Mog Ruith

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Mog Ruith [ moɣ Ruθʼ ], also Mug Ruith or Mogh Ruith , is the name of a legendary figure from the Celtic mythology of Ireland . He is said to have been a magical druid . His life dates are given differently in the traditions.

mythology

According to a story from the Leabhar Buidhe Lecain ("The Yellow Book of Lecan") and the Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta ("The Book of Ballymote"), Mog Ruith is said to be the blind son of an Irish sage ( éces ) and a prisoner-of-war British slave girl ( cumal ) be. According to a tradition, he lived in the 1st century AD, according to another legend ("The Siege of Knocklong ") at the time of Hochkönig Cormac mac Airt in the 3rd century. Cormac tries to conquer the province of Munster , which is ruled by King Fiachu Muillethan. He wants to win by using magic and lets all waters dry up, whereupon King Fiachu Mog asks Ruith for help, who lets the water flow again. The attempted invasion therefore fails, Fiacha defeats Cormac at Knocklong and gives Mog Ruith large pieces of land in County Cork , the Mag Féne .

However, Mog Ruith is also mentioned as a contemporary of Éber from Lebor Gabála Érenn ("History of the Conquest of Ireland"), 2000 years earlier. Another tradition tells him to live in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus of Nazareth . He learned the art of magic on the one hand from Irish druids , on the other hand from the Samaritan magician Simon Magus, known from the ( Acts of the Apostles ) of the New Testament . Since Mog Ruith is the only one who agrees to cut off the head of John the Baptist , he brings a curse to Ireland through this act, which is then plagued by cold, famine and disease.

Mog Ruith built a flying machine in Jerusalem under the guidance of Simon Magus, roth rámach , the "rowed wheel", which could also explain its name. His daughter is the magical druid Tlachtga , who is raped and impregnated by Simon Magus' three sons. After her death, giving birth to three children, a hill in County Meath , where her grave is believed to be, is named after her.

The name Mog Ruith is said to be derived from a King Roth mac Riguill and means "servant of Roth"; According to a second interpretation, it comes from Magus Rotarum ("wheel magician"), as such he is said to be able to prophesy from the course of wheels. A third version “slave of the wheel” has not yet been used.

See also

literature

Web links

  • Alberto Ferreiro: Simon Magus in Patristic, Medieval, and Early Modern Traditions. Brill, 2005, ISBN 90-04-14495-1 , chapter Mog Ruith. (books.google.at)
  • Robert Craig Maclagan: Our Ancestors: Scots, Picts and Cymry and What Their Traditions Tell Us, Chapt. XVII: The wheel, Mog Ruith. Kessinger Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7661-5368-1 , p. 221 f. (books.google.at)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 235 f.
  2. ^ Alberto Ferreiro: Simon Magus in Patristic, Medieval, and Early Modern Traditions. Chapter Mog Ruith, p. 210 f.
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 837.