Tlachtga
Tlachtga [ 'tlaxtɣa ] is the name of a female legend from the Celtic mythology of Ireland . She is the daughter of the magical druid Mog Ruith and a magical druid . An earthwork on the Hill of Ward in County Meath , under which her grave is said, is named after her.
The legendary figure
According to the Dindsenchas (declarations of place names), Tlachtga is the daughter of Mog Ruith, whom she accompanied on his travels that led to Jerusalem. There she is raped by the three sons of Simon Magus , her father's magic teacher, and gives birth to each of them a son. She dies at birth, comparable to the macha in the story Noínden Ulad ("The weakness of the Ulter").
The hill
A hill in Meath, today the Hill of Ward near Athboy , about 30 km northwest of Tara (Temair), was originally named Tlachtga, because it is said to be the druid's grave. According to Geoffrey Keating , religious ceremonies ( óenach ) took place there in pre-Christian times . At Samhain , the druids lit a fire on the hill with which all previously extinguished hearth fires on the island had to be rekindled. In honor of Tlachtgas, large piles of stones were built on the hill. Tlachtga is together with Tailtiu ( Teltown , also in Meath) a religious center of pre-Christian Ireland .
See also
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 , p. 795.
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 314.
- Gienna Matson: Celtic Mythology A to Z . In: Mythology A to Z . Facts On File, Incorporated, New York 2004, ISBN 1-4381-1989-5 , pp. 449 f . (English, 529 pages, limited preview in Google Book Search).