{{short description|Irish goddess}} {{for|the Mesopotamian god|Anu}} {{Hatnote|Not to be confused with Annan.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:The Paps of Dana-01.jpg|300px|thumb|Paps of Anu]] '''Anu''' or '''Ana''' (sometimes given as '''Anann''' or '''Anand''') is the name of a goddess mentioned briefly in Irish mythology.
==Myths and sources== The 9th century ''Sanas Cormaic'' (Cormac's Glossary) says in its entry for her: : "Ana – mother of the gods of Ireland; well did she feed the gods". She may be a goddess in her own right,<ref name="McKillop1">{{cite book |author=MacKillop, James |year=1998 |title=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |ISBN=0-19-280120-1 |pages=10, 16, 128}}</ref> or an alternate name for Danu. In the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', Anand is given as another name for The Morrígan.<ref name="LGE">{{cite book |author=Macalister, R.A. Stewart |title=Lebor Gabála Érenn |trans-title=Book of Invasions of Ireland |at=Part IV, § VII |publisher=Irish Texts Society |place=Dublin, IE |year=1941 |edition=First Redaction}}</ref> As her name is often conflated with a number of other goddesses, it is not always clear which figure is being referred to if the name is taken out of context.<ref name="McKillop1"/> The name may be derived from the Proto-Celtic theonym *''Φanon-''.<ref name="CAWCS">{{cite web |title=Celtic Lexicon |department=The Celtic Languages and Cultural Identity |place=Cardiff, Wales |publisher=University of Wales |series=Centre for Advanced Welsh Celtic Studies |url=https://www.wales.ac.uk/en/CentreforAdvancedWelshCelticStudies/ResearchProjects/CompletedProjects/TheCelticLanguagesandCulturalIdentity/CelticLexicon.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Indo-European database |place=Leiden, NL |publisher=University of Leiden |url=http://www.indo-european.nl/cgi-bin/query.cgi?root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cceltic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211181501/http://www.indo-european.nl/cgi-bin/query.cgi?root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cceltic |archive-date=11 February 2006}}</ref>
Anu has particular associations with Munster: the pair of breast shaped hills known as the Paps of Anu (''Dá Chích Anann'' or "the breasts of Anu")<ref>{{cite web |title=The Paps of Anu |series=Prehistoric and Early Ireland |url=http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1413 |access-date=2011-03-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312172305/http://megalithomania.com/show/site/1413 |archive-date=2016-03-12}}</ref> in County Kerry are said to have been named after her.<ref name="LGE"/>
Her name has the meaning of "wealth, riches, and prosperity." Leaving her with a title of being the goddess of "good fortune and prosperity" in the land of Munster. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=MacLeod |first=Sharon Paice |date=1998 |title=Mater Deorum Hibernensium: Identity and Cross-Correlation in Early Irish Mythology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20557350?seq=33 |journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium |volume=18/19 |pages=340–384 |issn=1545-0155}}</ref>
While an Irish goddess, in Scotland (Alba) a similar figure is referred to as “Gentle Annie”, in an effort to avoid offence, a tactic which is similar to referring to the fairies as “The Good People”.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Annis, Gentle Annie |website=whitedragon.org.uk |url=http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/blackann.htm}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|22em}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |author=MacKillop, James |year=1998 |title=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |ISBN=0-19-280120-1}} * {{cite book |author=Wood, Juliette |year=2002 |title=The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art |publisher=Thorsons Publishers |ISBN=0-00-764059-5}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anu}} Category:Irish goddesses Category:Tuatha Dé Danann Category:Mother goddesses Category:War goddesses Category:Animal goddesses Category:Agricultural deities Category:Celtic goddesses