Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

AENGUS 5Anatolian mountain deity. Known from inscriptionsin Greece from circa 400 BC as a deity whodefends the righteous. It is uncertain whether shebears any link with the Celtic goddess ANDRASTA.AdroTutelary god. Lugbara [Lake Albert, East Africa].The personification of grass fires and whirlwindswho, in antiquity, created mankind. Thought tolive in the vicinity of rivers with many wives andchildren.AeacosChthonic underworld god. Greco-Roman. Oneof three judges of Hades assessing the souls ofthe dead entering the underworld (see also MINOSand RHADAMANTHOS). Identified by Plato as theson of ZEUS and Aigina. In the Theogony (Hesiod),Aeacos is also the consort of Psamathe and fatherof Phocos. Also Aiakos.AedChthonic underworld god. Celtic (Irish). Knownfrom inscriptions. Aed mac Lir, son of LIR andAobh was, according to tradition, turned into aswan by his stepmother, Aoife.AEGIR (water)ORIGIN Icelandic (Nordic). God of the ocean.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP Viking period (circaAD 700) but probably earlier, through to Christianization(circa AD 1100).SYNONYMS none known.CENTER(S) OF CULT none known but probablyenjoyed sanctuaries along the west coast ofNorway and elsewhere in Nordic region.ART REFERENCES runic inscriptions; reliefs inmetal and stone.LITERARY SOURCES Icelandic codices; Prose Edda(Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo).A lesser known AESIR god of Asgard concernedwith the moods of the sea and their implicationsfor mariners. The river Eider was known to theVikings as “Aegir’s Door.” Aegir is also depictedin some poetry as the “ale brewer,” perhaps anallusion to the caldrons of mead which werethought to come from under the sea (see also theCeltic deities DAGDA and GOBNIU). There arereferences in literature to Saxons sacrificingcaptives, probably to Aegir, before setting sailfor home. Linked in uncertain manner to thegoddess RAN he was believed to have sired ninechildren, the waves of the sea, who were possiblygiantesses.AENGUSORIGIN Celtic (Irish). Of uncertain status.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 500 BC orearlier until Christianization circa AD 400.SYNONYMS Mac Oc; Aengus Oc.CENTER(S) OF CULT Brugh na Boinne (Valley ofthe Boyne).ART REFERENCES various monumental carvingsand inscriptions.LITERARY SOURCES Books of Invasions; Cycles ofKings.The son of the DAGDA by “the wife of Elcmar”(one of the kings of Tara) who may have beenthe goddess BOANN, Aengus lived in the Valleyof the Boyne and was closely linked with theancient funerary tumuli in the region. Accordingto legend, Aengus fell in love with a maidenwhose identity he sought in vain. As he wastedaway, his father and mother made enquiriesuntil they located Caer, daughter of the king ofCannaught, who lived on Loch Bel Dragon inthe shape of a swan with 150 attendant swans.