Manannán mac Lir

thumb|right|upright=1.5|, sculpture by John Sutton at Gortmore, [[Magilligan, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.]]

thumb|The boat from the 1st century BC [[Broighter Hoard, which was found near Magilligan and may be a votive offering to ]]

or , also known as ('son of the Sea'), is a sea god, warrior and king of the otherworld in Gaelic (Irish, Manx and Scottish) mythology who is one of the .

He is seen as a ruler and guardian of the otherworld and his dominion is referred by such names as (or , 'Isle of Apple Trees'), ('Plain of Delights'), or ('Land of Promise'). He is described as over-king of the surviving Tuatha Dé after the advent of humans (Milesians) and uses the mist of invisibility () to cloak the whereabouts of his home as well as the dwellings of the others.

He is said to own a self-navigating boat named ('Wave-sweeper'), a horse which can course over water as well as land and a deadly strength-sapping sword named , though the list does not end there.

appears also in Scottish and Manx legend, where he is known as ('little Manannan, son of the Sea'). The Isle of Man () is generally thought to be named after him, though some have said he is named after the island. He is cognate with the Welsh figure .

Names

is given several names, bynames, epithets and surnames or patronymics. His name is spelt in Old Irish, in Modern Irish, in Scottish Gaelic and in Manx Gaelic.

Some of the names equated with include:

,
('Boyservant')
('Troublesome Boyservant')

Etymology

According to some, his name is derived from the Isle of Man with the suffix indicating 'one who is from' the named place. The island's name itself may come from a Celtic word for 'mountain' or 'rise', as the Isle of Man rises from the sea on the horizon. Alternatively, it may come from an earlier Proto-Indo-European root for 'water' or 'wetness'. In medieval Irish tradition, it appears that Manannán came to be considered eponymous to the island (rather than vice versa).

Surname and Epithets

The most common epithets for reinforce his association with war and the sea. means 'son of the Sea' or 'son of ', a sea god whose name means 'Sea'.

It has been suggested that his mythological father 's role as sea god was taken over by . 's other surname or means 'son of the Soil/Land', so that Manannán is effectively son of the sea and land.

In Irish mythology

appears in all of the cycles of Irish mythology, although he only plays a prominent role in a limited number of tales.

In the Ulster Cycle: ('The Wooing of Étaín'), ('The Wasting Sickness of ' or 'The Sickbed of '), ('The Wooing of ')
In the Cycles of the Kings: ('The Voyage of son of '), ('The Adventure of '), ('The Birth of ')
In the Mythological Cycle: ('The Book of Invasions'), First Recension; ('The Nourishment of the Houses of Two Milk-vessels') a 16th-century comic tale. was the place of origin of the Silver Branch brought to .

is also said to dwell in the Land of Promise (), as in the tale "The Adventure of ".

Manannán was tasked with allotting which sídhe or fairy mounds the surviving members of the Tuatha Dé Danann were to be settled. Manannán's own dwelling was at Emain Ablach, in the city of Cruithin na Cuan, as the tale later reveals. Manannán ensured the welfare of the Tuatha Dé Danann by concealing in the féth fíada or a mist of invisibility,

The poem thus identified the king of the island as one , 'little Manannan, son of the Sea' (or, 'son of Leir'). Manannan was later banished by Saint Patrick according to the poem.

;Illusory magic

According to tradition, Manannan once held Peel Castle and caused a single man guarding its battlements to appear as a force of a thousand, thus succeeding in driving out his enemies. Manx storyteller Sophia Morrison repeats this story except reducing the amplification to hundredfold men and referring to the rampart "a great stone fort on Peel Island". They include Mannin Lake () in County Mayo, Mannin Bay () in County Galway, Mannin Island () in County Cork, Cashelmanannan (, 'Manannán's Ringfort') and Sheevannan (, 'Manannán's Fairy-mound') in County Roscommon, Derrymannin (, 'Manann's Oak') in County Mayo, and Carrickmannon (, 'Manannán's Rock') in County Down. The placenames Clackmannan () and Slamannan () in Scotland may also refer to .

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography

Excerpts, edited and illustrated for children, were reprinted under the title: The 471-page original book should not be confused with the 59-page children's book.
A second edition was produced from the same publisher in 1901, but some of the earlier edition's notes about the manuscript materials were omitted.