Crom Dubh

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Crom Dubh or Crum-dubh etc meaning "black and crooked" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, was a Celtic god, for which see The Voyage of Bran, Book II, p49. It may have been some kind of megalith.

Di-Dòmhnaich crum-dubh – "Crom Dubh Sunday" – is known in Ireland as the first Sunday in August, but in Lochaber is applied to Easter. It appears in the Scottish saying:

Di-Dòmhnaich crum-dubh, plaoisgidh mi an t-ùbh.

"Crooked black Sunday, I’ll shell the egg."

The exact origin of this saying is unknown, but there is some evidence that Crom Dubh was a fertility related god. In later times, he would be considered to be an evil god because as Christianity spread through Europe, the Christians did their best to suppress worship of Pagan deities by proclaiming them evil. The element "dubh" (black) had sinister sounding connotations, and is generally believed to be a large part of the eventual association, and certainly the synonymous nature of the words "evil" and "black" throughout western culture.

There may be an etymological connection with cromlech, a term of Breton origin. Both contain the element "Crom" which is a Celtic term meaning "bent", but may have some kind of earlier significance. It is known that Samhain, the Celtic harvest celebration conducted sometime around November, was an important part of the year for Crom Dubh's worshippers, who believed him to bring the crops into harvest.^{[citation needed]} Because of this he was generally depicted with a bushel of wheat or other food stock over his back and "bent" was apparently originally meant to describe his leaning stance, adapted from years of reaping the fields and carrying the harvest over his back.^{[citation needed]}

1 Was Crom Dubh, Crom Cruach?
2 Crom Dubh in Literature
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Was Crom Dubh, Crom Cruach?

In The Voyage of Bran, Book II, p49, the dinnseanchas of Magh Slécht is quoted as mentioning the Crom croich/Crom Cruach, or king idol of Ireland. This crom croich is, on pp213, 214, identified with Crom Dubh, but Crom Dubh appears to have had wider currency than Crom croich, and this may be conflation.

[edit] Crom Dubh in Literature

Crom Dubh has been featured in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles in The Winter King and Enemy of God. Here Crom Dubh is described as an evil and malavolant God who is an Irish God brought to Post-Roman Britain by King Dyrnwych. Crom Dubh was described as a crippled and dark God.

This article incorporates text from "Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary" (1911)