Ailill Anguba

Ailill angubae [ 'al'iL'' anɣuva ] (to welsh Ellyll , "the [very] Other", describes elves ) is the name of a legendary figure from the Ulster Cycle of Celtic mythology of Ireland . He is in the story Tochmarc Étaíne ("The courtship for Étaín") the brother of Eochaid Airem , the king of Ulster , and his predecessor Eochaid Fedlech , who is considered the father of Queen Medb of Connacht .

King Eochaid Airem becomes the husband of Étaín in her second life after she was jealously bewitched as an air creature by Fuamnach , the wife of Midir , and forced to be reborn as the daughter of the warrior Étar. But since Midir still desires Étaín, he uses a spell to make Eochaid's brother Ailill fall madly in love with her. Ailill becomes terminally ill because of this unfulfilled love, because Étaín remains loyal to Eochaid for the time being. When she finally gives in to save his life, he falls into a deep sleep on the night of the rendezvous and Midir comes to Étaín in his form. But she only wants to go away with him if Eochaid allows it. Since Midir has to change his plan, he lifts the spell and lets Ailill heal again. However, he manages to beat Eochaid in the fidchell game and in this way to conquer Étaín after all.

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Myths and legends from Ireland

literature

• Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
• Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 , p. 546.
2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 671 f.
3. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . Pp. 11, 114.