Tailtiu: Mother of the Wind©
by Tira Brandon-Evans, FS

Tailtiu is an Irish Goddess of Sovereignty, an ancient Goddess whose annual funeral games, according to the myth, were instituted by her foster son Lugh. These games were held for more than a thousand years at a hill in Co. Meath that even today bears her name. The name of the festival is Lughnasadh, one of the great fire festivals of ancient and modern Celtic Heathens. Even though the Taltean games, sometimes called the Irish Olympics, endured longer than the Greek Olympics we know little of the Goddess for whom they were held.

Although modern Pagans tend to associate this festival with the Irish God Lugh, it is, in fact, dedicated to his foster mother, Taillte or Tailtiu. Horses and horse goddess cults were prevalent and extraordinarily important in the Celtic world.

EPONA

Epona, the Gaulish Great Mare Mother, was venerated throughout Gaul and Britain. Her shrines are even found in Rome and distant parts of the Roman Empire for her cult was adopted by the Roman cavalry. She is the only Celtic goddess that was included among the Roman deities. Epona is most often represented as sitting sideways on a horse. Although sometimes the horse appears to be in motion the pose is often quite static and the little statues look more like a lady sitting on a bench than like a lady riding side-saddle. Sometimes Epona is shown with two young horses, which recalls the story of the twins of Macha. Epona is shown in ancient reliefs holding a variety of objects the most common being a cornucopia, a sheaf of corn, or a torq, which is the symbol of nobility among the Celtic speaking peoples. These symbols of plenty and royalty indicate that she was a Goddess of Sovereignty and Fertility.

There are two undisputed examples of Great Mare Mothers in Insular Celtica: Rhiannon and Macha. Both of these Goddesses are associated with kingship. Our quest for the Irish Tailtiu begins not on the Emerald Isle but in ancient Britain and the Goddess we pursue is the lovely and enigmatic Rhiannon.



EPONA RIDES
(Picture found at: Pagan Goddesses)

THE TROUBLES OF RHIANNON

"And upon the mound [Pwyll and his friends] sat. And while he sat there, they saw a lady, on a pure white horse of large size, with a garment of shining gold around her, coming along the highway that led from the mound; and the horse seemed to move at a slow and even pace, and to be coming up towards the mound.

And the next day ... they went and sat upon the mound; and ere they had been there but a short time, they beheld the lady coming by the same road, and in the same manner, and at the same pace. "Young man," said Pwyll, "I see the lady coming; give me my horse." And no sooner had he mounted his horse than she passed him. And he turned after her and followed her. And he let his horse go bounding playfully, and thought that at the second step or the third he should come up with her. But he came no nearer to her than at first. Then he urged his horse to his utmost speed, yet he found that it availed nothing to follow her. Then said Pwyll, "0 maiden, for the sake of him whom thou best lovest, stay for me." "I will stay gladly," said she, "and it were better for thy horse hadst thou asked it long since." So the maiden stopped, and she threw back that part of her head dress which covered her face. And she fixed her eyes upon him, and began to talk with him. "Lady," asked he, "whence comest thou, and whereunto dost thou journey?" "I journey on mine own errand," said she, "and right glad am I to see thee." "My greeting be unto thee," said he.

Then he thought that the beauty of all the maidens, and all the ladies that he had ever seen, was as nothing compared to her beauty. "Lady," he said, "wilt thou tell me aught concerning thy purpose?" "I will tell thee," said she. "My chief quest was to seek thee." "Behold," said Pwyll, "this is to me the most pleasing quest on which thou couldst have come; and wilt thou tell me who thou art?" "I will tell thee, Lord," said she, "I am Rhiannon, the daughter of Heveydd Hen, and they sought to give me to a husband against my will. But no husband would I have, and that because of my love for thee, neither will I yet have one unless thou reject me. And hither have I come to hear thy answer."

(The Mabinogion, translation by Lady Charlotte Guest.)
Rhiannon and Pwyll Prince of Dyfed are eventually married but they do not live happily ever after. When her son is abducted just after his birth, Rhiannon is accused of his murder and made to carry visitors to Pwyll's court on her back, as punishment. In other words, Rhiannon becomes a pack horse. The boy is discovered in a stable with a newborn foal and, after being raised with the young horse, is eventually returned to Rhiannon and Pwyll. Rhiannon is restored to her queenly status and her innocency is vindicated.

The serene Rhiannon, even in her grief and humiliation, is very like the tranquil representations of Epona that we find throughout the Roman world. Seated upon her horse she is forever three paces ahead of all who pursue her. But, if asked, she will turn and share herself with us. Composure, patience, and decorum, however, are not the qualities we usually associate with the Macha, the wild Great Mare Mother of Ireland.



EPONA & TWINS
(Picture found at: Relief der Göttin Epona)

THE CURSE OF MACHA

Macha, a woman of the Irish Sidhe, is married to an Ulsterman, a commoner who incautiously boasts that his wife can run faster than king's horses. The king forces Macha to prove her husband's boast even though she is pregnant. She wins the race but as she crosses the finish line gives birth to twins. In agony, she curses the Ulaidh with the Pangs of Ulster, so that whenever their land is under threat of attack the men would be disabled for five days and four nights with pains like those of a woman in labour.

In Ireland, the sacred king married the land by mating with a mare. It is unclear whether this mating was an actual act of sexual intercourse between the king and the mare or a ritual enactment of sexual congress. In this ritual of marriage the king became the husband of the Earth, the consort of the Great Mare Mother who was the spirit of the land.

Does the story of the Curse of Macha reflect this ritual marriage? A commoner boasts that his wife can run faster than the king's horses. Is he challenging the king's sacred right to rule by claiming that his wife is faster than the king's wife, the Great Mare Mother? If so, then the Ulaidh's king's cruelty in making the pregnant Macha run this race is explained. When she speeds ahead and wins the race Macha proves that she is the Great Mare Mother. Not only does she run like the wind, she gives birth to twin 'foals', twice blessing the land but at the same time justly cursing the king and his men, rendering them impotent, unable to defend the land.

THE MYSTERY OF TAILTIU

To unravel the mystery of Tailtiu we need to begin with her festival. Lughnasadh is widely regarded as an ancient celebration of the first harvest. First harvest is when the early ripening corn (grain) is cut. It was common, until the nineteenth century, to hurry the harvesting process by "burning the straw".1 This was done by reaping the corn2 and wetting it. After which the sheaves were set alight. In this way the straw and chaff is burned off and the corn quickly dried, and so, is ready for grinding right away. Considering the fact that the month of July was called "Hungry July", it is easy to see why the Irish farmers would want to reduce the length of time between reaping and grinding their corn. This practice was proscribed by an act of parliament passed in Dublin in 1634. Nevertheless, burning the straw continued well into the eighteenth century in some places. It may be that is one of the reasons why Lughnasadh is a fire festival.

Fire festivals are a feature of many Indo-European cultures and these were often simultaneously ubiquitous and site specific. Ubiquitous in that they were individually celebrated in a number of places, while at the same time being site specific in that there was a central place of assembly where the tribe or nation gathered to officially celebrate the ritual. We see this, for instance, in the Fourth of July customs in the United States of America where many people celebrate the day by setting of fireworks in their own back yards, while at the same time others resort to a local park to see the municipal fireworks and others expend time and resources in order to attend the great celebration in the nation's capital or at some other national monument. Tailtiu was the site of the great national celebration of the First Harvest in Ireland.

The archaeological record shows that Tailtiu was a pre-Iron Age ritual site.
Tailtiu's first importance was as a cemetery: it was one of the chief cemeteries of Ireland according to the old tract, Senchas na Relec in Lebor na Huidhre, and it was one of the chief burial places of the Ulaidh, a tradition which must go back to very ancient times. Stories in the Tain seem to support the tradition.3

This would also support the tradition that Tailtiu was associated with the Fir Bolg if we agree with the theory that the Fir Bolg were Bronze Age Celts and the Tuatha de Danaan were Iron Age Celts. In addition to its importance as a cemetery, Tailtiu was also a stronghold and a seat of government:
"... the mounds of Tlachtgha, near Athboy (Meath), and the now almost vanished Tailltiu (Telltown) in the same county, were not only palace sites, but were important sanctuaries: the resident king being regarded as a divine incarnation."4
The extraordinary importance of the great ring fort of Tailtiu is illustrated by the following:
"And Eriu was beaten back to Tailltin, and as many of her men as she could hold together; and when she came there she told the people how she had been worsted in the battle, and the best of her men had got their death."

(The Battle of Tailltin from Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Gregory.)

THE HILL OF TAILTE

Eriu is the Great Goddess of Sovereignty in Ireland, one of the Tuatha de Danaan, and she chose to make her last stand against the Children of Mil at Tailtiu, the ancient Fir Bolg stronghold. Teltown is the modern name of this site, which is located between Kells and Navan in Co. Meath. The Hill of Tailte, said to be the burial mound of Tailtiu, lies about halfway between Drogheda in the east and Oldcastle in the west. This entire area is a huge ritual landscape. Starting in the east and travelling west along the Boyne River we find: Dowth, Newgrange, Knowth, the Hill of Slane, and Navan. Continuing northwest along the Blackwater we come to the Hill of Tailte, and father west-by-northwest lies the great megalithic cemetery of Sliabh na Caillighe or Hill of the Hag. Southeast of Navan, the Hill of Tara forms the southernmost point of an almost perfect equilateral triangle with Dowth and the Hill of Tailte being the north-eastern and north-western points, respectively.

THE GENEALOGY OF TAILTE

Tailtiu is said to be the daughter of the King of Spain, but this must be taken in the context of the medieval sources and cannot be regarded as fact. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that an Irish Goddess of Sovereignty would be a native of Spain. In most sources this mythical king of Spain is called simply Mag Mor which means Great Plain. This clearly indicates that Tailtiu was the daughter of the fruitful plain.

Here is very simplified chart of the familial relationships derived from the various textual sources. Please, bear in mind that this is very simplified and is, in any case, not meant to represent a real genealogy.

CONJECTURAL GENEALOGY OF
TAILTIU AND EOCHAID MAC ERC


It is of great interest that she is the wife of Eochaid mac Erc, last king of the Fir Bolg.
50. ... Eochu son of Erc [was king for], ten years. There was no wetting [rain] in his time, save only dew: there was no year without harvest. Falsehoods were expelled from Ireland in his time. By him was executed the law of justice in Ireland for the fist time. Eochu son of Erc fell at the hands of three sons of Nemed s. Badra: he is the first king of Ireland who received his death-wound in Ireland.

(Lebor Gabala Erenn)

THE HORSE LORDS: SACRED KINGS OF IRELAND

The attributes of an ancient queen or goddess are often lost to us but we may find them reflected in what we are told of her consort. In this chapter of the Lebor Gabala Erenn we learn that during Eochu mac Erc's reign the land was fruitful, yielding harvests in every year. Furthermore, Eochu mac Erc was a just king, he introduced the rule of law into Ireland.

After the Battle of Mag Tuired, Tailtiu was married for a second time. In some sources we are told that Lugh gave her in marriage to Eochu Garb son of Dui Dall. In other sources this is not included. Eochu Garb means Eochu the Rough. His father is also called Duach the Dark. (See the APPENDIX for information on Lugh's relationship to Tailtiu.)

The name Eochaid and its variants - Eochu, Eoachaid, Eocaidh, Eocha, Eoan - is a common royal name. So many kings of Ireland, Scotland and Dal Riada are named Eochaid that one is tempted into wondering if this name was a title. Indeed, Eochaid Ollatair is one of the names of the Dagda. Eochaid derives from the Gaeilge each, said ach (sounds like the "ch" in "hatch") and is Irish for horse. In addition, éacht (sounds more or less like "hatched" without the 'h') means feat or achievement. Éachtach (sounds like "hatched-ach" without the 'h') means powerful and wonderful. While eachtra (said "ach-tra") means adventure, incident or tale.

THE GREAT MARE MOTHER

Tailtiu was the daughter of the Great Plain and the wife of the Horse Lords. She either cleared a great plain herself, caused her husband to clear it, or was the cause of Lugh's clearing it. The person doing the clearing of the great plain varies from source to source but in all instances Tailtiu is the reason it is cleared.

If there is any truth at all in the theories that the Great Goddesses of the land were replaced by Gods, then in Tailtiu we may have an example of this. Little is known of this Goddess but what we do know is tantalizing. The bits and pieces tease us into wondering who she was. The fact that her cult, in the form of her funeral games, survived for so long seems to indicate that Tailtiu was an extraordinarily important Goddess.
59. Tailltiu daughter of Mag Mor king of Spain, queen of the Fir Bolg, came after the slaughter was inflicted upon the Fir Bolg in that first battle of Mag Tuired to Coill Cuan: and the wood was cut down by her, so it was a plain under clover-flower before the end of a year. This is that Tailtiu who was wife of Eochu son of Erc king of Ireland till the Tuatha De Danaan slew him, ut praediximus: it is he who took her from her father, from Spain; and it is she who slept with Eochu Garb son of Dui Dall of the Tuatha De Danann; and Cian son of Dian Cecht, whose other name was Scal Balb, gave her his son in fosterage, namely Lug, whose mother was Eithne daughter of Balar. So Tailltiu died in Tailltiu, and her name clave thereto and her grave is from the Seat of Tailltiu north-eastward. Her games were performed every year and her song of lamentation, by Lug. With gessa and feats of arms were they performed, a fortnight before Lugnasad and a fortnight after: under dicitur Lugnasad, that is, the celebration (?) or the festival of Lug. Unde Oengus post multum tempus dicebat, "the nasad of Lug, or the nasad of Beoan [son] of Mellan.

(Lebor Gabala Erenn)
This great cleared plain is the fair land of Meath, perfect for raising cattle and horses. Coill Cuan, the place Tailtiu cleared, means Forest Bend and there is a great bend in the Boyne south of the Hill of Tailte. It was here, on this great pasture of clover, that the annual Taltean Games were held during Lughnasadh. These games featured feats of strength, contests involving skill and accuracy with weapons, and bardic competitions. Horseracing was, however, the major feature of these games.

Lugh is the son of a Formorian mother and a de Danaan father, but the ancient chroniclers included his connection to the Fir Bolg Queen Tailtiu in his genealogy. Among the Celts, the bonds created by fosterage were just as strong, if not stronger, than those of blood. This fosterage connection was, perhaps, added to Lugh's genealogy in order to validate his association with the pre-existing Taltean games.

The Hill of Tailte was the centre of the cult of this ancient goddess. Even though the festival is called Lughnasadh, it is clear that the games are in her honour and formed a part of the ritual veneration of Tailtiu. It is of interest that her influence seems to predate the arrival of the Tuatha de Danaan, indicating that her cult may have been established very early, perhaps before the cults of Eriu and Dana. In the genealogy lists, the progenitor of all Fir Bolg kings is Eochaid the Horseman of the Heavens. He is generally supposed to be the male manifestation of Bolg, the Belgae Goddess of Lightning. This association of Tailtiu's husband Eochu mac Erc with an indisputable Great Mare Mother is evidence that Tailtiu was also a Great Mare Mother.

Tailtiu is the goddess of the fruitful earth. She clears the great plain of Meath and it is under clover within the year. She is the foster mother of Lugh, a solar deity. Her consorts are horse lords, her father the great fruitful plain. In Irish talamh is the earth, the land. The plural of talamh is tailte a variant spelling of Tailtiu. The Sacred King marries the Sacred Earth, the Goddess of Sovereignty, the Great Mare Mother. When we celebrate Lughnasadh, we may do Her honour by showing gratitude for the harvest and by remembering that the bounty comes to us from the generous heart and hands of the Great Mare Mother, Mother of the Wind.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I would like to acknowledge the help of Mary Pat Mann (Ollamh) who sent me the quotation from The Festival of Lughnasa; Prof. John Waddell of the University of Galway, who sent me a list of references on Tailtiu; and Druh Green, whose friendship, help and encouragement are great and unfailing sources of inspiration.

LINKS: More Irish Names Derived from "Horse" Wonderful and informative page. Table of Contents includes: Names with Eoch (Horse), Personal Names Based on "Eoch" or "Each", Place Names Based on "Eoch" or "Each", Epona—or Macha—The Celtic Horse Goddess, King Eochy—Two Horse's Ears, Other Gaelic Words for Horse, The Horse in Celtic Culture, and Kelpies.

Teltown Earthworks There is a brief description of the site, a picture and some British-Israelite nonsense.

Bulldozing Tailteann - The ultimate barbarity. A news report on the destruction at Teltown site.

Stuff and Nonsense. This page is absolute nonsense. The belief that the ancient Celts were Jews is absurd. The whole British-Israelite movement is irrational and this fiction was used, and is still used by some, to promote the idea that the English (ie. Germanic Anglo-Saxons and Normans) have ancient rights to the Celtic lands of Ireland and Scotland. Furthermore, pretending that the ancient Israelites were racially or ethnically different from modern Jews (ie. that ancient Jews were Aryans and therefore superior to modern Jews) is pernicious racist propaganda. I include this link to help serious students of Celtic tradition recognize this fantasy and not fall into the trap of believeing that it in any way, shape or form constitutes a real history of Ireland or of the archaelogical treasures and sites of Ireland.
     In general, information from any page -- other than a translation of a medieval source, such as the Annals of the Ulster or the Lebor Gabala Erren, etc., -- that states that any of the Irish or Scots are descended from Noah is to be treated with the utmost suspicion. The Annals and the Lebor Gabala Erren, etc., were written by Christian monks who were trying to connect Irish royal genealogies to Biblical figures. These monks meant well but the genealogies they created were made up, entirely fiction, and these genealogies are to be taken with a whole shaker of salt.
     The Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) are also well known for trying to connect everyone on earth to one or another of the Biblical figures. This is fine, so long as we remember that these things are subjective matters of faith and not objective facts of history.

ENDNOTES:

  1. Danaher, Kevin; The Year in Ireland, Minnesota, Mercier Press, 1972, pp. 167-168 Back to Article
  2. For American readers - corn refers to all grains such as rye, wheat, oats, etc. The plant that Americans generally call corn is termed maize in Britain, Ireland and Scotland. Back to Article
  3. MacNeill, Maire; Festival of Lughnasa, The; Oxford, 1962 all references beginning p320 Back to Article
  4. Macalister, R.A.S.; Archaeology of Ireland, The; London, Methuen, 1949, p310 Back to Article

APPENDIX:

"I am Lugh, son of Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of Ethlinn, daughter of Balor, King of the Fomor," he said; " and I am foster-son of Taillte, daughter of the King of the Great Plain, and of Echaid the Rough, son of Duach."

"... [the infant Lugh] was brought away by Birog of the Mountain, and she brought him to his father Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of the King of the Great Plain."

"... while [Lugh] was king, his foster-mother Taillte, daughter of Magh Mor, the Great Plain died. And before her death she bade her husband Duach the Dark, he that built the Fort of the Hostages in Teamhair, to clear away the wood of Cuan, the way there could be a gathering of the people around her grave. So he called to the men of Ireland to cut down the wood with their wide-bladed knives and bill-hooks and hatchets, and within a month the whole wood was cut down.
     And Lugh buried her in the plain of Midhe, and raised a mound over her, that is to be seen to this day. And he ordered fires to be kindled, and keening to be made, and games and sports to be held in the summer of every year out of respect to her. And the place they were held got its name from her, that is Taillten."

(Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Gregory.)
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Tailtiu: Mother of the Wind copyright © 2002 by Tira Brandon-Evans, all rights reserved. Go Back

Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans and is, herself, a Faery Shaman and a Chartered Herbalist. She has authored many books, three of which, Healing Waters, The Green and Burning Tree, and Portals of the Seasons are presently published by Elder Grove Press. Visit her at, the Society of Celtic Shamans homepage.

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