AONGHUS

The monks who wrote down the Irsh sagas tried to kegitimize the birth of Aonghus by making Boann the wife of Dagda, but it is obvious that Aonghus was a divine love child. Aonghus was handsome and four birds always hovered above his head which were said to represent kisses. Birds also feature in his courtship of Caer, a girl of divine descent who came from Connacht and lived as a swan. Her father, Ethal, was one of the Tuatha De Danann. He seems to have been reluctant about the marriage until Aonghus' father, Dagda, made Ethal his prisoner. It was finally agreed that Aonghus could marry Caer provided he could identify her and she was willing to be his bride. On the feast of Samhain, Aonghus found Caer swimming in a lake with a hundred and fifty other swans. He instantly recognized her and she aagreed to marry him. An interesting tale that has attached itself to Aonghus concerns his fosterson Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, or Diarmuid of the Love Spot. This attractive young man received a magic love spot on his forehead from a mysterious girl one night during a hunt. From then on, no woman could ever see Diamuid without loving him. This included Grainne, the princess who had been promised by the High King of Ireland to his Fenian commander Finn MacCool. Aonghus saved the lovers from the great warrior's wrath, but he could not protect Diamuid from the fate given to him at birth by the god's, that he should be killed by a magic boar. Nevertheless, Aonghus brought Diamuids body back to his own palace at New Grange, on the banks of the River Boyne, where he breathed a new soul into it so that he could talk to his fosterson.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology
By Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm


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