Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

, Neman or Nemain (

Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

: Neamhan, Neamhain) is the spirit-woman or

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

who personifies the frenzied havoc of war. In the ancient texts where The Morrígan appears as a trio of goddesses — the three sisters who make up the ''Morrígna'' — include Macha and Badb; Nemain is strongly associated with Badb with whom she shares a husband, Neit. Nemain may be an aspect of Badb.

Representation in literature

In the grand Irish epic of the Tain Bo Cuailnge, Neman confounds armies, so that friendly bands fall in mutual slaughter. When the forces of Queen Medb arrive at Magh-Tregham, in the present county of

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

, on the way to Cuailnge, Nemain appears amongst them:

“Then the Neman attacked them, and that was not the most comfortable night with them, from the uproar of the giant Dubtach through his sleep. The bands were immediately startled, and the army confounded, until Medb went to check the confusion.” Lebor na hUidhre, fol. 46, b1.

And in another passage, in the episode called "Breslech Maighe Muirthemhne,” where a terrible description is given of Cuchullain's fury at seeing the hostile armies of the south and west encamped within the borders of

Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which ...

, we are told (Book of Leinster, fol.54, a2, and b1): Nemain is an Irish goddess who is very powerful. Nemain can kill 100 men with just one single battle cry.

"He saw from him the ardent sparkling of the bright golden weapons over the heads of the four great provinces of Eriu, before the fall of the cloud of evening. Great fury and indignation seized him on seeing them, at the number of his opponents and at the multitude of his enemies. He seized his two spears, and his shield and his sword, and uttered from his throat a warrior's shout, so that sprites, and satyrs, and maniacs of the valley, and the demons of the air responded, terror-stricken by the shout which he had raised on high. And the Neman confused the army; and the four provinces of Eriu dashed themselves against the points of their own spears and weapons, so that one hundred warriors died of fear and trembling in the middle of the fort and encampment that night."

Kinship

Cormac's glossary ''Sanas Cormaic'' (; or ''Sanas Chormaic'', Irish for "Cormac's narrative"), also known as ''Cormac's Glossary'', is an early Irish glossary containing etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words, many of which are difficult or outda ...

, Nemain is said to have been the wife of Neit, "the god of battle with the pagan Gaeidhel". A poem in the Book of Leinster (fol. 6, a2), couples Badb and Nemain as the wives of Neid or Neit:—

“Neit son of Indu, and his two wives, Badb and Neamin, truly, Were slain in Ailech, without blemish, By Neptur of the Fomorians”.

At folio 5, a2, of the same MS., Fea and Nemain are said to have been Neit’s two wives but in the poem on Ailech printed from the Dinnsenchus in the "Ordinance Memoir of Templemore" (p. 226), Nemain only is mentioned as the wife of Neit. Also, in the Irish books of genealogy, both Fea and Nemain are said to have been the two daughters of

Elcmar In Irish mythology, Elcmar or Ecmar (modern spelling: Ealcmhar) is the husband of Boann and belongs to the divine Tuatha Dé Danann. It has been suggested that he is Nuada under another name, and he is sometimes confused with Nechtan, Boann's us ...

of the Brugh (

Newgrange Newgrange () is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, placed on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3100 BC, makin ...

, near the Boyne), who was the son of Delbaeth, son of

Ogma Ogma () is a god from Irish mythology, Irish and Scottish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gauls, Gallic god Ogmios. According to the In Lebor Ogaim, Ogam Tract, he is the i ...

, son of Elatan, and the wives of Neid son of Indae. This identical kinship of Fea and Nemain implies that the two are one and the same personality. In the Dindsenchas, Nemain "of the wounds of war" is described as the "law-giver wife" of Neit.''The Metrical Dindsenchas''
poem 23 "Ailech II"

Etymology

The variant forms in which her name appears in Irish texts are ''Nemon ~ Nemain ~ Neman.'' These alternations imply that the

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...

form of this

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

, if such a theonym existed at that stage, would have been *''Nemānjā'', *''Nemani-s'' or *''Nemoni-s''. The meaning of the name has been glossed in various ways. Squire (2000:45) glossed the name as 'venomous' presumably relating it to the

*''nemi-'' 'dose of poison' 'something which is dealt out' from the

Proto-Indo-European root The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words to carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the langu ...

*''nem-'' 'deal out' (Old Irish ''nem'', pl. ''neimi'' 'poison' ). However, *''nemi-'' is clearly an ''i''-stem noun whereas the stems of the reconstructed forms *''Nemā-njā'', *''Nema-ni-s'' and *''Nemo-ni-s'' are clearly ''a''-stem and ''o''-stem nouns respectively. Equally, the

''*nāmant-'' 'enemy' (Irish ''námhaid'',

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

''namhad'' 'enemy' from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

''náma'', g. ''námat'', pl.n. ''námait'

is too different in form from *''Nemānjā'', *''Nemani-s'' or *''Nemoni-s'' to be equated with any of them. The name may plausibly be an extended form of the Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European root ''*nem-'' 'seize, take, deal out', to which is related the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''Némesis'' 'wrath, nemesis' and the name ''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

'', the personification of

retributive justice Retributive justice is a legal concept whereby the criminal offender receives punishment proportional or similar to the crime. As opposed to revenge, retribution—and thus retributive justice—is not personal, is directed only at wrongdoing, ...

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. This is related to the Ancient Greek Nomos, which means a custom or law, and also means to divide, distribute, or to allot. The Proto-Indo-European root is the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

''nâma'' 'rapine,' German ''nehmen'', 'take,' English ''nimble'';

Zend Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...

''nemanh'' 'crime,' Albanian ''name'' 'a curse' and the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton ''nam'', 'blame

According to this theory, the name would mean something like 'the Great Taker' or the 'Great Allotter.'

Representation in literature

Kinship

Etymology

References

Further reading