Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Loop of Brighid: Bride, the Cailleach and Nicnevin

Loop of Brighid: Bride, the Cailleach and Nicnevin

Last updated on: June 25, 2015 at 10:17 pm by Christopher Scott Thompson

Loop of Brighid: Bride, the Cailleach and Nicnevin 2015-06-25T22:17:35+00:00 Christopher Scott Thompson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

According to the Scottish folklorist Donald MacKenzie, Bride (the Scottish Brighid) is imprisoned in Ben Nevis by the hag goddess known as the Cailleach during the winter months before being freed by Angus Og, the god of love. An alternative version of the same seasonal legend states that the Cailleach can transform herself from a terrifying hag in the winter half of the year to a beautiful young maiden in the summer half- implying that Bride and the Cailleach are the same entity.

The sources for both these stories are unclear, and may have been cobbled together by folklorists such as MacKenzie out of much vaguer references in the oral tradition to the Cailleach imprisoning or transforming into an unnamed maiden representing the spring. However, since Bride’s festival on February 1 is the beginning of spring in Gaelic lore, and the Cailleach is represented as struggling to hold back the spring before finally giving up on March 25, the connection between the unnamed maiden and Bride is at least a logical one. It is also possible that the folklorists had access to a now-lost source specifically naming the maiden as Bride. This concept is not found anywhere in other sources such as the Carmina Gadelica. However, there is a rather convoluted point of connection between the two otherwise very different deities.

In Lowland Scotland, the mix of Celtic, Norse and Saxon cultural influences led to the Cailleach being referred to as the Gyre Carling. “Gyre” comes from a Scandinavian word referring to a primal giantess much like the Cailleach, while “Carling” or “Carlin” is the Lowland Scots equivalent to the Gaelic word “Cailleach.” In Scottish folklore, it was always understood that the Lowland Gyre Carling and the Highland Cailleach were the same being.

However, the Lowland Scots also believed that the Gyre Carling could appear in the form of a beautiful witch queen or queen of the Unseelie Court of sinister fairies. This “Queen of Elphame” was supposed to be worshiped by the Scottish witches, and sixteenth century witchcraft trial documents make many references to her, including the statement that she could be young or old at will. According to Scottish folklore, she rides out every Hallowe’en at the head of her spirit army or Wild Hunt. Both the attractive “witch queen” form of the Gyre Carling and the chief witch of any coven of Scottish witches were supposed to be referred to by the same name: Nicnevin.

Some scholars will tell you that this is a Gaelic last name referring to a saint, but that is to be skeptical merely for the same of being skeptical. One of the names of the Irish Sovereignty goddess known as the Morrigan was Neamhain or “Frenzy,” and in Gaelic NicNeamhain means “Daughter of Neamhain” and therefore “Daughter of the Morrigan.” It is pronounced “Nicnevin.”

In other words, not only does the Cailleach (possibly) change into Bride during the summer months, but the Cailleach’s younger alter-ego in the winter months is also referred to as the “Daughter of Neamhain” or daughter of the Morrigan. Despite being portrayed as a sinister entity, this Daughter of Neamhain also performs some of the functions of Bride. Bride is particularly associated with midwives in Gaelic lore, but in volume eight of Calderwood’s “History of the Kirk of Scotland” there is a reference to a midwife from 1582 describing her as “Nicknevin’s daughter.”

If Bride is the patron saint of midwives but a midwife is a “daughter of Nicnevin,” does that mean that Bride and Nicnevin are the same entity in some sense? Because Brighid is the daughter of the Dagda in Irish lore and the Morrigan is sometimes referred to as the Dagda’s wife, many modern pagans consider Brighid to be the daughter of the Morrigan. Personally, I have always felt that Brighid was much more similar to the Dagda’s other mate, the goddess Boann. However, consider the following.

If the Morrigan is Neamhain and Brighid is the daughter of the Morrigan, then Brighid is literally the “daughter of Neamhain” or Nicnevin. Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s the same “daughter of Neamhain” as the Scottish fairy queen — they could just as logically be sisters. However, Bride’s role as a goddess of poetry is paralleled by the relationship between the Queen of Elphame and the Lowland Scottish bard and prophet known as True Thomas or Thomas the Rhymer. It’s almost as if Nicnevin is Bride’s sinister sister- although they are never described as sisters nor even mentioned together in any Scottish lore. In fact, charms such as the Genealogy of Bride invoke Bride for protection against the invisible arrows of the Wild Hunt — who rode with Nicnevin at their head.

Are Bride and Nicnevin estranged sisters? Or, if Mackenzie was right and the Cailleach and Bride are the same entity on some level, then is Nicnevin also the same entity as Bride on some level?

This appears to be an example of the fluidity and ambiguity typical of myth — you can try to work out a logical system with clearly-defined boundaries, but you will never succeed. The lore is just too fluid for that. However, if the Cailleach is the Gyre Carling and the Gyre Carling can become Nicnevin, and Nicnevin is the daughter of Neamhain or the Morrigan… then the possibility of some connection between the kind, gentle and loving Bride and the wild and wicked hag goddesses and fairy queens of Scottish folklore cannot be ruled out.

Loop of Brighid is published on alternate Thursdays. Follow it via RSS or e-mail!

Columns

Editor's Picks

Loop of Brighid

Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories

Previous Post

November 20, 2013

Druid Thoughts: Pagan Portals

Next Post

November 22, 2013 Syncretic Electric: A Brief Reflection on Fiction

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE