The Morrígan's Peace Prophecy
- Tess Joyce
- Aug 7
- 9 min read
Updated: Sep 2
In Irish mythology, the Morrígan was a sovereignty goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann associated with magical protection, battle, victory and the crow or raven - she could see into the depths and often had visions or prophecies about the future. The mother goddess Danu of the Tuatha Dé Danann showed parallels with the mother goddess Don of Welsh mythology (particularly in river names across Europe including the Don and Danube) and the pantheon of these early nature deities had many similarities including Lugh of Irish myth with Llew of Welsh literature and Nuada of the Tuatha Dé Danann with Nudd of the children of Don.
The Morrígan met with the 'good god' the Dagda, a powerful druid magician, before All Hallow's Eve (Samhain) in the mythology and therefore may be connected with Samhain and the season of Scorpio (death, transformation, rebirth, magic, ancestors and mystery.) The Old Irish word mór meant 'great' and rígain was queen, meaning 'great queen.' She was intimate with the Dagda at the river Unshin in Cath Maige Tuired and some saw her as his wife.
In the Cath Maige Tuired ('The Battle of Moytura') the Tuatha Dé Danann experienced victory in battle from their oppressors, (the tyrant Fomorians who had enslaved them and taken harsh tributes.) They gained victory under the leadership of the great warrior Lugh, a deity of light, known as Lugus in Gaul, who had skills in all the arts (a Samildánach.) Lugh is celebrated each year as part of the Lughnasadh celebrations on the 1st of August, honouring the first fruits of harvest, a time rich in the Leo qualities of the season including sovereignty and courage.
The Morrígan and her two sisters may have been a form of a triple deity - many of the figures in the stories appeared as a trio and there is a sacred mystery to this - Lugh also had been born as a triplet, yet his siblings were killed by the tyrant Balor in one folklore tale. The Morrigan and her sisters had protected the warriors and land with enchantments and imbued them with confidence and after their victory, she shared some poems.
One was a prophecy about harsh times of immorality to come for mankind, much like we see in many cultures about a future 'end time' or Wasteland, in preparation for a new world. This was spoken about in the Norse poem, the Prose Edda which described a harsh 'axe age,' along with the apocalyptic times foreseen in the Book of Revelations in the Bible as well as the challenging times of Kali Yuga in Vedic astrology.
In astrological terms this relates to the 'great year' of the Precession of the Equinoxes - a 26,000 year cycle which is divided into the 12 zodiac signs, but also into 'four seasons' in both Western and Vedic astrology of the golden age (Satya Yuga,) the silver age (Treta Yuga,) the bronze age (Dvapara Yuga) and the iron age (Kali Yuga.)
The Morrígan also shared the Peace Prophecy poem after this "battle of overthrowing" (which the mother goddess Danu had given them permission to undertake.) It was written in Old Irish and the sentences were small with alliteration and repetition of words as poetic devices. I have examined some of the English translations including Morgan Daimler's version and tweaked the translation which I include below - her book can be found here and it is meant to be the most complete version in English of Cath Maige Tuired.
Morgan le Fay with Excalibur by Dora Curtis (1905.) The priestesses of Avalon were associated with sovereignty, which was given by the land through the sword Excalibur. Morgana was associated with magic and healing and in some legends helped to heal Arthur after the battle, as part of the nine priestesses. It is thought that her name meant 'sea born' from the Old Welsh word mor meaning sea. Morgan shared some of the Morrígan's attributes including magical ability and visions.
As well as Morgan Daimler's version, I also looked at Isolde ÓBrolcháin Carmody's translation of the Old Irish into simple English which can be found here and Elizabeth Grey's very simple yet poetic translation which can be found here which includes a good rhythm - Grey only includes a shortened version of the poem, yet Daimler and Carmody included the complete versions. The first section is mainly from Grey's version and includes a beautiful succinct rhythm, the style of which can be seen in the Old Irish. I have also looked at Chris Thomson's version which can be found here - the sentences are far longer than the original Old Irish however he captures some of the imagery in a lovely visual way.
Translating poetry is notoriously challenging since certain poetic devices may not necessarily work in different languages. I have looked at all the versions and incorporated a version here which I feel embodies the short, rhythmic and repetitive style of the Old Irish version, along with including words which feel as accurate as possible. I cannot speak Irish, yet two of my grandparents were native speakers and I could feel an ancestral need to share this post to the best of my ability.
The Morrígan's Peace Prophecy Poem
Peace up to Heaven, (*the Old Irish word nem meant sky or heaven - I have chosen the latter for poetic rhythm.)
Heaven down to Earth.
Earth beneath Heaven,
Strength to each one,
The cup is very full, (*the literal meaning of the alliterative án for lann is 'cup with/on a plate' - Daimler gives 'a cup overfull' while Carmody gives 'a cup on a plate.' However, the similar sounding lan word meant 'full' and was used on the following sentence so I have picked the 'full' meaning, yet both are true.)
Full with honey,
Mead in abundance. (*Daimler gives 'sufficiency of renown' however the original uses míd or mead which seems an important word to include, mead is used in ceremonies and has symbolic relevance and made of honey. Yet míd also meant honour or renown. I've used the word abundance for rhythmic purposes - the focus on meaning to provide a satisfying amount of fill.)
Summer in winter,
Spears upon shields, (*upon in the context of 'supported by.' Daimler gives 'spears supported by warriors.')
Shields upon fists. (*Daimler gave 'warriors supported by forts' - the Old Irish word durnd, likely meant fist as written by Carmody (dorn/durn) whereas the similar sounding word fort, dunad, was used in the following sentence.)
Forts fiercely strong; (*lonn meant fierce/strong and garg was fierce - Carmody gave 'Blade-bristling fort.')
Gone is heavy grieving (*Daimler gives the translation 'banished are sad outcries' and the original trom can mean heavy or great - Carmody gave 'Consumption of solid earth .')
The rights of the descendants, (the grandchildren), (*Daimler gives a different translation of 'land of sheep', whereas Carmody focuses on the descendants and fod in the context of meaning rights or laws. Oí meant sheep, whereas uí which was the word used in the poem was connected with ó meaning grandchildren or descendant.)
Forests upon antlers, (* the Irish word ros means wood, Daimler gives 'healthy under antler-points' instead and biur/bir can mean point, spear or antler and for can mean either 'on', 'upon' or 'supported by')
Horns from the cow,
our encircling fence. (* Daimler gives 'destructive battle cries held back.' The word airbe meant fence or pen.)
Where masts hold trees
With boughs weary
Weary with produce
Sufficiency for sons (children) (* children could be used for intentional purposes, son is correct for historical translation. Saith meant sufficiency, wealth or as much as one requires, fill (of food))
A son (child) on a neck (* Daimler gives 'a son under patronage' but I've used the original neck word for poetic device and to show the likely astrological connection to the bull - Carmody explained that the original phrase also meant 'food-portion')
The neck of a bull
A bull of magical poetry (* translations differ and I have used Daimler's description and cannot find the Old Irish translation of arccoin. It likely refers to Pleiades on the neck of the Taurus bull constellation - an important symbol across both Gaelic and Brythonic mythology. Carmody gives 'Bull from[?] a watch-dog' - which may reference Canis Major and the dog-star which appears beneath Pleiades and Orion's Belt in the night's sky. at certain times of year.)
Knots for a tree
A tree for fire.
Fire from a stone (*Daimler gives 'Fire when wished for' and ail can mean wishes or stone, yet I've used the context of stone since it seems to follow a poetic device of one object following another.)
Stone from the earth (*Daimler gives 'Wished for earth.')
Mulch from the cows (*Carmody writes that uích may have meant 'young,' yet I have translated it as mulch/manure, fitting with the link to the similar -sounding úir (earth) above which it is likely connected to in this chain. Daimler put the two lines as 'wished for earth, getting a boast' and doesn't reference mbuaib, related to cows and may have found another meaning. I think 'cows' fits the poetic structure of one similar thing following another.)
Cows from a womb. (*the Old irish word bru meant belly/womb, and it was used to describe sites like Brú na Bóinne a complex of sacred sites such as the great chamber (or womb) of Newgrange at the river Boyne, associated with goddess Boann of the white cow which links onto the next line of poetry. Two hills known as Dá Chích na Morrígna are found near Brú na Bóinne and the goddess Boann may have been an aspect of the Morrigan since Boann was also a lover of the Dagda - at the deepest level it all goes back to the Oneness - of one god, one goddess and many forms. Daimler gives the translation instead of 'proclaiming of borders.')
Banks of birdsong (*Daimler gives 'Borders declaring prosperity' yet the word Brú (also meaning bank or edge ie. riverbank) has been used similar to the line above with bru meaning womb - rivers were associated with goddesses in Irish and Welsh culture - waters as primordial womb.)
Young deer after spring (*iaer /íar meant 'after' yet some translations give 'before' spring - I have put young deer after spring since this makes sense in terms of them being new-borns. The adjective ghlas/glas can mean the colours green, blue or grey, yet also young/verdant which makes sense in terms of the spring context and oss/os meant deer. Daimler gave the translation 'green-growth after spring.')
Autumns abounding in grain. (*Daimler gave 'autumn increase of horses' and the Old Irish etha was a grammatical form of ioth meaning corn or grain as found in Carmody's translation.)
Flocks for the land
Lands reaching the shore (*trachd/tracht meant shore or strength/vigour; Daimler gave 'land that goes in strength and abundance.')
Protecting with sharp edges. (*I cannot find a translation of the Old Irish la feabrae, yet the Mees translation uses 'sharp weapons')
To mighty woods, eternity takes its great run (* the word ross/ros meant wood, ruad meant mighty, sír meant forever, rith meant running as in running its course and már was great - connecting trees with time was a potent symbol - tree rings. Daimler gave 'Be it a strong, beautiful wood, long-lasting a great boundary' and Carmody translated 'The great run {time} to the eternal woods / promontory will be fierce' and Daimler gave 'Be it a strong, beautiful wood, long-lasting a great boundary.')
“Have you any story?”
Peace up to Heaven,
There will be Eternal Peace. (*Daimler translates this as 'be it so lasting to the ninth generation.' The old Irish was Bidsirnae s[ith] - nae was a reference to Noah, meaning a human being or boat, sir meant eternal and sith was peace. In Irish mythology (recorded by later Christian scribes,) it was written that the waves of settlers which first came to Ireland were thought to be descendants of Noah, survivors of a great flood which many cultures have described, which likely happened during the Meltwater Pulse 1B - this time coincided with the dates Plato described for the flooding of Atlantis. Historically this was accurate - people came across from the Middle-east, particularly Anatolia and spread West throughout Europe, settling into Ireland and Britain.)
Transliterated by Tess Joyce from translations by Morgan Daimler, Isolde ÓBrolcháin Carmody and Elizabeth Grey.
The Old Irish is as follows - note the poetic device of short sentence style, alliteration and rhyming pattern:
Sith co nem,
Nem co doman.
Doman fo nim,
nert hi cach,
an forlann,
lan do mil,
míd co saith.
Sam hi ngam,
gai for sciath,
sciath for durnd.
Dunad lonngarg;
longait- tromfóid
fod di uí
ross forbiur
benna abu
airbe imetha.
Mess for crannaib
craob do scís
scís do áss
saith do mac
mac for muin,
muin tairb
tarb di arccoin
odhb do crann,
crann do ten.
Tene a nn-ail.
Ail a n-úir
uích a mbuaib
boinn a mbru.
Brú lafefaid
ossghlas iaer errach,
foghamar forasit etha.
Iall do tír
tír co trachd
la feabrea.
Bídruad rossaib síraib rithmár,
‘Nach scel laut?’
Sith co nem,
bidsirnae s[ith.]
A version without notes is here:
Peace up to Heaven,
Heaven down to Earth.
Earth beneath Heaven,
Strength to each one,
The cup is very full,
Full with honey,
Mead in abundance.
Summer in winter,
Spears upon shields,
Shields upon fists.
Forts fiercely strong;
Gone is heavy grieving
The rights of the descendants, (the grandchildren,)
Forests upon antlers,
Horns from the cow,
our encircling fence.
Where masts hold trees
With boughs weary
Weary with produce
Sufficiency for sons (children)
A son (child) on a neck
The neck of a bull
A bull of magical poetry.
Knots for a tree
A tree for fire.
Fire from a stone.
Stone from the earth
Mulch from the cows
Cows from a womb.
Banks of birdsong
Young deer after spring
Autumns abounding in grain.
Flocks for the land
Lands reaching the shore
Protecting with sharp edges.
To mighty woods, eternity takes its great run
“Have you any story?”
Peace up to Heaven,
There will be Eternal Peace.
Transliterated by Tess Joyce from translations by Morgan Daimler, Isolde ÓBrolcháin Carmody and Elizabeth Grey.
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