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Europe
Explore myths, traditions and legendary beings grouped under Europe.
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Lir
Lir is a figure of Irish mythology best known as the father of the Children of Lir, the four children transformed into swans in one of Ireland’s most famous tragic legends. He is also associated with the sea through the …
Kipu Tytto
Kipu-Tyttö, also written Kiputyttö or translated as “Pain Girl,” is a little-known figure associated with Finnish folk belief and healing incantations. The name appears to personify pain as a female being, but Kipu-Tyttö…
Rind
Rind, also recorded in Old Norse as Rindr and in Latinised Scandinavian tradition as Rinda, is a little-known female figure associated with Odin and the birth of Váli, the son who avenges the death of Baldr. She belongs …
Mac Cécht
Mac Cécht is a name associated with more than one figure in medieval Irish literature. Most often, it identifies a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural people who appear in Ireland’s mythological history, and…
Kivutar
Kivutar is a female figure associated with pain, illness and suffering in Finnish mythic and incantation traditions. She belongs especially to the supernatural world described in Finnish healing charms, where diseases an…
Róta
Róta is a little-known female figure in Norse tradition, usually classified as a valkyrie. Her name appears in medieval lists of valkyries preserved in Old Norse literature, especially material associated with the Prose …
Macha
Macha is a name associated with several important female figures in Irish mythology and medieval Irish tradition. The name belongs to more than one character, and the surviving stories do not always present them as a sin…
Kotihaltija
Kotihaltija is a Finnish household spirit associated with the protection, prosperity and proper running of a home. The name is usually understood as “the guardian of the home” or “the household spirit”: koti means “home”…
Sága
Sága is a little-known female figure in Norse mythology, counted among the ásynjur, the goddesses or women of the divine Æsir. Her name is associated with the Old Norse word-family connected with speech, saying and what …
Medb
Medb is one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Irish mythology. Usually known in English as Maeve, she is the queen of Connacht and a central character in the Ulster Cycle, one of the four major narrative …
Kuu
Kuu is the Finnish word for the Moon and, in discussions of Finnish mythology, may refer either to the celestial body itself or to a personified lunar power. It is sometimes presented in modern summaries as a Finnish moo…