In Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

, Nemain (modern spelling: Nemhain) is the fairy

Fairy

A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...

 spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

 of the frenzied havoc of war, and possibly an aspect of the Morrígan

Morrígan

The Morrígan or Mórrígan , also written as Morrígu or in the plural as Morrígna, and spelt Morríghan or Mór-Ríoghain in Modern Irish, is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have once been a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts.The Morrigan is a goddess...

. The name is sometimes spelt Nemon or Neman.

Representation in literature

In the grand Irish epic of the Tain Bo Cuailnge

Táin Bó Cúailnge

is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...

, Neman confounds armies, so that friendly bands fall in mutual slaughter. When the forces of Queen Medb

Medb

Medb – Middle Irish: Meḋḃ, Meaḋḃ; early modern Irish: Meadhbh ; reformed modern Irish Méabh, Medbh; sometimes Anglicised Maeve, Maev or Maive – is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology...

 arrive at Magh-Tregham, in the present county of Longford

Longford

Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 7,622 according to the 2006 census. Approximately one third of the county's population resides in the town. Longford town is also the biggest town in the county...

, on the way to Cuailnge, Neman appears amongst them:

“Then the Neman attacked them, and that was not the most comfortable night with them, from the uproar of the giant Dubtach through his sleep. The bands were immediately startled, and the army confounded, until Medb went to check the confusion.” Lebor na hUidhre, fol. 46, b1.

And in another passage, in the episode called “Breslech Maighe Muirthemhne,” where a terrible description is given of Cuchullain’s fury at seeing the hostile armies of the south and west encamped within the borders of Uladh, we are told (Book of Leinster, fol.54, a2, and b1):

“He saw from him the ardent sparkling of the bright golden weapons over the heads of the four great provinces of Eriu

Ériu

In Irish mythology, Ériu , daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. Her husband was Mac Gréine ....

, before the fall of the cloud of evening. Great fury and indignation seized him on seeing them, at the number of his opponents and at the multitude of his enemies. He seized his two spears, and his shield and his sword, and uttered from his throat a warrior’s shout, so that sprites, and satyrs, and maniacs of the valley, and the demons of the air responded, terror-stricken by the shout which he had raised on high. And the Neman confused the army; and the four provinces of Eriu

Ériu

In Irish mythology, Ériu , daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. Her husband was Mac Gréine ....

 dashed themselves against the points of their own spears and weapons, so that one hundred warriors died of fear and trembling in the middle of the fort and encampment that night.”

Kinship

In Cormac’s glossary, Nemain is said to have been the wife of Neit, “the god of battle with the pagan Gaeidhel”.
A poem in the Book of Leinster

Book of Leinster

The Book of Leinster , is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled ca. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18...

 (fol. 6, a2), couples Badb and Neman as the wives of Neid or Neit:—

“Neit son of Indu, and his two wives,
Badb and Neamin, truly,
Were slain in Ailech, without blemish,
By Neptur of the Fomorians”.

At folio 5, a2, of the same MS., Fea and Nemain are said to have been Neit’s two wives but in the poem on Ailech printed from the Dinnsenchus in the “Ordinance Memoir of Templemore” (p. 226), Nemain only is mentioned as the wife of Neit

Neit

For the Egyptian goddess, see Neith.In Irish mythology Neit was a god of war. He was the husband of Nemain, and sometimes of Badb. Also grandfather of Balor, he was killed at the legendary Second Battle of Moytura. The name probably derives from the proto-Celtic *nei-t- meaning fighting or passion...

. Also, in the Irish books of genealogy, both Fea and Neman are said to have been the two daughters of Elcmar

Elcmar

In Irish mythology, Elcmar or Ecmar was the husband of Boann and belonged to the semi-divine race the Tuatha de Danann, the people of Danu. It has been suggested that he is Nuada under another name, or that his name is an epithet for Nechtan the river god...

 of the Brugh (Newgrange

Newgrange

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument located in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It was built around 3200 BC , during the Neolithic period...

, near the Boyne

Boyne

Several terms incorporating the word "Boyne" include:* Boann, the Irish goddess after whom the river is named* Boyne River * Boyne Falls, Michigan,* Boyne Resorts, a ski resort company in Michigan...

), who was the son of Delbaeth

Delbáeth

In Irish mythology Delbáeth was the son of either Aengus or Ogma of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and Ethniu of the Fomorians. He succeeded his grandfather Eochaid Ollathair, aka the Dagda, as High King of Ireland. He was the father, by Ernmas, of the three eponymous Irish goddesses Ériu, Banba and Fodla...

, son of Ogma

Ogma

Ogma is a character from Irish mythology and Scottish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gallic god Ogmios....

, son of Elatan, and the wives of Neid son of Indae. This identical kinship of Fea and Nemain implies that the two are one and the same personality.

She sometimes appears as a bean nighe

Bean Nighe

The bean nighe , is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of bean sìth .-Legends:...

, the weeping washer by a river, washing the clothes or entrails of a doomed warrior.

Etymology

The variant forms in which her name appears in Irish texts are Nemon ~ Nemain ~ Neman. These alternations imply that the Proto-Celtic form of this theonym, if such a theonym existed at that stage, would have been *Nemānjā, *Nemani-s or *Nemoni-s.

The meaning of the name has been various glossed. Squire (2000:45) glossed the name as 'venomous' presumably relating it to the Proto-Celtic *nemi- ‘dose of poison’ ‘something which is dealt out’ from the Proto-Indo-European root

Proto-Indo-European root

The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language are basic parts of words that carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots always have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run", as opposed to nouns , adjectives , or other parts of speech. Roots never occur alone in the language...

 *nem- ‘deal out’ (Old Irish nem, pl. neimi ‘poison’ ). However, *nemi- is clearly an i-stem noun whereas the stems of the reconstructed forms *Nemā-njā, *Nema-ni-s and *Nemo-ni-s are clearly a-stem and o-stem nouns respectively.

Equally, the Proto-Celtic *nāmant- ‘enemy’ (Irish námhaid, genitive namhad ‘enemy’ from the Old Irish náma, g. námat, pl.n. námait http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb27.html#nàmhaid) is too different in form from *Nemānjā, *Nemani-s or *Nemoni-s to be equated with any of them.

The name may plausibly be an extended form of the Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

 root of the name is *nem- ‘seize, take, deal out’ to which is related the Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 Némesis ‘wrath, nemesis’ and the name Nemesis

Nemesis (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...

, the personification of retributive justice

Divine retribution

Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action.Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom.An example of divine retribution is the...

 in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. Also related to this Proto-Indo-European root is the Old High German

Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...

 nâma ‘rapine,’ German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 nehmen, ‘take,’ English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 nimble; Zend

Zend

Zend can mean:*Zend, commentaries on the Avesta, the sacred texts of the Zoroastrian religion.**In older texts, Zend can refer to the Avestan language*Salla Zend, a character in Star Wars*Zend Technologies, a PHP-focused company...

 ‘’O’Neal’’ ‘crime,’ Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 name ‘a curse’ and the Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

, Cornish

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

, and Breton

Breton language

Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...

 nam, ‘blame’ http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb27.html#nàmhaid. According to this theory, the name would mean something like ‘the Great Taker’ or the ‘Great Allotter.’ However, it is just as plausible that the name be related to the Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

 root *nem- ‘bend, twist.’ Along these lines, the theonym would mean something like the ‘Great Twister’ or the ‘Great Bender.’