Ecne

In Celtic mythology, Ecne (Wisdom, Old Irish ecna, ecne, wise, enlightened) was one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and was the god^[1] or goddess of wisdom.^[2]

Ecne is generally presumed to be the grandson of the goddess Ana/Anu who conceived Ecne after being impregnated by her three sons.^[1]

Ana's three sons may have been Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, who were sons of Tuireann,^[3] aka Delbáeth. Thus Ecne's three fathers were perhaps these brothers Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba (of Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann). Since the brothers were sired by Tuireann/Delbáeth upon his own daughter Danand, the brothers too were born out of an incestual relationship.^[5][a] The brothers are called the tri dee Donand, meaning the three gods of Danu,^[5][b] which can also be read as the three gods of dán, or knowledge. Related attributes are personified as their descendants, and Wisdom is the daughter of all three.^[2]

For Ecne to be the daughter of three brothers also recalls the early Celtic practice of fraternal polyandry.^[2]

Ecne's three fathers killed Cian, the father of Lugh,^[6] and Lugh's deadly revenge is recounted in Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann ("The Fate of the Children of Tuireann').^[7]

In Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions, James Bonwick reports Ecne as female and as the goddess of poetry.^[8]

Explanatory notes

1. Thus "their mother being their father's daughter", Brian and his brothers are given "sublimated divinity" in the Lebor Gabála inconsistent with the Oidheadh Cloinne Tuireann. Macalister (1941), endnote to §316, p. 300. Cf. also Introduction, p. 103.
2. Cf. endnote, p. 300 that the undoubtedly sacred mountain of the three gods (Sliab na Tri nDee) remains unidentified.

References

Citations

1. MacKillop (1998) s.v. "Ecne, Ecna", p. 172
2. 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)
3. MacKillop (1998) s.v. "Anu, Ana, Annan (gen.)", p. 18
4. "Donann, the daughter of Delbaeth, was mother of Brian, Iucharba, and Iuchar These were the three gods of Danu, from whom is named the Mountain of the Three gods. And that Delbaeth had the name Tuirell Bicreo". in Lebor Gabála Érenn, trans. R.A.S. Macalister (accessed 12 June 2025)
5. Macalister (1941) Lebor Gabála 4 Section VII. §316, pp. 128–129 "Donand ingen don Delbaeth chetna, .i. mathair in trir dēdenaig, .i. Briain ⁊ Iucharba ⁊ Iuchair. Ba siat sin na tri Dee Dana, diatá Sliab na Tri nDee. 0cus is don Delbaeth sin ba hainm Tuirell Bicreo." (English translation excerpted by maryjones.^[4]).
6. Gods & Goddesses: Ecne Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine at shee-eire.com (accessed 23 October 2007)
7. The Fate of the Children of Turenn Archived 8 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine online (accessed 23 October 2007)
8. Bonwick, James: Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1894) p. 141

Bibliography

• Macalister, R. A. S. ed. tr. (1941). "§316". Lebor gabála Érenn : The book of the taking of Ireland. Vol. 4. Dublin: Published for the Irish texts Society by the Educational Company of Ireland.

• MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press.