but also in Northern Europe. One of these is the Irish Morrigan, whose name means Great Queen; but in a site called by her name (s. links below), Danielle Ni Dhighe says that “The Morrigan is a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility. Her name translates as ‘Phantom Queen’.” She is actually a triple goddess, made up of the three figures of Nemain, Macha, and Badb, sometimes called in the plural, The Morrigna, but she can also stand on her own as an individual. The Morrigna appeared as crows, ravens, vultures, and wolves, standing for war, battle, fighting, strife, panic, frenzy, blood, gore, and death, together with victory. Some aspects of the Morrigna also saw the future, as well as announced great victories with poetry. All together, the Morrigan presented a dark but powerful image. The Morrigan’s particular feature of both vicious war and fertility appears also in one of her aspects, Macha.
The Morrigan is compared to the Norse War goddess in the form of the Valkyries by using magic in order to choose who of the warriors would die in battle. She is said to have had a love affair with the hero Cuchulainn, making her also a parallel to the Middle Eastern goddesses of War and Love, Ishtar and Anath.
J. A close similarity exists in many areas between the Irish Morrigan and the Norse goddess Freya, who was also said to have been “a leader of the warrior Valkyries… riding a winged horse while taking the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla” (s. link below). Freya, (who may also interchange with Freyja or Frigg), was said to be “the goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility, healer, magic (s. links below); and some of her possessions connect her with the Sun: her golden chariot and winged horse, like