Aengus

In Old Irish his name is Óengus or Oíngus [oiŋɡus]. The name is attested in Adomnán's Life of St Columba as Oinogus(s)ius.[2] This is believed to come from a Proto-Celtic name meaning "true vigour".[1] The Dindsenchas state that Boand names her son by the Dagda Oengus because union with the Dagda is her "one desire."[3] In Middle Irish this became Áengus, and in Modern Irish Aonghus [ˈeːŋɡəsˠ], [ˈeːŋɣəsˠ].

He is also known as Óengus Óc/Aengus Óg ("Aengus the young"), Mac ind Óc ("son of the young"), Maccan/Macán, or Mac Óc/Mac Óg ("young son").[1]

Aengus is variously described in the following terms:

• expert in arms[4]
• horseman[4]
• sailor[4]
• son of the Dagda[4]
• of the many exploits[5]
• of the battle squadrons (along with Aed and Cermait)[6]
• red armed[7]
• mighty and stern[5]

The Dagda has an affair with the river goddess Boann, wife of Nechtan. To hide her pregnancy, the Dagda makes the sun stand still for nine months so that Aengus is conceived, gestated and born in a single day. When he comes of age Aengus dispossesses the Dagda of his home, Brú na Bóinne (an area of the Boyne Valley that contains the passage tombs Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth). He arrives after the Dagda divides his land among his children, and because nothing is left for Aengus, Aengus asks his father if he may live in Brú na Bóinne for "a day and a night", to which the Dagda agrees. Irish has no indefinite article, so "a day and a night" is the same as "day and night", which covers all time, so Aengus takes possession of Brú na Bóinne forever. In another—and probably the original—version of the story, appearing in The Wooing of Etain, it is the Dagda who helps his son Aengus take Brú na Bóinne from Elcmar, with the same semantic ruse. In this version, Midir is Aengus's foster-father, while Elcmar is the husband of Boann cuckolded by the Dagda.[10] This tale probably dramatizes the idea "that the blooming of youth denies the process of aging - at the youthful stage of life time passes slowly and vitality seems to be permanent".[1] In "The Fosterage of the House of the Two Pails," a similar story is related in which Manannán mac Lir, called the High King over all the Tuatha Dé, convinces Aengus to cast a spell by reciting a poem called "Luck and Prosperity" to his foster-father Elcmar. The spell forces Elcmar from the Brú until "ogham and pillar, heaven and earth, and the sun and the moon have been blended together." Elcmar then tells Aengus that he would have given him the Brú if he had but asked, but due to Manannán's incantation, he and his people will face woe and madness for the rest of their days. In this telling of the story, Aengus expresses remorse for banishing Elcmar and his people.[4]

Aengus kills Lugh Lámhfhada's poet for lying about his brother Ogma an Cermait. The poet claims that Ogma an Cermait had an affair with one of Lugh's wives.

In The Wooing of Etain, Aengus is able to partially lift a spell against Étaín, the horse goddess he won for his brother Midir. In a jealous rage, Midir's wife Fuamnach turns Étaín into a beautiful fly. Returning Étaín into her human form at night, Aengus makes her his lover until Fuamnach discovers the secret and drives Étaín away. Aengus kills his foster mother for her treachery.

In another tale Aengus falls in love with a girl he sees in his dreams. His mother, Boann, goddess of the River Boyne, and a cow goddess whose milk formed the Milky Way (Bealach na Bó Finne, or the White Cow's Way in Irish), searches Ireland for a year, then his father, the Dagda, does the same. Finally, King Bodb Derg of Munster finds her after a further year.[11]

Aengus visits the lake of the Dragon's Mouth and finds 150 girls chained in pairs, including Caer Ibormeith, the girl from his dreams, among them. Every second Samhain, Caer and the other girls transform into swans for a year. Aengus is told he can marry Caer if he can identify her in swan form. Aengus turns himself into a swan and they fly away, singing beautiful music that puts all who listen to sleep for three days and nights.[11]

In other legends Aengus is able to repair broken bodies and return them to life.

Similarities have been observed between Aengus and the Greek god Hermes.[12]

In the folklore of Scotland, Angus is the fairest son of the Beira (the Cailleach), who rules over Winter. Angus remains in Tír na nÓg all winter until he has a dream of Brigid that compels him to search the land for her. Brigid was held in captivity by the Fairy Queen who envied her beauty and forced Brigid to complete impossible chores. Angus finally leaves Tír na nÓg on his white steed by borrowing three days from August in order to search for Brigid. After searching everywhere, he eventually finds Brigid in Beira's underground palace just as Spring is beginning; when they meet on Imbolc, flowers begin to blossom and grass grows, and Brigid's shabby clothing is transformed into white robes with silver spangles, and her hair is garlanded with spring and summer flowers. Angus marries Brigid in a wedding feast, which is disrupted by Beira, who chases them off with storm clouds on her black steed. Eventually Beira grows old and weak and has to return to the Well of Youth for rejuvenation, where she again falls asleep, and Angus and Bride become the King and Queen of summer.[9]

In another folktale, it is related that Beira's son Angus contradicts all of his mother's orders in an effort to become King of the Universe. Angus is "weak minded and light headed," and in punishment Beira traps her son in the rocks, where he is forced to repeat the words of others (ie echo).[13]

Aengus owns a sword named Moralltach, the Great Fury, given to him by Manannan mac Lir. This he gave to his foster-son Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, along with a sword named Beagalltach, the Little Fury, and two spears of great power, Gáe Buide and Gáe Derg.

In Scottish folklore Aengus possesses a golden harp with silver strings, and when he plays it maidens and youths follow the music through the woods. He also kisses lovers, and when the lovers part, the kisses become invisible birds that follow the lovers home singing love songs and whispering memories in their ears.[9] Similarly, in the Dindsenchas, Aengus shapes his kisses into four birds that followed Cairbre to mock him each day before sunrise. This mockery continues until Cairbre's druid enchants a tree from Fid Frosmuine with song, which causes the tree to grow high above all others and detain Aengus' birds.[14]

In some legends, Aengus possesses a white horse, which he rides from the Land of Promise during the Spring.[9] In the Dindsenchas, a tale called "Tuag Inber" is relayed in which Aengus provides Eochu and Ablend a swift horse while they are encamped with their cattle. He tells them to unbridle the horse in a meadow before it "sheds its water" and causes their deaths; Eochu and Ablend forget to unharness the horse, and it forms a well, around which Eochu builds confinement.[5] The poem of Loch Ri is nearly identical to "Tuag Inber," except the character names differ and Aengus is replaced by Midir.[15]