An(n)a?

[Deleted]

Hi everyone,

Here in Brittany, sainte Anne, grandmother of Jesus, is venerated a great deal; she has many shrines and holy wells. It is often said that this is because of the ancient Goddess An(n)a, who would have been a goddess of the earth and fertility, a sort of ancestral Goddess.
Does anyone know more about this Goddess? I'd like to learn. I have a vague memory there is an Anna mentioned as an important ancestor in one of the branches of the mabinogi, but I can't remember where. The sister of king Arthur, Morgause, was also called Anna, but I am not sure there is a link.
In short, I am a noob. Can anyone enlighthn me a bit?

Ennys

[aelfarh]

As fas as I know, Anna is also known as Danna,or Danu the one Goddess mother of the Irish Gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann, or people of the Goddess Danna. She is a Mother Goddess par excellence, and there are theories that many names in the "march of the Celts" from Eastern Europe to the Atlantic coast and the Isles are in her honour, as the Danube river.

There's, however, no great mention of her on the Irish texts and myths, keeping her just in the role of ancient mother. For me Danna represents the sipirit of the land in an almost pan-celtic way, more than just a sovereignty Goddess a Mother goddess with the implications it has.

[Deleted]

Thanks for you respont, Aelfarh
I also see Ana as the earth Goddess, the universal spirit of the Land. It is my favourite Goddess, that's why I'd love to learn more about her and her history.

More people having ideas?

[littleraven]

Well, you've got Don in the Welsh as the head of the house of Don, consort to Beli Mawr, who is mentioned as Anna somewhere else. A *very* significant ancestor. If you've got Saint Anne as the grandmother of Jesus, this reminds one of Brighid of Ireland, bringing us back around to Brigantia.

[megli]

Yes, there's an Irish goddess *Donu (not actually attested, hence the star in front of it: the nominative of the attested genitive Donann in Old Irish would have been Donu, though).

Yes, you read that right: the earliest OIr texts have -o-, not -a-. *Donu. Links nicely to Welsh Don, as LR says (although the Welsh has a long -o- and the Irish doesn't which is potentially worrying in terms of seeing them as cognates via Insular Celtic.)

The -a- in the word (i.e Donu --> Danu) probably creeps in via confusion with the Kerry mountain known today as An Dá Chí, 'The Two Tits', earlier Dá Chích nAnann, 'The two tits of Anu'. Cormac in his Glossary (late 9th century) says that the mountain is named from 'Ana, that is the mother of the Irish gods' (mater deorum Hibernensium). Keating, in the early 17th century, calls the same mountain Dá Chích Dhanann, 'The two tits of DANU'. So we know that confusion occured between Anu and Danu, with Danann standing in for Anann in the later language.

The confusion probably occured because Dá Chích nAnann ('Two Breasts of Anu') and Dá Chích nDanann ('Two Breasts of Danu') would sound absolutely identical in Irish. (I know it looks unlikely: but it's true! - both something like door kheekh nunnun).

Anu can't be the original name because Welsh Don points also to an ancestral Celtic divine mother *Donu.

So: either Anu was another name for Donu, or Cormac's statement that Anu was the mother of the gods is an early instance of linguistic confusion between Anu and Donu, accompanied by the transfer of the latter's characteristics to the former.

Anna in the Welsh genealogies (Harlean Gen. 10 for example) may well be a Welsh reflection of Anu. (So Bromwich, Trioedd p. 281-2).

[otho]

That is interesting.

Just used your info for a quick experiment...
If I call Danu I get the deity I have begun to know.

If I call 'door kheekh nunnun' something entirely different happens. More like a colossal Venus of Willendorf with a jotun's attitude. Much more power, more difficult to communicate with. Older.

Thought I'd share.

[megli]

If some of the British ruling classes sailing off from Somerset and Devon to Brittany in the migration period thought that one of their great female ancestors was called An(n)a - as the Welsh kings certainly seem to have thought - then I agree that the cult of St Anne (Anna in Latin, of course) might well have become very popular: understandably, if rather illogically! (During the time of the greatest migration, 450-600AD, they were pretty much already Christian by the time they went). A lot of the early place names of Brittany consist Plou + British saint's name, 'the people of St X', suggesting that amongst family groups colonising the peninsula there were Christian religious communities too. Indeed, it's been suggested that the earliest migrants to Brittany were in fact Romano-British Christians escaping in the 3rd century AD when Christianity was still being actively persecuted in Roman Britain.

[megli]

If I came to a deity and said 'two Tits of [deity's name]' I might get an implacable response too!

[otho]

ROFL

Just so. Couldn't resist though.

Next time will try 'nunnun' and see what I get.

[megli]

Well that won't get you far - it means 'of danu' or 'of anu' - the proper form is Anu or Danu (Irish has cases, like Latin)!

[otho]

I get a stone bowl on the ground in a clearing, filled with water reflecting the nights sky. Its about 5ft across. The area is tended and there are some simple flagstones. The water is still, the clearing is sheltered. No people, few sounds.

Recommend an Irish language primer?

[Francis]

Nov 19, 2008 15:00:27 GMT -1 @otho said:

Just used your info for a quick experiment...
If I call Danu I get the deity I have begun to know.

For an experiment???!!!!!!!!!!!!

[otho]

Its not as disrespectful as it sounds, I just have a blunt style.

Sorry, I didn't mean to detract from the tread so much. It was getting quite interesting too.

[Deleted]

Anna is also the Breton name of the saint. And a bowl of water is very appropiate, as there are many wells consecrated to st. Anne.
(In Brittany, everything may be consecrated to some saint; there are wells, trees (the oak of st. Teilo in Landelo being a famous one) standing stones...all very christian, of course. LOL.) A colossal Venus of Willendorg also seems natuural to mee, as Anna is the Land herself, a very primal force, the Great Ancestress indeed. I feel very connected to her, and to my feeling she is very connected to the land of Brittany.

Over here tradition has it t that he kingdom of Brittany (yes it was a kingdom; from the sixth until the twelfth century if Im not mistaken) is founded by the christian saints: Gwenole, Padarn (or Padarn, like Lanbadarn in the Vannes area), Kaourentin etc.
I know a beautiful Breton hymn to santez Berc'hed (Bridget in Breton) that tells about a blind and I though one-handed woman living in Nawareth, that received all her abilities when she helped Mary to deliver her child. If someone is interested I might post it here with a translation.