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The Morrígan ("phantom queen") or Mórrígan ("great queen"), also written as Morrígu or in the plural as Morrígna, and spelled Morríghan or Mór-ríoghain in Modern Irish, is a figure from Irish mythology. The primary themes associated with the Morrígan are battle, strife, and sovereignty. She most frequently appears in the form of a crow, flying above the warriors, and in the Ulster Cycle she also takes the forms of an eel, a wolf and a cow. Most popular, however, is her embodiment as a crow where her representation as the goddess of death is most complete with crows/ravens frequent appearances on battlefield and birds eye view from above to view the world from below. She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with a cow may also suggest a role connected with wealth and the land. She is often depicted as a trio of individuals, all sisters. Although membership of the triad varies, the most common combination in modern sources is Badb, Macha and Nemain. However the primary sources indicate a more likely triad of Badb, Macha and Anand; Anand is also given as an alternate name for Morrigu.〔''(Lebor Gabála Érenn §62, 64 ): "Badb and Macha and Anand... were the three daughters of Ernmas the she-farmer." "Badb and Morrigu, whose name was Anand."〕 Other accounts name Fea and others.〔 ==Etymology== There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan's name. ''Mor'' may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror or monstrousness, cognate with the Old English ''maere'' (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian ''mara'' and the Old Russian "mara" ("nightmare");〔''Dictionary of the Irish Language'' p. 468.〕 while ''rígan'' translates as 'queen'.〔DIL p. 507.〕 This can be reconstructed in Proto-Celtic as *''Moro-rīganī-s''.〔(Proto-Celtic – English wordlist ); (EtymologyOnline: "nightmare" )〕 Accordingly, ''Morrígan'' is often translated as "Phantom Queen". This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.〔Rosalind Clark (1990) ''The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan'' (Irish Literary Studies, Book 34) ISBN 0-389-20928-7〕 In the Middle Irish period the name is often spelled ''Mórrígan'' with a lengthening diacritic over the 'o', seemingly intended to mean "Great Queen" (Old Irish ''mór'', 'great';〔''Dictionary of the Irish Language'' (DIL), Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, pp. 467–468〕 this would derive from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *''Māra Rīganī-s'').〔Alexander McBain, ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language'', 1911: ''(mór )'', ''(ribhinn )''〕 Whitley Stokes believed this latter spelling was due to a false etymology popular at the time.〔Stokes, Whitley (1891) Notes to "The Second Battle of Moytura" in ''Revue Celtique'' xii, p. 128.〕 There have also been attempts by modern writers to link the Morrígan with the Welsh literary figure Morgan le Fay from Arthurian romance, in whose name 'mor' may derive from a Welsh word for 'sea', but the names are derived from different cultures and branches of the Celtic linguistic tree.〔''Dictionary of the Irish Language'', "Morrígan".〕 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「The Morrígan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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