BRIGID
One of the most famous figures in all of Gaelic mythology is the goddess Brigid, said to be a wise woman and a daugher of the Dagda. In the Book of the Takings of Ireland, Brigid is said to possess two oxen, Fea and Femen; the King of Boars, the Torc Triath; and Cirb, the King of Sheep; each of which have plains in Ireland that bear their name. In the Second Battle of Moytura, Brigid is the wife of Bres and the mother of Ruadán, and when Ruadán is killed by Goibniu the smith, Brigid, in her grief, establishes the first practice of keening in Ireland. The Old Irish glossary Sanais Cormaic suggests that "Brigid" was a name for all the goddesses of Ireland, but that it referred specifically to three sisters: Brigid the Smith, Brigid the Poet, and Brigid the Healer, all daughters of the Dagda. The goddess Brigid has also long been syncretized with an Irish saint of the same name, who had an abbey in Kildare, and is depicted in Gaelic folklore as the nursemaid of Jesus. Saint Brigid's origins are ultimately a mystery, but her enduring and ever-present influence have lead many to theorize that she may be a euhemerized version of the goddess. This piece features an anvil, an ollamh's staff, and healing herbs to represent the domains of Cormac's Three Brigids, as well as a Cros BrÃd to represent syncretism with the Irish saint. Engraved on the anvil are Brigid's boar, sheep, and two oxen, along with tears shed for Ruadán.
