Bres -- Celtic Fertility God

Bres -- Celtic Fertility God

Much like other cultures in Western civilization, that of the ancient Celts who lived primarily in what is now Northern England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, worshipped an entire range of gods and goddesses, known as a pantheon. Culturally, the ancient Celts which included a group of religious worshippers called the Druids, were deeply influenced by the natural world around them; thus, they created this pantheon of gods and goddesses as a way of giving praise and recognition to the forces of nature, most of which they did not fully understand.

Of course, like many other ancient Western cultures, the Celts "were a warrior people who depended greatly upon specific gods and goddesses for protection and victory against their enemies" (Brezina, 189); they were also great worshippers of deities related to fertility and agriculture whom they saw as being responsible for "birth, life and death and for the bounty given to them through the planting and cultivation of foodstuffs" necessary for daily life (Monaghan, 267).

One of the most important Celtic gods related to fertility was Bres, a very early Celtic name meaning "the glittering one," perhaps a reference to sunlight or the bright light of a cold winter's day in the hinterlands of ancient Ireland and Scotland (MacKillop, 346). According to Corona Brezina, Bres is most closely associated with Irish mythology and folklore and was often referred to as "Eochu Bres or "Beautiful Bres," due to being extremely handsome, virile and appealing to women. As the son of Prince Elatha, the ruler of the Fomorians, and Eriu, herself a goddess and from which the ancient name of Ireland is derived (i.e., Eire), Bres in his youth became the king of a group of Irish nobles known as the Tuatha De Danann, but as Patricia

Monaghan points out, Bres "was not a very popular nor beloved king of his people, due to his arrogance and self-love which he flaunted whenever possible" (268).

Exactly how Bres became the king of the Tuatha De Danann is not clear, but according to prevailing Celtic/Irish mythology, a former king known as Nuada "lost his hand in the first Battle of Magh Tuireadh" (Lindemans, Internet) and was quickly deemed as unfit to rule as king, one reason being his addiction to hard drink. Although Bres' father Elatha was the ruler of the Fomorians, there appears to have been some kind of tension between the Fomorians and the Tuatha De Danann; nonetheless, in an act of "reconciliation, the Tuatha De decided to name Bres as their king" and allowed him to marry Brigid, one of the most important fertility goddesses in Celtic/Irish mythology and folklore (Lindemans, Internet).

As previously mentioned, Bres turned out to be a very brutal and untrustworthy king for his people. As a ruler, Bres was "tyrannical. . . raised taxes to a near unbearable level" (Lindemans, Internet) and forced many of the Tuatha De Danann to be his personal slaves, "working in his house as unpaid laborers and in the fields from sun-up to sundown" (Brezina, Internet). Somehow, Nuada, the former ruler of the Tuatha De Danann, had his hand lost in battle replaced with a living flesh and blood hand and soon after managed to have Bres exiled.

Not long after, Bres "rallied the Fomorians to battle" in the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh, but when they were defeated, Bres was captured. Although the punishment for treason and treachery in ancient Ireland was usually death, Bres' life was spared "when he promised to instruct the Tuatha De in the art of agriculture" (Lindemans, Internet), thus making him a fertility god, due to bringing fertility and bounty to the lands of the Tuatha De Danann in the form of foodstuffs.

In discussing the mythological lore surrounding the life of Bres, his relationship with Brigid his wife must be mentioned, due to its importance and influence on many other Celtic/Irish myths. As the daughter of Dagda, Brigid is often referred to as the Celtic Sun God and as a very powerful creator of all things beautiful. As Winter Cymres relates, Brigid married Bres and had three sons, Brian (Ruadan), Iuchar and Uar, all of whom later went on to become important Celtic rulers and symbols of Celtic bravery, tenacity, and strength on the battlefield. This marriage "was essentially an alliance to bring peace between the two warring factions" ("Brigid," Internet), being the Fomorians and the Danu, Brigid's royal family and the heirs to all of Ireland.