Of the real-world mythoi that are in the D&D game, Celtic is one of the ones I’m more likely to work on. How to handle it is an open question, because the D&D game primarily merges a variety of Celtic cultural mythoi into one; considering how much of what we know comes from euhemerized tales of the gods and simple interpretatio romana inscriptions. There are a small set of Irish figures that we can reliably see as pre-Christian deities, and the same can be said of the Welsh tales. Contitnental Celtic mythology is mostly known from inscriptions and artwork. So what would be the best way to approach these different groups? Merge them as one, and use the continental names to expand it into a large pantheon, or split them into smaller ones? I’m not sure what’s the best approach. I have two good sources for Celtic mythology: The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopedia of Myth, Legend and Romance by Daithi O hOgain and Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture by Bernhard Maier. I would like to get a good analysis of Welsh folklore, though.
The D&D Celtic Pantheon primarily consists of:
—Arawn, Welsh (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Belenus, Continental (2e L&L)
—Brigantia, Continental (2e L&L)
—Brigit, Irish (1e DD)
—Daghdha, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Diancecht, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Dunatis, Continental (1e DD)
—Fionnghuala, Irish (DMGR4)
—Goibniu, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Lugh, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Manannan Mac Lir, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Math Mathonwy, Welsh (2e L&L)
—Morrigan, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L)
—Nuada, Irish (1e DD)
—Oghma, Irish (1e DD, 2e L&L, F&A)
—Silvanus, Roman (1e DD, F&A)
As noted, many of these are Irish figures who can be reliably seen as divine figures. Only a handful of them, on the other hand, are Welsh, and a similar number are continental Celtic, while one is actually entirely Roman. In this latter case (Silvanus), his name shows up in Celtic inscriptions through Interpretatio Romana, as do many other Roman deities.
Preliminary Additional Irish Deities (spellings would be systemized if I work on these deities):
—Anu/Ana/Danu/Danann: titular river goddess of the Tuatha de Danann, possibly related to Don of the Welsh and the names for European rivers like the Danube, Don, Dneiper, etc.
—Badhbh/Bodhbh (pronounced roughly Bathv) is like the D&D portrayal of Morrigan, and might be a reflex of the same deity.
—Cairbre mac Eadaoine, poet of the Tuatha de Danann
—Credna, a craftsman like the smith-god Goibniu and mentioned as a trio with that figure, so he should be considered a deity too.
—Luchta, the third craftsman with Credna and Goibnu in a trio of craftsman-deities
—Neit, possibly a war-god
—Nemain, wife of Neit and possibly a reflex of Morrigan
Preliminary Additional Welsh Deities:
—Amaethon, god of agriculture
—Beli Mawr, possibly the Welsh version of Belenus
—Don, Welsh version of Irish Danann
—Gofannon, the Welsh version of Goibniu
—Lludd Llaw Eraint, also known as Nudd Llaw Eraint, the Welsh version of Nuada.
—Manawydan fab Llyr, the Welsh version of Manannan mac Lir
In general I need to dig deeper into the Welsh folklore to see what I can extract to make a pantheon out of, and considering how many are very similar to Irish deities (for obvious reasons), it’s a point in favor of a unified pantheon (with material allowing for an isolation of just a Welsh pantheon).
Continental Celtic Deities:
—Albiorix, identified with Mars, but the name is clearly related to one of the Celtic names of Britain, Albion, as well as “rix,” meaning King.
—Alisanus, possibly related to the name Alesia or related to trees or rocks.
—Ancamna, goddess listed with Lenus or Smertrius
—Andarta, goddess possibly related to bears
—Andrasta, goddess supposedly prayed to by Boudicca, and possibly related to Andarta
—Antenociticus, worshipped near Hadrian’s Wall
—Arnemetia, goddess related to groves (nemeton) and had a holy spring in Derbyshire
—Artio, goddess related to bears, with a statue of a seated woman feeding fruit to a bear
—Bergusia, goddess companion of Ucuetis
—Borvo/Bormo, a god associated with hot springs (name possibly means “to boil”) and healing, and identified with Apollo and companion to the goddess Damona
—Boudicca, either deified version of the rebel princess of the Iceni, or the princess was named for the goddess
—Cernunnos, who seems significant given the number of depictions of him, but there aren’t many mentions so it is difficult to determine what he truly represented.
—Coventina, a goddess from norther Britain, probably a water goddess
—Damona, a goddess probably related to cows and linked to Borvo, Albius, and Moritasgus
—Epona, a goddess of horses who is in D&D in the form of the Nic’Epona (Epona’s daughters) planar creatures, so she definitely needs a writeup.
—Esus, a god in multiple depictions that seem to represent a now-lost myth, and identified with Mercury.
—Grannus, a god identified with Apollo and healing, and spread far across the Roman empire, even being called upon by one of the emperors.
—Icauna, the name of a river and the name of a goddess of that river.
—Iovantucarus, possibly a protector of children, identified alternately as Mercury and Mars.
—Lenus, identified with Mars, for whom some large warrior-statues have been found.
—Litavis, a goddess whose name seems to be related to Llydaw, the Welsh word for Brittany.
—Lugus, the continental Celtic version of Lugh.
—Maponus, a young male deity interpreted as Apollo, and cognate with the Welsh figure Mabon fab Modron.
—Matrona, a mother-goddess associated with the river Marne in France
—Matunus, whose name may be connected to bears and Artaius/Andarta/Artio. Not much else is known, but I am curious if there is a connection between him and Math fab Mathonwy of Welsh folklore.
—Moltinus, whose name is cognate with mutton and other Celtic words for ram.
—Nantosuelta, goddess with a scepter topped with a small house, perhaps being a harth/home deity, and paired with Sucellus.
—Nemetona, connected with the Celtic word for sacred groves, and paired with Mars.
—Nodons/Nodens, a god possibly related to fishing, or connected to Nuada in Irish mythology.
—Ogmios, likely connected to Irish Ogma, and described as akin to Hercules and a god of eloquence.
—Rosmerta, a goddess with the same apparent root as Smertrius, and paired with Mercury.
—Rudiobus, only attested on the base of a statue of a horse.
—Sequana, the goddess of the Seine river.
—Sirona, a goddess whose name may be connected to the word for star and is compannion to Grannus; she’s also associated with healing springs.
—Smertrius, a god possibly related to protection and possibly having a myth regarding a fight with a serpent. Possibly associated with Dis Pater/Pluto.
—Souconna, another river goddess, for the Saone.
—Sucellus, whose name possibly means “Good Striker” and having depictions holding a staff with a mallet on top and a small vessel, and with the goddess Nantosuelta. Possibly associated with Dis Pater, Silvanus, or Jupiter.
—Suleviae, a group of protective goddesses, possibly related to Sulis. Also possibly related to the Matron cults popular for a time in Gaul and Germania.
—Sulis, a healing goddess associated with springs (Bath, England was known as Aquae Sulis), and associated with Minerva.
—Taranis, a god of storms and syncretized with Jupiter in some other forms of the name.
—Tarvos Trigaranus, depicted as a bull with three cranes in one image and possibly a second. It may be preserving a myth, however. Possibly connected to Esus.
—Teutates/Toutates, possibly a progenitor god of the Celtic peoples, and associated with Mars. Possibly cognate with “Tuatha de” in Irish.
—Toutiorix, possibly meaning “King of the Tribe” with similar cognate as Teutates and “rix” for king, associated with Apollo.
—Ucuetis, companion of Bergusia.
—Verbeia, river goddess of the River Wharfe in Yorkshire
—Veteris, a single or possible group of gods and maybe goddesses.
The following gods are primarily just attested through their interpretations of Roman gods:
—The gods Alator, Barrex, Belatucadrus, Bolvinnus, Braciaca, Britovius, Budenicus, Buxenus, Camulus, Caturix (“King of Battle”), Cicollus (paired with the goddess Litavis), Cnabetius (possibly the “Crippled One” connected to Nuada), Cocidius (coupled with Silvanus and Vernostonus), Condatis (confluence of two rivers), Corotiacus, Cososus, Dinomogetimarus, Divanno, Intarabus, Latobius, Leherennus (possibly pre-Celtic), Leucetius/Loucetius, Medocius, Mogetius, Mullo, Nabelcus, Ocelus, Olloudius, Rudianus, Segomo, Sutugius (possibly pre-Celtica), and Vorocius, all identified with Mars
—The gods Amarcolitanus, Anextlomarus, Atepomarus, Moritsagus (companion to Damona), and Vindonnus, all identified with Apollo
—The gods Artaius (possibly related to bears), Arvernorix (King of the Arverni), Arvernus, Atesmerius (possibly related to a goddess Atesmerta), Cissonius, Dumiatis (Dunatis?), Gebrinius (possibly Germanic), Moccus (possibly related to pig), and Visucius, all identified with Mercury
—The goddess Belisama (same root as Belenus) is identified with Minerva
I wonder if you’d consider Finnish or Slavic mythos? Those are typically underrepresented, the former getting a few touches thanks to Ed Greenwood.
A post about the Finnish pantheon will be coming, and I’ll probably wrap it up with other pantheons that never really made it into AD&D material before. :)
Its cool