Angus (legendary figure)
Angus , also Aengus or Oengus [ 'oinɣus ] (also known as Mac ind Óc , "The Young Boy") is a legendary figure from the Celtic mythology of Ireland in the early Middle Ages , which can probably be traced back to a Celtic deity .
Mythology and Etymology
Oengus is the son of Dagda and the river woman Boand and therefore a member of the Túatha Dé Danann . The Dagda fathered him after he had sent Boand's husband, his servant Nechtan , on a long wandering by magic, which Nechtan only appeared to be a day since the Dagda stopped the sun and moon. During that one day, Oengus is conceived and born. He later grew up with his foster father Midir , an older son of Dagda. When Oengus is ridiculed for his unknown origin, he demands that the Dagda be recognized as a son. By means of a ruse, he then receives the Brug na Boinne from Dagda or from Nechtan as his place of residence, as he agrees to let him have the Brug for a day and a night. But Oengus stands above time because he was conceived and born in one day and because the whole of life is ultimately just one day and one night. He helps his father against the poet Cridenbél , who threatens him with a vicious poem ( glám dícenn ).
In the story Tochmarc Étaíne ("The courtship for Étain"), Oengus advertises his foster father Midir to Étaín . Since Fuamnach , Midir's wife , magically transforms Étain and makes her disappear, she is beheaded by Oengus together with her foster father Bresal . The harpist Abhcan is said to have died at the hands of Oengus.
Aislinge Oenguso (“Oengus' dream face”) reports how hehimself wins a wifewith the help of Ailill mac Máta and Medb . It is Cœr Ibormeith , daughter of the elf lord Ethal Anbuail from Connacht . Delbaeth is considered his son.
In Diarmuid and Gráinne , Oengus is the paternal protector of the persecuted couple.
Oengus is probably derived from the Proto-Indo-European roots * oino- ("a [s]") and * guss- ("choice", "choose"), possibly also from * aon- ("true" or "a [ s] ") and * guth- (" voice ").
literature
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 253.
- Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter, Düsseldorf et al. 1991, ISBN 3-530-70014-2 , pp. 290 ff. (2nd edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 ).