Nemain
Also spelled: Nemhain
A war spirit, wife of the war-god Nét, who throws the armies of Connacht into panic.
Overview
Nemain (Panic) is one of the three goddesses of war and, with the Badb, a wife of the war-god Nét. She assails the army after Dubthach's outcry so that no one sleeps, stirs the four provinces to confusion when Cúchulainn gives his warrior's scream, and brings confusion on them again until a hundred fall dead in their sleep. On the night before the last battle she and the Badb cry out to the men of Ireland near Gáirech and Irgairech, and a hundred warriors die of fright. Kinsella notes that "the war-spirit" is not in the text.
Connections
Related characters
Places
- Gáirech and Irgairech (where she and the Badb cry out before the last battle)
- Lerga
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- That night Nét's wives, Nemain and the Badb, call out to the men of Ireland near the field, and a hundred warriors die of fright. At Gáirech and Irgairech. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- Cúchulainn sees gold weapons flickering over the heads of the army, shakes his spears and shield and screams, and the Nemain throws the armies into confusion, so that a hundred warriors fall dead of fright. At Lerga. In Chapter IX: The Pact is Broken: The Great Carnage.