The Tale of Danu: Part 2

Meanwhile in the Otherworld…during the early Revival Druid era…

Morrigan on phone: Damnit, Goibhniu! This is not about human ingenuity. I know you and the InterPantheonic Council of Smith Gods are all about human creativity and not interfering with it. Well this isn’t creation…these discoveries will lead to destruction, yes I know I’m usually into that sort of thing, but this is too much, even for me! The Manhattan Project will…Yes, I know it’s decades from now, but you know about the time differences between our world and theirs. Stand up to Hephaistos and worse, Prometheus and tell them we mean business! If you don’t, I will make sure Ireland stays out of that war!…Slams down phone.

Cosmic switch board worker: “My lady?”

Morrigan, sighs and leans back “Yes?”

“We’re getting a lot of calls for a goddess by the name of Danu, Danann, is it? Doesn’t that sound similar to one of your titles?

Morrigan looks at switchboard “Great balls of Dagda!” Those are a lot of calls! I think this is yet another error by those monks. Once, again we have to clean up their messes. I’m already taking calls for “Black Annis” seriously beneath my dignity…alright, give me some of them, and some to Brighid. I know she’s busy, lil’ Miss Jill of all Trades, she is (though somehow a lot less show-offy about it than Lugh!) but maybe she can get some of her little saint buddies to help out. Maybe even bodhisattvas…she’s also on good terms with Guan Yin.

So, regardless of origins, somebody out there may be answering your prayers to Danu…we’re just not sure who!

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The Tale of Danu: Part 1

Early Celtic scholars- we need a coherent genealogy for the Tuatha De

Medieval Irish texts: Ha ha! That’s not gonna happen

Early Celtic scholars- We need a mother goddess. A mother of the whole tribe of gods.

Medieval Irish texts: Eh, that’s not really there…lots of ladies of sovereignty, river goddesses

Some scholars be all “Vedic everything! Indo-European studies! Everything Celtic must have a Vedic connection!” So Danu, the Vedic river goddess- her name is linguistically connected to the Danube river, and the Welsh Don

Medieval Welsh texts: Don, who’s also an abstract motherly figurehead?

Early scholars- Shutup, texts! We get to decide how to interpret you. So we’re going with it, Tuatha De Danann, people of the goddess Danu. We also need a daddy figure- this Bile guy will do.

Other scholars- Or is that People of Skill/Arts- as in the Aes Dana, the skilled class? Bile who?

Revival & Neo-Pagan Druids- Eh, we’ll go with it! We need, like a Celtic Gaia.

Goddess-worshippers- All Hail the Great Mother Danu! Who is also Brighid, the Morrigan and any other strong female character in myth we think is cool.

Later scholars- There’s a mother of the three sons of Tuireann- Brian, Iuchar & Iucharba, the Gods of Skill- Danann.