In
Irish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology...
,
Danu is the
mother goddessA mother goddess is a term used to refer to any goddess associated with motherhood, fertility, creation or the bountiful embodiment of the Earth...
of the
Tuatha Dé DanannThe Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
(Old Irish: "The peoples of the goddess Danu"). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the Land.
In
Irish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology...
,
Danu is the
mother goddessA mother goddess is a term used to refer to any goddess associated with motherhood, fertility, creation or the bountiful embodiment of the Earth...
of the
Tuatha Dé DanannThe Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
(Old Irish: "The peoples of the goddess Danu"). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the Land.
Antiquity of her recognition
Based on the evidence of place-names, such as the river
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
, Dniestr,
DnieprThe Dnieper River or Dnipro River is one of the major rivers in Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea. Its total length is , of which lie within Russia, within Belarus, and within Ukraine. Its basin covers , of which are within Ukraine...
and Don, Danu may have been worshiped throughout the
CelticCeltic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
world. Indeed, the presence of a goddess named Danu in
Hindu mythologyHindu mythology is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Indian mythology...
, associated with water and mother of a race of
Asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
s called the
DanavasThe Danavas in Vedic mythology were a race of the Asuras.The Danavas were the sons of Danu, who in turn was a daughter of Daksha. They revolted against the gods under the leadership of Bali[;] and others, but were defeated...
, may indicate a very ancient
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe existence of similarities among the deities and religious practices of the Indo-European peoples allows glimpses of a common Proto-Indo-European religion and mythology. Reconstruction is based on the comparative method...
origin for this figure.
In mythology
As the mother of the gods, Danu has strong parallels with the Welsh literary figure (or goddess) Dôn, who is the mother figure of the medieval tales in the
MabinogionThe Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
.
Etymology of the name
The genitive form of "Danu" is
Danann, and the dative
Danainn.
Köbler and Pokorny both reconstruct *
dānu as a
Proto-Indo-European rootThe roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language are basic morphemes carrying a lexical meaning. By addition of suffixes, they form stems, and by addition of endings, these form grammatically inflected words ....
denoting ‘
fluvial waterA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
.’ The Old Irish forms - nominative
danu, genitive
danann, dative
danainn suggest pre-Irish
*Danona, which may contain the suffix
-on- 'Great' (as in
Matrona Great Mother,
Maqonos/Maponos Great Son, and
Catona Great War (a title of the Goddess of War).
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