Ancient Welsh and Celtic Gods
From Welshpedia
The mythology of the Celtic Britons harkens back to a time before there was an England (that is, before the invasion of Angles and Saxons brought Germanic-speaking tribes to Great Britain). The Celtic Briton myths are centered mostly in Wales and are written in Welsh, a Celtic language. One can easily speculate that the deities of Welsh mythology once had a broader appeal throughout Britain, as has the mythic Celtic mortal from the region known to us as King Arthur.
The pantheon of Welsh gods and goddesses came largely from two mythic families: the Children of Dôn and the Children of Llyr. Dôn was a goddess of the sky, and Llyr was a god of the sea. Charles Squire speaks of a struggle and opposition of these two divine families of the sky and of the sea. He envisages a general conflict of the powers of the sky/light/life versus the sea/darkness/death.
Keep in mind not all dieties in the following list are purely Welsh. Many are modern interpretations of characters from a variety of ancient Welsh literature, often using traits of similar dieties found in the far more preserved legends of other Celtic nations like Ireland. Some dieties listed here bare only slight similarities to actual Welsh literature, and are not Welsh in origin.
Most dieties of Welsh legend were christianized and lessened by the christian scribes who first began to overtake Celtic culture with the come of the Romans. The church was the only publisher in those days, so original Welsh tales and legends in which the characters are portrayed as the gods they once were were warped and changed by the incoming church. Others were used as scapegoats, taken as the representation of the enemies of the church. One such example would be the antlered god of animals, Cernunnos, often used with his cloven feet and horns as the modern idea of the Christian Devil. While scholars can still use older texts and what little original legend we have less to piece together the tales of these characters as dieties, most have been diminished to mortal, albeit extraordinary, humans in Welsh tales. While Wales did become a centerpoint for Celtic Culture while the British Isles were under constant attack throughout history, the use of Oral tradition to pass long legends through the memorization of bards led to the losses. As before mentioned, this reliance on oral tradition meant very few manuscripts have been left for study now.
Aeron / Aerfen A Goddess of fate who presided over the outcome of war between several Celtic clans
Amaethon Welsh god of Agriculture. A son of Don and brother of Gwydion
Agrona Goddess of slaughter and war often equated with the Morrigan
Arawan God of the dead and the underworld Annwn. God of revenge, terror, and the dead
Arianrhod Goddess of beauty, fertility, and reincarnation. Known as Silver Wheel and the High Fruitful Mother, the palace of this sky goddess was Caer Arianrhold (Aurora Borealis).
Barinthus A charioteer to the residents of the Otherworld who was once probably a sea or sun God
Beli The primary Welsh father God, husband of Don, and father of Arianrhod. Also a minor sun God who some feel is the Welsh equivalent of Balor
Bran The Blessed His name means 'crow', or 'Raven'. Associated with ravens, he is the God of prophecy, the arts, leader, war, the Sun, music, writing.
Branwen One of the three matriarchs of Britain; Lady of the Lake (cauldron); Goddess of Love and Beauty. Welsh love goddess
Blodeuwedd "Flower Face"; "White Flower". Lily maid of Celtic initiation ceremonies. Also known as the Ninefold Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise
Cernunnos Known to all Celtic areas in one form or another. The Horned God; God of Nature; God of the Underworld and the Astral Plane; Great Father; "the Horned One".
Cerridwen Moon Goddess; Great Mother; Grain Goddess; Goddess of Nature
Condwiramur An archetypal guardian of the feminine mysteries and a Goddess of sovereignty who appears briefly in the Grail legends as the wife of Sir Percival
Creddylad Daughter of the sea god Llyr
Cyhiraeth Once a Goddess of streams, she later bacame thought of as a faery spirit who was a portent of death
Cymidei Cymeinfoll Her name means 'big belly of battle.' She is a war Goddess who is always paired in stories to her husband Llasar Llaesyfnewid
Dwyfan DwyFan and his wife, Swyfach, are the heroes of the Welsh flood myth. Together they built an ark, filled it with animals, and survived the great flood caused by Addanc, a lake God/dragon/faery
Dylan God of the Sea. His symbol was a silver fish.
Goewin The Goddess of sovereignty who held the feet of Math while he reigned. She was only exempt from doing so when he went to war
Govannon God of smiths and metalworkers. The weapons he makes are deadly in their aim, the armor unfailing in its protection
Gwyddno This one time sea God came down in myth as a monster of faery of the ocean
Gwyn ap Nuad King of the Fairies and the underworld
Llud Known in Wales as the son of Beli, and a death God in his own right
Llyr God of the Sea
Lugh Pan-Celtic, originally Irish, not Welsh The Shining One; Sun God; God of War; "Many Skilled"; "Fair-Haired One"; "White or Shining"; a hero god
Lleu Llaw Gyffes Welsh solar diety, "bright one of the skilled hand", son of Arianrhod and cursed never to have a name, wife, or bear arms. Each of these curses was overcome with the aid of the might magician Gwydion.
Modron Goddess whose name means "divine mother". She is one of the most potent of the Celtic archetypal mother Goddess
Morgan LeFAY Welsh death-goddess; Morgan the Fate. Glamorgan in Wales is said to be her sacred territory. She can cast a destroying curse on any man
Myrrdin Wyllt A woodland God who deliberately grew feathers so he could leap from tree to tree
Nimue Welsh, Cornish, Celtic Moon Goddess; also called Morgan
Olwen Also Olwyn. A daughter of the king of the Giants, Ysbadadden. Her name means "the golden wheel", which makes some see her as an opposing force to Arianrhod of "the silver wheel
Pryderi The son of Pwyll and Rhiannon
Pwyll Often represented as a mortal Prince of Dyfed
Rhiannon "The Great Queen"; Goddess of birds and horses, believed to be the Welsh counterpart of Gaulish horse goddess Epona
Taliesin "Radiant Brow", Prince of Song; Chief of the Bards of the West; a poet. Patron of Druids, Bards, and minstrels; a shape-shifter. Writing, poetry; wisdom; wizards; Bards; music; knowledge; magic
Teyrnon In Welsh folklore, he was the one who found the child Pryderi, the stolen son whom his mother, Rhiannon, was accused of eating. The child was found in a stall and was raised by Teyrnon and his wife until they discovered his true identity
Vivienne Also Nimue, Niniane, or Chwibmian. She was the lover of Merlin who is sometimes associated with attributes of the Lady of the Lake, and some legends claim she is the Lake Lady's daughter.
ORGANIZATION
The children of Dôn Dôn was the matriarch of one family. Her husband is usually given as Beli. Her children include:
This family also includes Arianrhod's sons Dylan and Llew Llaw Gyffes. Caswallawn (the historical Cassivellaunus), is often named as a son of Beli.
The children of Llŷr
Llŷr, the patriarch of the other family, is possibly a borrowing of the Irish sea-god Lír. A foreign origin is further suggested by his epithet Llediaith ("half-speech"). His wife is usually given as Penarddun, and their children include:
Penarddun also had two sons, Nisien and Efnisien, by Eurosswydd. Caradawg (the historical Caratacus) is named as a son of Bendigeidfran.
Other probable deities
Other characters Cigfa
