Nel also known as Nuil or Niul was a mythical figure from the

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...

and was an ancestor of the people of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was the son of

Fénius Farsaid Fénius Farsaid (also Phoeniusa, Phenius, Féinius; Farsa, Farsaidh, many variant spellings) is a legendary king of Scythia who appears in different versions of Irish mythology. He was the son of Boath, a son of Magog. Other sources describe hi ...

, who was a legendary king of

Scythia Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. Etymology The names ...

, who left

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

after the destruction of

Babel Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to: Arts and media Written works Books *Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith * Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu * Babel (20 ...

. Nel returned to Babylon as part of an effort to study the confusion of languages. He was a scholar of languages and was invited by Pharaoh Cingris to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to take his daughter

Scota In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Scota is the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and ancestor of the Gaels. She is said to be the origin of their Latin name ''Scoti'', but historians say she (and her alleged ancestors and spouses) was pur ...

’s hand in marriage. Also Nel was the father of

Goídel Glas In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Goídel Glas (Old Irish: �ɡoːi̯ðʲel ɡlas Latinised as Gaithelus) is the creator of the Goidelic languages and eponymous ancestor of the Gaels. The tradition can be traced to the 11th-century ''Lebor ...

who was credited with creating the

Goidelic languages The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...

., Vol. 2, p. 13 (¶107)
Vol. 1 p. 149
"It is Gaedel Glas who fashioned the Gaelic language out of the seventy-two..."; Macalister

References

Sources *''Irish pedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation (1892), by John O'Hart, - Volume: 1'' ' *''Irish pedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation (1892), by John O'Hart, - Volume: 2'' '
Lebor gabala Erenn
Volume 1, Irish Text society 1870-1956 * *
brief overview
and larg
genealogical chart
of Mythological Cycle narratives in the LGE are hosted at Mary Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia Celtic mythology Characters in Irish mythology Mythological Cycle Scottish mythology {{Celt-myth-stub