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Asclepius, in Greek mythology, the god of medicine. He was a son of the god Apollo and Coronis, a beautiful maiden of Thessaly.

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Balder or Baldur, in Norse mythology, the god of light and joy, son of Odin and Frigga, king and queen of the gods.

Bestiary, type of book, popular in the Middle Ages, that purported to describe all the animals in creation, real or imaginary, and the human traits they exemplify. Bestiaries were the source of stories about the unicorn and the Phoenix; such tales were used as Christian allegories for moral and religious instruction.

Bor - Literally: 'born'. According to Germanic legend the primeval cow Audumla, 'the Nourisher', licked icy rocks and by the end of the first day there appeared the hair of a man. The next day it was the head and after that the entire man. This man was Buri, who begat a son called Bor who took to the daughter of a frost giant. Bestla and Bor had 3 famous sons, namely, Odin, Villi and Ve.

Boreas - The name given to the Greek god of the north wind.

Bran - Son of Febal. He is the royal hero of the eighth-century Irish epic The Voyage of Bran and His Adventures. The Irish distinguished between Voyages and Adventure, the former being journey's to foreign lands. The tale of Bran combines both voyages and adventures.

Bres - Legendary Irish king. Son of Elatha, a prince of Fomoire, a race with single arms and legs and Eriu, a woman of Tuatha De Danann. Bres had another name, Gormac, 'dutiful son' but did not live up to it. The Tuatha gave the throne of Ireland to him in hope that it would be able to ensure a peace between themselves and the Fomoire.

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Cadmus, in Greek mythology, Phoenician prince who founded the city of Thebes in Greece. According to tradition, Cadmus introduced the alphabet into Greece.

Charon (mythology), in Greek mythology, the son of Night and of Erebus, who personified the darkness under the earth through which dead souls passed to reach the home of Hades, the god of death. Charon was the aged boatman who ferried the souls of the dead across the River Styx to the gates of the underworld.

Circe, in Greek mythology, a sorceress, the daughter of the sun god Helios and the sea nymph Perse. She lived on the island of Aeaea, near the west coast of Italy. With potions and incantations Circe was able to turn people into beasts.

Cormac mac Airt - The Irish Solomon. The wisdom of Cormac was derived from a wonderful golden cup, which broke when three lies were told over it, but became whole when three truths were spoken over it. During the King's reign, Tara possessed an unprecedented reign of prosperity.

Coronation - The ancient West-Asian idea of the divinely appointed monarch took root in Europe at Charlemagne's coronation by the Pope on 25 December 800. The Christian rites for king always made it very clear that the temporal monarch was in some sense being ordained, for he was sacramentally anointed an had the hands of the Bishop laid upon him in the same manner as at the ordination of a priest.

Cuchulainn - Semi-legendary Irish hero, said to have lived in teh first century. His father was Lug, a Tuatha cheiftain. Cuchulainn was a youth of extrodinary beauty, stature and gaeity, the favorite of ladies and poets, yet he changed into a appaling spectacle when the battle frenzy was upon him.

Cupid (Latin cupido, desire), in Roman mythology, son of Venus, goddess of love. His counterpart in Greek mythology was Eros, god of love. He is best known as the handsome young god who falls in love with the beautiful maiden Psyche.

Cyclops, in Greek mythology, giants with one enormous eye in the middle of the forehead. In Hesiod, the three sons—Arges, Brontes, and Steropes—of Uranus and Gaea, the personifications of heaven and earth, were Cyclopes.

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Daedalus, in Greek mythology, Athenian architect and inventor who designed the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. It was built as a prison for the Minotaur, a man-eating monster that was half man and half bull. The labyrinth was so skillfully designed that no one who entered it could escape from the Minotaur.

Dagda - Literal meaning: 'the good god'. The ancient Irish deity of life and death; with one end of his staff he killed, with the other he restored. Dagda was the chief of the Tuatha De Danaan, and a mighty aid to the people at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.He was fire, all-father and the lord of great knowledge and the god of druidism, magic. In his possession were two swine, one always roasting, the other always growning, an inexhaustible cauldron and ever-laden fruit trees.

Dies Irae - Literally: day of wrath. This relates to the Christian oreoccupation with the end of the world, associated with the Millennium.

Dives - The medieval Christian personification of a rich man. Dives was doomed to hell-fire. Dives are the epitome of meanness, weighed down by his money bags and tormented by the devil.

Dana, also known as Danu, Anu, or Danaan, a major mother goddess in Celtic mythology. It is difficult to establish Dana's early role and significance, because much of pre-Christian mythology existed purely in oral tradition. Dana is attributed three sons: the gods Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba.

Dioscuri - Castor and Polydeuces, in Greek and Roman mythology, the twin sons of Leda, wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Polydeuces is also called Pollux. They were the brothers of Clytemnestra, queen of Mycenae, and Helen of Troy. Although both boys were known as the Dioscuri, or Sons of Zeus, in most accounts only Polydeuces was held to be immortal, having been conceived when Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan. Castor, his fraternal twin, was considered the mortal son of Tyndareus. Both were worshiped as deities in the Roman world, however, and were regarded as the special protectors of sailors and warriors.

Druidism, religious faith of ancient Celtic inhabitants of Gaul and the British Isles from the 2nd century BC until the 2nd century AD. In parts of Britain that the Romans did not invade, Druidism survived until it was supplanted by Christianity two or three centuries later.

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Eos - The winged Greek dawn Goddess. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Titan Hyperion and Thea. Like her Hindu counterpart , she was imagined as a charioteer riding across the sky just before sunrise. Her two horses were Shiner and Bright.

Empedocles (490?-430 BC), Greek philosopher, statesman, and poet, born in Agrigentum (now Agrigento), Sicily. He was a disciple of the Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Parmenides. According to tradition, he refused to accept the crown offered to him by the people of Agrigentum after he had aided in overthrowing the ruling oligarchy. Instead he instituted a democracy.

Erinyes, also Furies, in Greek mythology, the three avenging deities Tisiphone (the avenger of murder), Megaera (the jealous one), and Alecto (unceasing in anger). In most accounts the Erinyes are the daughters of Gaea and Uranus; sometimes they are called the daughters of Night. They lived in the world below, from which they ascended to earth to pursue the wicked.

Europa (mythology), in Greek mythology, daughter of Agenor, the Phoenician king of Tyre, and sister of Cadmus, the legendary founder of Thebes.

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Fin MacCool - The Fianna was an old cycle of epic tales concerning Finn and his son Osin, celebrate the splendours of the Irish kings in the thrid century.

Fortuna, in Roman mythology, the goddess of chance and good luck. From earliest times, her worship was extensive throughout the Roman Empire. At first, she was regarded as a kind of fertility goddess or bearer of prosperity; gradually, she was invoked exclusively for good luck. As the goddess of chance, she was often consulted about the future at her oracular shrines in Antium and Praeneste (now Anzio and Palestrina). A favorite subject in art, Fortuna is usually depicted holding a rudder in one hand and a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, in the other. The rudder signified that she guided the destiny of the world; the cornucopia, that she was the provider of abundance.

Frei or Freyr, in Norse mythology, son of the fertility god Njord. Frey was the god of fruitfulness, prosperity, and peace and the bestower of sunlight and rain.

Frigg or Frigga, in Norse mythology, goddess of the sky and wife of Odin, the chief of the gods. She was worshiped as the protector of married love and housewives. A bunch of keys was her symbol.

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Gawain - Gawain was the perfect knight, the strict upholder of chivalry and the enemy of sir Lancelot.

Gogmagog - The giant figure cut into the chalk hills near Cambridge. Gogmagog was connected to fertility rites of the pre-historic religion. Gogmagog was one of the many chalk cults that existed in the are. The age and identity of this pre-Celtic figure remains a mystery.

Gorgon, in Greek mythology, one of three monstrous daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto. The Gorgons were terrifying, dragonlike creatures, covered with golden scales and having snakes for hair. They had huge wings and round, ugly faces; their tongues were always hanging out, and they had large, tusklike teeth.

Grail, Holy (M.L. cratella, bowl), in medieval literature, the sacred cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper and later piously sought by the knights of the legendary King Arthur. According to tradition, the Grail was preserved by Joseph of Arimathea, who collected in it the blood from the body of the crucified Christ. The vessel was then conveyed to Britain, where it was transmitted from generation to generation of Joseph's descendants

Grendel - Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, the most important work of Old English literature. The poem tells of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, half man and half fiend.

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Hecate, in Greek mythology, goddess of darkness, and the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria. Unlike Artemis, who represented the moonlight and splendor of the night, Hecate represented its darkness and its terrors. On moonless nights she was believed to roam the earth with a pack of ghostly, howling dogs. She was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft and was especially worshiped by magicians and witches, who sacrificed black lambs and black dogs to her.

Hermaphroditus, in Greek mythology, a youth who was transformed by the gods into a being half male and half female, after a nymph, whose love he had rejected, prayed to be forever united with him.

Hypnos - Literally: 'sleep'. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Hypnos dwelt in the underworld and never set his eyes out on the sun, but during the hours of the night, came softly out into the world and brought sweet rest to men.

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Iphigenia, in Greek mythology, eldest daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

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Janus, in Roman mythology, the god of doors and gateways, and also of beginnings, which the Romans believed ensured good endings. His principal temple in the Forum had doors facing east and west for the beginning and ending of the day, and between them stood his statue with two faces, gazing in opposite directions. In every home the morning prayer was addressed to him, and in every domestic undertaking his assistance was sought.

Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson, a king in Greece. Aeson's throne had been taken away from him by his half brother Pelias, and Jason, the rightful heir to the throne, had been sent away as a child for his own protection. When Jason grew to manhood, however, he courageously returned to Greece to regain his kingdom.

Juno (mythology), in Roman mythology, queen of the gods, the wife and sister of the god Jupiter. She was the protector of women and was worshiped under several names.

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Kul - The Syrian water spirit, an evil being living in deep waters. It had a human shape.

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Loki, in Norse mythology, the handsome giant who represented evil and was possessed of great knowledge and cunning. He was indirectly responsible for the death of Balder, god of light and joy.

Lancelot - The most attractive and splendid of King Arthur's knights and his competitor for Guinevere's love. Arthur abandoned all sense of rightness, but was perfect from a woman's standpoint.

Leib-olmai - Meaning: alder man. The bear man, or bear god, honored by the Lapps. He was the god that gave luck to the hunter, preventing injury in the skirmish with the bear. At bear feists, the hunters faces were sprinkled with alder bark, in honor of Leib-olmai.

Lucretia - The rape of Lucretia toppled the Etruscan kings of Rome.

Limbo (Latin limbus, border, edge), in Roman Catholic theology, abode of the dead whose souls are excluded from heaven through no fault of their own.

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Manannan mac Lir - The eponymus hero of the manxmen. He was the first king and a great magician/ medicine-man.

Mars (mythology), in Roman mythology, god of war. One of the most important Roman deities, Mars was regarded as the father of the Roman people because he was the father of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome

Merlin - The Archetypical wizard of the Arthurian legends. He brought together the royal couple who were to become Arthur's parents and watched over Arthur's youth, preparing him in secret for the hour of his destiny.

Minerva, in Roman mythology, goddess of handicrafts. Identified from an early date with the Greek goddess Athena, Minerva was the patron of the arts, and trades.

Midas, in Greek mythology, king of Phrygia in Asia Minor. For his hospitality to the satyr Silenus, Dionysus, god of wine, offered to grant Midas anything he wished. The king requested that everything he touched be turned to gold, but he soon regretted his choice because even his food and water were changed to gold.

Minos, in Greek mythology, legendary ruler of Crete. Minos was the son of Zeus, father of the gods, and of the princess Europa.

Moirai - In Greek mythology, the three goddesses who determined human life and destiny also known as the fates.

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Naglfar - A ghostly ship made from the nail pairings of the dead. Hence the obligation among Germanic peoples ensure that none went to the graves with nails ushorn. At Ragnarok, the destruction of the gods, the Naglfar would slip its moorings in the violent seas whipped up by the monster Jormungandr.

Num - The sky god of the Samoyeds. The heavens were supreme in Uralian cosmology, the Voguls even believed that their sky god Numitorem sent down animals to the forests and fishes to the rivers.

Nemesis, in Greek mythology, personification of divine justice and the vengeance of the gods, sometimes called the daughter of Night. She represented the righteous anger of the gods against the proud and haughty and against breakers of the law; she distributed good or bad fortune to all mortals. No one could escape her power.

Nestor, in Greek mythology, king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Chloris.

Nike, in Greek mythology, goddess of victory, daughter of the Titan Pallas and the river Styx. Nike fought with the god Zeus in his battle against the Titans, and in Greek art is sometimes represented as winged and carrying a wreath or palm of victory.

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Oceanus, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, the son of Uranus and Gaea.

Odysseus, in Greek legend, a Greek hero, ruler of the island of Ithaca and one of the leaders of the Greek army during the Trojan War. Homer's Odyssey recounts Odysseus's adventures and ultimate return home ten years after the fall of Troy. In Latin his name is rendered as Ulysses.

Oedipus, in Greek mythology, king of Thebes, the son of Laius and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes.

Oisin - 'Little Deer'. The Irish Hero who spent 300 years as King of tir na n-Og. In a wood he encountered a creature with the body of a beautiful woman, but a pig's head. The creature said the haead would vanish when he married her, and this happened.

 Ouranus, in Greek mythology, the god of the heavens and husband of Gaea, who personified the earth. Uranus was the father of the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the 100-handed giants.

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Pan, in Greek mythology, god of shepherds and flocks. He was believed to be responsible for their fertility. Born in Arcadia, Pan was depicted with human arms and a human torso but with the ears, horns, and legs of a goat.

Persephone, in Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus, father of the gods, and of Demeter, goddess of the earth and of agriculture.

Perseus, in Greek mythology, slayer of the Gorgon Medusa; he was the son of Zeus, father of the gods, and of Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos.

Perunu - The ancient Slavic thunder god. He was a pre-eminent deity, even a creator god, and at Kiev he had an important cult center till the tenth century. Perunu was portrayed as a man, usually carved out of wood with a silver head and a gold moustache.

Priam, in Greek mythology, king of Troy. He was the father of 50 sons, notably the great warrior Hector, and 50 daughters, including the prophet Cassandra.

Prometheus, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, known as the friend and benefactor of humanity, the son of the Titan Iapetus by the sea nymph Clymene or the Titaness Themis. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were given the task of creating humanity and providing humans and all the animals on earth with the endowments they would need to survive.

Purgatory, in Christian theology, state of purgation, in which, according to the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches, souls after death either are purified from venial sins or undergo the temporal punishment that, after the guilt of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner.

Pwyll - Welsh nobleman and hero of one of the parts of the medieval cycle of legends.

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Quirinus, in early Roman mythology, god of war worshiped by the Sabines. In later Roman mythology, Quirinus was identified with the deified Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome.

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Relics, in Christian usage, remains of the bodies of saints (see Saint), or objects connected with the life of Jesus Christ or with the lives of the saints.

Rhadamanthus, in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Europa and the brother of Minos, king of Crete.

Roland, legendary hero of the romances concerning Charlemagne.

Romulus (mythology), in Roman mythology, founder and first king of Rome. He and his twin brother, Remus, were the sons of Mars, god of war, and of Rhea Silvia, also called Ilia, one of the vestal virgins.

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Sarpedon - the cammander of the Lycian contingent of Priam's allies in Homer's Illiad. Sarpedon was also the brother of Minos. Sarpedon founded the famous city of Miletus.

Saturn (mythology), in Roman mythology, ancient god of agriculture. In later legends he was identified with the Greek god Cronus, who, after having been dethroned by his son Zeus (in Roman mythology, Jupiter), fled to Italy, where he ruled during the Golden Age, a time of perfect peace and happiness.

Satyrs, in Greek mythology, deities of the woods and mountains, with horns and tails and sometimes with the legs of a goat. The satyrs were the companions of Dionysus, god of wine, and spent their time pursuing nymphs, drinking wine, dancing, and playing the syrinx, flute, or bagpipes.

Seide - The Sacred stone of the Lapps. They were natural stones, unfashioned by human hands. These stones were usually molded into an interesting or curious shape by water or some other form of erosion. These stones were often placed together in a sacred place to represent a family. Boons and predictions could be obtained from these stone gods.

Sermenys - The long funeral feasts of the Balts.

Sibyl, in Greek and Roman mythology, any woman inspired with prophetic power by the god Apollo. The sibyls lived in caves or near streams and prophesied in a frenzied trance, usually in Greek hexameters, which were handed down in writing.

Silvanus, in Roman mythology, god of uncultivated fields and forests, the protector of cattle and flocks. Originally a deity without a name who was referred to by the adjective silvanus (Latin, living in a wood), he was later identified with the pastoral gods Pan and Faunus.

Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, king of Corinth, the son of Aeolus, king of Thessaly.

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Taliesin - The Welsh Wizard bard. He may have lived in the sixth century. Taliesin's legend and poems survive in the Mabinogion.

Teutates - A Celtic war god worshipped with human sacrifices in Gaul. Julius Ceasar called Teutates the head of the Gallic pantheon. His name may derive from the word 'tribe' or 'people' in Gallic.

Tinia - The Etruscan storm god, the equivalent of Zeus/Juopiter. Tinia held boundaries sacred, watched over the Etruscan monarchy, and insured their inviolability.

Tristan - For the troubadours of medieval France, Tristan was the ideal lover. They acquired the legend of the Tristan and Iseult from Britanny, but its ancestry reaches back through Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland to an unknown era.

Theseus, in Greek mythology, the greatest Athenian hero, the son of either Aegeus, king of Athens, or Poseidon, god of the sea, and Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, king of Troezen.

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Urdr - The Golden Age in Germanic mythology ended when the three giant maids from Giantland came to the area as they brought time with them. Their names were Urdr, past; Verdandi, present; Skuld, 'future'. The three sisters were known collectively as Nornir and dwelt around the well of Urdr.

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Valkyries, in Scandinavian mythology, warrior maidens who attended Odin, ruler of the gods. The Valkyries rode through the air in brilliant armor, directed battles, distributed death lots among the warriors, and conducted the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla, the great hall of Odin.

Venus (mythology), in Roman mythology, originally a goddess of gardens and fields but later identified with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. In imperial times she was worshiped under several aspects.

Vesta (mythology), in Roman mythology, the goddess of the hearth, worshiped by Roman families as a household deity. The most important public shrine to Vesta was her round temple in the Forum at Rome, where her fire was said to have been brought from Troy by Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome.

Mary (Virgin Mary), also the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, venerated by Christians since apostolic times (1st century).

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Wayland - The smith god of the Anglo-Saxons.

Witch - The Scapegoats of late medieval Europe. A witch was commonly believed to be a female who practiced the art of doing harm through occult means. In the league with the Devil and associated with wild and desolate places, she was thought to turn into a vampire or a bird or possess the power of flight so as to attnd a coven of her ellows where the fed on the flesh of humans provided by one of them. Newborns were considered a delicacy.

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Yambe-akka - Meaning 'old woman of the dead', in Lapp mythology she was in charge of the underworld, a place similar to the world only with the departed spirits walking on air.

Yggdrasil - The cosmic ash of German mythology. Its branches overhung all the world and stuck out above the heavens. It had mighty roots, one reached down to Giantland, the second ended in Niflheim and the other was embedded in heaven.

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Zaltys - The Indo-European Balts revered a harmless green snake, the Lithuanina zaltys. A symbol of fertility, the snake had a place in every house, under the bed, in a corner even on the table.

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