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, saying that he was "better than a prophet, more knowledgeable than every druid, a king who was a bishop and a complete sage." The druids appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianized Ireland like "
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
", where they are largely portrayed as
sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity. In the wake of the
Celtic revival
The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...
during the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal and
neopagan
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...
groups were founded based on ideas about the ancient druids, a movement known as
Neo-Druidism
Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deit ...
. Many popular notions about druids, based on misconceptions of 18th-century scholars, have been largely superseded by more recent study.
Etymology
The English word ''druid'' derives from Latin ''druidēs'' (plural), which was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word for these figures.
[ Piggott (1968) p. 89.][Caroline aan de Wiel, "Druids the word", in ''Celtic Culture''.] Other Roman texts employ the form ''druidae'', while the same term was used by
Greek ethnographers
;Pre-Hellenistic Classical Greece
*Homer
*Anaximander
*Hecataeus of Miletus
* Massaliote Periplus
* Scylax of Caryanda (6th century BC)
*Herodotus
;Hellenistic period
*Pytheas (died c. 310 BC)
*''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' (3rd or 4th century B ...
as (''druidēs''). Although no extant Romano-Celtic inscription is known to contain the form,
the word is cognate with the later insular Celtic words,
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''druí'' 'druid, sorcerer',
Old Cornish
Cornish ( Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, k ...
''druw'',
Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...
''dryw'' '
seer
In the United States, the efficiency of air conditioners is often rated by the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) which is defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, a trade association, in its 2008 standard AHRI ...
;
wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
'.
Based on all available forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may be reconstructed as *''dru-wid-s'' (pl. *''druwides'') meaning "
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
-knower". The two elements go back to the
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
roots ''*deru-'' and ''*weid-'' "to see". The sense of "oak-knower" or "oak-seer" is supported by
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
,
who in his ''Natural History'' considered the word to contain the Greek noun ''drýs'' (δρύς), "oak-tree" and the Greek suffix ''-idēs'' (-ιδης). Both Old Irish ''druí'' and Middle Welsh ''dryw'' could refer to the
wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
,
possibly connected with an association of that bird with
augury in Irish and Welsh tradition (see also
Wren Day
Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day ( ga, Lá an Dreoilín), is an Irish celebration held on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day in a number of countries across Europe. The tradition consists of "hunting" a wren ...
).
Practices and doctrines
Sources by ancient and medieval writers provide an idea of the religious duties and social roles involved in being a druid.
Societal role and training
![An Arch Druid in His Judicial Habit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/An_Arch_Druid_in_His_Judicial_Habit.jpg)
The Greco-Roman and the vernacular Irish sources agree that the druids played an important part in pagan Celtic society. In his description,
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
wrote that they were one of the two most important social groups in the region (alongside the ''equites'', or nobles) and were responsible for organizing worship and sacrifices, divination, and judicial procedure in Gallic, British, and Irish societies.
[ Caesar, Julius. ''De bello gallico''. VI.13–18.] He wrote that they were exempt from military service and from paying taxes, and had the power to excommunicate people from religious festivals, making them social outcasts.
Two other classical writers,
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
and
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, wrote about the role of druids in Gallic society, stating that the druids were held in such respect that if they intervened between two armies they could stop the battle.
Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45.
His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...
was the first author to say that the druids' instruction was secret and took place in caves and forests.
Druidic lore consisted of a large number of verses learned by heart, and Caesar remarked that it could take up to twenty years to complete the course of study. What was taught to druid novices anywhere is conjecture: of the druids'
oral literature
Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...
, not one certifiably ancient verse is known to have survived, even in translation. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports, the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek letters. In this he probably draws on earlier writers; by the time of Caesar,
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
inscriptions had moved from Greek script to Latin script.
Sacrifice
![The Wicker Man of the Druids crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/The_Wicker_Man_of_the_Druids_crop.jpg)
Greek and Roman writers frequently made reference to the druids as practitioners of
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
. Caesar says those who had been found guilty of theft or other criminal offences were considered preferable for use as sacrificial victims, but when criminals were in short supply, innocents would be acceptable. A form of sacrifice recorded by Caesar was the burning alive of victims in a large wooden effigy, now often known as a
wicker man
A wicker man was purportedly a large wicker statue in which the druids (priests of Celtic paganism) sacrificed humans and animals by burning. The main evidence for this practice is a sentence by Roman general Julius Caesar in his '' Commentary ...
. A differing account came from the 10th-century ''
Commenta Bernensia {{Short description, 10th-century manuscript
The ''Commenta Bernensia'', also known as the Bern scholia, are commentaries or marginal notes in a 10th-century manuscript, Cod. 370, preserved in the Burgerbibliothek of Berne, Switzerland.
The comment ...
'', which stated that sacrifices to the deities
Teutates
Toutatis or Teutates is a Celtic god who was worshipped primarily in ancient Gaul and Britain. His name means "god of the tribe", and he has been widely interpreted as a tribal protector.Paul-Marie Duval (1993). ''Les dieux de la Gaule.'' Éditio ...
,
Esus
Esus, Hesus, or Aisus was a Brittonic and Gaulish god known from two monumental statues and a line in Lucan's '' Bellum civile''.
Name
T. F. O'Rahilly derives the theonym ''Esus'', as well as ''Aoibheall'', ''Éibhleann'', ''Aoife'', and ...
and
Taranis
In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube r ...
were by drowning, hanging and burning, respectively (see
threefold death
In algebraic geometry, a 3-fold or threefold is a 3-dimensional algebraic variety.
The Mori program
In algebraic geometry, the minimal model program is part of the birational classification of algebraic varieties. Its goal is to construct a bir ...
).
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
asserts that a sacrifice acceptable to the
Celtic gods
The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheo ...
had to be attended by a druid, for they were the intermediaries between the people and the divinities. He remarked upon the importance of prophets in druidic ritual:
Archaeological evidence from western Europe has been widely used to support the view that Iron Age Celts practiced human sacrifice. Mass graves found in a ritual context dating from this period have been unearthed in Gaul, at both
Gournay-sur-Aronde
Gournay-sur-Aronde () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.
Gournay-sur-Aronde is best known for a Late Iron Age sanctuary that dates back to the 4th century BCE, and was burned and levelled at the end of the 1st century BCE. ...
and
Ribemont-sur-Ancre
Ribemont-sur-Ancre (; pcd, Ribemont-su-Inke) is a commune in the Somme ''département'' in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
The commune is situated northeast of Amiens, on the D119 road and by the banks of the river Ancre
The ...
in the region of the Belgae chiefdom. The excavator of these sites, Jean-Louis Brunaux, interpreted them as areas of human sacrifice in devotion to a war god, although this view was criticized by another archaeologist, Martin Brown, who believed that the corpses might be those of honoured warriors buried in the sanctuary rather than sacrifices. Some historians have questioned whether the Greco-Roman writers were accurate in their claims. J. Rives remarked that it was "ambiguous" whether druids ever performed such sacrifices, for the Romans and Greeks were known to project what they saw as barbarian traits onto foreign peoples including not only druids but Jews and Christians as well, thereby confirming their own "cultural superiority" in their own minds.
Nora Chadwick
Nora Kershaw Chadwick CBE FSA FBA (28 January 1891 – 24 April 1972) was an English philologist who specialized in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Old Norse studies.
Early life and education
Nora Kershaw was born in Lancashire in 1891, the first dau ...
, an expert in medieval Welsh and Irish literature who believed the druids to be great philosophers, has also supported the idea that they had not been involved in human sacrifice, and that such accusations were imperialist Roman propaganda.
Philosophy
Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor referred to the druids as philosophers and called their doctrine of the immortality of the soul and
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
or
metempsychosis
Metempsychosis ( grc-gre, μετεμψύχωσις), in philosophy, is the transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. The term is derived from ancient Greek philosophy, and has been recontextualised by modern philoso ...
, "
Pythagorean
Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras
* Ne ...
":
Caesar made similar observations:
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
, writing in 36 BCE, described how the druids followed "the Pythagorean doctrine", that human souls "are immortal and after a prescribed number of years they commence a new life in a new body".
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
. ''Bibliotheca historicae''. V.21–22. In 1928, folklorist
Donald A. Mackenzie speculated that Buddhist missionaries had been sent by the Indian king
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
. Caesar noted the druidic doctrine of the original ancestor of the tribe, whom he referred to as ''
Dispater'', or ''Father
Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
''.
Druids in mythology
Druids play a prominent role in
Irish folklore
Irish folklore ( ga, béaloideas) refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture.
Irish folklore, when mentioned to many people, conjures up images of banshees, fairies, leprechauns and people gat ...
, generally serving lords and kings as high ranking priest-counselors with the gift of prophecy and other assorted mystical abilitiesthe best example of these possibly being
Cathbad
Cathbad () or Cathbhadh (modern spelling) is the chief druid in the court of King Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology.
He features in both accounts of Conchobar's birth, in one of which he is the king's father. In the first ...
. The chief druid in the court of King
Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulaid, Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh). He is usually said to be the son of the High King of Ireland, High King Fachtna Fáthach, ...
of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, Cathbad features in several tales, most of which detail his ability to foretell the future. In the tale of
Deirdre of the Sorrows
''Deirdre of the Sorrows'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge in 1909. The play, based on Irish mythology, in particular the myths concerning Deirdre, Naoise, and Conchobar, was unfinished at the author's death o ...
the foremost
tragic heroine
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his '' Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ...
of the
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...
the druid prophesied before the court of Conchobar that Deirdre would grow up to be very beautiful, and that kings and lords would go to war over her, much blood would be shed because of her, and Ulster's three greatest warriors would be forced into exile for her sake. This prophecy, ignored by the king, came true.
The greatest of these mythological druids was
Amergin Glúingel
Amergin ''Glúingel'' ("white knees") (also spelled Amhairghin Glúngheal) or ''Glúnmar'' ("big knee") is a bard, druid and judge for the Milesians in the Irish Mythological Cycle. He was appointed Chief Ollam of Ireland by his two brothers th ...
, a
bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
and judge for the
Milesians featured in the
Mythological Cycle
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. The Milesians were seeking to overrun the
Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, ...
and win the land of Ireland but, as they approached, the druids of the Tuatha Dé Danann raised a magical storm to bar their ships from making landfall. Thus Amergin called upon the spirit of Ireland itself, chanting a powerful incantation that has come to be known as ''The Song of Amergin'' and, eventually (after successfully making landfall), aiding and dividing the land between his royal brothers in the conquest of Ireland, earning the title
Chief Ollam of Ireland
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
.
Other such mythological druids were
Tadg mac Nuadat
Tadg, son of Nuada, was a druid and the maternal grandfather of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It is unclear whether his father was the short-lived High King Nuada Necht, the god Nuada Airgetlam of the Tuatha Dé Dana ...
of the
Fenian Cycle
The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossian ...
, and
Mug Ruith
Mug Ruith (or Mogh Roith, "slave of the wheel") is a figure in Irish mythology, a powerful blind druid of Munster who lived on Valentia Island, County Kerry. He could grow to enormous size, and his breath caused storms and turned men to stone. He ...
, a powerful blind druid of
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
.
Female druids
Irish mythology
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...
has a number of female druids, often sharing similar prominent cultural and religious roles with their male counterparts. The Irish have several words for female druids, such as ''bandruí'' ("woman-druid"), found in tales such as ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
'';
[ 1c: "dialt feminine declension, Auraic. 1830. bandruí druidess; female skilled in magic arts: tri ferdruid ┐ tri bandrúid, TBC 2402 = dī (leg. tri) drúid insin ┐ a teóra mná, TBC² 1767."] Bodhmall
Bodhmall (or bodhmann, Bómall,''Dóiteoir na Samhna'', by Darach Ó Scalaí, Bodmall, or Bodbmall) is one of Fionn mac Cumhaill's childhood foster mothers in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology and the daughter of Tréanmór mac Suailt. She ...
, featured in the
Fenian Cycle
The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossian ...
, and one of
Fionn mac Cumhaill
Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...
's childhood caretakers;
[Parkes, "Fosterage, Kinship, & Legend", Cambridge University Press, Comparative Studies in Society and History (2004), 46: pp. 587–615.] and
Tlachtga
Tlachtga ( Modern Irish: ''Tlachta'') was a powerful druidess in Irish mythology and the red-haired daughter of the arch-druid Mug Ruith. She accompanied him on his world travels, learning his magical secrets and discovering sacred stones in Ita ...
,
[Jones, Mary]
"The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn mac Cumhaill"
. From maryjones.us. Retrieved July 22, 2008. daughter of the druid
Mug Ruith
Mug Ruith (or Mogh Roith, "slave of the wheel") is a figure in Irish mythology, a powerful blind druid of Munster who lived on Valentia Island, County Kerry. He could grow to enormous size, and his breath caused storms and turned men to stone. He ...
who, according to Irish tradition, is associated with the
Hill of Ward
The Hill of Ward (, formerly ''Tlachtgha'') is a hill in County Meath, Ireland.
Geography
The hill lies between Athboy (to the west) and Ráth Chairn (to the east). During medieval times it was the site of great festivals, including one at w ...
, site of prominent festivals held in Tlachtga's honour during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.
[MacKillop, James (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. London: Oxford. . *page numbers needed*]
Biróg, another ''bandruí'' of the
Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, ...
, plays a key role in an
Irish folktale where the
Fomorian
The Fomorians or Fomori ( sga, Fomóire, Modern ga, Fomhóraigh / Fomóraigh) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the eart ...
warrior
Balor
In Irish mythology, Balor or Balar was a leader of the Fomorians, a group of malevolent supernatural beings. He is often described as a giant with a large eye that wreaks destruction when opened. Balor takes part in the Battle of Mag Tuired, a ...
attempts to thwart a prophecy foretelling that he would be killed by his own grandson by imprisoning his only daughter
Eithne
Eithne is a female personal name of Irish origin, meaning "kernel" or "grain". Other spellings and earlier forms include Ethnea, Ethlend, Ethnen, Ethlenn, Ethnenn, Eithene, Ethne, Aithne, Enya, Ena, Edna, Etney, Eithnenn, Eithlenn, Eithna, Ethni, ...
in the tower of