Celtic Deities: H to M

D-E-F-G
Danu (Anu), An Dagdha, Dian Cecht, Don, Donn, Dylan, Epona, Goibniu (Govannan), Gwydion, Gwynn ap Nudd  

H-I-J-K-L-M
Lir, Luchtaine, Lugh, Mabon, Mac Cecht, Macha, Manannan mac Lir (Mananwyddan ap Lyr), Math ap Mathonwy, The Morrighna (Badbh Catha, Morrighan and Nemhain)  

N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
Nantosuelta, Nechtan, Nemglan, Nuadha Airgetlamh, Oenghus, Ogma, Rhiannon, Sucellus, Sovereignty (Banba, Fodla and Eriu), Tailtu, Taranis, Tiernon

Lir (Llyr [Cymru])
Celtic sea-god and father of Manannan mac Lir, the Manx sea god, magician and god of healing. The Manx sea-god, Lir has given his name to many places, including Leicester, and his Welsh counterpart is Shakespeare's King Lear.   In Welsh mythology, Llyr is the father of Bran, Branwen, and Manawydan.  

Luchtaine (Luchtar)
Demigod of carpentry and wheel-making, Luchtaine was the brother of Creidhne and Goibniu.  

Lugh (Lug Lamfhota [Eriu], Lleu Llaw Gyffes [Cymru], Lugos [Gaulish], Lugus [British & sometimes Roman])
Lugh is the Irish great god of light whose festival is Lughnasadh, a celebration of the death of his foster mother, Tailtiu. He has many epithets including:

• Samildanach, "many skilled," as he was thought to be a patron of the arts;
• Lamfhota, "long-armed," referring to his ability to hurl a weapon a long distance;
• Ildanach, possibly referring to him as a fili or seer.

In Welsh mythology, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, "of the Skillful Hand," is the son of Arianrhod. He could be killed neither by day nor night, indoors nor outdoors, riding nor walking, clothed nor naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made. His mother laid a series of curses on him, including the promise that he was to have no name unless she gave him one, no weapons unless she provided them and no wife of the human race. With the help of his uncle Gwydion, who raised him, Lleu overcame all these taboos, though the wife, Blodeuedd, created by Gwydion and the magician Math nearly murdered him. She fell in love with another man and plotted his death. When the lovers struck him, Lleu rose into the air in the shape of an eagle. After a long search, Gwydion found him and restored Lleu to human form.  

Mabon (Maponos [Gaulish])
Mabon is the son of the Welsh and Gaulish divine mother, Modron. He was abducted when he was three nights old and imprisoned in Gloucester, however, since Mabon was the only one who could control the hound which Culhwch needed to win the hand of Olwen, he was released. He is often associated with the Gaulish Maponos, a god of youth.  

Mac Cecht
Mac Cecht was the Irish god of eloquence, the son of Ogma, and was married to Fodla, one of the aspects of the triple Soveriegnty goddess. After the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh, he and his two brothers could not decide how to split the land between them, so they consulted a stranger named Ith. Suspecting Ith had designs of his own on the island, they killed him, and provoked the invastion of the sons of Milesius.  

Macha (associated with Rhiannon, Edain [Cymru] and Epona [Gaulish])
Macha is a war-goddess with aspects of sovereignty as her name means "plain," or "field." She also is a three-fold sovereignty/horse goddess whose aspects are (1) Seer/Prophecy, (2) Warrior/Rulership, and (3) Matriarch/Fertility.  

In her Seer aspect she is the wife of Nemedh, a Scythian ruler and leader of the Third Invasion of Ireland who defeated the Fomorii. Nemed gives his name to the word "nemed," or "nemeton," a sacred grove. She prophesied the Táin Bo Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) from the Leabhar na h-Uidhre (Book of the Dun Cow), and died of a broken heart on Emhain Macha, the fortress of the kings of Ulster.  

In her Warrior aspect, she is Macha Mong Ruadh (Macha of the Red Hair), the 67th monarch of Ireland who ruled from 377 to 331 b.c. The daughter of Aed Ruadh, she established Emain Macha, now known as Navan Fort. She fought the five sons of Dithorba for her right to rule by visiting each as a leper. Despite her disease, each man wished to sleep with her and through their desire she enslaved each one. They were forced to build Emhain Macha. In this aspect she is referred to as Mesrad Machae, or Macha's Mast, and she waits for the end of a battle to collect the severed heads of the slain and convey them to the Otherworld. Macha Mong Ruadh also is credited with instituting the first Irish hospital, Bron-Bherg (House of Sorrow).  

In her Matriarch aspect, Macha laid a curse on Ulster after her boastful husband, Crunnchua mac Agnoman, said that, though heavy in pregnancy, she could outrun all the king's horses and chariots. When the king of Ulster threatened to execute Crunnchua if she did not race, Macha ran and won, but died as she gave birth to twins. As she died, Macha cursed all Ulstermen with the ces noiden. This curse caused the men to suffer the pain of childbirth for five days and five nights whenever the kingdom was in danger. Her curse came to pass in the Táin Bo Cuailnge during the conflict between Ulster and Connacht. The warrior CuChulainn single-handedly defended Ulster against Queen Medb of Connacht as he was the only non-native Ulsterman in the army. The rest of the Ulster warriors were inficted with labor pains and unable to fight for five days and nights. (#10, Green, pg. 76)  

Additionally, Macha is the goddess of athletics, festivals and fertility and often appears as a crow. She also is strongly associated with other sovereignty/horse-goddesses such as the Gaulish Epona and the Welsh Rhiannon. Sometimes Macha is associated with The Morrighna, a war-goddess associated with sovereignty.  

Mannan mac Lir (Manawydan ap Llyr [Cymru])
Mannan is the Manx god of the sea. Older than the Tuatha de Dannan, Mannan always carried "the Crane Bag", a magick "horn of plenty." He gave the last five letters of the Ogham alphabet to the Druids and could change his shape at will. Also associated with fertility, rebirth, weather, sailing and magick, Mannan also had a ship that moved without sails and was directed by the mind. He often is linked to the Isle of Man and with Tethra of the Fomorii, rules Mag Mell, the "Plain of Joy," an idyllic island where the deceased live.  

In Welsh mythology, he is the brother of Bran the Blessed and Branwen, he married Rhiannion on the death of her husband Pwyll. One day he and Rhiannion, along with Rhiannion's son Pryderi and his wife Cigfa, were enveloped in a magical mist. When it cleared, their palace was deserted and the land around it desolate, so they travelled to England, where Manawydan and Pryderi made a living as leatherworkers. This enchantment came from Llwyd, a magicain and friend of Gwawl, the suitor Rhiannion had refused in order to marry Pwyll. In another story, Mannan loves Kentigerna who then gives birth to their son, Mongan, who is half-god, half-human.  

Math ap Mathonwy
In the Welsh tradition, Math ap Mathonwy, lord of Gwynedd, was the uncle of Gwydion. In order to help his brother, Gilvaethwy, sleep with Gowein, the young woman who was Math's footholder, Gwydion stirred up a quarrel between Math and Pryderi, son of Rhiannon. This meant that Math was away at war. When he returned and discovered the deception, Math turned his nephews inot a staf and a hind for one year, inot a boar and a sow the next and into a pair of wolves the third. Later, Gwydion took charge of his sister Arianrhod's son Lleu.  

Medb
Medb is the queen-goddess of Connacht who is a humanized war aspect of the sovereignty-goddess. She took nine consorts and through ritual union made them kings. Her name means "she who intoxicates," which is most likely a reference to the cup of sovereignty she would have given to a king. Her first husband was the Ulster champion Fergus, a fertility-god. Second was Conchobar, but their marriage was short-lived as it would have signified a unification of Ireland. Cochobar then raped Medb, only to die when all the kings of Ireland went against him as a result at the Battle of the Boyne. Her third husband was Ailill.   Medb did not only fight for the supremacy of Connacht, but relished in war and destruction, even using her daughter Finnebair to this end. She is noted mostly during her marriage to Ailill and their fight with Ulster and CuChulainn. She died at the hand of her nephew Furbaidhe who used his sling-shot and a piece of hard cheese as revenge for the murder of his mother Clothra.  

The Morrígan (possibly connected to Cathobodua or Cauth Bodva [Gaul])
Also known as Mórrigan, Morrighan, Mór-Riogain, Morrígu and Morrigu, her name means "great queen" or "phantom queen." She may be an aspect of the Irish earth-goddess Ana. (MacKillop, 1998, p. 297). In her triple form she sometimes appears as the battle-furies Badbh Catha, Nemhain and The Morrigan, aspects that combine destruction, sexuality and prophecy. (Green, 1995, p. 76) They appeared in numerous animal forms, such as carrion birds. She is sometimes connected to Macha, who also can appear in triple form.  

One of the Tuatha de Danaan who helped in both battles of Mag Tuireadh, The Morrigan's aspects have the ability to influence the outcome of conflict by inspiring fear or courage. As Badbh Catha, whose name means "battle-crow," she often takes the form of a crow or battle-raven. Badbh also is connected to the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where she was said to appear over the heads of the soldiers of High King Bran when he defeated Viking invaders.  

The Morrighan sometimes appears as the "Washer at the Ford," a maiden who is seen prior to battle washing the armor and weapons of those destined to die. Her ability to change from a hag into a young girl and her mating with The Dagdha in the Dinnshenchas, as well as other matings with other figures, denotes that she also is a goddess of sovereignty and fertility.  

As Nemhain, whose name means "frenzy," she is the wife of Nuadha Airgetlamh, a leader of the Tuatha de Danaan. Nemhain also appears in the Ulster Cycle when she shrieks on behalf of CuChulainn at the Connacht army and 100 soldiers drop dead with fright. For a comprehensive discussion of The Morrigan, see Angelique Gulermovich Epstein's dissertation: "War Goddess: The Morrígan and her Germano-Celtic Counterparts."