Gofannon

For the Wales settlement, see Gobannium.

Gofannon is a Middle Welsh reflex of Gobannus, one of the deities worshipped by the ancient Celts.[1] He features in Middle Welsh literature as a great metal worker and as the son of Dôn.[1] His name can be compared with the Old Irish gobae ~ gobann ‘smith,’ Middle Welsh gof ~ gofein ‘smith,’ Gallic gobedbi ‘with the smiths,’ Latin faber ‘smith’ and with the Lithuanian gabija ‘sacred home fire’ and Lithuanian gabus ‘gifted, clever’.[2] His apparent counterpart in Irish mythology, Goibniu, in addition to his duties as a smith, also takes on the role of a divine hero who brewed an ale of immortality and a wonderful architect.[1]

In Welsh mythology, Gofannon killed his nephew, Dylan Ail Don, not knowing who he was.[3] One of the tasks given to Culhwch if he were to win the hand of Olwen was to get Gofannon to sharpen his brother Amaethon's plough.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Canney, Maurice Arthur (1921). An Encyclopaedia of Religions. G. Routledge & sons, Ltd. p. 167.
  2. ↑ Blažek, Václav 2008, Celtic ‘smith’ and his colleagues, in Alexander Lubotsky, Jos Schaeken and Jeroen Wiedenhof (eds.) Evidence and counter-evidence: Festschrift for F. Kortlandt 1, Amsterdam–New York: Rodopi, 35-53.
  3. ↑ Fee, Christopher R. (2001). Gods, Heroes & Kings. Oxford University Press US. p. 68. ISBN 0-19-517403-8.
  4. ↑ Koch, John T. (2005). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 862. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.