have i mentioned you have amazing taste in art? you've done such a good job with this 30 days thing i would never feel the need to make my own but i would do the art one, just for comparison sake, that might be interesting. hey btw i'm curious as to what about derbrenn causes you to describe her sexuality as scary and transgressive? i feel like maybe you know of a more involved version or picked up on something i didn't notice - i knew i liked her.
So kind of you to say! Especially when it’s taken me so long to get through it all, haha. You should definitely do an art post if you want; there’s plenty of visual themes I didn’t touch on myself. Plus, Heathens and Hellenics and Kemetics always have such pretty art posts…it would be cool for Celtic pagans to get in on that. Beyond the Goth-Morrigan photosets, anyhow. :P
On Derbrenn…I guess it’s usually spelled Drebrenn and also Drebriu sometimes? Silly me. Anyhow, this is just my personal impression, but it just seems to me that there’s something vaguely witch-like about her. The story I presented before is a tale of poor, innocent youths who were transformed into pigs by a cruel sorceress named Garbdalb. However, another section in the Metrical Dindshenchas paints the story different way, saying that she sent out these animals from her abode to wreck havoc on the land, destroying everything in their path. From this perspective, her efforts to shelter and encourage these wild beasts seems scarier and more malevolent, whereas the people who were trying to kill and eat them seemed totally heartless before. In this case, she would represent a very wild and untrustworthy force of nature, rather than a simple, benevolent foster-mother. (I see something in-between these perspectives, myself: they needed to get to the tree of Tarbga to regain their human shapes, but maybe they couldn’t help stomping everything on the way? Once again, I’d like to see a Ghibli movie of this.)Alan Ward suggests translates her name as “oak goddess,” and my own (admittedly amateur) attempt at a translation gives me “swift and sure” or “swift daughter.” So she may have something of a boar-like quality herself. (Boars feed on acorns; boars are incredibly strong and fast; some of the enchanted boars she sheltered were women as well.) Now, while most animals can possess an element of chaos in these legends, boars and pigs are some of the most frightening foes a hero can encounter. (At least when compared to other herd animals, such as cows, deer, or horses.) Due to their sheer ferocity, they were popularly thought of as an emblem for the warrior class. Other animals shared this poetic association for their agility and grace, such as birds, canines, or felines. Yet, it appears to me that the wild boar, in Gaelic cultures, has typically been coded as masculine. (Again in contrast to other creatures, who may be associated with any gender.) So, along with strength and unpredictability, this suggests to me a bit of gender transgression as well. I’m sure I could benefit from some more sources - maybe there are cultural associations between women and swine that I don’t know about? - but that’s how I see her at present, and I think she’s pretty interesting for all that. :)
Somewhat related: Not long ago I tried my hand at deciphering Nuamaisi’s name, and it looks like it basically means “fresh and fine.” As in new/young/zesty + outer beauty/finery. Lookin’ fresh. Got swag. /thiswasfunthanksforasking/sorryifioverexplainedsomestuff
