Surfing the blogverse I came across a quiz link on Celtic Queens that asked "What's Your Celtic Name?" I stopped and wondered just what would be my Celtic name if I lived in those ancient days of gods and goddesses, magick and mystery. I proceeded to delve deeper into this curiosity. For research. Cough, cough.
In truth, I was procrastinating. Delaying jumping into the first draft of my new WIP, which is the second installment of a werewolf series and has nothing to do with Celtic culture, names or traditions. Still, one never knows what tidbits may be useful in the future.
The link at Celtic Queens directed me to appropriate page at Quizilla where I proceeded to answer the questions posed to me by the oracle spiritualkatana.
Lo and behold, according to the wisdom of the ancients, my Celtic name is Niamh [ˈniːəv]. When translated means brilliant or radiant. Hmmm, I think I rather like this name. <grin>
Somewhere in the recesses of my seriously over-loaded and sadly disorganized brain, I remembered the name Niamh. Not from a past life, but something I read. More procrastination ensued while I dug through volumes of books to find the few I'm looking for. My library, columns of books towering and teetering, stacked willy-nilly around my home office, is as orderly as the information in my noggin. After several minutes of searching, I lay my fingers upon the appropriate tomes.
Niamh-- Some legends claim she is the daughter of the King of Tir Na Og. Others call her the daughter of a Celtic sea god from the Isle of Man--Manannán. Whoa! Procrastination just turned into something useful. Manannán features prominently into the Faery Guardian Tales series I'm cultivating. Definitely need to bookmark these passages for future reference.
Niamh of the Golden Hair fell in love with Oisin, an Irish warrior, and brought him to her home in the land of faeries. The Land of Eternal Youth. There, they were happy but after a time Oisin missed his Fenian friends and wanted to return to Ireland to visit them. Niamh placed a geis upon him and warned that he would be safe on his journey and could return to her only if his feet did not touch the earthen ground. When Oisin reached Ireland he found all had changed. Man had become diminshed, somehow and the friends he'd known had long since passed. He watched in dismay as several men struggled to move a marble slab. Driven to assist them, he reached down from his horse to give a helping hand. Sadly, his saddle straps broke and he tumbled to the ground. When he stood, his young countenance transformed into a withered, blind old man. Never again did he find his way back to Niamh.
Ironic that a romance writer be "given" the name of a woman who's own love story came to such a tragic end. Of course, in my imagination, I'm going to write them a happy ending. One day. After I stop procrastinating and get on with my current WIP.
So, what's your Celtic name? Visit the oracle at "What is Your Celtic Name?" and post the results in the comments. I'm curious to know.
4 comments:
Wow, thanks for posting that! I got Darcy, meaning Darkness - very 'me' and the picture for her was fab - wish I could post it. :)
Hey Sis..I got Brighid. It means Power of the Goddess.
Surprise, surprise! I am also Niamh. We always knew we shared a brain, now we also apparently are the same person! LOL
Hey Pippa! Darcy is a fabulous name! Glad it was true to form.
Sis, I knew you'd get Brighid.
Dee, what else did you expect? LOL
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