Ecne

In Celtic mythology, Ecne (Wisdom, Old Irish "ecna, ecne", wise, enlightened) was one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and was the god of wisdom, or knowledge. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/rac/rac08.htm MacCulloch, John Arnott: "The Religion of the Ancient Celts" (1911) - chapter V, The Tuatha Dé Danann] online at sacred-texts.com (accessed 23 October 2007)]

Ecne had three fathers, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, who were all sons of Brigid and Tuireann, also known as Delbáeth. [http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Gods&Goddess/Celtic/Gods/Ecne/page%201.htm Gods & Goddesses: Ecne] at shee-eire.com (accessed 23 October 2007)] They are called the "tri dee Donand", meaning the three gods of Danu, which can also be read as the three gods of "dán", or knowledge. Related attributes are personified as their descendants, and Wisdom is the son of all three.

For Ecne to be the son of three brothers also recalls the early Celtic practice of fraternal polyandry.

Ecne's three fathers killed Cian, the father of Lugh, and Lugh's deadly revenge is recounted in "The Fate of the Children of Tuireann". [ [http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Myths/Tuatha-De-Danann/FateofthechildrenofTurenn/Page1.htm The Fate of the Children of Turenn] online (accessed 23 October 2007)]

In "Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions", James Bonwick reports Ecne as female and as the goddess of poetry. [Bonwick, James: "Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions" (London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1894) p. 141]

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