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{{Short description|Gaelic goddess}}
:''This article refers to the Pagan Goddess Brigid. For the Catholic/Orthodox Saint of that name, see ].''
{{about|the pagan goddess|the saint|Brigid of Kildare|the given name|Brigid (given name)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox deity
| name = Brigid
| image = Thecomingofbrideduncan1917.jpg
| caption = "The Coming of Bríde" by ] (1917)
| member_of = the ]
| siblings = ], ], ], ], Brigid the Healer, Brigid the Smith
| texts = '']'', '']'', '']''
| parents = ]
| type = Irish
}}
'''Brigid''' or '''Brigit''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ɪ|dʒ|ɪ|d|,_|ˈ|b|r|iː|ɪ|d}} {{respell|BRIJ|id|,_|BREE|id}}, {{IPA-ga|ˈbʲɾʲiːdʲ|lang}}; meaning 'exalted one'),<ref name="campbell-delamarre">Campbell, Mike See also Xavier Delamarre, ''brigantion / brigant-'', in ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003) pp. 87–88: "Le nom de la sainte irlandaise ''Brigit'' est un adjectif de forme *''brigenti''... 'l'Eminente'." Delamarre cites E. Campanile, in '']'' ("The name of the Irish Saint Brigid is an adjective of the form *''brigenti''... 'the Eminent'"), edited by Françoise Bader (Paris, 1994), pp. 34–40, that Brigid is a continuation of the ] of the ] like ].</ref> also '''Bríd''', is a goddess of ]. She appears in ] as a member of the ], the daughter of ] and wife of ], with whom she had a son named Ruadán. Her sacred tree appears to have been the ], given some older Imbolc-related traditions.<ref>{{harvnb|Hutton|1996|p=}}</ref>


She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, smithing and domesticated animals. '']'', written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith.<ref name="ohogain">{{harvnb|Ó hÓgáin|1991|p=60}}</ref><ref name="wright">{{harvnb|Wright|2011|pp=26-27}}</ref> This suggests she may have been a ].<ref>{{harvnb|Sjoestedt|2000|pp=21, 25}}</ref> She is also thought to have some relation to the ] goddess ].
In ] as it is presently constituted, '''Brigit''' or '''Brighit''' ("exalted one") was the daughter of ] (and therefore one of the ]) and wife of ] of the ]. She had two sisters, also named Brighid, and is considered a classic ]ic ].


] shares many of the goddess's attributes and her ], 1 February, was originally a pagan festival called ]. It has thus been argued that the saint is a Christianization of the goddess, or that the lore of the goddess was transferred to her.<ref name="The Goddess Obscured" />
<!-- This statement contradicts itself: "Since writing first came to Ireland in the wake of Christianity, evidence for a pagan goddess Brigid or Brig must derive from inscriptions; however, none of the inscriptions identifying Brigid have been found in Ireland." -->


==In early Irish literature==
==Familial relations==
'']'', written by Christian scribes in the 9th century and based on earlier sources, says that Brigit was a goddess and daughter of ]. It describes her as a "goddess of poets" and "woman of wisdom" or ], who is also famous for her "protecting care". It says that Brigit has two sisters: Brigit the physician or "woman of healing", and Brigit the smith.<ref name="wright" /> It explains that from these, all goddesses in Ireland are called ''Brigit''; suggesting that it "may have been more of a title than a personal name".<ref name="koch">{{harvnb|Koch|2006|pp=287-288}}</ref>
By ], she was the mother of ], ] and ].{{Fact|date=February 2007}}


She is identified in '']'' as a daughter of the ] and a poet. The same passage mentions that she has two oxen, Fe and Men, that graze on a plain named for them, Femen; the ], king of boars; and Cirb, king of ], from whom Mag Cirb is named.<ref>Macalister, R. A. Stewart. ''Lebor Gabála Érenn''. Part IV. Irish Texts Society, Dublin, 1941. § VII, First Redaction, ¶ 317.</ref> As the daughter of ], she is also the half sister of ], ], ], and ]. The '']'' also calls Brigit a poetess and daughter of the Dagda. It says she has two oxen, Fea and Femen, from whom are named Mag Fea (the plain of the ]) and Mag Femin (the plain of the ]). Elsewhere, these are named as the two oxen of Dil, "radiant of beauty," which may have been a byname for Brigid.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gwynn |first=Edward John |chapter=Poem 36: Mag Femin, Mag Fera, Mag Fea |chapter-url=https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500C/text036.html |title=The Metrical Dindshenchas |year=1905 |publisher=] |lccn=06031290 |oclc=676746265 }}</ref> It also says she possesses the "king of boars", ] (from whom the plain of Treithirne is named), and the "king of ]", Cirb (from whom the plain of Cirb is named).<ref>{{cite LGE|volume=4}} § VII, First Redaction, ¶ 317.</ref> The animals were said to cry out whenever plundering was committed in Ireland. This suggests Brigid was a guardian goddess of domesticated animals.<ref name="ohogain"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|1995|p=28}}</ref>


In '']'', Bríd is the wife of ] and bears him a son, Ruadán. His name is cognate to several words in ] that mean "red, rust", etc.<ref>{{harvnb|Stifter|1998|p=}}</ref> The story says she began the custom of ], a combination of wailing and singing, while mourning the death of Ruadán.<ref name="ohogain"/> She is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel.<ref> (The Second Battle of Mag Tuired), translated by Elizabeth A. Gray. ¶ 125</ref>
==Associations==
In '']'', Bríg ''(sic)'' invents ] while mourning for Ruadán (her son by ]), slain while fighting for the ]s. She is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel.<ref> (The Second Battle of Mag Tuired), translated by Elizabeth A. Gray. ¶ 125.</ref>


In her English retellings of Irish myth, ] describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night."<ref>{{harvnb|Gregory|2015|p=24}}</ref>
==Divine responsibilities==
Brighid was associated with perpetual, sacred flames, such as the one maintained by 19 nuns at her sanctuary in ], Ireland. It is widely believed, though not conclusively proven, that the tradition of women tending her sacred flame is far older than Christianity, and that before the nuns the flame was maintained by priestesses. Her sacred flame at Kildare was said by ] and other chroniclers to have been surrounded by a hedge, which no man could cross; men who attempted to cross the hedge were said to have gone insane, died, and/or to have had their "lower leg" wither.


==Brigid and Saint Brigid==
Brighid was also connected to holy wells, at Kildare and many other sites in the Celtic lands. ], the tying of ]s to the trees next to ], and other methods of petitioning or honoring Brighid still take place in some of the Celtic lands and the diaspora.
]


Historians suggest that the goddess Brigid was ] with the Christian saint of the same name. According to medievalist Pamela Berger, Christian monks "took the ancient figure of the mother goddess and grafted her name and functions onto her Christian counterpart," ].<ref name="The Goddess Obscured">{{harvnb|Berger|1985|p=}}</ref>
As one one of the most popular goddesses worshipped by the Celtic peoples, including the ]s, many of her stories and symbology survived in the persona of Saint Brigid. She was the goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom, excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in warfare. In the living traditions, whether seen as goddess or saint, she is largely associated with the home and hearth and is a favorite of both Pagans and Christians. A number of these associations are attested in '']''.


The goddess and saint have many of the same associations. Saint Brigid is considered a patroness of healers, poets, blacksmiths, livestock and dairy workers,<ref name="Farmer"/> as well as serpents (in Scotland) and the arrival of spring.<ref name="Carmina1">{{harvnb|Carmichael|1900|p=169}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Jones |first=Mary |title=Brigit |url=http://www.maryjones.us/jce/brigit.html |encyclopedia=Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia |access-date=14 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428023346/http://www.maryjones.us/jce/brigit.html |archive-date=28 April 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Her British and continental counterpart ] seems to have been the Celtic equivalent of the Roman ] and the Greek ] (''Encyclopedia Britannica: Celtic Religion''), goddesses with very similar functions and apparently embodying the same concept of 'elevated state', whether physical or psychological.


The saint's ] "are mainly anecdotes and miracle stories, some of which are deeply rooted in Irish pagan folklore".<ref name="Farmer">{{harvnb|Farmer|2011|pp=66–67, 467–470}}</ref> ] wrote that the melding of pagan goddess and Christian saint can be seen in some of the saint's miracles, where she multiplies food, bestows cattle and sheep, controls the weather, and is linked with fire or thermal springs.<ref name="ohogain"/>
==Festivals==
On ], Brigid is celebrated at the ] festival of ], when she brings the first stirrings of spring to the land. ], ], and some ] mark the day as the ] of ]; the festival is also known as ] and ].


This theory is contested, however, with many scholars including Elva Johnston arguing that the significance of the pagan goddess has been exaggerated at the historical figure's expense. Johnston has written "the argument for the priority of the goddess over the saint depends on three interrelated points: firstly, that Brigit is not real, secondly that her lives betray that they are an attempt to euhemerise a pagan deity and finally an underlying assumption that a goddess cult is more empowering for the women of ancient and, by analogy, contemporary Ireland".<ref>{{harvnb|Johnston|2024|p=}}</ref>
==Other names and etymology==
] ''Brigit'' {{IPA|}} came to be spelled ''Brighid'' by the modern Irish period. Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has been spelled ''Bríd'' {{IPA|}}. The earlier form gave rise to the Anglicization ''Bridget'', now commonly seen as ''Brigid''.


In the late 12th century, ] wrote that nineteen nuns took turns in keeping a ] burning at ] in honour of Saint Brigid, and that this fire was kept burning since Brigid's time. It has been suggested this fire originally belonged to a temple of Brigit the goddess.<ref name="Butler's Lives">{{harvnb|Burns|Farmer|1998|p=1-4}}</ref> The Roman goddess ] and the Greek goddess ] had perpetual fires tended by priestesses.<ref>{{harvnb|Wright|2011|p=75}}</ref> According to Gerald, it was ringed by a hedge that no man was allowed to cross,<ref name="Farmer"/> lest he be cursed.<ref name="Cambrensis1">{{cite book|last=Cambrensis|first=Giraldus|title=The Topography of Ireland|url=http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/topography_ireland.pdf|publisher=]|pages=54, 59|access-date=28 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="CillDara">{{cite web|title=Saint Brigid: St Brigid's Fire|url=http://kildare.ie/local-history/kildare/saint-brigid.htm|publisher=Cill Dara Historical Society|access-date=28 December 2012}}</ref>
*Brìghde/Brìde (])
*Ffraid (])
*Breo Saighead ("the fiery arrow" – a ] found in '']'', but considered very unlikely by etymologists)
*Berecyntia (]) {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*Brigan
*Brigandu (])
*] (])
*Brigantis (])
*Brigindo (])
*Brigida (The ]){{Fact|date=February 2007}}


The saint is associated with many ]s and ]s in Ireland and Britain, where small strips of cloth or ribbons are left as part of a healing ritual.<ref name="Healy">{{harvnb|Healy|2001|pp=12–19, 27, 56–7, 66, 69, 81}}</ref><ref name="Logan">{{harvnb|Logan|1980|pp=22–23, 95}}</ref> Celtic healing goddesses, such as ] and ], were often associated with sacred springs.<ref>{{harvnb|Koch|2006|pp=1488-1491}}</ref>
The ] ''Brigit'' appears to be derived from ] *''Brigantījā'' meaning "high" or "exalted".

Some of her titles included:{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
] is 1 February. It was originally '']'', the first day of spring in Irish tradition. Because Saint Brigid has been linked to the goddess Brigid, the festival of Imbolc is commonly associated with the goddess.<ref name="Koch2006">{{harvnb|Koch|2006|p=287}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|title=On the trail of a Celtic goddess: the Irish town celebrating St Brigid|url=
*"Brigantia, Exaltedness of Inspiration" - patroness of ]
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/jan/31/st-brigid-in-ireland-kildare-near-dublin|work=The Guardian|date=
*"Brigantia, Exaltedness of the Hearth" - patroness of healers, goddess of fertility
31 January 2024|access-date=3 February 2024|last1=
*"Brigantia, Exaltedness of the Forge" - patroness of smiths, craftsmen and warriors
Smith|first1=
Phoebe}}</ref>

Saint Brigid's Day or ''Imbolc'' is traditionally a time for weather prognostication:
{{verse translation|lang=gd|
Thig an nathair as an toll
Là donn Brìde,
Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd
Air leac an làir.
|
The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bríde,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.<ref name="Carmina1"/>}}

A ] on ] was named after Brigit by the ] in 1985.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Séaghdha |first1=Darach Ó |title=The Irish For: Is Brigid the only saint in space? |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/st-brigid-bank-holiday-6285792-Feb2024/ |work=] |date=1 February 2024 }}</ref> As the ] rules prohibit the use of national figures and religious figures from contemporary religions, this is a reference to the goddess rather than the saint.

== Neo-Paganism ==
Brigid is an important figure for some ], who emphasize her triple aspect. She is sometimes worshipped in conjunction with ] or ].<ref>{{harvnb|Magliocco|2001|p=30}}</ref>

==Name==
] ''Brigit'' {{IPA|mga|ˈbʲɾʲiʝidʲ|}} came to be spelled ''Briġid'' and ''Brighid'' {{IPA-sga|bʲɾʲiːdʲ|}} by the ] period. Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has been spelled ''Bríd'' {{IPA-ga|bʲɾʲiːdʲ|}}. The earlier form gave rise to various forms in the languages of Europe, starting from the Medieval Latin ''Brigida'', and from there to English ''Bridget'', French ''Brigitte,'' Swedish ''Birgitta'' and Finnish ''Piritta.''

The name comes from ] ''*Brigantī'' and means "the high one" or "the exalted one". It is ] with the name of the ] goddess ], with whom Brigid is thought to have some relation.<ref name="koch"/> It is also cognate with the ] personal name ''Burgunt,'' and the ] word ''Bṛhatī'' (बृहती) "high", an epithet of the ] dawn goddess ]. The ultimate source is ] ''*bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂'' (feminine form of ''*bʰérǵʰonts'', "high"), derived from the root ''*bʰerǵʰ-'' ("to rise").<ref>{{harvnb|Matasović|2009|pp=78-79}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=269}}</ref> ], citing E. Campanile, suggests that Brigid could be a continuation of the ] ].<ref name="campbell-delamarre" />


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]

* ]
==Notes==
* ]
<references/>
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Bitel, Lisa M. 2001. "St. Brigit of Ireland: From Virgin Saint to Fertility Goddess" )

*MacKillop, James. 1998.''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. (Oxford: Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |title=The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint |url=https://archive.org/details/goddessobscuredt00berg |url-access=registration |last=Berger |first=Pamela |year=1985 |publisher=] |isbn=9780807067222 |oclc=12133863}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Burns |editor-first=Paul |editor-last2=Farmer |editor-first2=David |title=] |edition=New full |date=1998 |publisher=] |isbn=9780814623817 |oclc=1103542623}}
* {{cite book |last=Carmichael |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Carmichael |title=Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations with Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites, and Customs, Dying and Obsolete |title-link=Carmina Gadelica |volume=1 |year=1900 |location=Edinburgh |pages=164–177 |chapter=Genealogy of Bride |chapter-url=https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1074.htm |oclc=705893406 |ol=14050293M |ol-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis |title=Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society and Literature |year=1995 |publisher=] |isbn=9780802838087 |oclc=1151802559}}
* {{Cite book |last=Farmer |first=David |title=] |publisher=] |year=2011 |edition=5th |isbn=9780199596607 |oclc=726871260}}
* {{Cite book|title=Gods and Fighting Men: the Story of the Tuatha de Danann and the Fianna of Ireland |editor-last=Gregory |editor-first=Isabella Augusta |editor-link=Lady Gregory |year=2015 |orig-date=1904 |publisher=] |isbn=9781495385148 |oclc=907958219}}
* {{cite book |last=Healy |first=Elizabeth |title=In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells |year=2001 |publisher=Wolfhound Press |isbn=9780863278655 |oclc=48362688 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Hutton |title=The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain |year=1996 |publisher=] |isbn=9780198205708 |oclc=832535162}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Johnston |first1=Elva |title=Making St Brigit Real in the Early Middle Ages |journal=] |date=January 2024 |id={{Project MUSE|918428}} |doi=10.1353/ria.0.a918428 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |year=2006 |editor-last=Koch |editor-first=John T. |editor-link=John T. Koch |publisher=] |isbn=9781851094400 |oclc=62381207}}
* {{cite book |last=Logan |first=Patrick |title=The Holy Wells of Ireland |year=1980 |publisher=] |url=https://archive.org/details/holywellsofirela00loga |oclc=562202397 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Magliocco |first1=Sabina |author-link=Sabina Magliocco |title=Neo-Pagan Sacred Art and Altars: Making Things Whole |date=2001 |publisher=] |isbn=9781578063918 |oclc=46573490}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Mallory |editor1-first=J. P. |editor-link=J. P. Mallory |editor2-last=Adams |editor2-first=Douglas Q. |editor-link2=Douglas Q. Adams |title=] |year=1997 |publisher=] |isbn=9781884964985 |oclc=37931209}}
* {{cite book |last1=Matasović |first1=Ranko |author-link=Ranko Matasović |title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic |series=Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series |volume=9 |year=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=9789004173361 |oclc=262430534}}
* {{cite book |last=Ó hÓgáin |first=Dáithí |author-link=Dáithí Ó hÓgáin |year=1991 |title=Myth, Legend & Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition |publisher=] |edition=1st |isbn=9780132759595 |oclc=22181514}}
* {{Cite book |last= Sjoestedt |first=Marie-Louise |author-link=Marie-Louise Sjoestedt |title=Celtic Gods and Heroes |year=2000 |orig-year=1949 |publisher=] |isbn=9780486414416 |oclc=1313537341}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stifter |first1=David |title=Study in Red |journal=Die Sprache |date=1998 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=202–223 |url=https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/13017/ |issn=0376-401X}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Brian |title=Brigid: Goddess, Druidess and Saint |year=2011 |publisher=] |isbn=9780752472027 |oclc=779141145 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last=Bitel |first=Lisa M. |date=February 2001 |title=St. Brigit of Ireland: From Virgin Saint to Fertility Goddess |url=http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/commentaria/article.php?textId=6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060217084703/http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/commentaria/article.php?textId=6 |archive-date=2006-02-17 |website=Monastic Matrix}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Catháin |first1=Séamas Ó |title=Hearth-Prayers and Other Traditions of Brigit: Celtic Goddess and Holy Woman |journal=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland |date=1992 |volume=122 |pages=12–34 |jstor=25509020 }}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* Pictures of St. Brigits Church in Kildare and the sacred fire pit.
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{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}

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Latest revision as of 14:03, 25 December 2024

Gaelic goddess This article is about the pagan goddess. For the saint, see Brigid of Kildare. For the given name, see Brigid (given name).

Brigid
Member of the Tuatha Dé Danann
"The Coming of Bríde" by John Duncan (1917)
TextsLebor Gabála Érenn, Cath Maige Tuired, Cormac's Glossary
Genealogy
ParentsDagda
SiblingsCermait, Aengus, Aed, Bodb Derg, Brigid the Healer, Brigid the Smith

Brigid or Brigit (/ˈbrɪdʒɪd, ˈbriːɪd/ BRIJ-id, BREE-id, Irish: [ˈbʲɾʲiːdʲ]; meaning 'exalted one'), also Bríd, is a goddess of pre-Christian Ireland. She appears in Irish mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán. Her sacred tree appears to have been the birch, given some older Imbolc-related traditions.

She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, smithing and domesticated animals. Cormac's Glossary, written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith. This suggests she may have been a triple deity. She is also thought to have some relation to the British Celtic goddess Brigantia.

Saint Brigid shares many of the goddess's attributes and her feast day, 1 February, was originally a pagan festival called Imbolc. It has thus been argued that the saint is a Christianization of the goddess, or that the lore of the goddess was transferred to her.

In early Irish literature

Cormac's Glossary, written by Christian scribes in the 9th century and based on earlier sources, says that Brigit was a goddess and daughter of the Dagda. It describes her as a "goddess of poets" and "woman of wisdom" or sage, who is also famous for her "protecting care". It says that Brigit has two sisters: Brigit the physician or "woman of healing", and Brigit the smith. It explains that from these, all goddesses in Ireland are called Brigit; suggesting that it "may have been more of a title than a personal name".

The Lebor Gabála Érenn also calls Brigit a poetess and daughter of the Dagda. It says she has two oxen, Fea and Femen, from whom are named Mag Fea (the plain of the River Barrow) and Mag Femin (the plain of the River Suir). Elsewhere, these are named as the two oxen of Dil, "radiant of beauty," which may have been a byname for Brigid. It also says she possesses the "king of boars", Torc Triath (from whom the plain of Treithirne is named), and the "king of wethers", Cirb (from whom the plain of Cirb is named). The animals were said to cry out whenever plundering was committed in Ireland. This suggests Brigid was a guardian goddess of domesticated animals.

In Cath Maige Tuired, Bríd is the wife of Bres and bears him a son, Ruadán. His name is cognate to several words in Indo-European languages that mean "red, rust", etc. The story says she began the custom of keening, a combination of wailing and singing, while mourning the death of Ruadán. She is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel.

In her English retellings of Irish myth, Lady Augusta Gregory describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night."

Brigid and Saint Brigid

Art mural in Dundalk depicting the duality of Brigid the pagan goddess and Brigid the saint.
Art mural in Dundalk depicting the duality of Brigid the pagan goddess and Brigid the saint.

Historians suggest that the goddess Brigid was syncretized with the Christian saint of the same name. According to medievalist Pamela Berger, Christian monks "took the ancient figure of the mother goddess and grafted her name and functions onto her Christian counterpart," Brigid of Kildare.

The goddess and saint have many of the same associations. Saint Brigid is considered a patroness of healers, poets, blacksmiths, livestock and dairy workers, as well as serpents (in Scotland) and the arrival of spring.

The saint's hagiographies "are mainly anecdotes and miracle stories, some of which are deeply rooted in Irish pagan folklore". Dáithí Ó hÓgáin wrote that the melding of pagan goddess and Christian saint can be seen in some of the saint's miracles, where she multiplies food, bestows cattle and sheep, controls the weather, and is linked with fire or thermal springs.

This theory is contested, however, with many scholars including Elva Johnston arguing that the significance of the pagan goddess has been exaggerated at the historical figure's expense. Johnston has written "the argument for the priority of the goddess over the saint depends on three interrelated points: firstly, that Brigit is not real, secondly that her lives betray that they are an attempt to euhemerise a pagan deity and finally an underlying assumption that a goddess cult is more empowering for the women of ancient and, by analogy, contemporary Ireland".

In the late 12th century, Gerald of Wales wrote that nineteen nuns took turns in keeping a perpetual fire burning at Kildare in honour of Saint Brigid, and that this fire was kept burning since Brigid's time. It has been suggested this fire originally belonged to a temple of Brigit the goddess. The Roman goddess Vesta and the Greek goddess Hestia had perpetual fires tended by priestesses. According to Gerald, it was ringed by a hedge that no man was allowed to cross, lest he be cursed.

The saint is associated with many holy wells and clootie wells in Ireland and Britain, where small strips of cloth or ribbons are left as part of a healing ritual. Celtic healing goddesses, such as Sirona and Coventina, were often associated with sacred springs.

Saint Brigid's Day is 1 February. It was originally Imbolc, the first day of spring in Irish tradition. Because Saint Brigid has been linked to the goddess Brigid, the festival of Imbolc is commonly associated with the goddess.

Saint Brigid's Day or Imbolc is traditionally a time for weather prognostication:

Thig an nathair as an toll
Là donn Brìde,
Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd
Air leac an làir.

The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bríde,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.

A tholus on Venus was named after Brigit by the International Astronomical Union in 1985. As the planetary nomenclature rules prohibit the use of national figures and religious figures from contemporary religions, this is a reference to the goddess rather than the saint.

Neo-Paganism

Brigid is an important figure for some modern pagans, who emphasize her triple aspect. She is sometimes worshipped in conjunction with Lugh or Cernunnos.

Name

Middle Irish Brigit [ˈbʲɾʲiʝidʲ] came to be spelled Briġid and Brighid [bʲɾʲiːdʲ] by the early modern Irish period. Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has been spelled Bríd [bʲɾʲiːdʲ]. The earlier form gave rise to various forms in the languages of Europe, starting from the Medieval Latin Brigida, and from there to English Bridget, French Brigitte, Swedish Birgitta and Finnish Piritta.

The name comes from Proto-Celtic *Brigantī and means "the high one" or "the exalted one". It is cognate with the name of the ancient British goddess Brigantia, with whom Brigid is thought to have some relation. It is also cognate with the Old High German personal name Burgunt, and the Sanskrit word Bṛhatī (बृहती) "high", an epithet of the Hindu dawn goddess Ushas. The ultimate source is Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂ (feminine form of *bʰérǵʰonts, "high"), derived from the root *bʰerǵʰ- ("to rise"). Xavier Delamarre, citing E. Campanile, suggests that Brigid could be a continuation of the Indo-European dawn goddess.

See also

References

  1. ^ Campbell, Mike Behind the Name. See also Xavier Delamarre, brigantion / brigant-, in Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003) pp. 87–88: "Le nom de la sainte irlandaise Brigit est un adjectif de forme *brigenti... 'l'Eminente'." Delamarre cites E. Campanile, in Langues indo-européennes ("The name of the Irish Saint Brigid is an adjective of the form *brigenti... 'the Eminent'"), edited by Françoise Bader (Paris, 1994), pp. 34–40, that Brigid is a continuation of the Indo-European goddess of the dawn like Aurora.
  2. Hutton 1996
  3. ^ Ó hÓgáin 1991, p. 60
  4. ^ Wright 2011, pp. 26–27
  5. Sjoestedt 2000, pp. 21, 25
  6. ^ Berger 1985
  7. ^ Koch 2006, pp. 287–288
  8. Gwynn, Edward John (1905). "Poem 36: Mag Femin, Mag Fera, Mag Fea". The Metrical Dindshenchas. Hodges, Figgis & Co. LCCN 06031290. OCLC 676746265.
  9. Macalister, R. A. S., ed. (1941). Lebor Gabála Érenn [The Book of the Taking of Ireland]. 41. Vol. 4. Dublin: Irish Texts Society. § VII, First Redaction, ¶ 317.
  10. Ellis 1995, p. 28
  11. Stifter 1998
  12. Cath Maige Tuired (The Second Battle of Mag Tuired), translated by Elizabeth A. Gray. ¶ 125
  13. Gregory 2015, p. 24
  14. ^ Farmer 2011, pp. 66–67, 467–470
  15. ^ Carmichael 1900, p. 169
  16. Jones, Mary. "Brigit". Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  17. Johnston 2024
  18. Burns & Farmer 1998, p. 1-4
  19. Wright 2011, p. 75
  20. Cambrensis, Giraldus. The Topography of Ireland (PDF). York University. pp. 54, 59. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  21. "Saint Brigid: St Brigid's Fire". Cill Dara Historical Society. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  22. Healy 2001, pp. 12–19, 27, 56–7, 66, 69, 81
  23. Logan 1980, pp. 22–23, 95
  24. Koch 2006, pp. 1488–1491
  25. Koch 2006, p. 287
  26. Smith, Phoebe (31 January 2024). "On the trail of a Celtic goddess: the Irish town celebrating St Brigid". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  27. Séaghdha, Darach Ó (1 February 2024). "The Irish For: Is Brigid the only saint in space?". TheJournal.ie.
  28. Magliocco 2001, p. 30
  29. Matasović 2009, pp. 78–79
  30. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 269

Bibliography

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