Gofannon () is a Middle Welsh reflex of Gobannus, one of the

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

worshipped by the

ancient Celts The Celts (, see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-Europea ...

. He features in Middle Welsh literature as a great

metal worker Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

and as the son of Dôn. His name can be compared with the

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 ...

''gobae'' (gen. ''gobann'') ‘ smith’, Middle Welsh / Cornish /

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

''gof'' (pl. ''gofein'') ‘ smith’,

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 ...

''gobedbi'' ‘with the smiths’, all of which are cognate with

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

'' gabija'' ‘sacred home fire’, ''gabus'' ‘gifted, clever’. His apparent counterpart in

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 ...

, Goibniu, in addition to his duties as a smith, also takes on the role of a divine hero who brewed an ale of immortality, in addition to being an architect and builder. In

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Cel ...

, Gofannon killed his nephew, Dylan Ail Don, not knowing who he was. One of the tasks given to Culhwch if he were to win the hand of Olwen was to get Gofannon to sharpen his brother

Amaethon In Welsh mythology, Amaethon ( (), meaning "Amaethon son of Dôn") was the god of agriculture, and the son of the goddess Dôn.Cotterell, Arthur: The Encyclopedia of Mythology, page 97. Hermes House, 2007. His name means "labourer" or "ploughman", ...

's plough.

References

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh) Smithing gods Welsh gods Welsh mythology