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In Irish mythology, Danu (; modern Irish Dana (:ˈd̪ˠanˠə)) is a hypothetical mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: "The peoples of the goddess Danu"). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land.〔Squire, Charles (Celtic Myth and Legend ), p. 34: "Danu herself probably represented the earth and its fruitfulness, and one might compare her with the Greek Demeter. All the other gods are, at least by title, her children."〕 ==Name== The nominative form of the name, ''Danu'', is not found in any medieval Irish text, but is rather a reconstruction by modern scholars based on the genitive ''Danann'' (also spelled ''Donand'' or ''Danand''), which is the only form attested in the primary sources (e.g. in the collective name of the Irish gods, ''Tuatha De Danann'' "Tribe of the Gods of Danu"). The etymology of the name has been a matter of much debate since the 19th century, with some earlier scholars favoring a link with the Vedic water goddess ''Danu'', whose name is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '' *dhenh2-'' "to run, to flow", which may also lie behind the ancient name for the river Danube, ''Danuuius'' (perhaps of Celtic origin, though it is also possible that it is an early Scythian loanword in Celtic).〔Koch, John (ed.), Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 569〕 In one of the more recent examinations of the name ''Danu'', renowned linguist Eric Hamp rejects the traditional etymologies as fantasy, proposing instead that '' *Danu'' is rather derived from the same root as Latin ''bonus'' (Old Latin ''duenos''), from Proto-Indo-European '' *dueno-'' "good", via a Proto-Celtic nominative singular n-stem '' *Duonū'' meaning "Aristocrat".〔Hamp, Eric, "The Dag(h)d(h)ae and his relatives", in: Sawicki, L. and Shalev, D. (eds.), Donum grammaticum: Studies in Latin and Celtic Linguistics in Honour of Hannah Rosen, Peeters, 2002, p. 163-169.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Danu (Irish goddess)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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