Llŷr

Llŷr Lledyeith ( llyr kymrisch : "sea", corresponds to the Irish ler , genitive lir ; lledyeith kymr .: "half-language"), also Llŷr [ ɬiːr ], is the Welsh counterpart to the Irish sea god Lir .

Mythology and Etymology

Llŷr is the husband of Penarddun and the father of Manawydan , Bran and Branwen . The legend Branwen ferch Llŷr ("Branwen, the daughter of Llŷr") is recorded in the second branch of the Mabinogi . Both the Welsh Llŷr and the Irish Lir apparently have a bird sympathy. Llŷr's children have a raven symbol in their name (from old Celtic * brannos "raven"): Bran's second name is Bendigeitvran "blessing raven" ( bendigeit , from Celto- Latin * ben [e] dicatos ), Branwen means "white rabbit "; Lir's children are turned into swans by his second wife Aoife .

Llŷr Lledieith is called together with Gweir fab Geirioedd and Mabon fab Modron "One of the three exalted prisoners of the island of Britain" ( tri goruchel garcharawr Ynis Bridein ).

The title character of the tragedy King Lear by William Shakespeare is based on the mythical figure Leir of Britain, a British king from pre-Roman times. Its name is also derived from Llŷr.

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Myths and legends from Wales and Britain

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 : The legend book of the Welsh Celts. The four branches of the Mabinogi . Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag Munich, 1999, ISBN 3-423-12628-0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} 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 , p. 682