Nessa (mythology)

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Nessa , also Nesa , Ness or Nes, is the name of a legendary figure from the Ulster cycle of Celtic mythology in Ireland .

mythology

Nessa is a king's daughter and the mother Conchobar mac Nessa . Once she asks (in the story Compert Conchobuir , "Conchobar's procreation") the druid Cathbad what this day is particularly good for and his answer is: "A good day for a queen to beget a king!" Since no other man in the When she is near, she takes him to her bedchamber and begets Conchobar with him.

In another version she is brought up by 12 fathers and is given the name Assa ("gentle") because she is a completely problem-free child. Cathbad is mentioned here both as a druid and as the leader of a Fianna , who raids the house with his warriors and murders all 12 men. Assa now founds her own Fianna and fights against Cathbad, which is why she is now called Ni-Assa ("not gentle"), or Nessa for short . But Cathbad defeats, rapes and impregnates her and forces her to become his wife. One day when he asked her to bring him water, he found two worms in the jar. He lets Nessa drink himself, she becomes pregnant by the worms and gives birth to Conchobar. When he was born, he had the two worms in his fists.

The King Fergus mac Róich of Ulster falls in love with Nessa and she agrees to a relationship if he lets Conchobar be ruler in his place for a year. Since Fergus believes this is only meant nominally, he agrees, but Nessa knows how to make her son so popular with the Ultern that they choose him instead of Fergus as king forever.

Nessa is also the mother of Finncháem , Elbha and Deichtire .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 1027.
  2. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. P. 120.