who include Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, sons of Don, and Aranrhod, daughter of Don. She is given as the daughter of Mathonwy and is therefore sister of Math. She marries Beli, god of death, son of Manogan. Their children are Gwydion (science and light), Aranrhod (dawn goddess), Gilfaethwy, Amaethon (agriculture), Gofannon (smith-craft), Nudd or Lludd (sky god), Penardun (wife to Llyr), Nynniaw, and Peibaw. From Gwydion and his sister Aranrhod come Nwyfre (space), Lleu Llaw (the sun god), and Dylan (sea god), while Nudd’s son Gwyn is the keeper of the Otherworld (Annwn).

Don is regarded as a bye form of Donwy, which occurs in Wales in the river names Dyfrdonwy and Trydonwy. The name is cognate with the goddess Danu in Irish and in the Rig Veda, where the name signifies “waters of heaven”—there are several rivers throughout the former Celtic world that bear her name. In England the rivers Don in Durham and Yorkshire are derived from her, while the name is also cognate with the Danube.

Donn

[I] There are several people who bear the name in Irish mythology, but the most important one is the god of the dead, whose abode was at Tech Duinn (House of Donn), which is placed on an island off the southwest of Ireland. He is said to be the eldest son of Midir the Proud. Another important Donn was the eldest son of Milesius, whose tradition is somewhat mixed with the god of the dead. His doom was foretold by the goddess Éire because he ignores her wish that Ireland be named after her. He drowns in the sea during an invasion. The father of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne was also named Donn, while the famous Brown Bull of Cuailgne is called Donn Cuailgne.

Dormath

[W] The hound of Gwyn ap Nudd. The name appears to mean “door of death.”

Dragons

These mythical beasts, which are found in the mythology and folklore of innumerable peoples, likewise abound in Celtic mythology. Sometimes they guard palaces or fortresses, mostly they live at the bottom of lakes. In the story of “Lludd and Llefelys,” a dragon has to be encountered, and Fraoch fought a dragon. Throughout the Celtic world dragons are a traditional motif and a dragon was displayed on the war banner of Macsen Wledig. This is