Ériu
In
Irish mythology,
Ériu (), daughter of
Ernmas of the
Tuatha Dé Danann, was one of the eponymous patron
goddesses of
Ireland. Her husband was
Mac Gréine (‘Sun's son').
[Lebor Gabála Érenn. [1]] She was the mother of
Bres by Prince
Elatha of the
Fomorians.
The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the
Old Norse or
Anglo-Saxon word
land.
With her sisters,
Banba and
Fodla, she was part of an important triumvirate of goddesses. When the
Milesians arrived from Spain each of the three sisters asked that her name be given to the country. This was granted to them, although Ériu (
Éire) became the chief name in use (Banba and Fodla are still sometimes used as poetic names for Ireland, much as
Albion is for
Great Britain).
Eriu, along with Banba and Fodhla, is interpreted as a goddess of sovereignty.
It is quizzical that in one moment this goddess was portrayed as being a beautiful queen and in the next moment a sharp beaked crow.
According to
Seathrún Céitinn she worshipped the
Badb, who is also sometimes named as a daughter of Ernmas. The two goddesses may therefore be seen as equivalent.
[Seathrún Céitinn, Foras Feasa ar Érinn. CELT online translation.]The University of Wales' reconstructed Proto-Celtic lexicon gives
Φīwerjon- as the
Proto-Celtic etymology of this name.[
2] This root appears to be related to
φī-wer-jō(n) meaning ‘earth' or ‘land'. If Ériu was an earth goddess, this would make her comparable to the Roman Ceres, Greek Demeter and Egyptian Isis. Apparently, an inherited form of the Proto-Celtic was transcribed in Ancient Greek as
Ierne and in Latin as
Hibernia.
